Abstraction and adherence in discourse processes

This theoretical article is concerned with diachronic discourse processes. In particular it explores the following hypothesis: The origin of an abstract term lies in the function of summarising, or standing in place of, a narrative or narratives. The meaning of an abstraction is to be found ultimately in the kinds of stories from which it emerged. Abstraction is thus an inter-textual phenomenon. The article is based on a distinction that is drawn between coherence and adherence, the former pertaining to intra-textual relations and the latter pertaining to inter-textual relations. Inter-textual relations emerge over time. Texts cohere globally through macro-propositions, which are a form of summary representation; but texts also adhere to one another, which they do by sharing macro-propositions. Certain of those macro-propositions may themselves become summarised as an abstract concept, so that the abstract nominal becomes a summary representation of a body of discourse (i.e. larger than a single text). The contested and problematic nature of meaning in the case of hyper-abstract concepts arises from the relationships between their use and the prior discourse from which they are derived and which they may evoke in complex and unpredictable ways.