Renad started her last story and reported that after having a baby; she became dizzy and was bumping people with the pram unintentionally; and was apologising all the time; and people were friendly towards her. On one occasion, however, she bumped into an older Australian woman who made a considerable fuss and had a fight with Renad; Renad apologised but then regretted it (R.30):
She was fighting like I bumped her or something, like I killed her or injured her legs or... And I said, “Okay, sorry, I did not see you”. She said, “Open your eyes, blah, blah, blah”. I do not know what she said. I just went away. And do you know? I felt such regret that I apologised.
Renad reported that had she known that the old lady would be rude, she would not have acted politely but rather rudely. According to Renad’s last response, I had wondered how she would respond to this question (R.33):
If you were in Saudi and you bumped a Saudi woman, would you react the same way? She may have got angry with you the same? And Renad reported that she would have felt the same way even if she had been in Saudi.
In this episode, Renad had engaged in sound, moral socio-cultural positioning as she apologised to the old Australian woman despite her having behaved towards Renad in an unaccepted manner.
Types of Harré positioning that emerged
Deliberative self-positioning
Renad had engaged in a deliberative self-positioning as she regretted her apology to the Australian woman who had a fight with Renad (R.30).
Emergent New Socio-cultural positioning Moral positioning
After having a baby, Renad became dizzy and was bumping people with the pram unintentionally, and was frequently apologizing; despite this, people were kind towards her. Once Renad collided with an older Australian woman who made a considerable fuss and forcefully argued with her; Renad apologised but then regretted it (R.30):
I said, “Okay, sorry, I did not see you”. She said, “Open your eyes, blah, blah, blah”. I do not know what she said. I just went away. And do you ‘know something? I felt like I regretted that I had apologised.
Renad regretted the apology as she believed the older woman had behaved unfairly.
Renad had engaged in a moral positioning as she apologised to the woman despite her having behaved unacceptably. This initial positioning had changed to being redemptive: she had regretted the apology as a reflex action to the woman’s rudeness. Renad apologised to the old Australian woman, whom she bumped with her pram, because the apology was a normal response to her: ‘It is like any situation when you hit somebody: you apologise. That is it’ (R.31). Renad’s apology was made out of courtesy and respect. Renad had engaged in moral positioning as it was an appropriate response in such a situation.
Self-interest positioning
On reflection, Renad said that if she knew that the old Australian woman would be rude, she would not have acted politely but rather rudely, ‘If I knew that she would shout at me even if I apologise, I would not have apologised. I would have been rude’, (R.32). Renad had engaged in a self-interest positioning, as she tried to avoid a loss-of-face situation.
Ethical positioning
When I asked Renad, ‘If you were in Saudi and you bumped a Saudi woman, would you react the same way? Might she just have got equally angry with you?’ And she said (R.33):
Like I told you, if I hit anyone, I always apologise if I have hurt someone. But, wait, like if I knew they are going to shout, even though I apologise, I will feel sorry that I apologise. Renad had engaged in ethical positioning; she has always been moved by her ethics, not by the situation.
Summary of the Harré & New Socio-cultural positionings
In general, Renad used three types of Harré positionings through her story: self, other and forced. Renad also employed a wide range of new, emergent socio- cultural positioning: reflective, repair, self-interest, moral, ethical and redemptive. On some occasions, Renad used two types of positioning together: self- and moral- positioning.
In her first episode, Renad had shifted dramatically from forced self- positioning to both repair- and moral-positioning. When the teacher shouted at her on being asked her to dance, Renad had to apologise immediately to repair her unintended mistake. Despite that the teacher had embarrassed her in public, Renad did apologise; as her morals were her controller. As a result, Renad had engaged in reflective-positioning for public embarrassment had taught her a harsh lesson:
she should refrain from asking people from a different culture to dance. Clearly, Renad and her teacher had not understood each other’s culture.
In her final episode, Renad had engaged in moral and ethical positioning: she did not respond to the teacher when she accused Renad of cheating; Renad was a person who holds strong moral and ethical values. Inadvertently, the teacher had engaged in forced other-positioning as well as redemptive positioning. On realising her mistake, the teacher apologised to Renad.
Metaphor
The metaphor that emerged from Renad’s narrative is that of the Moral Woman. Her strong moral code directed her behavior to apologise – even when being misunderstood. The Moral Woman is a self that is represented by the responses to the positionings to which she was subject. Throughout the narrative, I also see Renad as the Patient One: despite the unfairness that she experienced, she maintained her patience throughout these episodes.
Zahra’s narrative
Zahra is a Saudi woman who is undertaking a master’s degree at Monash University. She lives in Dandenong and has been in Melbourne since 2011. She is married, but does not have any children; in Saudi, she has a large extended family that consists of her parents and some siblings. Zahra originates from Taif in Saudi Arabia where most recently she was employed as a supervisor. While Zahra loves her country and misses her parents, job and some of her family, she also loves being in Australia: this is assisted by her having both a brother and sister living in Australia. She feels that everything is familiar to her as she remains close to her family. Zahra recounted three episodes, as follows:
1. Breaking up with a close friend 2. Leaving to Adelaide
3. The Korean incident