Chapter 4. Closeness at a distance
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Carolin Debray
Abstract
Social relationships are argued to have a special importance in Brazilian workplaces, as in Brazil generally (Amado and Brasil 1991; Fonseca and Castor 2005; Tanure and Duarte 2005), but scarce attention has been paid to the way such relationships are indexed through language. This research explores the way employees position themselves and others in emails to shape and influence relationships, highlighting how features that are specific to the medium index workplace identities. The analysis of 77 emails from a range of workplaces focuses on phatic aspects occurring frequently in our sample, greetings and closings. Employees used these strategically to emphasise closeness or distance, and with different degrees of formality, fulfilling diverse positioning functions including contesting power, enhancing relationships, or emphasising others’ independence. In addition, the relatively high frequency of greetings and closings compared to findings from other settings appears to confirm the importance claimed for relating at work in Brazil.
Abstract
Social relationships are argued to have a special importance in Brazilian workplaces, as in Brazil generally (Amado and Brasil 1991; Fonseca and Castor 2005; Tanure and Duarte 2005), but scarce attention has been paid to the way such relationships are indexed through language. This research explores the way employees position themselves and others in emails to shape and influence relationships, highlighting how features that are specific to the medium index workplace identities. The analysis of 77 emails from a range of workplaces focuses on phatic aspects occurring frequently in our sample, greetings and closings. Employees used these strategically to emphasise closeness or distance, and with different degrees of formality, fulfilling diverse positioning functions including contesting power, enhancing relationships, or emphasising others’ independence. In addition, the relatively high frequency of greetings and closings compared to findings from other settings appears to confirm the importance claimed for relating at work in Brazil.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Positioning through address practice in Finland-Swedish and Sweden-Swedish service encounters 19
- Chapter 3. Sociocultural and linguistic constraints in address choice from Latin to Italian 51
- Chapter 4. Closeness at a distance 81
- Chapter 5. Beyond the notion of periphery 105
- Chapter 6. Metacommenting in English and French 127
- Chapter 7. Direct speech, subjectivity and speaker positioning in London English and Paris French 155
- Chapter 8. Positioning of self in interaction 177
- Chapter 9. Constellation of indexicalities and social meaning 197
- Chapter 10. “Proper is whatever people make it” 219
- Chapter 11. Representations of self and other in narratives of return migration 241
- Chapter 12. Orthography as an identity marker 263
- Chapter 13. Positioning the self in talk about groups 285
- Author index 307
- Subject index 313
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Positioning through address practice in Finland-Swedish and Sweden-Swedish service encounters 19
- Chapter 3. Sociocultural and linguistic constraints in address choice from Latin to Italian 51
- Chapter 4. Closeness at a distance 81
- Chapter 5. Beyond the notion of periphery 105
- Chapter 6. Metacommenting in English and French 127
- Chapter 7. Direct speech, subjectivity and speaker positioning in London English and Paris French 155
- Chapter 8. Positioning of self in interaction 177
- Chapter 9. Constellation of indexicalities and social meaning 197
- Chapter 10. “Proper is whatever people make it” 219
- Chapter 11. Representations of self and other in narratives of return migration 241
- Chapter 12. Orthography as an identity marker 263
- Chapter 13. Positioning the self in talk about groups 285
- Author index 307
- Subject index 313
