Cover not available
Article published In:
Language, discourse and identities: Snapshot from Greek contexts
Edited by Alexandra Georgakopoulou and Vally Lytra
[Pragmatics 19:3] 2009
► pp. 341–360

Constructing social identities through story- telling

Tracing Greekness in Greek narratives

The present paper is concerned with the narratives produced in the conversations of six young people in Greece. Drawing on the broader framework of Discourse Analysis and Sociolinguistics as well as on the Social Constructionist paradigm, our paper follows the line of research that focuses on situated analysis of identities. Initially, the paper sets out to examine the identity(ies) constructed through the stories these people tell in the specific encounters. The overall aim of the paper is to relate these locally constructed identities to the larger socio-cultural identity of the participants and to examine whether they can be seen as indices of Greekness. Our analysis shows that, in the course of their story-telling, the participants construct ‘in-group’ identities mainly by co-constructing their narratives and by performing successive narratives with a similar point. The interactants’ foregrounding and cultivation of their in-group identity is probably an indication of their Greekness, namely of the attested tendency of Greek people to value and thus cultivate in-group relations of intimacy and solidarity in interaction.

Keywords: Co-constructed narratives, In-group relations, Identity construction, Greek socio-cultural environment, Positive politeness, Parallel narratives
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 1 September 2009
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.19.3.03arc
References
Androutsopoulos, J.K., and A. Georgakopoulou
(2003) Discourse constructions of youth identities. Introduction. In J.K. Androutsopoulos & A. Georgakopoulou (eds.), Discourse constructions of youth identities. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 1-25. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Antaki, C., and S. Widdicombe
(1998) Identity as an achievement and as a tool. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (eds.), Identities in talk. London: Sage, pp. 1-14.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Archakis, A
(2002) Narrative and identity. Evidence from the analysis of youth conversations. Glossologia 141: 137-154 [in Greek].Google Scholar
Bamberg, M
(1997) Positioning between structure and performance. Journal of Narrative and Life History 7.1-4: 335-342. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S
(1993) “You gotta know how to tell a story”. Telling, tales, and tellers in American and Israeli narrative events at dinner. Language in Society 221: 361-402. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, P., and S.C. Levinson
(1987) Politeness. Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cheshire, J
(2000) The telling or the tale? Narratives and gender in adolescent friendship networks. Journal of Sociolinguistics 4.2: 234-262. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Cameron D
(1997) Performing gender identity. Young men’s talk and the construction of heterosexual masculinity. In S. Johnson & U.H. Meinhof (eds.), Language and masculinity. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 47-64.Google Scholar
Coates, J
(2003) Men talk. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.  BoP DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Coupland, N
(2001) Language, situation, and the relational self. Theorizing dialect-style in sociolinguistics. In P. Eckert & J.R. Rickford (eds.), Style and sociolinguistic variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 185-210.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Davies B., and R. Harré
(1990) Positioning. The discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 201: 43-46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Fina, A
(2003) Identity in narrative. A study of immigrant discourse. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Duszak, A
(2002) Us and others. An introduction. In A. Duszak (ed.), Us and others. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 1-28. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Eckert, P., and S. McConnell-Ginet
(1992) Think practically and look locally. Language and gender as community-based practice. Annual Review of Anthropology 211: 461-490. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Εdelsky, C
(1981) Who’s got the floor. Language in Society 10.3: 383-421. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Freeman M
., and J. Brockmeier (2001) Narrative integrity. Autobiographical identity and the meaning of the “good life”. In J. Brockmeier & D. Carbaugh (eds.), Narrative and identity. Studies in autobiography, self and culture.Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 75-99. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frosh S., A. Phoenix, and R. Pattman
(2002) Young masculinities. Understanding boys in contemporary society. China: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Georgakopoulou A
(1995) Women, men, and conversational narrative performances: Aspects of gender in Greek storytelling. Anthropological Linguistics 37.4: 460-487.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Georgakopoulou, Α
(1997) Narrative performances. A study of Modern Greek storytelling. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1999) Doing youth in and through conversational narratives. In J. Verschueren (ed.), Language and ideology. Selected papers from the 6th International Pragmatics Conference, V.1. Antwerp: International Pragmatics Association, pp. 125-142.Google Scholar
Georgakopoulou, A
(2001) Arguing about the future. On indirect disagreement in conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 331: 1881-1900. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
(2004) Reflections on language-centred approaches on Modern Greek ‘society’ and ‘culture’. ΚΑΜΠΟΣ: Cambridge Papers in Modern Greek 121: 45-68.Google Scholar
(2005) Same old story? On the interactional dynamics of shared narratives. In U.M. Quasthoff & T. Becker (eds.), Narrative interaction. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 223-241. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
(2007) Small stories, interaction and identities. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Goffman, E
(1974) Frame analysis. London: Harper and Row.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Herzfeld, M
(1983) Looking both ways. The ethnographer in the text. Semiotica 461: 151-166. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hirschon, R
(2001) Freedom, solidarity and obligation: The socio-cultural context of Greek politeness. In A. Bayraktaroğlu & M. Sifianou (eds.), Linguistic politeness across boundaries: The case of Greek and Turkish . Amsterdam and New York: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 17-42. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Labov, W
(1972) Language in the inner city. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Labov, W., and D. Fanshel
(1977) Therapeutic discourse. New York: Academic Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Lampropoulou S
(2007) Forms and functions of direct speech in Greek adolescents' storytelling: Identity construction through direct speech. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University.
Makri-Tsilipakou, M
(2003) Greek diminutive use problematized: Gender, culture and common sense. Discourse & Society 14.6: 699-726. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Monzoni, Ch.M
(2005) The use of interjections in Italian conversations. The participation of the audience in narratives. In U.M. Quasthoff & T. Becker (eds.), Narrative interaction. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 197-220. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McGurn, J.
(2005) Hidden lanes. Bike Culture 15. [URL] [last accessed on 18/9/05]
Norrick, N.R
(1997) Twice-told tales. Collaborative narration of familiar stories. Language in Society 261:199-200. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pavlidou, Th
(1994) Contrasting German-Greek politeness and the consequences. Journal of Pragmatics 211: 487-511. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Polanyi, L
(1979) So what’s the point? Semiotica 251: 207-241. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rickford, J.R., and P. Eckert
(2001) Introduction. In P. Eckert & J.R. Rickford (eds.), Style and sociolinguistic variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-18.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Sacks, H
(1992) Lectures on conversation (V. I and II). Edited by G. Jefferson. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Sarbin, T.R., and J.I. Kitsuse
(1994) A prologue to “Constructing the social”. In T.R. Sarbin & J.I. Kitsuse (eds.), Constructing the social. London: Sage, pp. 1-17.Google Scholar
Schiffrin, D
(1996) Narrative as self-portrait. Sociolinguistic construction of identity. Language in Society 251: 167-203. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Sifianou, M
(1992) Politeness phenomena in England and Greece. A cross-cultural perspective. Oxford: Clarendon Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
(2006) Discourse analysis. An introduction. 2nd edition. London: Hillside press.Google Scholar
Tannen, D
(1979) What’s in a frame? Surface evidence for underlying expectations. In R.O. Freedle (ed.), New directions in discourse processing. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, pp. 137-181.Google Scholar
(1980) A comparative analysis of oral narrative strategies: Athenian Greek and American English. In W. Chafe (ed.), The pear stories: Cognitive, cultural, and linguistic aspects of narrative production (Advances in discourse processes III). Norwood, NJ: Ablex, pp. 51-87.Google Scholar
(1982) The oral/literate continuum in discourse. In D. Tannen (ed.), Spoken and written language: Exploring orality and literacy . Norwood, NJ: Ablex, pp. 1-16.  BoPGoogle Scholar
(1983) “I take out the rock-dok!” How Greek women tell about being molested (and create involvement). Anthropological Linguistics 251: 359-374.Google Scholar
(1984) Conversational style: Analyzing talk among friends. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.  BoPGoogle Scholar
(1989) Talking voices: Repetition, dialogue and imagery in conversational discourse. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Tannen, D., and Ch. Kakava
(1992) Power and solidarity in Modern Greek conversation: Disagreeing to agree. Journal of Modern Greek Studies 101: 12-34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Triandis, H.C., and V. Vassiliou
(1972) A comparative analysis of subjective culture. In H.C. Triandis (ed.), The analysis of subjective culture. New York: Wiley, pp. 299-335.Google Scholar
Tsitsipis, L.D
(1998) A linguistic anthropology of praxis and language shift: Arvanitika (Albanian) and Greek in contact. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Tzanne, A
(1997) The pragmatics of interventions in encounters among Greeks. In G. Drachman, Α. Malikouti-Drachman, J. Fykias & C. Klidi (eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Greek Linguistics. Salzburg: University of Salzburg, pp. 335-344.Google Scholar
(2001) “What you’re saying sounds very nice and I’m delighted to hear it”. Some considerations on the functions of presenter-initiated simultaneous speech in Greek panel discussions. In A. Bayraktaroğlu & M. Sifianou (eds.), Linguistic politeness. The case of Greece and Turkey.Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 271-306. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) Η γλωσσική οικοδόμηση της ταυτότητας στην ελληνική τηλεόραση: η περίπτωση του Συν και Πλην [The linguistic construction of identity on Greek television: The case of Syn kai Plin]. In Department of Linguistics, University of Athens (eds.) Γλωσσικός περίπλους: Μελέτες αφιερωμένες στη Δήμητρα Θεοφανοπούλου-Κοντού [Linguistic voyage: Studies dedicated to Dimitra Theophanopoulou-Kontou]. Athens: The book institute-Α. Kardamitsa, pp. 352-363.Google Scholar
van Dijk, T.A
(1998) Ideology. An interdisciplinary approach. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Widdicombe, S
(1998) “But you don’t class yourself”: The interactional management of category membership and non-membership. In C. Antaki & S. Widdicombe (eds.), Identities in talk. London: Sage, pp. 52-70.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 7 other publications

