Dialogism and tensivity

Abstract

In this paper, we articulate the idea of dialogism, which comes from theories of Bakhtin Circle, with the concept of tensivity, developed in the field of tensive semiotics. In our view, in the case of fait divers (feature story), dialogic relations, that constitute any discourse, overdetermine the enunciatee’s want-to-know (expectation), making it more intense, tonic. To verify our proposal, we relate the Isabella Nardoni case, broadcasted by the Brazilian TV news, Jornal Nacional, with two tales of Brothers Grimm (2012) and also with the typology of detective fiction, proposed by Todorov (2006). From what we can demonstrate through the analysis, dialogical relations – belonging to the scope of interdiscourse – reverberate in intradiscourse with respect to tensivity, that is, by gradations of intensity and extensity.