Reverberation Between I-Positions: How Border Tensions Function in Meaning Construction

Abstract

The Self is a hypercomplex concept that humankind has given to their essence, which has been consequently explored as a social construct or an individual concept. Nevertheless, we have only recently started to overcome the idea that the Self is simply one unity. With Hermans’ Dialogical Self Theory (2001) it became much more common to see the Self as a polysemic and dynamic concept, consisting of I-positions, that constantly remain in dialogue with one another while maintaining the relative stability of the Self as a whole. In the following contribution, this dynamic notion of the Self is enhanced by the elaboration of how this dynamic concept is guided in its process, by the implemented borders -introduced in analogy with particle borders-. Elementary for our ongoing in exploring the complexity of the Self is to learn to understand therefore the inner movement of the fragmental units that result in the experienced Self. A movement that is explored and defined as reverberating and reminds explorers of the self to be aware that the topic they tackle is always in change and strongly influenced by the positions they find themselves in -for looking into the future, past, and present.