DiscourseandIdentity

Saskia Nolte&MiriamBrandel
 Identity

Whopeoplearetoeachother
(Benwell,Stokoe 2006:6)

Self,selfhood,role,personality,person
description,subject,personformulationetc.
 Wespeakouridentities
(Mishler 1999:19)

(howdifferentkindsofidentitiesareproducedin
spokeninteractionandwrittentexts)
 Examinationofidentityconstructionacrossa
varietyofdiscursivecontexts
Discursiveenvironmentsinwhichidentity
workisbeingdone,e.g.
everydayconversation
institutionalsettings
narratives(stories)
Rangeofdiscourse&interactionanalytic
methodswhichareputtouseinthestudyof
identity,e.g.performativity,conversation
analysis(CA),membershipcategorisation
analysis(MCA),criticaldiscourseanalysis
(CDA),narrativeanalysis
 TOC

ConversationalIdentities(everydayconversation)

InstitutionalIdentities(institutionalsettings)

NarrativeIdentities(personalnarratives)
Microlevelanalysis
Ethnomethodological perspectives:
conversationanalysis
membershipcategorizationanalysis

Microlevelanalysis+macroleveltheorizing
criticaldiscourseanalysis
narrativeanalysis
CONVERSATIONALIDENTITIES
 ConversationalIdentities
Twoapproachestotheanalysisofidentityin
conversation(here:ineverydayinteraction):

1)Performativity

2)Ethnomethodological (EM)approaches:
Conversationanalysis(CA)
Membershipcategorisation analysis(MCA)
 Performativity
Theorizesidentity(especiallygender)as
discursivelyproducedandperformative (Butler
1990)
Identityisadiscursivepractice,adiscoursewe
bothinhabitandemploybutalsoaperformance
Interactionasperformance:
shapedbythedemandsofsettingandaddressee
constructedtomaintainamodeofpresentation
consonantwithparticipants goals(Goffman)
 PerformingFeminineIdentities
Coateshaswrittenextensivelyaboutthe
performance offemininityandmasculinity
Focus:constructionofgenderedsubjectivity,
constructionoffemininity,performanceof
hegemonicmasculinity(Coates1999:123)
allthewaysofbeing[which cultureofferstous]are
gendered (onlydifferentkindsofwoman/man,NOT
differentkindsofperson)(Coates1997:285)
Example:
white,middleclassgirlstryingonmakeup
 PerformingFeminineIdentities
Coatesfocusesonthewaythesegirlsdo orperform their
identity,inthewaytheypresentthemselvesasgendered
beings
Thesequenceworkstoproduceaparticularkindof
appearanceoriented,traditional,heterononormative
femininity
Talkischaracterizedbyarangeoflinguisticpatterns(e.g.
sustainedtopicaltalk,supportiveratherthaninterruptive
overlappingtalk)
Womenstalkislikeajamsession andfunctionsto
developthecooperativeconnectedness andsupportof
theirfriendship
 PerformingFeminineIdentities
Identityrelevantfeaturesinthedata:

1)Overtcompliments(routinefriendshipmaintenance
work)
2)Coconstructionofasharedworld(wearingmake
upispartofdoingfemininity)
3)Highstatusaffordedtolookingnice orgood
(lookinglikeamodel)
 PerformingMasculineIdentities
Mensstories(recognizableassuch)
Perform dominantmasculinityviatheirchoice
oftopic(e.g.themesofpowerandmachinery,
displayofphysicalstrength),focusonaction,
competitivestyle,taboolanguageetc.

COMPARE!
Womensstories:choiceofpersonaltopics,
displaysofsensitivity
 ProblemswithPerformativity
Studiesrelyheavilyonanalysts ratherthan
participants categories

Assumptions aboutwhatthespeakersare
doingratherthanwhatthespeakersdisplay
toeachotherasrelevanttotheir
conversationalbusiness
 ConversationAnalysis
Thestudyoftechnicaltranscriptsofrecordingsof
everydaytalk(naturallyoccurringdata,e.g.
telephoneconversations,dinnertalk)
Focusliesontheturnbyturn(sequential)
organizationofinteraction
Analystsdonotassumeanyspecificrelevance
aheadoftheiranalysis;insteadtheyfocuson
whatmembersorienttointalk(notheoretical
positiononmembers identitiespriortoanalysis)
 4basicconceptsthatunderpinthestudyof
talkspatternsandpractices(Drew2005):

