DeStefani2023
| DeStefani2023 | |
|---|---|
| BibType | INCOLLECTION |
| Key | DeStefani2023 |
| Author(s) | Elwys De Stefani |
| Title | Approaching the Counter at the Supermarket: Decision-Making and the Accomplishment of Couplehood |
| Editor(s) | Barbara Fox, Lorenza Mondada, Marja-Leena Sorjonen |
| Tag(s) | EMCA |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Year | 2023 |
| Language | English |
| City | Cambridge |
| Month | |
| Journal | |
| Volume | |
| Number | |
| Pages | 37-72 |
| URL | Link |
| DOI | 10.1017/9781009216012.002 |
| ISBN | 9781009215992,9781009216012 |
| Organization | |
| Institution | |
| School | |
| Type | |
| Edition | |
| Series | |
| Howpublished | |
| Book title | Encounters at the Counter: The Organization of Shop Interactions |
| Chapter | |
Abstract
Focusing on supermarkets in a Swiss Italian city, this chapter explores the interactional work that couples shopping together do before finally arriving at the counter to make a request. While some requests arise from a need that was stated at the very beginning of the shopping expedition (e.g., ‘I need cheese’) and which then guide the pair to a specific counter at the store, other requests arise from something said or seen in the course of traversing the store. It is shown that even needs or wishes that were expressed at the beginning of the interaction can undergo transformation. Potential purchasable items proffered by one member of the pair may be modified or rejected by the other, and in this process the pair enacts a particular kind of relationship, being a committed couple, in which both parties have a say in food that is to be purchased and prepared for specific meals. The study shows that requests emerge incrementally over the course of interactions, and are situated in particular interactional, material, and economy-oriented environments.
Notes
