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The Dialogic Emergence of Culture
Dennis Tedlock and Bruce Mannheim
University of Illinois Press, 1995
 Major figures in contemporary anthropology present a dialogic critique
        of ethnography. Moving beyond sociolinguistics and performance theory,
        and inspired by Bakhtin and by their own field experiences, the contributors
        revise notions of where culture actually resides. This pioneering effort
        integrates a concern for linguistic processes with interpretive approaches
        to culture.
      Culture and ethnography are located in social interaction. The collection
        contains dialogues that trace the entire course of ethnographic interpretation,
        from field research to publication. The authors explore an anthropology
        that actively acknowledges the dialogical nature of its own production.
        Chapters strike a balance between theory and practice and will also be
        of interest in cultural studies, literary criticism, linguistics, and
        philosophy.
      CONTRIBUTORS: Deborah Tannen, John Attinasi, Paul Friedrich, Billie
        Jean Isbell, Allan F. Burns, Jane H. Hill, Ruth Behar, Jean DeBernardi,
        R. P. McDermott, Henry Tylbor, Alton L. Becker, Bruce Mannheim, Dennis
        Tedlock
 
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front cover of Letting Stories Breathe
Letting Stories Breathe
A Socio-Narratology
Arthur W. Frank
University of Chicago Press, 2010

Stories accompany us through life from birth to death. But they do not merely entertain, inform, or distress us—they show us what counts as right or wrong and teach us who we are and who we can imagine being. Stories connect people, but they can also disconnect, creating boundaries between people and justifying violence. In Letting Stories Breathe, Arthur W. Frank grapples with this fundamental aspect of our lives, offering both a theory of how stories shape us and a useful method for analyzing them. Along the way he also tells stories: from folktales to research interviews to remembrances.

Frank’s unique approach uses literary concepts to ask social scientific questions: how do stories make life good and when do they endanger it? Going beyond theory, he presents a thorough introduction to dialogical narrative analysis, analyzing modes of interpretation, providing specific questions to start analysis, and describing different forms analysis can take. Building on his renowned work exploring the relationship between narrative and illness, Letting Stories Breathe expands Frank’s horizons further, offering a compelling perspective on how stories affect human lives.

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