Chapter 2: Exploring Voice: A Psycholinguist’s Inquiry into the Dynamic Materiality of Language¹

The notion of voice is fundamental to the theory of the dialogical self (Hermans & Dimaggio, 2004;,Hermans & Hermans-Konopka, 2010;,Hermans & Kempen, 1993; Josephs, 2002). A brief look at the notion’s usage in this theory hints at some core ideas related to it, the most important one being voice as embodied entity.

In its connection to therapeutic work, the notion of voice is closely related to processes of change, to the development of new and different positions in the self. The spatialization of self (Hermans, 1996) allows for simultaneously different positions, and for movement between these positions. The I moves in this space, having the capacity to “endow each position with a voice” (Hermans, 1996), thus establishing dialogical relationships between positions. Hence, in “voice” it is the process of giving a voice, and through this, to come into a process of change, that matters; voice and position are the basic notions constructing the space of Self, its perspectivity, its stories, its coherence (see e.g., Raggatt, 2006,,2010). Movements in the self are conceived either as centrifugal (multiplicity of positions, discontinuity and innovation, risk of fragmentation), or as centripetal, with emergent meta-positions (continuity and stability, risk of rigidity). These movements are in constant tension and complement each other (Hermans & HermansJansen, 1995). The processes of voicing or silencing can be seen as carrying these movements. Therefore, in the work of Hermans, I would underline the generating character as a basic feature in the concept of voice.