Conversation Analysis

This collection assembles early, yet previously unpublished research into the practices that organize conversational interaction by many of the central figures in the development and advancement of Conversation Analysis as a discipline. Using the methods of sequential analysis as first developed by Harvey Sacks, the authors produce detailed empirical accounts of talk in interaction that make fundamental contributions to our understanding of turntaking, action formation and sequence organization. One distinguishing feature of this collection is that each of the contributors worked directly with Sacks as a collaborator or was trained by him at the University of California or both. Taken together this collection gives readers a taste of CA inquiry in its early years, while nevertheless presenting research of contemporary significance by internationally known conversation analysts.

John Heritage, UCLA:
This outstanding collection contains a number of papers which long ago achieved the status of 'mimeo classics.' They are just as important today as when they were written. This book tells us just how strong the 'first generation' of conversation analysts was and is. As a contribution to conversation analysis, it is inspiring, revelatory and indispensable.