Description
Book SynopsisOne of the field's most respected scholars advances a dialogic perspective on communication in personal and familial relationships, presenting the next iteration of relational dialectics theory (RDT).
This is an excellent book and moves one of the major theories in the social sciences forward in very innovative ways. Indeed, this book extends beyond RDT by addressing limitations in the family, interpersonal, and personal relationships literature. I believe this book will prompt many discussions among theorists and researchers in those areas and has the potential to provide exciting new directions in the study of relationships. Glen H. Stamp, Ball State University
Leslie A. Baxter is offering up something here that is desperately needed and fills a big hole for those who adopt RDT as their theoretical framework. . . . I found the conceptual content of the book to be clear, compelling, and provoking. . . . The chapter on contrapuntal a
Table of Contents
Preface 1. Introduction Evaluation of RDT as a Theory Reworkings: Alternative Framings of Interpersonal Communication Overview of the Chapters 2. Mikhail Bakhtin, Dialogism, and RDT Bakhtin’s Life and Selected Key Works Bakhtin’s Dialogism 1919-1924 Bakhtin’s Dialogism Post-1924 Locating Bakhtin’s Theory of Dialogism in Communication Research Locating RDT in Bakhtin’s Dialogism 3. Discursive Struggles of Culture The Utterance Chain Distal Already-Spokens of Culture The Discursive Struggle of Integration The Discursive Struggle of Expression Conclusion 4. Discursive Struggles of Relational History, Otherness, and Normative Evaluation The Proximal Already-Spoken: Discursive Struggles of Relational History The Proximal Not-Yet-Spoken: Discursive Struggles of Otherness The Distal Not-Yet-Spoken: Discursive Struggles of Normative Evaluation Conclusion 5. Centripetal-Centrifugal Struggle Foregrounding Power in Centripetal-Centrifugal Struggle The Interplay of Discourses Communication Genres of Discursive Struggle Conclusion 6. Doing Contrapuntal Analysis Selecting Texts in Contrapuntal Analysis Identifying Competing Discourses Identifying the Interplay of Competing Discourses A Sample Contrapuntal Analysis: A “Dear Birth Mother” Letter Conclusion References Index About the Author
