Monologic

Dialogic

Bakhtin (1986)

Utterance as “authoritative” (meaning is fixed)

Utterance as “internally persuasive” (meaning is negotiable)

Lotman (1988)

Text as transmission or “monologic” device (function: creates common memory for group)

Text as “thinking device” (function: generates new meanings)

Tomasello (1999)

Cultural practices function as social transmission (ratchet effect, so cultural learning is maintained)

Cultural practices function to support creative invention