DOCSLIB.ORG

Epic): Evaluation of Impact of Learning and Development Activity and Resources

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Epic): Evaluation of Impact of Learning and Development Activity and Resources Equal Partners in Care (EPiC): Evaluation of impact of learning and development activity and resources NHS Education Scotland March 2015 Authors: Glenys Watt, Director Ian Christie, Consultant Sarah Richard, Consultant 54 Manor Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7EH T: 0131 225 5600 E: [email protected] www.blakestevenson.co.uk Blake Stevenson Ltd EPiC: Evaluation of learning and development activity and resources CONTENTS Chapter Page Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... i 1. Introduction and context ..................................................................................................... 1 2. Summary of national and local EPiC activity ......................................................................... 8 3. The impact of EPiC activity ................................................................................................. 24 4. Sustainability considerations.............................................................................................. 40 5. Conclusions and recommendations ................................................................................... 43 APPENDICES: Appendix 1: Research tools Appendix 2: List of consultees in case study areas Appendix 3: List of Stakeholder Interviews 0 Blake Stevenson Ltd EPiC: Evaluation of learning and development activity and resources Executive Summary Introduction NHS Education for Scotland (NES) commissioned Blake Stevenson Ltd in August 2014 to undertake an evaluation of the impact of the Equal Partners in Care (EPiC) learning and development activity and resources. The research questions the evaluation sought to address were: To what extent have expectations around EPiC been realised? What has been the impact of learning related to EPiC in terms of: -staff confidence and capability in relation to working with carers and young carers? -staff values and attitudes in relation to supporting carers or young carers? -changes in work practice, processes and policy as a result of using the EPiC core principles? -changes in the workplace environment as a result of becoming more carer aware? What are the facilitators and barriers to applying EPiC core principles? To what extent has good practice in relation to carers and young carers been disseminated and used by other colleagues and team members? What are the perceptions of the sustainability of any changes in practice? The evaluation team used the following methods: a review of documentation from the five demonstrator sites followed by site visits to these areas, plus two additional areas where it was known implementation activity had taken place, to interview a range of staff and stakeholders; a survey to individuals to follow up on “pledges” they had made at three learning and sharing events; interviews with 21 stakeholders; and attendance at events to undertake further consultation. Activity undertaken The report provides a summary of activity undertaken at national and local levels. At national level it focuses on the reach of the centrally developed resources and events including three learning and sharing events, the development of an email network (964 members), a range of printed resources (over 10,000 copies distributed) and the development of an online Level 1 e- module (with Levels 2 and 3 currently in development). At local level the report sets out a summary of activity undertaken within the seven areas visited during the fieldwork. The areas were: NHS Dumfries and Galloway; NHS Grampian; NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde; i Blake Stevenson Ltd EPiC: Evaluation of learning and development activity and resources NHS Highland; Inverclyde CHCP; North Lanarkshire Carers Together; and Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, Glasgow. In addition the report provides examples of other areas and organisations where activity to implement the EPiC core principles and framework has taken place. Findings The findings from the evaluation focus on the impact of all of this activity. They cover: the impact on staff; the impact on organisations; and the impact on carers The findings also describe the enablers and challenges associated with the implementation of the EPiC core principles and framework learning and development activities. Impact on staff In relation to the impact on staff the report highlights the following: improved confidence and ability to identify carers and refer them to appropriate support; There are examples where staff are reported to have greater confidence in having the conversations with carers as well as knowing the appropriate sources of support to refer them to. improved understanding of the issues that affect carers; Staff who had taken part in training reported that they were more able to identify carers and the range of people who may be carers (including young carers). Some of those who had taken part in training had recognised that they themselves/or a member of their family were carers for the first time. involving carers as equal partners in care; There are examples of improved awareness of the importance of involving carers as equal partners and in some instances practical action to ensure that this happens. In some cases action was already underway prior to the EPiC core principles being developed but these have reinforced what is being attempted. engaging staff beyond the health and social care sectors. While the main focus has been on awareness raising within the health and social care sectors there are examples where staff within education settings have used EPiC to raise awareness of young carers. ii Blake