“Silent” monologues, “loud” dialogues and the emergence of hibernated I-positions in the negotiation of multivoiced cultural identities

Abstract

Drawing on dialogical self theory (Hermans, 2001) and employing a case study approach, this article aims to provide insights into the dialogical processes through which two British-born siblings of Pakistani background construct and negotiate their cultural identities. The analysis suggests that both young people were moving towards their multivoiced cultural identities through a constant positioning and re-positioning within their communities, which resulted in dialogical negotiation of aspects of differences/similarities and belonging within their majority and minority communities as well as living in a multicultural society. When their negotiation is a struggle shaped by issues of racism and religious discrimination, two opposing processes are constructed, a dynamic dialogical and a monological one. We introduce the notion of hibernated I-positions as a resource to deal with rapid change, threat and uncertainty. I-positions that are inactive, or are in a hibernated state and silenced, are always available to reemerge and become engaged in a new dialogue to help retain identity continuity. In this

Adaptation in a dialogical perspective—From acculturation to proculturation

“…Expectations about future also have influence on culture. So, culture, as well as personality, can never be self-sufficient and isolated as it is substantially formed and occasionally reconstructed through dialog with others (Prokopiou, Cline, & Abreu, 2012) in a various temporal and spatial dimensions. Meaning making is a collective process and is influenced by all elements which are involved or even just anticipated.…”

Reification and the refugee: Using a counterposing dialogical analysis to unlock a frozen category

“…When positioned within a category and facing authoring and Othering, Marková's epistemic commitment to dialogicality allows for a dynamic sense of the strategic re-workings possible (Andreouli, 2013;Gillespie, Kadianaki, & O'Sullivan-Lago, 2012;Marková, 2003Marková, , 2016Prokopiou, Cline, & de Abreu, 2012). Moving into a new country involves taking the other's voice, internalizing that voice as stigma and rejecting and delegitimizing that voice to enable new counter-positions and transformative effects on identity and decision-making (Kadianaki, 2014).…”

Making things visible: The dialogical and the monological within the human nature

“…The latter is especially important in our modern world, where the conflicts or misunderstandings between groups of different people (often being labelled as “minorities” and “majorities”) are widely discussed from different angles (see e.g. Prokopiou, Cline, & de Abreu, 2012). Understanding presupposes a dialogue as a specific way of functioning and acting.…”

“…when a person becomes totally blind). Prokopiu and colleagues (2012) showed how the colour of the skin of a youngster of Pakistani background (the case of Fahim) provokes a whole set of meanings about himself (“different colour of skin” – “religion” – “terrorist”). Thus, a specific marker (appearance) provokes a set of possible explanations and finds a reflection in the person himself – “I probably feel like I’ve got a different colour of skin” (Prokopiu et al., 2012, p. 500).…”

“…Prokopiu and colleagues (2012) showed how the colour of the skin of a youngster of Pakistani background (the case of Fahim) provokes a whole set of meanings about himself (“different colour of skin” – “religion” – “terrorist”). Thus, a specific marker (appearance) provokes a set of possible explanations and finds a reflection in the person himself – “I probably feel like I’ve got a different colour of skin” (Prokopiu et al., 2012, p. 500). Even in the second case (Azra) the importance of difference such as colour of skin in marked:Most of them [people in England] are racist I think toward Pakistani people and some of them are really nice... when people are racist against any religion or colour or faith it’s just gets on my nerves because “why they’re saying that?” (Prokopiu et al., 2012, p. 501)…”