TY - CHAP
T1 - Authentic identity as an achievement
T2 - A view from discursive psychology
AU - Widdicombe, Sue
AU - Xie, Yarong
PY - 2020/8/4
Y1 - 2020/8/4
N2 - This chapter outlines a discursive psychological (DP) approach to authentic identities. DP is the study of how and for what people manage psychological issues such as category membership, identity, and authenticity within sequences of interaction. It assumes that discourse (claims, descriptions, accounts) is constructed and constructive, action oriented, and produced in and for the local context. A DP approach is thus not concerned with who a person “really is,” but how the authenticity of an identity is worked up and what this achieves. We illustrate this approach by (re)analyzing extracts drawn from published studies of youth subcultures, football fans, online discussion forums and support groups. We identify common discursive strategies, such as drawing contrasts with non-genuine members and ascribing the “right” (or wrong) motives or attributes to self, and show how they are used to claim (or reject) the authenticity of various identities. We explain that such claims are “recipient designed”: they require ratification by the interlocutor. They are also “action-oriented” in that they attend to members’ concerns such as interactional and inferential issues. We conclude by summarizing DP’s potential contribution to understanding authentic identities.
AB - This chapter outlines a discursive psychological (DP) approach to authentic identities. DP is the study of how and for what people manage psychological issues such as category membership, identity, and authenticity within sequences of interaction. It assumes that discourse (claims, descriptions, accounts) is constructed and constructive, action oriented, and produced in and for the local context. A DP approach is thus not concerned with who a person “really is,” but how the authenticity of an identity is worked up and what this achieves. We illustrate this approach by (re)analyzing extracts drawn from published studies of youth subcultures, football fans, online discussion forums and support groups. We identify common discursive strategies, such as drawing contrasts with non-genuine members and ascribing the “right” (or wrong) motives or attributes to self, and show how they are used to claim (or reject) the authenticity of various identities. We explain that such claims are “recipient designed”: they require ratification by the interlocutor. They are also “action-oriented” in that they attend to members’ concerns such as interactional and inferential issues. We conclude by summarizing DP’s potential contribution to understanding authentic identities.
KW - discursive psychology
KW - category membership
KW - interaction
KW - discourse
KW - social identity
KW - participants' orientation
U2 - 10.4324/9780429027987-8
DO - 10.4324/9780429027987-8
M3 - Chapter (peer-reviewed)
SN - 9780367136765
T3 - Routledge Advances in Sociology
SP - 107
EP - 123
BT - Studies on the Social Construction of Identity and Authenticity
A2 - Williams, J. Patrick
A2 - Schwarz, Kaylan C.
PB - Routledge
CY - London
ER -