Stevenson Ltd EPiC: Evaluation of learning and development activity and resources Impact on organisations EPiC has assisted organisations to implement other strands of work they are involved with such as dementia strategies and Reshaping Care for Older People. It is seen as helping to provide a consistent approach to working with carers for the health and social care integration agenda. The raised levels of awareness among staff have in some cases led to changes in processes and practice. For example: changes to documentation to remind staff to ask about carers; adapting electronic records to record if a patient is a carer; commissioning processes that require organisations to show what they are doing to raise awareness of carers. As staff become more aware of carers and carers’ issues they see what else has to change or could be changed. Impact on carers The evidence of impact on carers is limited to date but there are some examples of increased involvement of carers in hospitals and some evidence that EPiC has helped increase carers’ own understanding of their entitlements. Enablers and challenges The report identifies a number of facilitators and challenges relating to the implementation of the EPiC learning and development activities. The key enabling factors include the credibility of the EPiC core principles as having been developed with involvement from carers and as having the double branding from both NES and SSSC. Interviewees like the fact that the principles are written in plain language and are easy to follow. People also like the fact that they can adapt the resources to suit their own local circumstances. Many interviewees commented positively on the support from the central project team. In some areas partnership working between the public and third sector was perceived as having facilitated the implementation of the EPiC core principles. Some areas had found that making the training mandatory was helpful while other areas had built the EPiC training into other training they were undertaking and found this a useful approach. Where strategic level staff have been closely involved this was seen to have helped in implementation: for example in Highland they used EPiC core principles to help develop the Carers Strategy and in North Lanarkshire it was used to inform Reshaping Care for Older People (RCOP) planning. The main challenges identified included the competing priorities for training time, although a number of areas had found ways to overcome this challenge such as taking the training into wards and building it in with other training that was being delivered. There was recognition that there is a huge cultural change required and that involvement of those at strategic level will be essential. Some areas faced challenges with the compatibility of e-learning platforms and software which made it impossible to use the e-module directly. iii Blake Stevenson Ltd EPiC: Evaluation of learning and development activity and resources Sustainability Interviewees perceived the EPiC core principles to be sustainable in that they will not go easily out of date. The EPiC core principles are seen to fit well with a range of national policies but some interviewees thought that this strategic alignment needs to be better communicated. While training is one aspect of promoting change it is recognised that structures, systems and processes also need to be in place. However the new Carer Positive Employers Kitemark is seen as a key development to sustaining the impact of the EPiC resources as it is hoped that employers will be directed to the core principles and framework. It is hoped that initial efforts made to date to build the EPiC training into further and higher education courses will continue. There was also concern by a number of consultees that without the central project team in place the momentum that has been developed will be lost.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • John Milton USP Marie-Hélène Catherine Torres UFSC
    Apresentação 9 APRESENTAÇÃO John Milton USP Marie-Hélène Catherine Torres UFSC Little theoretical attention has been paid to the subject of Retranslation and Adaptation. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies there is no section on Retranslation. Adaptation fares a little better, and the section on “Adaptation”, written by George Bastin mentions a number of key elements associated with adaptation: it is often associated with the belles infidèles concept of translation; it is particularly common in theatre translation; adaptations are often made in order to prevent a communication breakdown, being linked to the skopos, the purpose; and the study of adaptations look beyond linguistic transfer and will throw light on the translator as mediator (Bastin, 1998: 5-8). These concepts are developed by a number of contributors to this volume. Two key statements on retranslation are Yves Gambier’s formulation (1994, p. 414): “[…] une première traduction a toujours tendance à être plutôt assimilatrice, à réduire l’altérité au nom d’impératifs culturels, éditoriaux […] La retraduction dans ces conditions consisterait en un retour au texte-source” {“[…] a first translation always tends to be more assimilating, tends to reduce the otherness in the name of cultural or editorial requirements […] The retranslation, in this perspective, would mark a return to the source-text”} and that of Antoine Berman, who distinguishes “deux espaces (et deux temps) de traduction: celui des premières 10 John Milton & Marie-Hélène C. Torres traductions, et celui des retraductions” [“two spaces (and two ti- mes) of translation : that of the first translations, and that of the retranslations”] (Berman, 1985: 116). After the work has been introduced into the foreign culture, Retranslations will attempt to get much closer to the source text.
