Keywords: THESIS3

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# Monological tendencies in dialogue

From Mukarovský's definition it is possible to define an ideal form of 'dialogical dialogue':

Definition 5.2 A dialogical dialogue is an undisrupted form of two-way communication between two or more figures who represent polar opposites and whose relations are marked by a high level of tension.

It could be argued that the dialogue between Tobias and Todd in Pirreli's Miracle Elixir is a form of such a dialogue, since it contains all criteria.

The fact that many so-called dialogues possess monological tendencies can be explained by the following facts:

- disrupted communication because: the channel between the two partners is disrupted; they are physically or psychologically unwilling to communicate; and they employ diverging codes, thus causing incomprehension or grave misunderstandings. there is a difference in referential contexts.
- When complete consensus occurs there can be no semantic change of direction. A Little Priest, an example of this, has already been cited.
- When the two partners of the dialogue take no notice of each other, a combination of monologues may occur. By The Sea is a good example of this. Todd doesn't really listen to Mrs. Lovett, he only answers her in short phrases, probably just to stop her nagging him.
- The predominance of one figure also encourages the development of monological tendencies.

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