This article introduces translation studies in order to theorize about the ways in which international companies approach language diversity. Its purpose is to develop different language strategies relying on theoretical insights borrowed from translation studies. Inspired by historical developments in this discipline, we identify three metaphorical perspectives each with a different conception of translation and language. These perspectives are the theoretical basis on which we develop three language strategies: a mechanical, cultural and political language strategy. For each strategy, we discuss the selection of language(s), the role of translators and the validation method, and formulate proposition about the types of texts being produced. These propositions indicate that, through their international communication process, international companies become scripted as a particular type of multilingual organization, be it a uniform, a culturally specific or a hybrid text.
We use a multi-source, longitudinal case study of one of the world's first and best eco-fashion brands, Osklen, founded by Oskar Metsavaht in Brazil in 1989, to advance a multi-sensorial signalling theory account of sustainable luxury. Our induc- tive theory-building extends traditional signalling theory, especially its recent applica- tions to sustainability, by adding an appreciation of multiple senses and leveraging multi-sensorial methodologies increasingly popular in the marketing and design disciplines. In contrast to the traditional literature on signalling from economics which suggests that signals are most influential when they are visible, clear and easy to interpret (thus carrying unambiguous messages from sender to receiver), we show that balancing luxury and sustainability requires and relies on multi-sensorial, com- plex, even contested signals. We catalogue, classify and compare the signals sent by Osklen within and across the 15 different collections Oskar Metsavaht designed between 2005 and 2013 to explain how signals are deliberately de- and re-composed to combine luxury and sustainability. Our findings encourage sustainability research- ers to take senses seriously and offer practical how-to recommendations to luxury designers committed to making a difference.
This paper proposes that aesthetic inquiry can convey emotional knowledge related to sustainability topics, which is different from scientific inquiry that conveys facts and analysis. Sustainability is an emotionally charged theme of study and people often have difficulty in grappling with its complexity. We provide a method of artbased learning that can help people to understand and deal with sustainability topics as opposed to classical ways of learning (lectures, coursework). Art is a vehicle of human emotions, and aesthetic inquiry can help to get at the emotional connection between humans and nature. During the 'workshop' process we have developed over the past few years, participants produce paintings, drawings and metaphors that bring life to their vision of sustainability. Expressing this perspective as a work of art and sharing it with others, helps them to better understand underlying concepts, creates a sense of community and gives courage to take action.
Working at the intersection of narrative and psychoanalytic theory, we present in this article an affective conceptualization of identity dynamics during times of career change, incorporating the notion of unconscious desires. We propose that frictions in career change narratives, such as the paradoxical co-existence of coherence and ambiguity, allude to unconscious subtexts that can become ‘readable' in the narrative when applying a psychoanalytic framework. We point to the analysis of 30 life story interviews with former management consultants who report upon a past and/or anticipated career change for illustration. By linking three empirically derived narrative strategies for combining coherence and ambiguity (ignoring the change, admitting the ambiguity and depicting a wishful future) with three conceptually informed psychoanalytic ego-defenses (denial, rationalization and sublimation), we provide an analytic framework that helps to explain why workers in transition may try to preserve both coherence and ambiguity when constructing a sense of self through narrative. The analysis of unconscious subtexts reveals that, in times of career change, people's identity constructions are driven by conflicting unconscious desires for self-continuity on one hand and openness on the other.
