Inclusion through Hypothetical Narratives

Abstract

In this chapter, I further examine the cyclical relationship between micro and macro discourses and actions by demonstrating how Yahya complements his music videos, in which he gets the lower hand, by constructing helpless selves in hypothetical narratives. It is through these various efforts that Yahya pursues his agenda to become in control of hiring his own resident assistants. I examine the relationship between hypothetical narratives and larger social practices by conceptualizing these narratives as mediated actions Yahya strategically uses to direct my and others’ actions. I suggest that Yahya’s caregivers’ subsequent actions reciprocally give him a sense of control over an important aspect of his life (being able to hire his own assistant), resulting in him displaying agentivity in his narratives. I thus illustrate the interconnectedness of Yahya’s anticipatory discourse and his caregivers’ actions that cause societal change. Interconnectedness between these actions and the kinds of selves Yahya constructs through hypothetical narratives in private interactions also is evident. I illustrate how my actions on his behalf to garner social change (macro level) lead him to construct agentive selves in the narratives he constructs about his future (micro level), hence, demonstrating how the micro-macro relationship is realized through language, in addition to art made by Microsoft PowerPoint (see Chapter 3).