| Summary: | In this article the concept of negotiation of identities is explored and its functioning is demonstrated on an excerpt from Niemi's Mannen som dog som en lax (2006). Negotiation of identities is grounded on the notions of discursive construction of identities utilizing the dialogic scheme of the positioning theory (Davies & Harré), and of identity as embedded in social context and societal sites of power. Identity is then not only understood as a certain position resulting from the interplay between various processes of positioning based on imagining and narration, but also, as a position that is inevitably subjected to and involved in generating, exchange and reproduction of capital and power (Bourdieu). The notion of negotiation of identities is in this article illustrated by an example from Niemi's novel that can be perceived as a discursive space for legitimation and empowering of the disadvantaged identity options of multilingual individuals in Swedish Tornedalen.
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