Abstract
The following commentary critically reflects on the pragmatic and semiotic approach to language and identity articulated by Tapia, Rojas, and Picado (Culture & Psychology, Tapia et al. 2017). The following questions are central: 1) What theoretical position is (tacitly) being articulated regarding the nature of language and discourse? Although the authors admit that an explicit theorization of language and discourse is not their focus, the absence of a clear theoretical position is conspicuously problematic. And 2) is there an unintended cognitivism present in the way the authors formulate the relationship between language/discourse and identity? After discussing these questions, select parts of a radical interactional approach, grounded in discursive positioning, will be presented as an amendment to the present work, insofar as it attempts to both articulate a progressive theorization of language and discourse and avoid an unintended slide into cognitivism.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antaki, C., & Widdicombe, S. (Eds.) (1998). Identities in talk. London: Sage.
Bamberg, M. (2003). Positioning with Davie Hogan. Stories, tellings, and identities. In C. Daiute & C. Lightfoot (Eds.), Narrative analysis: studying the development of individuals in society (pp. 135–157). London: Sage.
Barthes, R. (1964). Elements of sociology. New York: Hill & Wang.
Derrida, J. (1976). In G. C. Spivak (trans.), Of grammatology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Edwards, D. (1995). Two to tango: script formulations, dispositions, and rhetorical symmetry in relationship troubles talk. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 28, 319–350.
Edwards, D. (1997). Discourse and cognition. London: Sage.
Edwards, D., & Potter, J. (1992). Discursive psychology. London: Sage.
Foucault, M. (1970). The order of things. New York: Vintage.
Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge. London: Routledge.
Gergen, K. J. (1973). Social psychology as history. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26, 309.
Gergen, K. J. (1994). Realities and relationships: soundings in social construction. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Gergen, K. J. (1999). An invitation to social construction. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Gergen, K. J. (2009). Relational being: beyond self and community. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harré, R., & Secord, P. F. (1972). The explanation of social behaviour. London: Sage.
Henriques, J., Hollway, W., Urwin, C., Venn, C., & Walkerdine, V. (1984). Changing the subject: psychology, social regulation, and subjectivity. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
Jefferson, G. (2004). Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. In G. Lerner (Ed.), Conversation analysis: studies from the first generation (pp. 13–31). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Korobov, N. (2006). The management of ‘nonrelational sexuality’: positioning strategies in adolescent male talk about (hetero)sexual attraction. Men and Masculinities, 8, 493–517.
Korobov, N. (2010). A discursive psychological approach to positioning. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 7, 263–277.
Korobov, N. (2011a). Gendering desire in speed-dating interactions. Discourse Studies, 13, 461–485.
Korobov, N. (2011b). Mate-preference talk in speed-dating conversations. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 44, 186–209.
Korobov, N. (2013). Positioning identities: a discursive approach to the negotiation of gendered categories. Narrative Inquiry, 23, 111–131.
Korobov, N. (2014). Identities as an interactional process. In K. C. McLean & M. Syed (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Identity Development. Oxford University Press.
Korobov, N., & Bamberg, M. (2004a). Positioning a ‘mature’ self in interactive practices: how adolescent males negotiate ‘physical attraction’ in group talk. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22, 471–492.
Korobov, N., & Bamberg, M. (2004b). Development as micro-genetic positioning: a response to the commentaries. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22, 521–530.
Korobov, N., & Bamberg, M. (2007a). “strip poker! They don’t show nothing”: positioning identities in adolescent male talk about a television game show. In A. De Fina, M. Bamberg, & D. Schiffrin (Eds.), Selves and identities in narrative and discourse (pp. 253–272). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Korobov, N., & Bamberg, M. (2007b). “strip poker! They don’t show nothing”: positioning identities in adolescent male talk about a television game show. In A. De Fina, M. Bamberg, & D. Schiffrin (Eds.), Selves and identities in narrative and discourse (pp. 253–272). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Korobov, N., & Thorne, A. (2007). How late adolescent friends share stories about relationships: the importance of mitigating the seriousness of romantic problems. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27, 971–992.
Mandelbaum, J. (2003). Interactive methods for constructing relationships. In P. Glenn, C. LeBaron, & J. Mandelbaum (Eds.), Studies in language and social interaction: in honour of Robert hopper (pp. 207–220). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates.
Packer, M. (1987). Social interaction as practical activity: implications for the study of social and moral development. In W. M. Kurtinez & J. L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Moral development through social interaction. New York: John Wiley.
Pomerantz, A., & Mandelbaum, J. (2005). A conversation analytic approach to relationships: their relevance for interactional conduct. In K. Fitch & R. E. Sanders (Eds.), Handbook of language and social interaction (pp. 149–171). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates.
Potter, J. (1996). Representing reality: discourse, rhetoric and social construction. London: Sage.
Potter, J., & Edwards, D. (1999). Social representations and discursive psychology: from cognition to action. Culture and Psychology, 5(4), 447–458.
Potter, J., & Edwards, D. (2003). Sociolinguistics, cognitivism and discursive psychology. International Journal of English Studies, 3, 93–109.
Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology: beyond attitudes and behaviour. London: Sage.
Sacks, H. (1992). In G. Jefferson (Ed.), Lectures on Conversation, 2 vols. Oxford: Blackwell.
Speer, S. (2005). Gender talk. Feminism, discourse and conversation analysis. London: Routledge.
Speer, S., & Stokoe, E. (2011). Conversation and gender. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Stokoe, E. (2004). Gender and discourse, gender and categorization: current developments in language and gender research. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1, 107–129.
Stokoe, E. (2006). On ethnomethodology, feminism, and the analysis of categorical reference to gender in talk-in-interaction. The Sociological Review, 54, 467–494.
Stokoe, E. (2010). Gender, conversation analysis, and the anatomy of membership categorization practices. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4, 428–438.
Stokoe, E., & Smithson, J. (2001). Making gender relevant: conversation analysis and gender categories in interaction. Discourse & Society, 12, 217–244.
Tapia, J., Rojas, A., & Picado, K. (2017). Pragmatics of the development of personal identity in adolescents in Latin American context. Culture & Psychology.
Wilkinson, C., & Kitzinger, C. (2003). Constructing identities: a feminist conversation analytic approach to positioning in action. In R. Harré & F. Moghaddam (Eds.), The self and others. Positioning individuals and groups in personal, political, and cultural contexts (pp. 157–180). Westpoint, CT: Praeger.
Wilkinson, S., & Kitzinger, C. (2008). Using conversation analysis in feminist and critical research. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2, 585.
Wood, L. A., & Kroger, R. O. (2000). Doing discourse analysis: methods for studying action in talk and text. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
Neill Korobov declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Korobov, N. Theorizing Language and Discourse for the Interactional Study of Identities. Integr. psych. behav. 51, 51–61 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-016-9371-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12124-016-9371-5