Deliberation, storytelling, and dialogic moments

Dialogue theory promotes communication practices that help groups understand and productively manage their differences. Yet, by conceptualizing dialogue as a distinct way of communicating, scholars tend to overlook how dialogue can co-occur with other ways groups deal with difference. This conceptual separation can also limit groups' abilities to see the potential for dialogue while they are engaged in discussion. This essay argues that personal storytelling can be a bridge between dialogue and discussion by inviting group members to experience dialogic moments in the midst of deliberative conversation. Stories invite dialogic moments because they help group members negotiate the tension of self-other. This negotiation occurs because through telling and responding to personal stories, group members craft their identities and take on others' perspectives. This argument is illustrated through the analysis of a storytelling interaction that occurred in an online deliberative group discussing how to rebuild the former World Trade Center site after its destruction on September 11, 2001. Conceptualizing storytelling as an invitation for dialogic moments has implications for dialogue theory, research, and practice.