Conversational Realities: Constructing Life Through Language"This book is fascinating and--eventually--might prove very valuable for those concerned with SLA." --Studies in Second Language Acquisition Imaginative and original, Conversational Realities claims that psychological and sociological "realities" are both socially constructed and sustained within the context of our everyday conversation. In this interdisciplinary analysis, John Shotter highlights the socially contested--but imaginary--nature of the "things" we talk about in our social lives and throws light on the construction processes of these "things." Using interesting examples from psychotherapy, management, and everyday life, the author offers a broad-ranging exploration of the rhetorical, argumentative nature of conversational communication. Conversational Realities should be read by academics and students of psychology, communication studies, linguistics, and sociology. |
Contents
Knowing from Within | 33 |
Dialogue and Rhetoric in the Construction of Social | 50 |
REALISM THE IMAGINARY AND A WORLD | 65 |
Social Life and the Imaginary | 79 |
Linguistic Relativity in a World of Events | 99 |
CONVERSATIONAL REALITIES | 118 |
Relations | 132 |
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Common terms and phrases
actually already argue aspects attempt background basic Bhaskar Billig called chapter circumstances claims cognitivism communication concept context conversational dialogue Dinka discourse discussion Don Bannister entities epistemology essentially contested concepts Estragon everyday existence fact feel forms of talk formulated function Garfinkel give Godot hermeneutical Hopi human ideological imaginary important individuals interaction intralinguistic involved John Shotter joint action kind knowledge language language-games linguistic lives means mental metaphor mind narrative nature objects one's ontology orderly ourselves people's philosophical possible practical problem produced psychoanalysis psychology psychotherapy realism reality relation representations responsive rhetorical rhetorical-responsive scientific sense sensus communis Shotter situation social activity social construction social constructionism social constructionist society speaker speaking speech structure systematic theoretical theory things thought tradition of argumentation understanding utterances Vico Vygotsky waiting for Godot whole Whorf Wittgenstein words