Francis2017

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Francis2017
BibType ARTICLE
Key Francis2017
Author(s) David Francis, Sally Hester
Title Stephen Hester on the problem of culturalism
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Membership Categorization Analysis, Stephen Hester, Culturalism
Publisher
Year 2017
Language English
City
Month
Journal Journal of Pragmatics
Volume 118
Number
Pages 56–63
URL Link
DOI 10.1016/j.pragma.2017.05.005
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

At his death in April 2014, Stephen Hester left behind an unfinished manuscript of a book, entitled ‘Descriptions of Deviance’. In this book he takes an MCA approach to examining how categorial formulations of deviance are interactionally constructed and negotiated in talk in educational settings. The data comprise transcriptions of pupil review meetings involving teachers and educational psychologists in an education authority in Northern England. In analysing this data, and consistent with the approach he had championed throughout his career, Hester emphasises the occasionality of categorial formulations. Recognising that this emphasis is not unproblematic and requires careful consideration, before turning to the data he discusses the problem of ‘culturalism’. He argues that Sacks’ distinction between ‘occasioned’ and ‘natural’ category devices does not lend support to the culturalist view of category use. Furthermore, while Schegloff's cautions concerning the methodological pitfalls of MCA are serious and well made, the analysis of categorial data, especially texts, need not fall into the trap of ‘culturalism’.

Notes