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Personal chronotopes in the dialogical self: a developmental case study
Get PDFThis collection on developmental themes contributes to a spate of recent books on the dialogical self (e.g., Aveling et al., 2010; Hermans and Gieser, 2012; Hermans and Hermans-Konopka, 2010). Their emergence confirms the growing importance of 'dialogism' for psychology and the social sciences (Holquist, 2002). In psychological traditions, 'dialogical self theory' (DST) has multiple roots: first, i nthe pragmatism of William James' (1890) notion of an extended (social) self; second, in the social psychology of George Herbert Mead's (1934") focus on 'otherness' as a source of self-reflection; and third (and above all), in an engagement with the concepts of 'dialogiue,' 'polyphony,' 'multio-voicedness' and 'mediation' emerging in the Russian work of Bakhtin (1981, 1984, 1990) and Vygotsky (1978). Bakhtin's dialogical epistemology, in particular, has made possible new linkages from literary and social theory to psychological studies of a more pluralist and relational self than the 'self-contained' one proposed by Enlightenment and individualism (Sampson, 1985). The growing literature spawned by these linkages suggest that the dialogical approach is an important new innovation. At the cultural level, postmodern shifts in the possibilities for the self brought about by global electronic communication and by mass migrations, converge with these recent innovations. In short, more challenging theoretical frameworks are demanded for the study of the self; frameworks which reach beyond traditional Western conceptions of integration, self-containment and sovereign agency (Gergen, 1991; Gregg, 1991)
Introduction: a dialogical paradigm for psychology
No full text[Extract] This volume grew out of a special issue of the International Journal for Dialogical Science (Bertau & Gonçalves, 2007). The journal addresses dialogical processes in human interaction from a psychological perspective, bringing together previously separate theoretical traditions about the 'self' and about 'dialogue' within the innovative framework of 'Dialogical Self Theory' (Hermans & Hermans-Konopka, 2010; Hermans & Gieser, 2012). The special issue was devoted to developmental questions, and so broaches one of the more difficult and challenging topics for models of pluralist self: the question of how the dynamics of multiplicity emerge and change over time. This volume continues that exploration by addressing both ontogenetic questions, directed at the emergence of the dialogical self in early infancy, and microgenetic questions, addressed to later developmental dynamics in adolescence and adulthood. In this volume the contributors also examine development and change in a range of culture-specific settings and practices, including the practices of mothering, of migration and cross-cultural assimilation, and of 'doing psychotherapy.
Multiplicity and conflict in the dialogical self: a life-narrative approach
No full text[Extract] The telling of a definitive life story presents some serious dilemmas (Bruner & Kalmar, 1998; Freeman, 1993). Can one's narrative identity be captured in a single, grand, synthesizing story? Consider your own response to a request to "tell your life story." Taken seriously, the question might prove impossible to answer satisfactorily. Part of the problem is in the singularity and finality of the phrase your life story--as if there could be a definitive account. The phrase presupposes a narrative that is linear, integrated, and coherent, with all the facts about your life neatly tied together with a golden thread, a single narrative voice. I think this assumption is problematic. The story you tell will probably be but one story from a number of possibilities, and therefore the life story could never be encompassed by a monologue. In what follows I argue that the life story is really more like a conversation of narrators, or perhaps a war of historians in your head. This suggests that we must pay close attention to the synchronic, and not just the diachronic, in our efforts to understand the emergence of a narrative identity
Interaction of personal and social positioning in the formation of the dialogical self: a study of Australian adults
No full textPositioning theory, popular in the analysis of discourse, has been invoked to account for the dynamics of conflict in a dialogical self. It is argued that conflicting I-positions may have origins "inside" in terms of personal dynamic conflicts (e.g., over esteem, agency, or communion needs), and "outside" in terms of social constructions (e.g., arising from role conflicts and from embedding in power and status hierarchies). The paper reports findings from a study of positioning that demonstrates interactions between personal and social positioning in the formation
of the dialogical self. Gender differences in positioning are also examined. It is concluded that the self embodies the personal and the social simultaneously, and that to reduce the self to pure "social construction", or its reverse, an echoing, selfcontained reflexivity, is to commit to a reductionist agenda that may ultimately
limit inquiry
The dialogical self as a time-space matrix: personal chronotopes and ambiguous signifiers
No full textDialogical self theory makes explicit use of spatial metaphors. The self is conceptualized as a 'landscape' of decentralized 'I-positions'. While this captures the flux of our experience, our 'positioning' also has continuities over time – a requirement for the telling of history. Hence the dialogical self in its extension might be better conceived as a time–space matrix. Bakhtin called this matrix the "chronotope" and he used it to analyze literary forms. Here, I adapt the concept as a means to study the development of the dialogical self. A model for 'personal chronotopes' is proposed using 'dialogical triads'. Triads are comprised of an I-position, a counter-position, and an ambiguous signifier from the social domain (e.g., a powerful person). Ambiguous signifiers promote decentralizing movements in the self. I propose that personal chronotopes are comprised of a temporally organized string or sequence of dialogical triads. Their emergence is illustrated here using case material