    [Show full text]
  • Cress Presentation
    Keiter 1 “To Sail Free in Her Own Element”: The Novelization of the Epic and the “Cress” Letters in William Carlos Williams’ Paterson Joshua Keiter The long, scathing letter from Cress, a female poet detailing “woman’s wretched position in society,” at the end of Book Two of Paterson has appeared perplexing, to say the least, to readers and critics of William Carlos Williams’ magnum opus since its first publication. The letter arrives directly at the center of the projected four books of Paterson, which we learn in Book I concerns itself overall with “A man like a city and a woman like a flower / —who are in love. Two women. Three women. / Innumerable women, each like a flower. / / But / only one man—like a city” (Williams, P 7). The tension between the symbolic and the literal man and woman of Paterson holds a central place in the poem, and invites a gendered reading, particularly at the crucial juncture of the Cress letter, based around the appropriation of a female voice by a dominant male author/text. My paper will argue that Williams’ appropriation is more of an attempt, however inadequate, at integration—rather than imposing male poetic dominance over a female voice, Williams aims to deconstruct male authority, if not destroy his own authorship, by emphasizing the relational, dialogic nature (even in terms of “marriage” and “divorce”) of communication itself. A hopeless task, perhaps, but one that is emblematic of the entire project and problematic of Paterson as a “whole.” Indeed, the first part of my paper is devoted to a discussion of how the genre theory of Mikhail Bakhtin in his essay on the “Epic and Novel” provides, in distinctive terms, the kind of critical framework necessary to understand the role of Cress in Paterson.
    [Show full text]
  • The Creation of National Ideologies in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Erica Marat
    Imagined Past, Uncertain Future The Creation of National Ideologies in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Erica Marat National ideologies were a HEN the Central Asian nations inherited statehood as Wa result of the collapse of the Soviet Union in late crucial element in the process 1991, their political elites quickly realized that the new states needed to cultivate a unifying ideology if they were of state-building in the to function as cohesive entities. What with the region’s independent Central Asian fuzzy borders and the dominance of the Russian language and Soviet culture, Central Asian leaders had to develop a states. national idea that would solidify the people’s recognition of post-Soviet statehood and the new political leadership. The urgent need for post-communist ideological programs that would reflect upon the complex Soviet past, accom- modate the identities of majority and minority ethnic groups, and rationalize the collapse of the Soviet Union emerged before the national academic communities could meaningfully discuss the possible content and nature of such ideologies. Attributes for ideological projects were often sought in the pre-Soviet period, when there were no hard national borders and strict cultural boundaries. It was in this idiosyncratic setting that the Central Asian regimes tried to construct national ideological conceptions that would be accessible to the mass public, increase the legitimacy of the ruling political elites, and have an actual historical basis. National ideologies were a crucial element of the state-building processes in the independent Central Asian states. They reflected two major goals of the ruling elites. ERICA MARAT is a research fellow at the Institute for Security & Develop- First, the elites were able to strengthen themselves against ment Policy in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Central Asia–Caucasus Institute competing political forces by mobilizing the entire public at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, DC.
