Towards a convergence of Dialogical Self Theory and Semiotic Self Theory through triadic phenomenology

Abstract

We propose a theoretical convergence between Dialogical Self Theory and Semiotic Self Theory by using C. S. Peirce’s phenomenology as a metatheoretical framework. Peirce’s categories of Firstness, Secondness, and Thirdness account for all kinds of experience; they are distinct but intertwined. Our hypothesis is that this theoretical umbrella can combine complementary aspects of both theories, such as space and time, and the multivoicedness and integrative tendencies of the self. We apply the categories to analyze the externalization of the internal conversation of a participant in a qualitative study. The dialogue was elicited through a psychodramatic instrument that is based on J. L. Moreno’s empty-chair technique. In the resulting discourse, we observed aspects of Firstness: the fluctuating multiplicity of the I; of Secondness: the dyadic relation between pairs of I-positions; and of Thirdness: the self construed as a developing sign process that generates interpretants/voiced positions, and tends towards unity.

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