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Chapter 2. Suspending talk

Multimodal organization of participation and stance in Japanese
  • Shimako Iwasaki
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Time in Embodied Interaction
This chapter is in the book Time in Embodied Interaction

Abstract

This chapter investigates ways in which multiple participants coordinate actions within a temporally unfolding “turn-constructional unit (TCU)” in Japanese conversation. Utterances are shaped by ongoing processes of participation and speakers modulate the structure of their emerging TCU with recipients’ dynamic stance-displays. Building on Iwasaki (2011, 2013), the paper examines ways in which speakers delay the further realization of an unfolding unit by suspending its progressivity, and incorporate recipients’ actions into the design of the turn. The speaker creates interstitial spaces right after or immediately before producing a component conveying speaker’s stance and affiliation, and invites recipient’s actions toward the particular component before completing the turn. This chapter illustrates systematic multimodal practices within unit construction that enable emergent forms of participation.

Abstract

This chapter investigates ways in which multiple participants coordinate actions within a temporally unfolding “turn-constructional unit (TCU)” in Japanese conversation. Utterances are shaped by ongoing processes of participation and speakers modulate the structure of their emerging TCU with recipients’ dynamic stance-displays. Building on Iwasaki (2011, 2013), the paper examines ways in which speakers delay the further realization of an unfolding unit by suspending its progressivity, and incorporate recipients’ actions into the design of the turn. The speaker creates interstitial spaces right after or immediately before producing a component conveying speaker’s stance and affiliation, and invites recipient’s actions toward the particular component before completing the turn. This chapter illustrates systematic multimodal practices within unit construction that enable emergent forms of participation.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. The body in interaction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Forward-looking 31
  5. Chapter 2. Suspending talk 69
  6. Chapter 3. The temporal organization of conversation while mucking out a sheep stable 97
  7. Chapter 4. Revisiting delayed completions 123
  8. Chapter 5. Questions on the move 161
  9. Chapter 6. Bodily shadowing 203
  10. Chapter 7. Prefiguring the future 231
  11. Chapter 8. Embodiment of activity progress 261
  12. Chapter 9. Changes in turn-design over interactional histories – the case of instructions in driving school lessons 293
  13. Chapter 10. Times of rest 325
  14. Index 351
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.293.02iwa

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. The body in interaction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Forward-looking 31
  5. Chapter 2. Suspending talk 69
  6. Chapter 3. The temporal organization of conversation while mucking out a sheep stable 97
  7. Chapter 4. Revisiting delayed completions 123
  8. Chapter 5. Questions on the move 161
  9. Chapter 6. Bodily shadowing 203
  10. Chapter 7. Prefiguring the future 231
  11. Chapter 8. Embodiment of activity progress 261
  12. Chapter 9. Changes in turn-design over interactional histories – the case of instructions in driving school lessons 293
  13. Chapter 10. Times of rest 325
  14. Index 351
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