The "boomerang" effect of the radicalism in discourse analysis
The "boomerang" effect of the radicalism in discourse analysis
The "boomerang" effect of the radicalism in discourse analysis
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<strong>the</strong> social <strong>discourse</strong>s, but with a diverse <strong>the</strong>oretical-methodological option. <strong>The</strong> RDA<br />
starts from <strong>the</strong> assumption that human be<strong>in</strong>gs produce <strong>discourse</strong>s and representations <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> reality that are ever changeable <strong>in</strong> relation to <strong>the</strong> situations, by us<strong>in</strong>g various<br />
<strong>in</strong>terpretative repertoires.<br />
“Interpretative repertoires are used to perform different sort <strong>of</strong> account<strong>in</strong>g tasks. Because people go<br />
through life faced with an ever-chang<strong>in</strong>g kaleidoscope <strong>of</strong> situations, <strong>the</strong>y will need to draw upon very<br />
different repertoires to suit <strong>the</strong> needs at hand.”<br />
(Potter & We<strong>the</strong>rell, 1987, p.156)<br />
Consequently <strong>the</strong> RDA is ma<strong>in</strong>ly <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> study <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> contextual variability<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>discourse</strong>s and <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bond between <strong>the</strong> <strong>discourse</strong>s and <strong>the</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>gent goals<br />
suggested by <strong>the</strong> impersonal context. <strong>The</strong> SRT is <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> study both <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
shared elements and <strong>of</strong> those dynamically different that characterise <strong>the</strong> <strong>discourse</strong>s, i.e.<br />
<strong>of</strong> those elements that make <strong>the</strong> <strong>discourse</strong> produced by <strong>the</strong> various social groups<br />
recognisable and reveal <strong>the</strong> tak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> position between <strong>the</strong> multiple and pluralist<br />
prospects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> various social <strong>discourse</strong>s.<br />
“(...) l<strong>in</strong>guistically mediated social representations to some extent are negotiable and border on our<br />
imperfect knowledge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world. What is made known by what is said <strong>in</strong> particular context <strong>of</strong> human<br />
<strong>discourse</strong> is thus a considerable degree cont<strong>in</strong>gent upon negotiated specification <strong>of</strong> l<strong>in</strong>guistically mediated<br />
general drafts <strong>of</strong> contract concern<strong>in</strong>g categorisation. Negotiated specification, moreover, allows for<br />
adjustment <strong>of</strong> categorisations <strong>in</strong> accordance with private and contextually determ<strong>in</strong>ed perspectives. And<br />
mutual understand<strong>in</strong>g will always entail a residual <strong>of</strong> presupposed commonality with respect <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>terpretation or faith <strong>in</strong> a common world.”<br />
(Rommetveit, 1984, p. 357-8)<br />
<strong>The</strong>refore, for <strong>the</strong> SRT each participant, although negotiat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> mean<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
communication <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> situational and immediate <strong>in</strong>teractive context, aims at<br />
express<strong>in</strong>g a po<strong>in</strong>t <strong>of</strong> view that reflects also previous social <strong>in</strong>fluences on <strong>the</strong> hereand-now<br />
<strong>in</strong>teraction. <strong>The</strong> SRT does not deny that <strong>the</strong> viewpo<strong>in</strong>ts may be negotiated,<br />
justified or masked <strong>in</strong>side particular discussions and <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> immediate particular<br />
goals. <strong>The</strong> TRS merely reta<strong>in</strong>s that <strong>the</strong>se po<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>of</strong> view are nourished from even<br />
previous <strong>discourse</strong>s and social <strong>in</strong>fluences, that orient <strong>the</strong> discursive production<br />
developed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> course <strong>of</strong> a specific <strong>in</strong>teraction. If it is true that <strong>the</strong> <strong>discourse</strong>s vary <strong>in</strong><br />
terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> micro-temporal contexts, it is also true that, <strong>in</strong> many ways, <strong>the</strong>se same<br />
<strong>discourse</strong>s reflect <strong>the</strong> po<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>of</strong> view nourished by previously spoken <strong>discourse</strong>s, reelaborated<br />
<strong>in</strong> connection to a personal, social and collective memory <strong>of</strong> wider range and<br />
<strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> semantic contexts activated by <strong>the</strong> imag<strong>in</strong>ative capacities.<br />
Thus come <strong>in</strong>to play both <strong>the</strong> articulation between relational micro-contexts and<br />
socio-cultural macro-context, and <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> social and collective memory as well<br />
as that <strong>of</strong> imag<strong>in</strong>ation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> structural role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> context is <strong>the</strong>orised both by <strong>the</strong> RDA and by <strong>the</strong> SRT and <strong>in</strong><br />
both paradigms <strong>the</strong> context is brought back with priority to <strong>the</strong> common places <strong>of</strong> daily<br />
life, ra<strong>the</strong>r than artificially recreated <strong>in</strong> laboratories with little ecological validity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
research (although some researches based on DA are performed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> laboratory on adhoc<br />
created groups and some developments <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> SRT do not rule out also <strong>the</strong><br />
experimental approach, when <strong>the</strong> SRs are isolated <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> research designs and treated as<br />
<strong>in</strong>dependent variables). However, <strong>the</strong> context is considered <strong>in</strong> a fairly different way. <strong>The</strong><br />
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