Widdicombe2020

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Widdicombe2020
BibType INCOLLECTION
Key Widdicombe2020
Author(s) Sue Widdicombe, Yarong Sie
Title Authentic Identity as an Achievement: A View from Discursive Psychology
Editor(s) J. Patrick Williams, Kaylan C. Schwarz
Tag(s) EMCA, Discursive Psychology, Identity, Authenticity
Publisher Routledge
Year 2020
Language English
City London
Month
Journal
Volume
Number
Pages 107–123
URL Link
DOI
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title Studies on the Social Construction of Identity and Authenticity
Chapter

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Abstract

This chapter outlines a discursive psychological (DP) approach to authentic identities. DP is the study of how and for what people manage psychological issues such as category membership, identity, and authenticity within sequences of interaction. It assumes that discourse (claims, descriptions, accounts) is constructed and constructive, action oriented, and produced in and for the local context. A DP approach is thus not concerned with who a person “really is,” but how the authenticity of an identity is worked up and what this achieves. We illustrate this approach by (re)analyzing extracts drawn from published studies of youth subcultures, football fans, online discussion forums and support groups. We identify common discursive strategies, such as drawing contrasts with non-genuine members and ascribing the “right” (or wrong) motives or attributes to self, and show how they are used to claim (or reject) the authenticity of various identities. We explain that such claims are “recipient designed”: they require ratification by the interlocutor. They are also “action-oriented” in that they attend to members’ concerns such as interactional and inferential issues. We conclude by summarizing DP’s potential contribution to understanding authentic identities.

Notes