Review to “What is a Text? Explanation and Understanding” (Ricoeur, 1971)
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Review to “What is a Text? Explanation and Understanding” (Ricoeur, 1971)

The French Philosopher Paul Ricoeur examines a few important issues in his thoughtful essay regarding our everyday use of the terms, speech, language, understanding, explanation, and interpretation. This essay brings a good understanding of a text in qualitative research. In most cases in textual analysis, there is the use of texts as data for description and interpretation. Most of the textual materials are written texts of oral speaking like interviews or observations. In understanding what has been said and observed, we use text to provide evidence of people’s thinking, acting or beliefs among others.

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Mission possible? Optimization of ‘Others’ in the Context of Missionary Strategies of Persuasion
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Mission possible? Optimization of ‘Others’ in the Context of Missionary Strategies of Persuasion

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In a series of publication projects I focus on the question of how optimization and standardization of ‘others’ and foreigners takes place (or is supposed to take place) in the context of missionary strategies of religious persuasion. Missionary goals are inseparably connected to the Christian imagination of ‘the renewed man’. This concept of man can be characterized best by a range of elements – like e.g. improvisation by cultural adjustment, self-abandonment, willingness to make sacrifices under the banner of selfless service to the neighbor, directive or non-directive persuasive communication, self-alteration of the ‘others’ by assertion of one’s own ‘self’ – that are required to accomplish one’s own aspirations to change and optimize the others.The described strategies of persuasion and change are findings of an empirical study about the intercultural practice of Protestant missionaries. Missionary action represents a mode of purpose and goal-oriented, intentional and strategic action aiming at the ‘improvement’ and ‘perfection’ of others. Finally, the findings and reflections should lead to a ‘prototypical’ abstraction, so that a special type of action can be conceived which aims at optimization and standardization of the humane.
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Dr. Maik Arnold is Professor for Non-Profit-Management and Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Transfer at University of Applied Science Dresden.