Conference Agenda

Dialogical Self Theory (DST) conceptualizes the self as a dynamic multiplicity of I-positions situated within an internal and external society of voices. These positions—personal, social, remembered, imagined, and culturally informed—engage in ongoing dialogue, negotiation, and tension. Psychological movement occurs not through unification, but through shifts in positioning and the emergence of new dialogical relations.

This experiential workshop explores how I-positions can be accessed, differentiated, and transformed through structured dialogical writing. Participants will first map salient voices within their own society of mind, identifying dominant, marginalized, and silenced positions. Through guided dialogical exercises, they will explore how these voices relate, conflict, or seek recognition.

The central practice of the workshop is the transformation of dialogical encounters into short, carefully crafted stories. Writing is approached as a dialogical act: a process that externalizes voices, reorganizes their relationships, and allows new positions to emerge. These brief narratives do not summarize experience; they reposition the self. By translating I-positions into story form, participants experiment with creative re-authoring and symbolic integration.

Each story is paired with a symbolic illustrated postcard. The postcard functions as a tangible artifact of dialogical movement—a material reminder of newly negotiated meanings and emerging positions. As an object that can be held, revisited, and shared, it extends the dialogical process beyond the immediate encounter.

By combining dialogical mapping with narrative crystallization, the workshop demonstrates how DST can move from theory to embodied creative practice. It proposes that writing can serve as a bridge between multiplicity and coherence, allowing voices not to be silenced, but transformed through dialogue.