Bilmes2011
Bilmes2011 | |
---|---|
BibType | ARTICLE |
Key | Bilmes2011 |
Author(s) | Jack Bilmes |
Title | Occasioned semantics: A systematic approach to meaning in talk |
Editor(s) | |
Tag(s) | EMCA, Semantics, Conversation Analysis |
Publisher | |
Year | 2011 |
Language | |
City | |
Month | |
Journal | Human Studies |
Volume | 34 |
Number | 2 |
Pages | 155–181 |
URL | Link |
DOI | 10.1007/s10746-011-9183-z |
ISBN | |
Organization | |
Institution | |
School | |
Type | |
Edition | |
Series | |
Howpublished | |
Book title | |
Chapter |
Abstract
This paper puts forward an argument for a systematic, technical approach to formulation in verbal interaction. I see this as a kind of expansion of Sacks’ membership categorization analysis, and as something that is not offered (at least not in a fully developed form) by sequential analysis, the currently dominant form of conversation analysis. In particular, I suggest a technique for the study of “occasioned semantics,” that is, the study of structures of meaningful expressions in actual occasions of conversation. I propose that meaning and rhetoric be approached through consideration of various dimensions or operations or properties, including, but not limited to, contrast and co-categorization, generalization and specification, scaling, and marking. As illustration, I consider a variety of cases, focused on generalization and specification. The paper can be seen as a return to some classical concerns with meaning, as illuminated by more recent insights into indexicality, social action, and interaction in recorded talk.
Notes