Aboh, Romanus & Esther Igwanyi
2021. Igbo endearment terms: In-group identity construction in selected novels by Achebe and Adichie. South African Journal of African Languages 41:2 ► pp. 123 ff. DOI logo
Karachaliou, Rania & Argiris Archakis
2015. Identity construction patterns via swearing:. Pragmatics and Society ► pp. 421 ff. DOI logo
Kefala, Stavroula & Maria Sidiropoulou
2016. Shaping the glo/cal in Greek–English tourism advertising. Languages in Contrast 16:2 ► pp. 191 ff. DOI logo
Launspach, Sonja
2016. Exemplar narratives: Resources for maintaining solidarity and upholding group standards in an American quilting guild. Text & Talk 36:2 DOI logo
Murray, Jill C.
2018. “You Speak Greek Well … (for an Australian)”: Homeland Visits and Diaspora Identity. Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies 20:1 ► pp. 65 ff. DOI logo
Tzanne, Angeliki
2019. Politeness, Praising, and Identity Construction in a Greek Food Blog. In From Speech Acts to Lay Understandings of Politeness, ► pp. 48 ff. DOI logo
Vergaro, Carla
2011. Shades of impersonality: Rhetorical positioning in the academic writing of Italian students of English. Linguistics and Education 22:2 ► pp. 118 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.