Dictionary Definition
dialogue
Noun
2 the lines spoken by characters in drama or
fiction [syn: dialog]
3 a literary composition in the form of a
conversation between two people; "he has read Plato's Dialogues in
the original Greek" [syn: dialog]
4 a discussion intended to produce an agreement;
"the buyout negotiation lasted several days"; "they disagreed but
kept an open dialogue"; "talks between Israelis and Palestinians"
[syn: negotiation,
talks]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Alternative spellings
- italbrac-colon US and computing dialog
Etymology
From διάλογος (dialogos) "conversation, discourse", from διά (dia) "through, inter" + λόγος (logos) "speech, oration, discourse", from διαλέγωμαι (dialegomai) "to converse", from διά + λέγειν (legein) "to speak".Pronunciation
- a UK /ˈdaɪælɒg/ /"daI
Extensive Definition
A dialogue (sometimes spelled
dialog) is a reciprocal conversation between two or
more entities. The
etymological
origins of the word (in Greek
διά("diá," through) and λόγος ("logos," word, speech) creating
concepts such as flowing-through meaning) do not necessarily convey
the way in which people have come to use the word, with some
confusion between the prefix διά-("diá-," through) and the prefix
δι-("di-," two) leading to the erroneous assumption that a dialogue
is necessarily between only two parties.
Literary and philosophical genre
When reported or imitated in writing, "dialogue" labels a form of literature used by Greeks and Indians for purposes of rhetorical entertainment and instruction. This form has scarcely been modified since the days of its birth.A literary dialogue comprises a
little drama without
opinions. It has long served writers who have something to censure
or to impart, but who love to stand outside the pulpit, and to encourage others
to pursue a train of thought which the author does not seem to do
more than indicate. The dialogue expresses and notes down the
undulations of human thought so spontaneously that it
almost escapes analysis. Commonly, records of the alleged actual
words spoken by living or imaginary people and it appears in a
dialogued format. One branch of this form of expressive
documentation, the drama, depends upon dialogue almost exclusively.
Yet, in its technical sense, the word 'dialogue' describes what the
Greek philosophers
invented, and what the noblest of them lifted to the extreme
refinement of an art.
Antiquity and the middle ages
In the east, the genre dates back to the Sumerian dialogues and disputations (preserved in copies from the early second millennium b.c.e.), as well as Rigvedic dialogue hymns and the Indian epic Mahabharata, while in the west, literary historians commonly suppose that Plato (c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC) introduced the systematic use of dialogue as an independent literary form: they point to his earliest experiment with the genre in the Laches. The Platonic dialogue, however, had its foundations in the mime, which the Sicilian poets Sophron and Epicharmus had cultivated half a century earlier. The works of these writers, which Plato admired and imitated, have not survived, but scholars imagine them as little plays usually presented with only two performers. The Mimes of Herodas give us some idea of their scope.Plato further simplified the
form and reduced it to pure argumentative
conversation, while leaving intact the amusing element of character-drawing.
He must have begun this about the year 405 BC, and by
399 he had
brought the dialogue to its highest perfection, especially in the
cycle directly inspired by the death of Socrates. All his
philosophical writings, except the Apology, use this
form. As the greatest of all masters of Greek prose style, Plato
lifted his favorite instrument, the dialogue, to its highest
splendor, and to this day he remains by far its most distinguished
proficient.
Following Plato, the dialogue
became one major literary genre in antiquity, and there are several
examples both in Latin and Greek. Soon after Plato, Xenophon wrote his
own
Symposium, Aristotle is said to have written several
philosophical dialogues in Plato's style (none of which have
survived), and later most of the Hellenistic schools had their own
dialogue. Cicero wrote some
very important works in this genre, such as On the Orator (De
Oratore), On the Republic (De Re Publica), and the lost Hortensius
(the latter cited by Augustine
in the
Confessions as the work which instilled in him his lifelong
love of philosophy).
In the 2nd century
AD. Lucian
of Samosata achieved a brilliant success with his ironic
dialogues Of the Gods, Of the Dead, Of Love and Of the Courtesans.
In some of them he attacks superstition and
philosophical error with the sharpness of his wit; in others he
merely paints scenes of modern life.
The dialogue was frequently
used by early Christian writers, such as Justin, Origen and
Augustine, and a particularly notable dialogue from late antiquity
is
Boethius's Consolation
of Philosophy. The genre survived up through the early
scholastic period, with Peter
Abelard composing his Dialogue with a Jew, a Christian and a
Philosopher in the early 12th century
AD, but later, in the wake of the powerful influence of
writings by Bonaventure
and Thomas
Aquinas, the scholastic tradition adopted the more formal and
concise genre of the summa, which largely superseded the dialogue
as philosophical format.
