'Identity' is a central organizing feature of our
social world. Across the social sciences and humanities,
it is increasingly treated as something that is actively
and publicly accomplished in discourse. This book
defines identity in its broadest sense, in terms of how
people display who they are to each other. Each chapter
examines a different discursive environment in which
people do 'identity work': everyday conversation,
institutional settings, narrative and stories,
commodified contexts, spatial locations, and virtual
environments. The authors describe and demonstrate a
range of discourse and interaction analytic methods as
they are put to use in the study of identity, including
'performative' analyses, conversation analysis,
membership categorization analysis, critical discourse
analysis, narrative analysis, positioning theory,
discursive psychology and politeness theory. The book
aims to give readers a clear sense of the coherence (or
otherwise) of these different approaches, the practical
steps taken in analysis, and their situation within
broader critical debates.Through the use of detailed and
original 'identity' case studies in a variety of spoken
and written texts in order, the book offers a practical
and accessible insight into what the discursive
accomplishment of identity actually looks like, and how
to go about analyzing it. Features: *Accessible
introduction to the study of discourse and identity
across a variety of contexts. *Interdisciplinary in
scope, the book is relevant to a wide range of courses
such as English language and linguistics, psychology,
media, cultural studies, gender studies and sociology.
*Each chapter includes a critical overview of work in
the area, original case studies, practical instruction
for analyses, points for further discussion and
suggested reading. |
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