THE THEORY OF AN OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE AS A SPECIAL VIEW ON THE CONCEPT OF “HAPPINESS”

The article analyzes M. Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of an optimal experience and its links with the system of personal attitudes as a component of personal growth and life quality improvement. The factors and conditions are examined that support formation of the autotelic personality, who “independently determines the goals and reflects the idea that most of such person’s goals are intrinsic”. A person, having learned to set goals, developing own skills, attentive to results of their actions, focusing and fully dedicating to a process or an activity, is able to achieve an optimal experience, a flow state in any area of relations with the world, other people, themselves, or in any activity. Key words: personality, attitude, system of attitudes, optimal experience, flow.

The Autotelic Self in Jamaica Kincaid’s at the Bottom of the River

Kincaid’s fiction focused on the Caribbean dislocation and displacement which relates to racism, colonialism, and trans-culturality with little or no consideration of the role of the autotelic self in contesting these cultural forces. This study examines the extent to which the Julia Kristeva’s principles of language and subject formation and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s principles of autotelic personality could intersect with this autotelic self. Using the postcolonial feminist literary theory and the Csikszentmihalyi’s principles of autotelic personality, it seeks to ascertain the degree to which Jamaica Kincaid’s selected fiction violate or adhere to Kristeva’s principles of language and subject formation and Csikszentmihalyi’s principles of autotelic personality. It applied the cultural and novel of the Julia Kristeva’s principles and the Csikszentmihalyi’s principles to Kincaid’s selected poetic novella. The study depicts that Kincaid in the selected novella violates the Kristeva’s principles as well both in the same cadre.

Let there be rock! Loudness and authenticity at the drum kit

In this position paper the author presents a perspective on rock drumming and music education. The author is a drummer and university professor who combines an autoethnographic account with consideration of theoretical frameworks including authenticity, flow and the autotelic personality. Through illustrative vignettes of rock drumming and music teaching, the author appeals to the essentially somatic experience of rock drumming. He argues that educators and educational institutions need to allow for rock’s inherent, authentic loudness or else risk misrepresenting the music and treating drummers unjustly. This means that the physical movements and resulting high volumes germane to much rock drumming in performance must be accommodated in rehearsals and practice. This article does not seek to privilege rock drumming over other forms, but argues that to include rock drumming authentically in education contexts means to acknowledge and celebrate its essence.