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Article published In:
Narrative Inquiry
Vol. 31:2 (2021) ► pp.263–286

Entextualizing and contextualizing the status quo in domestic violence narratives

ORCID logo | University of Utah
Victim/survivors of domestic violence are asked to tell their stories many times, in different contexts, and for different audiences. These stories are contextualized for the new context and audience at the same time that they become texts – entextualization – in that context. This article argues that narrative is produced via the co-processes of entextualization and contextualization (Silverstein & Urban, 1996). The co-processes of entextualization/contextualization in domestic violence narratives about staying and leaving violent relationships produce stories that comport with the status quo, as it is envisioned in the stories of the victim/survivors. Using staying/leaving stories of domestic violence victim/survivors, I show that entextualizations/contextualizations are (1) socioculturally saturated processes and (2) rhetorical arguments. I argue that narratives entextualize/contextualize events of domestic violence in ways that involve and comply with the status quo. Ultimately, these processes create discursive resources that reinforce domestic violence.
Keywords: entextualization, contextualization, argument, status quo, domestic violence
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Narrative data
  • Text, context, culture
  • Discourse analysis and domestic violence
  • Staying stories
  • Leaving stories
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 10 February 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.19052.and
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Cited by two other publications

Andrus, Jennifer
2024. ‘My word against his’: Micro and macro analysis of stories about violence in intimate partner relationships. Language & Communication 98 ► pp. 74 ff. DOI logo
Andrus, Jennifer & Nicole Clawson
2024. ‘We get that’: Narrative indexicality and the construction of frustration in police stories about domestic violence victim/survivors. Language in Society 53:2 ► pp. 239 ff. DOI logo

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