Kristeva argues that the novel is a fundamentally subversive genre, which challenges traditional notions of narrative, character, and authorship. The novel’s dialogic nature allows it to question and undermine dominant ideologies and discourses, creating a space for multiple perspectives and voices to emerge.
Kristeva’s concept of dialogue is closely tied to her understanding of the word as a site of conflict. For her, dialogue is not simply a matter of two or more individuals engaging in conversation, but rather a more fundamental aspect of language itself. Dialogue is the intertextual dimension of language, where multiple voices and texts intersect and interact.
For Kristeva, the word is not a fixed or stable entity, but rather a site of conflict and tension. She argues that the word is always already dialogic, meaning that it is shaped by the multiple voices and meanings that intersect and collide within it. This dialogic nature of the word is a result of the inherent ambiguity and polysemy of language, which allows for multiple interpretations and meanings to emerge.