Direct Speech, Self-presentation and Communities of Practice

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This book deals with speech representation in Greek adolescents' storytelling and investigates how members of different communities of practice present themselves and other characters as interactional protagonists through the stories they tell. The work puts forth a dynamic approach that examines (direct) speech representation at the local and the broader socio-cultural context in which it is embedded. The concept of community of practice accounts for direct speech variation, and direct speech is seen as the linguistic manifestation of shared repertoire of particular communities of practice. The book combines qualitative with quantitative methods of study and brings together relevant theories of speech representation, narrative analysis and self-presentation.

Reviews

Sofia Lampropoulou's beautifully-exemplified Direct Speech, Self-presentation and Communities of Practice makes interesting contributions to the fields of narrative, the nature of talk, and the construction of gender. Commendably clear in its methodology, it also constitutes an excellent example of contemporary empirical research in linguistics. -- Jane Sunderland, Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, UK
In this thorough exploration of the richness and complexity of speech representation in everyday storytelling Sofia Lampropoulou demonstrates the power of narrative analysis in the investigation of identities as emergent in social practices. -- Anna De Fina, Georgetown University, USA
Sofia Lampropoulou's in-depth study of (direct) speech representation in Greek adolescents' naturally occurring stories makes an original contribution to our understanding of the fascinating relationship between representation through discourse -- including self-presentation and positioning in groups and communities -- and social identities. A valuable resource for scholars with an interest in the linguistic analysis of narratives, communities of practice, and the construction of identity in talk. -- Dr Lia Litosseliti, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, City University London, UK
[T]he book probes and explores new and relevant aspects of interactive storytelling, provides input to the field of narratology through the analysis of direct speech, and illustrates how the complexity and diversity of speech representation is relevant in both the local and socio-cultural context in which it is embedded. The book surely lends a new dimension to Discourse Studies readers interested in interactive storytelling analyses. -- Justina A. Njika, Higher Teacher Training College (ENS), University of Yaounde I, Cameroon * Discourse Studies 16(1) *

Author Bio

Sofia Lampropoulou is Lecturer in English Language at University of Liverpool, UK