remainsdiscursive

Remainsdiscursive is an adjective used in discourse studies to describe texts, utterances, or communicative practices that resist closure and maintain ongoing interpretive potential. The term signals a mode in which meaning is continually negotiated, rather than fixed by a single authorial intention or final conclusion. The coinage blends the verb remains with the adjective discursive and has appeared in scholarly and digital cultural commentary since the early 21st century, particularly in analyses of online discussion, participatory media, and open-ended writing.

In practice, remainsdiscursive is used to characterize artifacts such as threaded conversations, comment sections, wikis, and other platforms where interpretation persists and new contributions can modify earlier meanings. Features often associated with remainsdiscursive texts include polyphony of voices, iterative revision, contextual dependencies, and the postponement of closure through disclaimers, hedges, or ongoing disputes.

In research, the concept helps differentiate between discourses that converge toward a stable thesis and those that maintain provisional or evolving meanings. Potential benefits include fostering democratic deliberation and adaptability; drawbacks include sluggish consensus-building and analysis paralysis.

See also: discourse analysis, open text, polyphony, interpretive community, closure in rhetoric.