1) Conversationsaremadeupofturns thatarearranged
oneafteranother;turnsarebuiltoutofTCUs
2) Turndesign:whatgoesintoaturn
3) Conversationisnotjusttalk;itachievessocialactions
4) Sequenceorganization:turnsdonotappearinisolation,
areconnectedtoeachother
 ConversationAnalysis
Questioninghowconversationalactionsare
accomplishedasthesystematicproductsof
sequentiallyorderedinteractionsratherthanwhy
theyareperformed
Groundedinwhatparticipantsdoand sayrather
thaninwhatanalyststaketoberelevantasa
functionoftheirhypothesesortheory
Seehowparticipantsthemselvesanalyse and
classifythebusinessthataturnindialogueis
attendingto(Widdicombe andWooffitt 1995:81)
 MembershipCategorization
Analysis
Concernedwiththeorganizationofcommonsense
knowledgeintermsofthecategoriesmembersemployin
accomplishingtheiractivitiesandthroughtalk(Francisand
Hester2004:21)
localmanagementofspeakers categorizationsof
themselvesandothers
BaseduponMCD(membershipcategorizationdevice),
whichexplainshowcategoriesmaybelinkedtogether
Category:man,teacheretc.
Collection:male/female,lawyer/teacher/doctor(profession)
 MembershipCategorization
Analysis
Categories(includingmembers)arelinkedto
particularactions(categoryboundactivities),
characteristics(naturalpredicates),rightsand
obligations thatareexpectableforacategory
incumbent
Categorizationprocessoccursviatherich
inferentialresourceswhicharecarriedinspecific
categories,thatareavailabletomembersofa
culture
 MembershipCategorization
Analysis
Example:
Thebabycried.Themommypickeditup.
(Sacks1972a)
MCD:family,allowsthecategoriesmommy
andbaby tobecollectedtogether

butcategorymembershipisdeniable.
 VarietiesofIdentityinCAandMCA
Tracy(2002)describesseveralpossibilitiesfor
understandingwhatidentity canmeanfor
interactionanalysis,includingobvious kindsof
masteridentities (gender,class),aswellas
interactionalidentities (rolespeopleinhabitin
specificcontexts),relationalidentities (friend,
partner,wife)
 RelationalIdentities
Howpeopledisplaytheirrelationshipsthroughthe
occasioningofrelationshipcategoriesandthedutiesand
obligationsthatareboundtoincumbentsofthose
categories
AnyCAstudyofrelationshipidentitycategories(e.g.friend
friend,motherdaughter)shouldaddressthefollowing
questions:
1) Howdoesexplicitlyinvokingarelationshipcategoryoperatewith
respecttoaccomplishingalocallyrelevantconversationalaction?

2)Howdoesperformingcertainconversationalactionsrelateto
enactingincumbencyinspecificrelationshipcategories?
Example:AnyIdeas???
INSTITUTIONALIDENTITIES
 What are Institutions?
asociallylegitimatedexpertisetogetherwiththose
personsauthorizedtoimplementit (Agar1985:164)
Physicalbuildings
Organizationalsettings(e.g.hospitals,schools)

Powerrelations
notrestrictedtomateriallocations
Binaryoppositions
asymmetricalroles
Powerreflectedasaprocessoraction
Institutionalidentityisafunction
ofpowerrelations
 Institutionaltalk(IT)
Speakershaveinstitutionspecificgoalsto
achieveandthekindsofcontributionsare
limited
thepracticesofordinaryconversationareput
intoamorespecificandrestrictedcontext
 Asymmetricalspeakingrights
Asymmetricalspeakingrights
ex.1:Institutionalrepresentative/client
Institutionalrepresentativehastherighttoask
questions(helplineinteraction,medical
encounters)
Client moralobligation
Predeterminedstructure,turntakingdifferent
 Asymmetricalspeakingrights
ex.2:interviewer/interviewee
preallocatedturntypes(question/answer)
IRislikelytocontrol,IEistryingtogaincontrol
Limitingthedisadvantagesputupbyinstitutional
roles
Macrostructuresandgoalorientations
IThasalwaysan
institutionalgoal
ITlessopenended
thanOT
E.g.Opening,
request,
interrogativeseries,
response,closing
 Identityalignmentwithinstitutions
Rolecategories:addressingateacheras
Miss/Sir orajudgeasMlord
Indexatinstitutionalidentityratherthan
personalidentity
Firstpersonpluralformswe andusinorderto
underlinemembership
Settingspecificandappropriatelexicalchoice
 Institutionalvs.ordinarytalk
Ininstitutionalsettings,thespeakersmay
movebetweenITandOT
Institutionalidentitiesarenotomnirelevant
Institutionality isorientedtowardand
producedbyinteractingpatterns
Institutionality notpresupposed
 Thetwolevelsofinstitutionaltalk
pure CA:treatsconversationitselfasan
institutionandisconcernedwithexplicating
generalitiesaboutthemechanicsand
intelligibilityofsocialaction
applied CA:methodtostudyinteractions
withaninstitutionalpurpose
discourseroles,sequence,turntypes,activitytypes
outcomerelated
bottomup
contextisproduced
CriticalDiscourseAnalysis(CDA)