The modern period to the present
Two French writers of eminence borrowed the title of Lucian’s most famous collection; both Fontenelle (1683) and Fénelon (1712) prepared Dialogues des morts ("Dialogues of the Dead"). Contemporaneously, in 1688, the French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche published his Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion, thus contributing to the genre's revival in philosophic circles. In English non-dramatic literature the dialogue did not see extensive use until Berkeley employed it, in 1713, for his Platonic treatise, Three Dialogs between Hylas and Philonous. Landor’s Imaginary Conversations (1821-1828) formed the most famous English example of dialogue in the 19th century, although the dialogues of Sir Arthur Helps also claim attention and make himself more popular.In Germany, Wieland
adopted this form for several important satirical works published
between 1780
and 1799. In
Spanish literature, the Dialogues of Valdés
(1528) and
those on Painting (1633) by Vincenzo
Carducci are celebrated. Italian writers of collections of
dialogues, following Plato's model, include Torquato
Tasso (1586), Galileo
(1632),
Galiani
(1770),
Leopardi
(1825), and a
host of others.
More recently, the French
returned to the original application of dialogue. The inventions of
"Gyp", of
Henri Lavedan, and of others, tell a mundane anecdote wittily and
maliciously in conversation, would probably present a close analogy
to the lost mimes of the early Sicilian poets. This kind of
dialogue also appeared in English, exemplified by Anstey Guthrie,
but these dialogues seem to have found less of a popular following
among the English than their counterparts written by French
authors.
The Platonic
dialogue, as a distinct genre which features Socrates as a
speaker and one or more interlocutors discussing some philosophical
question, experienced something of a rebirth in the 20th
century. Authors who have recently employed it include George
Santayana, in his eminent Dialogues in Limbo (1926, 2nd ed.
1948; this work also includes such historical figures as Alcibiades,
Aristippus,
Avicenna,
Democritus, and
Dionysius
the Younger as speakers), and Iris
Murdoch, who included not only Socrates and Alcibiades as
interlocutors in her work Acastos: Two Platonic Dialogues (1986),
but featured a young Plato himself as well.
The philosophic dialogue, with
or without Socrates as a character, continues to be used on
occasion by philosophers when attempting to write engaging,
literary works of philosophy which attempt to capture the subtle
nuance and lively give-and-take of discourse as it actually takes
place in intellectual conversation.
Compare: Closet
drama
Platonic dialogues
The philosopher Plato wrote a series of dialogues, mostly between Socrates and some other person. In all these dialogues there is an explicit or an implicit disagreement, and the purpose of these dialogues is to resolve the disagreement. The typical way is for Socrates to probe his partner for further beliefs until a contradiction is reached with the disputed belief or hypothesis by implication. In this way the interlocutor is made to see the impossibility of his hypothesis, and then tries some other hypothesis, which is again subject to the same scrutiny. Most of these dialogues break off without a final resolution—as in real life.Egalitarian dialogue
Egalitarian dialogue is a form of discussion that takes place when different contributions are considered in terms of the validity of the arguments, rather than assessing them according to the power positions of those who advocate them.Philosophical, theological, and social concept
Martin Buber places dialogue in a central position in his philosophy: he sees dialogue as an effective means of on-going communication rather than as a purposive attempt to reach some conclusion or to express some viewpoint(s).David Bohm
originated a related form of dialogue where a group of people talk
together in order to explore their assumptions of thinking,
meaning, communication, and social effects. This group consists of
ten to thirty people who meet for a few hours regularly or a few
continuous days. Dialoguers agree to leave behind debate tactics
that attempt to convince and, instead, talk from their own
experience on subjects that are improvised on the spot. People form
their own dialogue groups that usually are offered for free of
charge. There exists an international online dialogue list server
group, facilitated by Don Factor, co-author of a paper called
"Dialogue - A Proposal," with David Bohm and Peter Garrett.
(http://www.david-bohm.org/mailman/admin/bohm_dialogue)
Russian philosopher and
semiotician Mikhail
Bakhtin’s theory of "dialogue" emphasized the power of
discourse to increase understanding of multiple perspectives and
create myriad possibilities. Bakhtin held that relationships and
connections exist among all living beings, and that dialogue
creates a new understanding of a situation that demands change. In
his influential works, Bakhtin provided a linguistic methodology to
define the dialoghe, its nature and meaning: Dialogic relations
have a specific nature: they can be reduced neither to the purely
logical (even if
dialectical) nor to the purely linguistic (compositional-syntactic)
They are possible only between complete utterances of various speaking
subjects... Where there is no word and no language, there can be no
dialogic relations; they cannot exist among objects or logical
quantities (concepts, judgments, and so forth). Dialogic relations
presuppose a language, but they do not reside within the system of
language. They are impossible among elements of a
language.
