Beyond symbols
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Stephen J. Cowley
Abstract
Humans often contextualize without using cues. While Gumperz showed that analysis is not sufficient to explain interaction, his view of what lay beyond symbols was based in cognitive internalism. Opposing this, prosody can be shown to contribute directly to conversational sense-making. Humans use self-organizing dynamics in ways that resemble what happens in gas-lasers. Voices attract each other and, at times, set off laser like synergies. Using these effects, we modulate our actions in situation-transcending events that give sense to the dynamics. Conversation is distributed cognition during which prosodic sense-making links the world with brains and bodies. Far from being based in word-forms, interaction and language are dynamical first and symbolic afterwards.
Abstract
Humans often contextualize without using cues. While Gumperz showed that analysis is not sufficient to explain interaction, his view of what lay beyond symbols was based in cognitive internalism. Opposing this, prosody can be shown to contribute directly to conversational sense-making. Humans use self-organizing dynamics in ways that resemble what happens in gas-lasers. Voices attract each other and, at times, set off laser like synergies. Using these effects, we modulate our actions in situation-transcending events that give sense to the dynamics. Conversation is distributed cognition during which prosodic sense-making links the world with brains and bodies. Far from being based in word-forms, interaction and language are dynamical first and symbolic afterwards.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- New adventures in language and interaction 1
- Interlocutory logic 9
- Beyond symbols 47
- The case for an eclectic approach to discourse-in-interaction 71
- Grammar 99
- Researching intercultural communication 125
- Studying interaction in order to cultivate communicative practices 145
- Healthcare interaction as an expert communicative system 167
- Interacting with difficulty 199
- Ecologies of gesture 223
- The neglected listener 243
- Dialogical dynamics 257
- Author index 273
- Subject index 275
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- New adventures in language and interaction 1
- Interlocutory logic 9
- Beyond symbols 47
- The case for an eclectic approach to discourse-in-interaction 71
- Grammar 99
- Researching intercultural communication 125
- Studying interaction in order to cultivate communicative practices 145
- Healthcare interaction as an expert communicative system 167
- Interacting with difficulty 199
- Ecologies of gesture 223
- The neglected listener 243
- Dialogical dynamics 257
- Author index 273
- Subject index 275
