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Article published In:
Dialogue and Ways of Relating
Edited by Huey-Rong Chen
[Language and Dialogue 10:1] 2020
► pp. 9–28

Reconciling dialogue and propagation

A ventriloquial inquiry

| Université de Montréal (Canada)

Dialoguing is about co-orienting to various elements of a situation, that propagate themselves in what people say and do. In other words, each time people talk about an element of a situation, whether it is the weather, the economy, or the declaration of a presidential candidate, it is, by definition, a way for it to transport itself through time and space, which is the essence of propagation. Language must therefore be rethought as something that not only allows us, but also other things to do things with words. More generally, communication, whether verbal or non-verbal, must be understood as a process by which everything or everyone can always become a medium, sign or intermediary through which other elements propagate, diffuse or disseminate themselves.

Keywords: dialogue, propagation, ventriloquism, agency
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Downstream ventriloquism
  • 3.Upstream ventriloquism
  • 4.Dialogue and propagation: A ventriloquial analysis
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 May 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00057.coo
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