Mapping the dialogical self: Towards a rationale and method of assessment
No full textIt is widely believed that the well-adjusted individual has an integrated, coherent and autonomous 'core self' or 'ego identity'. In this paper it is argued that a 'multi-voiced' or 'dialogical self' provides a better model. In this model the self has no central core; rather, it is the product of alternative and often opposing narrative voices. Each voice has its own life story; each competes with other voices for dominance in thought and action; and each is constituted by a different set of affectively-charged attachments: to people, events, objects and our own bodies. It is argued that by exploring these attachments the dominant narrative voices of the self may be identified. A semi-structured interview protocol, the Personality Web, is introduced as a method for studying the dialogical self. In phase 1, 24 attachments are elicited in four categories: people (6), events (6), places and objects (8), and orientations to body parts (4). During interviewing, the history and meaning of each attachment is explored. In phase 2, participants were asked to group their attachments by strength of association into clusters, and multidimensional scaling was used to map the individual's 'web' of attachments. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, the strategy of clustering attachments was shown to be successful as a means for empirically examining the dialogical self. Two case studies of midlife adults are described to illustrate the arguments and methods proposed
Positioning in the dialogical self: recent advances in theory construction
No full text[Extract] The literature on the dialogical self has grown significantly over the past two decades. The two guiding metaphors of a dialogical approach, namely that the self takes the form of both a 'conversation' and a 'mini-society', have been inspirational for researchers working across many topics in social, cultural and clinical psychology, and in neighbouring social sciences (e.g. Barresi 2002; Bhatia and Ram 2001; Chandler 2004; Fogel et al 2002; Gieser 2006; Hermans 2001; Hermans and Dimaggio 2004; Hermans and Hermans-Konopka 2010; Hermans and Kempen 1 993; Hevern 2004; Josephs 2002; Lewis. 2002; Lysaker 2006; Raggatt 2000, 2006; Sampson 1993; Stiles 1999; Tappan 2005). Fundamental to dialogical self theory (DST) is the proposition that the self has extension in both space and time through processes of positioning. Inspired particularly by William James (1890), Mikhail Bakhtin (1981, 1984) and George Herbert Mead (1934), Hermans (2001) has conceptualized the dialogical self as an extended 'position repertoire'. The repertoire contains a variety of interacting 'internal positions' (e.g. I as adventurer, I as pessimist), 'external positions' (e.g. the imagined voice of my father), and 'outside' positions (e.g. interlocutors, significant others, groups). In this dynamic arrangement, positioning processes are at play on multiple levels: in our 'self-talk', in our relationships, in the social order we inhabit, and in our cultural activities. As the engine of DST, therefore, the concept of positioning has a broad range of convenience with applications at different levels of engagement. Because of this breadth, an integrated, nuanced and comprehensive theory of positioning is needed
Forms of positioning in the dialogical self: a system of classification and the strange case of Dame Edna Everage
No full textNotions of a 'dialogical self' are finding application across many areas of psychology and beyond into neighbouring social sciences disciplines. This breadth, however, creates problems of overall coherence. When authors refer to a 'dialogical self', they are not always talking about the same thing. In this paper I address this problem by considering theories of positioning . I argue that dialogical theory and positioning theory are closely inter-linked, and that forms of positioning which bear on the dialogical self can be classified. A system is outlined which organizes forms of positioning by mode of expression (e.g. discursive, performed, embodied), sources of dynamic conflict (e.g. moral career, agency, communion) and cultural and social constructions (e.g. roles, power hierarchies). The paper discusses the classificatory system and illustrates different forms of positioning in the life of the Australian actor and comic satirist Barry Humphries
Positioning: dialogical voice in mind and culture
No full textThe article combines discourse analysis and dialogical self theory to propose an integrated model of positioning processes in social interaction. The model incorporates social positioning—a focus for discursive psychology—with reflexive positioning—a focus for dialogical self theory. To illustrate the model, a fictionalized scenario is presented involving two people who meet for a date at a restaurant. The discursive dynamics of the scenario are then parsed using the model. The sequelae to the encounter take in the social rules for conducting dates at restaurants, but also the life trajectories of those concerned, their social worlds, and their internal micro-dialogues. Bakhtin's concept of "loophole" is invoked to conceptualize reflexivity in the self, in the context of interactional dialogues. In discussion, the prospects for using fictional accounts as tools for developing psychological theory are considered. Without innovation in methods, advances in our understanding of positioning processes may be compromised
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