Self-Imaging in the Transition to Adolescence: Exploring a Semiotic-Cultural Approach to Self-Development

Abstract

After the narrative turn in the social sciences, the concept of self came to be defined as narratively constructed. Among the theoretical perspectives based on this assumption, Dialogical Self Theory, as proposed by Hermans and collaborators, emphasizes relational and decentralized aspects of the self. Inspired by M. Bakhtin’s ideas of the polyphonic novel and by W. James’s distinction between self as knower and self as known, Hermans conceptualizes self as a multiplicity of relatively autonomous I-positions with stories to tell about their singular experiences, from their own respective points of view. The dialogical self is conceived as social in the sense that voices from other people occupy positions in the multivocal self. The emergent totality is a narratively structured self, within which power relations of dominance and subordination are established. Herman’s notion of dialogical self has been criticized, especially regarding difficulties in describing the movement of self development through time, and in explaining how possible conflicts and oppositions between voices may be resolved. In this scenario, the present chapter brings the perspective of Cultural Psychology to complement the dialogical approach, putting greater emphasis on semiotic-affective processes, as well as on temporality and embodiment—conceiving the dialogical self as cultural and semiotic. A case study is presented to illustrate this articulation and to highlight the relevance of imaginative processes—such as self-imaging—in self development.