[{"publication":"Frontiers in Language Sciences","type":"journal_article","status":"public","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"<jats:p>Building on and methodologically extending conceptual metaphor theory, the article examines how personal agency as a discursively produced sociopsychological phenomenon can be studied in elicited metaphors through a discourse-analytical approach. More concretely, the study illustrates how early-career researchers experience and express their agency in research writing through personal metaphors of academic writing such as riding a roller coaster or baking a wedding cake. A two-step discursive analysis adapts Hopper and Thompson's multidimensional approach to linguistic transitivity to study agency in language. The analytical approach involves both an in-depth parametrized analysis of all metaphors in the sample and a qualitative cross-analysis of the data. The results show that the participants' metaphors reflect both nuanced personal experiences and cultural expectations of academic writing, the writer, and the text. This emphasizes that research writing is not only a highly subjective practice but also one that is socially and culturally influenced. The article argues that research on agency thus needs elaborate methodological tools to trace discursive and sociopsychological trajectories of complex socio-cognitive practices like academic writing. This has implications not only for the nexus of research writing, identity, and academic enculturation but also for other fields focusing on agency in language.</jats:p>"}],"user_id":"53917","_id":"61165","project":[{"_id":"120","name":"TRR 318: Project Area RTG - Integriertes Graduiertenkolleg"}],"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"article_number":"1567498","related_material":{"link":[{"url":"https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/flang.2025.1567498/full#supplementary-material","relation":"confirmation"}]},"publication_identifier":{"issn":["2813-4605"]},"publication_status":"published","intvolume":"         4","citation":{"short":"A. Karsten, Frontiers in Language Sciences 4 (2025).","bibtex":"@article{Karsten_2025, title={Understanding personal agency through metaphor, or Why academic writing is (not) like a roller-coaster ride}, volume={4}, DOI={<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2025.1567498\">10.3389/flang.2025.1567498</a>}, number={1567498}, journal={Frontiers in Language Sciences}, publisher={Frontiers Media SA}, author={Karsten, Andrea}, year={2025} }","mla":"Karsten, Andrea. “Understanding Personal Agency through Metaphor, or Why Academic Writing Is (Not) like a Roller-Coaster Ride.” <i>Frontiers in Language Sciences</i>, vol. 4, 1567498, Frontiers Media SA, 2025, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2025.1567498\">10.3389/flang.2025.1567498</a>.","apa":"Karsten, A. (2025). Understanding personal agency through metaphor, or Why academic writing is (not) like a roller-coaster ride. <i>Frontiers in Language Sciences</i>, <i>4</i>, Article 1567498. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2025.1567498\">https://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2025.1567498</a>","ieee":"A. Karsten, “Understanding personal agency through metaphor, or Why academic writing is (not) like a roller-coaster ride,” <i>Frontiers in Language Sciences</i>, vol. 4, Art. no. 1567498, 2025, doi: <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2025.1567498\">10.3389/flang.2025.1567498</a>.","chicago":"Karsten, Andrea. “Understanding Personal Agency through Metaphor, or Why Academic Writing Is (Not) like a Roller-Coaster Ride.” <i>Frontiers in Language Sciences</i> 4 (2025). <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2025.1567498\">https://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2025.1567498</a>.","ama":"Karsten A. Understanding personal agency through metaphor, or Why academic writing is (not) like a roller-coaster ride. <i>Frontiers in Language Sciences</i>. 2025;4. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.3389/flang.2025.1567498\">10.3389/flang.2025.1567498</a>"},"year":"2025","volume":4,"author":[{"first_name":"Andrea","last_name":"Karsten","full_name":"Karsten, Andrea"}],"date_created":"2025-09-10T10:51:29Z","date_updated":"2025-09-10T10:55:20Z","publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","doi":"10.3389/flang.2025.1567498","title":"Understanding personal agency through metaphor, or Why academic writing is (not) like a roller-coaster ride"},{"type":"journal_article","publication":"Written Communication","abstract":[{"text":"<jats:p> In the past decades, the notion of voice in the theorizing and teaching of academic writing has been the subject of much debate and conceptual change, especially concerning its relation to writer identity. Many newer accounts of voice and identity in academic writing draw on the dialogical concept of voice by Bakhtin. However, some theoretical and methodological inconsistencies have surfaced in the adaptions of the concept. Working from a refinement of the dialogical notion of voice based on the concepts of polyphony and interiorization, this article presents a methodological approach for analyzing voice(s) in writing. The article presents material around the evolution of an early-career researcher’s dissertation synopsis. The material is multilayered, including the writer’s text, transcripts from an interdisciplinary peer-feedback conversation with two colleagues, and a video-stimulated interview with the writer. Excerpts of the material were analyzed to trace the polyphony of interiorized voices that influenced the writing. This focus revealed the multivoicedness of academic texts as an effect of their history of coming into being. This article contributes to the question of voice and identity in academic writing from a dialogical psycholinguistic perspective by presenting a de-reifying notion of voice grounded in an understanding of writing as a polyphonic activity, which also feeds into the formation of a writer’s self. </jats:p>","lang":"eng"}],"status":"public","project":[{"name":"TRR 318 - RTG: TRR 318 - Project Area RTG - Integriertes Graduiertenkolleg","_id":"120"}],"_id":"50009","user_id":"53917","keyword":["Literature and Literary Theory","Communication"],"language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"publication_status":"published","publication_identifier":{"issn":["0741-0883","1552-8472"]},"issue":"1","year":"2024","citation":{"apa":"Karsten, A. (2024). Voices in Dialogue: Taking Polyphony in Academic Writing Seriously. <i>Written Communication</i>, <i>41</i>(1), 6–36. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883231207104\">https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883231207104</a>","bibtex":"@article{Karsten_2024, title={Voices in Dialogue: Taking Polyphony in Academic Writing Seriously}, volume={41}, DOI={<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883231207104\">10.1177/07410883231207104</a>}, number={1}, journal={Written Communication}, publisher={SAGE Publications}, author={Karsten, Andrea}, year={2024}, pages={6–36} }","short":"A. Karsten, Written Communication 41 (2024) 6–36.","mla":"Karsten, Andrea. “Voices in Dialogue: Taking Polyphony in Academic Writing Seriously.” <i>Written Communication</i>, vol. 41, no. 1, SAGE Publications, 2024, pp. 6–36, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883231207104\">10.1177/07410883231207104</a>.","ama":"Karsten A. Voices in Dialogue: Taking Polyphony in Academic Writing Seriously. <i>Written Communication</i>. 2024;41(1):6-36. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883231207104\">10.1177/07410883231207104</a>","chicago":"Karsten, Andrea. “Voices in Dialogue: Taking Polyphony in Academic Writing Seriously.” <i>Written Communication</i> 41, no. 1 (2024): 6–36. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883231207104\">https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883231207104</a>.","ieee":"A. Karsten, “Voices in Dialogue: Taking Polyphony in Academic Writing Seriously,” <i>Written Communication</i>, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 6–36, 2024, doi: <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/07410883231207104\">10.1177/07410883231207104</a>."