Celebrated Brazilian
educationalist Paulo
Freire, who is known for developing popular education, advanced
dialogue as a type of classroom pedagogy. Freire held that
dialogued communication allowed students and teachers to learn from
one another in an environment characterized by respect and
equality. A great advocate for oppressed peoples, Freire was
concerned with praxis—action that is informed and linked to
people’s values. Dialogued pedagogy was not only about deepening
understanding; it was also about making positive changes in the
world: to make it better.
Today, dialogue is used in
classrooms, community centers, corporations, federal agencies, and
other settings to enable people, usually in small groups, to share
their perspectives and experiences about difficult issues. It is
used to help people resolve long-standing conflicts and to build
deeper understanding of contentious issues. Dialogue is not about
judging, weighing, or making decisions, but about understanding and
learning. Dialogue dispels stereotypes, builds trust, and enables
people to be open to perspectives that are very different from
their own.
In the past two decades, a
rapidly-growing movement for dialogue has been developing. The
website of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, at
http://www.thataway.org,
serves as a hub for dialogue (and deliberation) facilitators,
conveners, and trainers and houses thousands of resources on these
communication methodologies.
Groups such as
Worldwide Marriage Encounter and Retrouvaille
International use dialogue as a communication tool for married
couples. Both groups teach a dialogue method that helps couples
learn more about each other in non-threatening postures, which
helps to foster growth in the married relationship.
Obstacles
Dialogue is a delicate process. Many obstacles inhibit dialogue and favor more confrontational communication forms such as discussion and debate. Common obstacles including fear, the display or exercise of power, mistrust, external influences, distractions, and poor communication conditions can all prevent dialogue from emerging. ,See also
Notes
References
- Bakhtin, M. M. (1986) Speech Genres and Other Late Essays. Trans. by Vern W. McGee. Austin, Tx: University of Texas Press.
- Maranhão, Tullio (1990) The Interpretation of Dialogue University of Chicago Press ISBN 0226504336
- The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation
- NCDD's Learning Exchange - for thousands of guides, videos, articles, books, and other resources on dialogue
- Selected Websites on Dialogue
- dialogue: journal for cultural literacy
External links
dialogue in Bavarian:
Dialog
dialogue in Bulgarian:
Диалог
dialogue in Czech:
Dialog
dialogue in Danish:
Dialog
dialogue in German:
Dialog
dialogue in Spanish:
Diálogo
dialogue in Esperanto:
Dialogo
dialogue in French:
Dialogue
dialogue in Galician:
Diálogo
dialogue in Korean:
다이얼로그
dialogue in Italian:
Dialogo
dialogue in Georgian:
დიალოგი
dialogue in Kazakh:
Диалог
dialogue in Dutch:
Dialoog
dialogue in Norwegian:
Dialog
dialogue in Norwegian
Nynorsk: Dialog
dialogue in Polish: Dialog
(literatura)
dialogue in Portuguese:
Diálogo
dialogue in Russian:
Диалог
dialogue in Slovak:
Dialóg
dialogue in Serbian:
Дијалог
dialogue in Serbo-Croatian:
Dijalog
dialogue in Swedish:
Dialog
dialogue in Vietnamese: Đối
thoại (thể loại văn học)
dialogue in Tajik:
Муколама
dialogue in Turkish:
Diyalog
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Grand Guignol, Passion play,
Tom show, airing,
analysis, antimasque, audience success,
ballet, bomb, broadcast drama, bull
session, burlesque show, buzz session, canvassing, charade, chat, chinfest, cliff hanger, closet
drama, colloquium,
colloquy, comedy drama,
communication,
confab, confabulation, conference, consideration, conversation, converse, critical success,
daytime serial, debate,
debating, deliberation, dialectic, discussion, documentary
drama, drama, dramalogue, dramatic play,
dramatic series, duodrama, duologue, epic theater,
examination,
exchange of views, experimental theater, extravaganza, failure, flop, forum, gasser, giveaway, happening, hit, hit show, huddle, improvisational drama,
investigation,
joint discussion, legitimate drama, logical analysis, logical
discussion, masque,
meeting, melodrama, minstrel show,
miracle, miracle play,
monodrama, monologue, morality, morality play, music
drama, musical revue, mystery, mystery play, open
discussion, open forum, opera, pageant, palaver, panel discussion, panel
show, pantomime,
parley, pastoral, pastoral drama,
piece, play, playlet, problem play, psychodrama,
question-and-answer session, quiz show, radio drama, rap, rap session, review, revue, seminar, sensational play,
serial, show, sitcom, situation comedy,
sketch, skit, soap, soap opera, sociodrama, spectacle, speech, stage play, stage show,
straight drama, study,
success, suspense drama,
symposium, tableau, tableau vivant,
talk, talk show, talkfest, teleplay, television drama,
television play, tete-a-tete, theater of cruelty, total theater,
town meeting, treatment, trialogue, variety show,
vaudeville,
vaudeville show, vehicle, ventilation, word-of-mouth
success, words, work