Instructed objects
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Timothy Koschmann
Abstract
This chapter develops an ethnomethodologically-informed view regarding the sociality of objects, building upon Garfinkel’s various descriptions of object constitution. We examine a particular case of diagnostic reasoning produced in the course of carrying out a surgical procedure at a teaching hospital. Our interest is in the methods employed by the surgeons in resolving certain incongruities in the case as it presents itself. Through an occasioned process of inquiry, the case at hand comes to be seen in a new light. This revised clinical picture is the oriented object under consideration here and it is produced as a discovered matter. We describe it as an instructed object to emphasise that perception is a kind of action and can too be taught. For us, as for Garfinkel, instruction is a fundamental feature of how social order is created and shared understanding sustained. In the analysed example, the methods by which a new appreciation of the case is achieved are public and inspectable. Instructional settings are, in this way, ‘perspicuous sites’ for investigating how “a world of meant objects” is produced.
Abstract
This chapter develops an ethnomethodologically-informed view regarding the sociality of objects, building upon Garfinkel’s various descriptions of object constitution. We examine a particular case of diagnostic reasoning produced in the course of carrying out a surgical procedure at a teaching hospital. Our interest is in the methods employed by the surgeons in resolving certain incongruities in the case as it presents itself. Through an occasioned process of inquiry, the case at hand comes to be seen in a new light. This revised clinical picture is the oriented object under consideration here and it is produced as a discovered matter. We describe it as an instructed object to emphasise that perception is a kind of action and can too be taught. For us, as for Garfinkel, instruction is a fundamental feature of how social order is created and shared understanding sustained. In the analysed example, the methods by which a new appreciation of the case is achieved are public and inspectable. Instructional settings are, in this way, ‘perspicuous sites’ for investigating how “a world of meant objects” is produced.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
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Introduction
- On the interactional ecology of objects 3
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Part A. Objects as situated resources
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Organising and sequencing
- The order of ordering 31
- Initiating activity shifts through use of appraisal forms as material objects during performance appraisal interviews 57
- “I’ll just see what you had before” 79
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Participating and involving
- Objects as tools for talk 101
- Photo sharing as a joint activity between an aphasic speaker and others 125
- Organising the soundscape 145
- Cultivating objects in interaction 169
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Part B. Objects as practical accomplishments
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Shaping and creating
- Cooking instructions and the shaping of things in the kitchen 199
- To follow the materials 227
- Having a ball 249
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Experiencing and identifying
- Establishing joint orientation towards commercial objects in a self-service store 271
- Artworks as touchable objects 295
- Incidental and essential objects in interaction 319
- Envisioning the plan in interaction 339
- Instructed objects 357
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Epilogue
- Trajectories of the object in interaction 381
- Person index 389
- Subject index 391
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
-
Introduction
- On the interactional ecology of objects 3
-
Part A. Objects as situated resources
-
Organising and sequencing
- The order of ordering 31
- Initiating activity shifts through use of appraisal forms as material objects during performance appraisal interviews 57
- “I’ll just see what you had before” 79
-
Participating and involving
- Objects as tools for talk 101
- Photo sharing as a joint activity between an aphasic speaker and others 125
- Organising the soundscape 145
- Cultivating objects in interaction 169
-
Part B. Objects as practical accomplishments
-
Shaping and creating
- Cooking instructions and the shaping of things in the kitchen 199
- To follow the materials 227
- Having a ball 249
-
Experiencing and identifying
- Establishing joint orientation towards commercial objects in a self-service store 271
- Artworks as touchable objects 295
- Incidental and essential objects in interaction 319
- Envisioning the plan in interaction 339
- Instructed objects 357
-
Epilogue
- Trajectories of the object in interaction 381
- Person index 389
- Subject index 391
