Locating the dialogical self in the age of transnational migrations, border crossings and diasporas

We begin by outlining that the dialogical self may be conceived from the po int of view of the self-ful and the self-less perspectives, Both these pers pectives of self-work involve different assumptions about what should be th e starting point of the I-position of the dialogical self. These assumption s need to be made explicit because they provide the key to explaining how I -positions get transformed in the process of entering into a dialogical rel ationship with the other. Furthermore, we argue that in order to explain ho w dialogue occurs, and how the I-positions are organized and reorganized by the individual, a developmental framework may be necessary. We believe tha t the dialogical model is extremely relevant in the age of transnational mi gration and diasporic cultures. However, the challenge, for the theory of a dialogical self, is to explain how individuals living with hybridized and hyphenated identities in borderland cultures and diasporic communities coor dinate their incompatible and often conflicting cultural and personal posit ions.