Abstract

This paper investigates paylye ‘caring’ from the perspective of Positioning Theory (Davies & Harré 1990/1999), and in so doing, explores the potential of Positioning Theory to cast new light on future research and education. The first part of the paper argues that the long research tradition on paylye across various disciplines stands in contrast to the relative lack of research attention on its linguistic aspect. It is, therefore, argued that the notion requires language-centered investigation, for which Positioning Theory deserves a serious consideration as a theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical candidate. Second, paylye is examined and in terms of its synchronic bidirectionality, horizontal relativity, vertical multidimensionality, diachronic fluidity, and agentive selectability under the framework of Positioning Theory. Third, the emergence and negotiation of paylye as a discursive process is also explored and explained in van Langenhove & Harré’s (1999) five positioning modes: self- and other-paylye modes; first-order, second-order, and third-order modes; performative and accountive modes; moral and personal modes; tacit, deliberate, and forced modes. In so doing, the study demonstrates that Positioning Theory offers a promising theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical framework for research on paylye that pivots around language at no expense of its moral aspect.

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