All talk
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Bronwen Thomas
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the ways in which film dialogue can enact and foreground the complex mechanisms underlying conversational interaction, and demonstrate the ways in which verbal interaction may be as much about concealment and solipsism as it is about intimacy and revelation. With close reference to Spike Jonze’s Her, which centres on the developing relationship between a lonely writer and an operating system designed to fulfill his every need, the chapter will examine how the film’s foregrounding of character dialogue to the exclusion of almost everything else challenges convention and relies on the audience to read between the lines of the characters’ utterances. The chapter draws on theories of dialogue from literary criticism, narratology and linguistics as well as film studies to argue that dialogue in film is not just about exquisitely staged scenes or displays of auteurish experimentation, but plays an integral role in the audience’s active engagement with the characters and their investment in their unfolding relationships.
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the ways in which film dialogue can enact and foreground the complex mechanisms underlying conversational interaction, and demonstrate the ways in which verbal interaction may be as much about concealment and solipsism as it is about intimacy and revelation. With close reference to Spike Jonze’s Her, which centres on the developing relationship between a lonely writer and an operating system designed to fulfill his every need, the chapter will examine how the film’s foregrounding of character dialogue to the exclusion of almost everything else challenges convention and relies on the audience to read between the lines of the characters’ utterances. The chapter draws on theories of dialogue from literary criticism, narratology and linguistics as well as film studies to argue that dialogue in film is not just about exquisitely staged scenes or displays of auteurish experimentation, but plays an integral role in the audience’s active engagement with the characters and their investment in their unfolding relationships.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Creating characters through dialogue
- Pragmatic stylistics and dramatic dialogue 19
- Dialogue and character in 21st century TV drama 37
- Look who’s talking 55
- All talk 77
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Part II. Involvement, audience design and social interaction
- Studying everyday conversation 95
- Dialogic interactions on radio 117
- Dialogism in journalistic discourse 137
- Friends and followers ‘in the know’ 155
- Dialogue with computers 179
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Part III. Playfulness and narrative functions of dialogue
- Dialogue in Audiophonic Fiction 205
- Dialogue in comics 225
- Dialogue in video games 251
- Dialogue and interaction in role-playing games 271
- Index 291
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Creating characters through dialogue
- Pragmatic stylistics and dramatic dialogue 19
- Dialogue and character in 21st century TV drama 37
- Look who’s talking 55
- All talk 77
-
Part II. Involvement, audience design and social interaction
- Studying everyday conversation 95
- Dialogic interactions on radio 117
- Dialogism in journalistic discourse 137
- Friends and followers ‘in the know’ 155
- Dialogue with computers 179
-
Part III. Playfulness and narrative functions of dialogue
- Dialogue in Audiophonic Fiction 205
- Dialogue in comics 225
- Dialogue in video games 251
- Dialogue and interaction in role-playing games 271
- Index 291
