Stivers-Timmermans2017

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Stivers-Timmermans2017
BibType ARTICLE
Key Stivers-Timmermans2017
Author(s) Tanya Stivers, Stefan Timmermans
Title Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: Making Bad News Bivalent
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Conversation Analysis, News delivery, Bad News, Good News, Disabilities
Publisher
Year 2017
Language English
City
Month
Journal Research on Language and Social Interaction
Volume 50
Number 4
Pages 404-418
URL Link
DOI 10.1080/08351813.2017.1375804
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

Research on news deliveries has focused on monovalently good or bad news and their associated interactional trajectories. We examine American English video recordings of geneticists delivering genetic test results to families with children who have disabilities. We find that speakers offering bright sides against a backdrop of bad news work to achieve bivalent equilibrium—a state where speakers can reach agreement that the news is appropriately understood as a mix of bad with good elements. We propose that bivalent equilibrium facilitates affiliation through a two-step process that is distinct from affiliation to a monovalently positive or negative evaluative stance. Data are in American English.

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