Themeaningofatextcannotbe
derivedfromthetextitself
 CriticalDiscourseAnalysis(CDA)
LimitationsofCAoftencriticized
Manyproceduresofinstitutionsare
embeddedinthewidercontextof
institutionalpracticesandideologies
CA How
CDA Why
Broadercontext
CDArejectsrestrictiontoempiricalbasis
 CriticalDiscourseAnalysis(CDA)
Discourseanalysischallengesustomovefromseeing
languageasabstracttoseeingourwordsashaving
meaninginaparticularhistorical,social,andpolitical
condition
Languageproduces,reproducesandchangessocial
structures,relationsandidentities
Attempttomediatebetweensocialandlinguistic
causes
Bridgethegapbetweenmicroandmacro
 CDAandIdentity
Identityis
Representationinlanguage
Positionwithindiscourse
Expressionoflanguage

CDAanalysesidentity
NARRATIVEIDENTITIES
 Narrativeidentity Narrativeanalysis
Wespeakouridentities. Interpretativetool
(Mishler 1999:19) designedtoexamine
peopleslivesholistically
Selvesandidentitiesare throughthestoriesthey
constitutedindiscourse, tell.
thereforealsoinstories e.g.Whywasthenarrative
developedinthatwayand
narratorscanproduce toldinthatorder?
edited descriptionsand Nooneagreedmethodfor
evaluationsofthemselves goingaboutanalysing
andothers,makingidentity narrativedata
aspectsmoresalient Manydifferent
(Georgakopoulou 2002) versions/approachesto
narrativeanalysis
Storiedselves (Structuralist approaches,
psychodynamicapproaches,
conversationanalysis)
 Murrays lifestory interview (2003)
Interviewbasedresearch
Tellingofextendedpersonalnarrative
Socialcontextessentialinnarrativeanalysis
Interviewerinfluencesthetelling

(1)Descriptivephase:structureandcontent
(2)Interpretativephase:broadertheoretical
literatures
 Whenthesurgeontoldhershe Shehadalumpectomy,andon
hadcancershewasveryupset: dischargefromhospitalshe
founditverydifficulttocope:

Mrs.B:Itreallyflippedmeright Int:Wasitamastectomyora
out. lumpectomy?
Int:Yeah. Mrs.B:No,itwasjusta
Mrs.B:Itreallyflippedmeout,but lumpectomy.
itwassoquick. Int:Ok.
Int:Hmm,hmm. Mrs.B:Right,andsoIwent
Mrs.B:Like,Ineverhadtimeto throughallthat,andthenIwent
stopandthink. throughayearofchemoand
radiationandwentthroughhell,
Int:Right. butlikebymyself.
Mrs.B:Like,hetoldme,andthenI Int:Hmm.Hmm.
criedforweeks,andthennext []
weekIwasinhospitalandhadit
alldone. Mrs.B:Anditwasterrible,itwas
absolutelyterrible.Ihadno
moralsupport.Ihadnoonehere
tohelp.
 Example
Differentiationbetween regressive,stableand
progressivenarrative(Robinson,1990)

Similarstructure:lifeinhealth(beginning),
diagnosisofcancer(middle),beinghealed(end)

Levelsofanalysis:
1.Personal:individualexperiences
2.Interpersonal:emphasis,organization
3.Societal:broadercontext

+Narrativesinteractively produced
Nodetailedanalysisoftheinterviewersrole