dialogismus

Dialogismus, or dialogism, is a concept in literary theory and linguistics that describes how meaning arises from the interaction of multiple voices within a text or discourse, rather than from a single, authoritative voice. The term is closely associated with the Russian philosopher and literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin, though related ideas existed earlier in dialogic theory. In Bakhtin's formulation, language is inherently dialogic: utterances are addressed to someone and are shaped by anticipated responses. Each utterance carries traces of other voices, styles, and social positions.

Key notions include heteroglossia, the co-presence of multiple social languages or standpoint-influenced voices within a single work, and polyphony, the coexistence of independent, unmerged consciousnesses, especially in novelistic discourse. Dialogism emphasizes that characters, narrators, and even narratorial authorities do not speak in isolation; they negotiate, contest, or echo each other, producing meaning through dialogic tension.

In practice, dialogismus is used to analyze how a text integrates various speech genres, ideological voices, and rhetorical styles—often revealing the social and historical dimensions of language. It is contrasted with monologic discourse, where a single voice or perspective dominates.

Applications extend beyond literature to discourse analysis, media studies, and sociolinguistics, where researchers examine how speakers perform identities and positions through voiced interaction. Critics note that the approach can be abstract and requires careful textual or contextual grounding.