Abstract
Recent discourse studies have increased our awareness of the discursive origins, significance, and consequences of "opinion," "emotion," and "mind" more generally. In this article I explore some of the complexities in treating opinions discursively. To that end I examine empirical data from travelogues, mass media, and a research interview. Through contextual, cultural, and cross-situational analysis, it is seen that a subjective opinion can be offered as objective fact, that a personal opinion can be interconnected with different kinds of the social other, and that a private opinion can be reflexively managed by a public self. More generally, the study shows that the discourse of opinion is inextricably linked with several contradictory kinds of discourse. In conclusion I suggest critical applications that could be made.