    [Show full text]
  • College of Letters 1
    College of Letters 1 Kari Weil BA, Cornell University; MA, Princeton University; PHD, Princeton University COLLEGE OF LETTERS University Professor of Letters; University Professor, Environmental Studies; The College of Letters (COL) is a three-year interdisciplinary major for the study University Professor, College of the Environment; University Professor, Feminist, of European literature, history, and philosophy, from antiquity to the present. Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Co-Coordinator, Animal Studies During these three years, students participate as a cohort in a series of five colloquia in which they read and discuss (in English) major literary, philosophical, and historical texts and concepts drawn from the three disciplinary fields, and AFFILIATED FACULTY also from monotheistic religious traditions. Majors are invited to think critically about texts in relation to their contexts and influences—both European and non- Ulrich Plass European—and in relation to the disciplines that shape and are shaped by those MA, University of Michigan; PHD, New York University texts. Majors also become proficient in a foreign language and study abroad Professor of German Studies; Professor, Letters to deepen their knowledge of another culture. As a unique college within the University, the COL has its own library and workspace where students can study together, attend talks, and meet informally with their professors, whose offices VISITING FACULTY surround the library. Ryan Fics BA, University of Manitoba; MA, University of Manitoba; PHD, Emory
    [Show full text]
  • Writers of Tales: a Study on National Literary Epic Poetry with a Comparative Analysis of the Albanian and South Slavic Cases
    DOI: 10.14754/CEU.2017.02 WRITERS OF TALES: A STUDY ON NATIONAL LITERARY EPIC POETRY WITH A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ALBANIAN AND SOUTH SLAVIC CASES FRANCESCO LA ROCCA A DISSERTATION IN HISTORY Presented to the Faculties of the Central European University in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Budapest, Hungary 2016 Supervisor of Dissertation CEU eTD Collection György Endre Szőnyi DOI: 10.14754/CEU.2017.02 COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY Copyright in the text of this dissertation rests with the Author. Copies by any process, either in full or part, may be made only in accordance with the instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European University Library. Details may be obtained from the librarian. This page must form a part of any such copies made. Further copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the written permission of the Author. I hereby declare that this dissertation contains no materials accepted for any other degrees in any other institutions and no materials previously written and/or published by another person unless otherwise noted. CEU eTD Collection DOI: 10.14754/CEU.2017.02 iii ABSTRACT In this dissertation I intend to investigate the history and theory of national literary epic poetry in Europe, paying particular attention to its development among Albanians, Croats, Montenegrins, and Serbs. The first chapters will be devoted to the elaboration of a proper theoretical background and historical framing to the concept of national epic poetry and its role in the cultivation of national thought in Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • Longfellow House Ulletin B
    on fellow ous L g ulletinH e Volume 12 No. 1 A Newsletter of the Friends of the Longfellow House and the National Park Service June 2008 A Paul Revere House Centennial andB the Longfellow Contribution n April 18 the Paul Revere Memorial the process of crafting OAssociation celebrated the one-hun- these iconic characters, dredth anniversary of the restoration of Longfellow heightened Paul Revere’s house and its opening as a the awareness and appre- museum. As part of the event, schoolchild- ciation of antiquarian ren recited the stirring words of Paul Revere’s relics in his native region Ride, Henry Longfellow’s poem that ele- and the nation as a evere Memorial Association vated Paul Revere to mythic status. Longfel- whole, and he popular- low, poet-chronicler of American history, ized historic places asso- would have been proud to know that his ciated with these figures. 1860 classic was in large part responsible for On North Square in the preservation of the memory and arti- Boston’s North End, the facts of this Revolutionary War patriot. wooden building now The Paul Revere House as it was restored in 1908 and remains today Through his narrative poems, Longfel- known as the Paul Revere Photo courtesy of the Paul R low created national myths, among them House has survived numerous transforma- adapted to the less-sloping Georgian style, the story of the Boston silversmith who tions. Between 1676 and 1681, a wealthy mer- and a third story was added. “spread the alarm through every Middle- chant built it as a two-story colonial resi- In 1770 at the age of thirty-five, Paul sex village and farm” that the British army dence with a second-floor overhang.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    INTRODUCTION n four verse epistles of modest length published anonymously between February 1733 and January 1734, Alexander Pope revealed Iyet another aspect of his vast poetic ambition. Having already pub- lished a substantial collected poems in 1717, translated Homer, ed- ited Shakespeare, and trumpeted the corruption of contemporary literary and public culture in his Dunciad, Pope writes a philosophi- cal poem. He begins his poem with (nearly) the same avowed pur- pose as Milton in Paradise Lost, already in Pope’s time the great Brit- ish religious and national epic: to vindicate (Milton says justify) the ways of God to man. But Pope does not use biblical history—the elevation of the son, the fall of angels, the creation of the world, the fall of the first people—to shape his vindication. Instead he produces a description of man in the abstract in four epistles that he says are a map to the more practically oriented and historically specific poems he was planning, poems on subjects such as the use of riches and taste. Forgoing narrative is one challenge Pope sets himself; another is the ambition of the Essay on Man to synthesize the great diversity of thinking in the allied disciplines with something to say about where humans find themselves in the universe (anthropology, cos- mology, metaphysics, moral psychology, physics, theology—just to begin a list). Pope formulates concise statements on central ethical topics, moderating between antagonistic schools of thought. Fur- ther, he writes a poem that passes for orthodoxy, even piety, in the terms of eighteenth- century British state religion, while not speci- fying the Christian revelation in the poem.
