Dialogic means using conversation or shared discussion to explore the meaning of something. This is different from monologic, which is when one person gives information without discussing or clarifying it through conversation. The word "dialogic" describes communication that takes the form of a conversation. Dialogic processes involve the meaning of words spoken by a person and how that meaning is understood by someone listening. Dialogic works continue a conversation that connects with information shared earlier. The term is used to describe ideas in literary theory, analysis, and philosophy.

Along with dialogism, the term is also connected to ideas from Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin. These ideas appear in his writings, including Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics and The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M.M. Bakhtin.

Overview

Bakhtin compares two types of literary works: dialogic and monologic. Dialogic works keep talking to other books and authors. They do not just reply, correct, silence, or expand earlier works. Instead, they share ideas and keep learning from those earlier works. Dialogic literature talks to many different works. This is not only about influence, because the conversation goes both ways. Earlier works are changed by the conversation just as much as newer works are. Although Bakhtin's idea of "dialogic" came from his work with colleagues in a group called the "Bakhtin Circle" after 1918, his ideas were not known in the West or translated into English until the 1970s. For people who recently learned about Bakhtin but know T. S. Eliot, Bakhtin's idea matches Eliot's thoughts in "Tradition and the Individual Talent," where Eliot says, "the past should be changed by the present as much as the present is shaped by the past." For Bakhtin, influence can happen at the level of single words or phrases, just as it does with whole books or collections of books. A German person cannot use the word "fatherland" or the phrase "blood and soil" without also echoing the meanings those terms had under Nazism. Every word has a history of how it has been used, and it also looks forward to how it might be used in the future.

The term "dialogic" is not only about books. For Bakhtin, all language—and even all thinking—acts like a conversation. This means that everything people say always responds to what was said before and looks forward to what might be said next. In other words, we never speak in an empty space. All language—and the ideas it carries—is active, connected, and part of a process that keeps redefining the world.

Bakhtin also noticed how language can be used in ways that increase or reduce the many meanings of words. At one end is novel writing, like that of Dostoevsky or Mark Twain, where different styles and languages interact and respond to each other. At the other end is language used in military orders or "1984" newspeak, which tries to stop words from connecting to the past or future and only asks for obedience, not a response.

Distinction between dialogic and dialectic

A dialogic process is different from a dialectic process, which was proposed by G. W. F. Hegel.

These differences are studied in research about personal identity, national identity, and group identity.

Sociologist Richard Sennett has said that the difference between dialogic and dialectic is important for understanding how people communicate. Sennett explains that dialectic focuses on the clear meaning of statements and often leads to ending a discussion or solving a problem. In contrast, dialogic processes, especially those in regular spoken conversation, involve listening to the hidden meanings behind a speaker’s words. Unlike dialectic, dialogic exchanges often do not end with a clear conclusion and may stay unresolved. Compared to dialectic, dialogic communication can be less competitive and better for helping people work together.