Hutchby1992a

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Hutchby1992a
BibType ARTICLE
Key Hutchby1992a
Author(s) Ian Hutchby
Title The pursuit of controversy: Routine skepticism in talk on talk radio
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Conversation Analysis, Talk Radio, Skepticism, Controversy, Argument
Publisher
Year 1992
Language
City
Month
Journal Sociology
Volume 26
Number 4
Pages 673–694
URL Link
DOI 10.1177/0038038592026004008
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

Resources for arguing are examined in talk on 'talk radio', a cultural setting for which disputation is a routine activity. A contrastive device built to the format you say X, but what about Y is shown to be an important, recursively deployed linguistic resource for the accomplishment of such routine disputation. Aspects of the interactional work achieved with this device are discussed in relation to the setting-specific activity of 'arguing for arguing's sake', which is referred to as the pursuit of controversy. The device facilitates the construction by a contentious party of an argument out of the minor details of an opponent's account. It is seen that both hosts and callers in this setting orient to the efficaciousness of the format as a resource for doing argument. Episodes are also examined in which callers try to restrict the damage which hosts routinely seek to inflict on their claims through the use of the device.

Notes