The Architecture of Relational Crisis: How To Study Diverging Perspectives

Relational crises are difficult to understand, partially due to the lack of methodologies for studying small systems. For example, a small dynamic system such as a married couple is, on the one hand, irreducible to the psychology of its components and, on the other hand, too small for modeling through the statistics of large systems. To address the challenge of modeling a relational crisis, and by drawing on the work of Bakhtin, I present a methodology that exposes the diverging perspectives of a couple. The methodology is illustrated through a careful micro-genetic analysis of Bergman’s seminal drama “Scenes from a Marriage”.