ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter I introduced a number of issues which will occupy us for the rest of this book. I talked about language as the basis of thought and selfhood, about the multiplicity of meanings inherent in any piece of text or speech, and about how this leads us to consider personal identity as temporary, fragmented and open to question. I suggested that our sense of ourselves as people, our identity, can be seen as constantly being sought after, contested, validated, maintained and so on through the use of language.
