Three dimensions of dialogical movement

Abstract

After recalling historical and current approaches, I propose a semiotic approach to dialogicality, with a specific focus on cultural elements as markers in the flow of thinking or discourse. My core proposition is to consider dialogical dynamics as taking place in a space organised along three dimensions: 1) a temporal orientation, 2) degrees of fiction, and 3) degrees of generalization. I support my presentation with examples taken from a young woman's diary. Altogether, this raises the question of the possibility of inner dialogicality, and calls for a closer attention to the ethical underpinning of dialogical approaches.