    [Show full text]
  • GHAREHGOZLOU, BAHAREH, Ph.D., August 2018 TRANSLATION STUDIES
    GHAREHGOZLOU, BAHAREH, Ph.D., August 2018 TRANSLATION STUDIES A STUDY OF PERSIAN-ENGLISH LITERARY TRANSLATION FLOWS: TEXTS AND PARATEXTS IN THREE HISTORICAL CONTEXTS (261 PP.) Dissertation Advisor: Françoise Massardier-Kenney This dissertation addresses the need to expand translation scholarship through the inclusion of research into different translation traditions and histories (D’hulst 2001: 5; Bandia 2006; Tymoczko 2006: 15; Baker 2009: 1); the importance of compiling bibliographies of translations in a variety of translation traditions (Pym 1998: 42; D’hulst 2010: 400); and the need for empirical studies on the functional aspects of (translation) paratexts (Genette 1997: 12–15). It provides a digital bibliography that documents what works of Persian literature were translated into English, by whom, where, and when, and explores how these translations were presented to Anglophone readers across three historical periods—1925–1941, 1942–1979, and 1980–2015— marked by important socio-political events in the contemporary history of Iran and the country’s shifting relations with the Anglophone West. Through a methodical search in the library of congress catalogued in OCLC WorldCat, a bibliographical database including 863 editions of Persian-English literary translations along with their relevant metadata—titles in Persian, authors, translators, publishers, and dates and places of publication—was compiled and, through a quantitative analysis of this bibliographical data over time, patterns of translation publication across the given periods
    [Show full text]
  • Kalevala Through Translation: Continuity, Rewriting and Appropriation of an Epic Éric Plourde
    Document generated on 09/28/2021 10:45 a.m. Meta Journal des traducteurs Translators' Journal Kalevala through Translation: Continuity, Rewriting and Appropriation of an Epic Éric Plourde La traduction des noms propres (1) et Langue, traduction et Article abstract mondialisation : interactions d’hier, interactions d’aujourd’hui The Kalevala, the national epic of the Finnish people, published in the 19th Language, Translation and Globalization: Interactions from century and created by E. Lönnrot from songs collected in the Karelian Yesterday, Interactions from Today (2) countryside (Northwestern Russia), is the result of a long process of rewriting. Volume 51, Number 4, décembre 2006 This process has manifested itself through successive retranslations in various languages and through certain strategies favored by the epic’s translators. URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/014343ar Recent translations reflect a tendency to appropriate the epic through the use of a vocabulary and poetic style that are specific to the culture of the translator. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/014343ar For example, verse translations in Tamil are structured in the manner of folk epics of Southern India; while in the French verse translation the translator See table of contents has made abundant use of archaisms and neologisms. Publisher(s) Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal ISSN 0026-0452 (print) 1492-1421 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Plourde, É. (2006). Kalevala through Translation: Continuity, Rewriting and Appropriation of an Epic. Meta, 51(4), 794–805. https://doi.org/10.7202/014343ar Tous droits réservés © Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 2006 This document is protected by copyright law.
