Browsing by Subject "Narrative Analysis"
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(2023)After decades of low inflation in developed economies, inflation increased significantly beginning from 2021, as consequences of global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and later a war in Europe led to upward price pressures on several parts of the economy. As inflation proved to be more persistent than initially expected, central banks were forced to act in order to protect price stability. This thesis is an explanatory study that conceptualizes inflation narrative dynamic from the perspective of central banks. I argue that inflation is not based on scarcity alone, but also a self-enforcing narrative, which can make inflation persistent even when underlying inflationary pressures are solved. Inflation expectations are manifestations of narratives that are replicated over time with limited information in recursive feedback loop rather than being rationally formed under full information as many economic theories assume. I present a framework to study the formation of inflation narratives and a brief history of inflation theories to put current theoretical understanding of inflation in its historical context. I study what dominant inflation narratives and underlying economic theories can be identified in central bank communications during 2021-2022 and how central banks have aimed to influence inflation expectations of the public. Major change in monetary policy communication during the research period was the shift from Forward Guidance communication policy to data-dependence. In Forward Guidance, central banks assume that they are able to steer and anchor inflation expectations of the public by committing themselves to future interest rate path in advance. As inflation continued to increase throughout the research period, central banks could no longer credibly anchor public inflation expectations through Forward Guidance and had to become more data-dependent. Instead of anchoring expectations, central banks now have to adapt their inflation narrative and steer inflation expectations as new data emerges in backward-looking manner.
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(2024)My thesis explores the portrayal of sexual trauma in Sidney Sheldon's novels The Sands of Time (1988) and Tell Me Your Dreams (1998). The portrayal is mostly compassionate to the victims while also educating the readers. Both novels depict multiple sexually traumatic events that are predominantly focalized through the victims, and as a result, highlight the harms of sexual abuse and violence. Examining this theme, the central argument of my thesis is that both novels present an empathetic and pluralistic understanding of sexual trauma. I analyze the representation of sexual trauma in the novels per James Phelan’s definition of storytelling — it is a rhetoric event for the narrator to convey messages. In other words, I examine what and how Sheldon’s work communicates on sexual trauma. I combine Phelan’s notion of narrative messaging with a feminist approach to provide a critical framework for understanding the portrayal of sexual violence and analyze the novels as rape novels. I also supplement this approach with Balev’s pluralistic trauma theory to demonstrate how the narrator promotes nuance and a holistic understanding of sexual trauma, encompassing the experiences of the victims, abusers and the nature of sexual abuse as a whole. I focus on the characters and plot of the novels, primarily focusing on the different ways the victims and abusers are characterized. I also discuss the narrative progression of the plot and how it affects the novels as a rhetorical event. Through this interdisciplinary approach, my study seeks to deepen our understanding of how literature can contribute to discussions surrounding sexual violence and trauma, while also reflecting upon the ethical implications of narrative construction and representation.
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