},"intvolume":"        41","page":"6-36","oa":"1","publisher":"SAGE Publications","date_updated":"2025-09-10T10:49:58Z","date_created":"2023-12-21T08:15:03Z","author":[{"first_name":"Andrea","id":"53917","full_name":"Karsten, Andrea","orcid":"0000-0003-0194-2000","last_name":"Karsten"}],"volume":41,"title":"Voices in Dialogue: Taking Polyphony in Academic Writing Seriously","main_file_link":[{"open_access":"1"}],"doi":"10.1177/07410883231207104"},{"author":[{"full_name":"Scharlau, Ingrid","id":"451","last_name":"Scharlau","orcid":"0000-0003-2364-9489","first_name":"Ingrid"},{"first_name":"Andrea","full_name":"Karsten, Andrea","id":"53917","last_name":"Karsten"}],"date_created":"2023-07-04T13:10:22Z","volume":111,"publisher":"DUZ medienhaus","date_updated":"2023-12-20T13:33:02Z","title":"Schreibfokussierte Graduiertenförderung: Reflexive Spezialisierung für interdisziplinäre Forschungskontexte","publication_identifier":{"unknown":["2198-5693"]},"citation":{"ama":"Scharlau I, Karsten A. Schreibfokussierte Graduiertenförderung: Reflexive Spezialisierung für interdisziplinäre Forschungskontexte. In: Berendt B, Fleischmann A, Salmhofer G, et al., eds. <i>Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre</i>. Vol 111. G 4.18. DUZ medienhaus; 2023:17-35.","ieee":"I. Scharlau and A. Karsten, “Schreibfokussierte Graduiertenförderung: Reflexive Spezialisierung für interdisziplinäre Forschungskontexte,” in <i>Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre</i>, vol. 111, B. Berendt, A. Fleischmann, G. Salmhofer, N. Schaper, B. Szczyrba, M. Wiemer, and J. Wildt, Eds. DUZ medienhaus, 2023, pp. 17–35.","chicago":"Scharlau, Ingrid, and Andrea Karsten. “Schreibfokussierte Graduiertenförderung: Reflexive Spezialisierung für interdisziplinäre Forschungskontexte.” In <i>Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre</i>, edited by Brigitte Berendt, Andreas Fleischmann, Gudrun Salmhofer, Niclas Schaper, Birgit Szczyrba, Matthias Wiemer, and Johannes Wildt, 111:17–35. G 4.18. DUZ medienhaus, 2023.","mla":"Scharlau, Ingrid, and Andrea Karsten. “Schreibfokussierte Graduiertenförderung: Reflexive Spezialisierung für interdisziplinäre Forschungskontexte.” <i>Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre</i>, edited by Brigitte Berendt et al., vol. 111, DUZ medienhaus, 2023, pp. 17–35.","short":"I. Scharlau, A. Karsten, in: B. Berendt, A. Fleischmann, G. Salmhofer, N. Schaper, B. Szczyrba, M. Wiemer, J. Wildt (Eds.), Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre, DUZ medienhaus, 2023, pp. 17–35.","bibtex":"@inbook{Scharlau_Karsten_2023, series={G 4.18}, title={Schreibfokussierte Graduiertenförderung: Reflexive Spezialisierung für interdisziplinäre Forschungskontexte}, volume={111}, booktitle={Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre}, publisher={DUZ medienhaus}, author={Scharlau, Ingrid and Karsten, Andrea}, editor={Berendt, Brigitte and Fleischmann, Andreas and Salmhofer, Gudrun and Schaper, Niclas and Szczyrba, Birgit and Wiemer, Matthias and Wildt, Johannes}, year={2023}, pages={17–35}, collection={G 4.18} }","apa":"Scharlau, I., &#38; Karsten, A. (2023). Schreibfokussierte Graduiertenförderung: Reflexive Spezialisierung für interdisziplinäre Forschungskontexte. In B. Berendt, A. Fleischmann, G. Salmhofer, N. Schaper, B. Szczyrba, M. Wiemer, &#38; J. Wildt (Eds.), <i>Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre</i> (Vol. 111, pp. 17–35). DUZ medienhaus."},"intvolume":"       111","page":"17-35","year":"2023","user_id":"451","series_title":"G 4.18","department":[{"_id":"424"}],"project":[{"_id":"120","name":"TRR 318 - RTG: TRR 318 - Project Area RTG"}],"_id":"45862","language":[{"iso":"ger"}],"type":"book_chapter","publication":"Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre","status":"public","editor":[{"first_name":"Brigitte","full_name":"Berendt, Brigitte","last_name":"Berendt"},{"full_name":"Fleischmann, Andreas","last_name":"Fleischmann","first_name":"Andreas"},{"full_name":"Salmhofer, Gudrun","last_name":"Salmhofer","first_name":"Gudrun"},{"full_name":"Schaper, Niclas","last_name":"Schaper","first_name":"Niclas"},{"first_name":"Birgit","full_name":"Szczyrba, Birgit","last_name":"Szczyrba"},{"last_name":"Wiemer","full_name":"Wiemer, Matthias","first_name":"Matthias"},{"first_name":"Johannes","full_name":"Wildt, Johannes","last_name":"Wildt"}]}]