    [Show full text]
  • Wordsworth's Prelude." Genre 6 (1973): 142-177
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University English Dissertations Department of English Spring 5-16-2014 Wordsworth’s Prelude: The Continuing Relevance of the Epic in Education David Miller Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss Recommended Citation Miller, David, "Wordsworth’s Prelude: The Continuing Relevance of the Epic in Education." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2014. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss/118 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WORDSWORTH’S PRELUDE: THE CONTINUING RELEVANCE OF THE EPIC IN EDUCATION by DAVID W. MILLER Under the Direction of Dr. Christine Gallant ABSTRACT This study explores “poetic knowledge” as the episteme of the epic. The Romantic epic, as exemplified by Wordsworth's 1805 Prelude, modernized this traditional genre so that the epic continues to be relevant for education today. The initial chapter compares and contrasts the distinctions between poetic and scientific knowledge. Chapter Two explores the didactic possibilities of the epic genre. Chapter Three discusses poetic knowledge as a heterogeneous, variegated, and accommodating episteme that both challenges and accommodates modern conceptions of scientific knowledge. Memory cohesively unifies the narrative of The Prelude. As such, Chapter Four discusses the use of didactic memory in The Prelude. Chapter Five discusses the use of chiasmus in The Prelude, and references the pre-Socratic philosophy of Heraclitus. The first section of Chapter Six explores a postlapsarian “ecology of the mind” as relevant to Book XIII of the 1805 Prelude.
    [Show full text]
  • ED098597.Pdf
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 098 597 CS 201 686 AUTHOR Fleming, Margaret, Ed. TITLE Teaching the Epic. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, PUB DATE 74 NOTE 120p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, Ill. 61801 (Stock No. 38550, $1.95 non-member, $1.75 member) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.75 HC-$5.40 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS American Literature; Bibliographies; Classical Literature; English Instruction; *Epics; German Literature; Greek Literature; High Schools; Legends; *Literary Analysis; Literature; *Literature Appreciation; Medieval Literature; Medieval Romance; Old English Literature; Poetry; Spanish Literature ABSTRAC,.: Assembled to aid high school literature teachers in exploring the epic with their students, materials in this book approach the epic as a product of a specific culture which presents vivid pictures of earlier societies. Following theintroduction and the opening esrRy, "The Role of the Supernatural in theEpic," chapters are grouped under the headings of "Ancient Near Easternand Classical Epics," "Epics of Indiag" "National Epics,""Renaissance Epics," "Christian Epics," and "Epics in America." Four essays are also included: "Epic Themes and Techniques Illustrated in Translations of the Iliad"; "Sample Linguistic Analysis of the Iliad, I. 1-7"; "Suggested Projects for the Study ofEpics"; and "Words of Art, Literature, and Music Based on Epics." Abibliography concludes the book with sections on available paperback epictranslations, available paperback epics in English, epics available in hardback editions only, reference works, and audiovisual teaching materials. (JM) S DE DARTmENt MEAL Tot EOuCATION & WELFARE NAT;010413. INSTITUTE OF EDu<AT 60% , t/t t %Lt tthett t I t .t L'ivtN 9 0 t t 0% 9 %11,/10,.
    [Show full text]
  • Epic and Genre: Beyond the Boundaries of Media Luke Arnott the University of Western Ontario, [email protected]
    Western University Scholarship@Western FIMS Publications Information & Media Studies (FIMS) Faculty 2016 Epic and Genre: Beyond the Boundaries of Media Luke Arnott The University of Western Ontario, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/fimspub Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, and the Film and Media Studies Commons Citation of this paper: Arnott, Luke. “Epic and Genre: Beyond the Boundaries of Media.” Comparative Literature, vol. 68, no. 4, December 2016, pp. 351-369. Epic and Genre: Beyond the Boundaries of Media Luke Arnott [email protected] Faculty of Information and Media Studies 1151 Richmond Street FIMS & Nursing Building (FNB) 2050 London, Ontario N6A 5B9 Revision Submitted to Comparative Literature March 1, 2016 In the classic Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Darmok” (1991), Captain Picard, played by Patrick Stewart, is trapped on a hostile planet where he must cooperate with Dathon, the captain of an alien ship whose language is based entirely on cultural metaphors. Meaningful communication between the two captains succeeds only when Dathon recounts one of his culture’s epic tales, that of “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra,” which he has contrived for Picard and himself to re-enact on the planet; afterward, Picard reciprocates by telling the mortally-wounded Dathon the story of “Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk.” Stewart later recalled that shortly after the episode aired, a college professor sent him a letter pointing out that more people had just learned about the myth of Gilgamesh in that one broadcast than had ever heard it in all of history to that point.
    [Show full text]