7. “Everything he says to me it’s like he stabs me in the face”: Frontstage and backstage reactions to teasing
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Valeria Sinkeviciute
Abstract
Teasing, frequently understood as a type of language play, combines face-threatening and bonding potential, aggression and affection, as well as seriousness and humor. Interestingly, in some cultural contexts, a humorous reaction to teasing seems to be more highly valued than a possible (or even actual) negative interpretation thereof. However, this refers to what the participants in interaction do when they are on stage and others can observe their frontstage performance, that is, in accordance with cultural values and expectations. Drawing on Goffman’s (1959) work on self-presentation in interaction, this chapter aims primarily to analyze the differences between frontstage and backstage perceptions of teases in Australian English and British English. The data for this analysis is taken from two versions of the same reality gameshow - Big Brother Australia 2012 and Big Brother UK 2012 - and much attention is devoted to (im)politeness metadiscourse that is a source of backstage comments. Thus, this chapter contributes not only to a better understanding of the connection between teasing and cultural values in two contexts (Australia and the UK), but also presents its relation to the phenomena of (im)politeness that become accessible through metalanguage.
Abstract
Teasing, frequently understood as a type of language play, combines face-threatening and bonding potential, aggression and affection, as well as seriousness and humor. Interestingly, in some cultural contexts, a humorous reaction to teasing seems to be more highly valued than a possible (or even actual) negative interpretation thereof. However, this refers to what the participants in interaction do when they are on stage and others can observe their frontstage performance, that is, in accordance with cultural values and expectations. Drawing on Goffman’s (1959) work on self-presentation in interaction, this chapter aims primarily to analyze the differences between frontstage and backstage perceptions of teases in Australian English and British English. The data for this analysis is taken from two versions of the same reality gameshow - Big Brother Australia 2012 and Big Brother UK 2012 - and much attention is devoted to (im)politeness metadiscourse that is a source of backstage comments. Thus, this chapter contributes not only to a better understanding of the connection between teasing and cultural values in two contexts (Australia and the UK), but also presents its relation to the phenomena of (im)politeness that become accessible through metalanguage.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Introduction 1
- 1. Language play in conversation 11
- 2. Playing with turns, playing with action? A social-interactionist perspective 47
- 3. The shape of tweets to come: Automating language play in social networks 73
- 4. “This system’s so slow”: Negotiating sequences of laughter and laughables in call-center interaction 93
- 5. Laughter as a “serious business”: Clients’ laughter in prenatal screening for Down’s syndrome 119
- 6. Jocular language play, social action and (dis)affiliation in conversational interaction 143
- 7. “Everything he says to me it’s like he stabs me in the face”: Frontstage and backstage reactions to teasing 169
- 8. Cities, conviviality and double-edged language play 199
- 9. Building rapport and a sense of communal identity through play in a second language classroom 219
- 10. The first English (EFL) lesson: Initial settings or the emergence of a playful classroom culture 245
- 11. The emergence of creativity in L2 English: A usage-based case-study 281
- 12. Teaching language learners how to understand sarcasm in L2 English 317
- 13. Anti-language: Linguistic innovation, identity construction, and group affiliation among emerging speech communities 347
- 14. Celebrations of a satirical song: Ideologies of anti-racism in the media 377
- Index 403
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Introduction 1
- 1. Language play in conversation 11
- 2. Playing with turns, playing with action? A social-interactionist perspective 47
- 3. The shape of tweets to come: Automating language play in social networks 73
- 4. “This system’s so slow”: Negotiating sequences of laughter and laughables in call-center interaction 93
- 5. Laughter as a “serious business”: Clients’ laughter in prenatal screening for Down’s syndrome 119
- 6. Jocular language play, social action and (dis)affiliation in conversational interaction 143
- 7. “Everything he says to me it’s like he stabs me in the face”: Frontstage and backstage reactions to teasing 169
- 8. Cities, conviviality and double-edged language play 199
- 9. Building rapport and a sense of communal identity through play in a second language classroom 219
- 10. The first English (EFL) lesson: Initial settings or the emergence of a playful classroom culture 245
- 11. The emergence of creativity in L2 English: A usage-based case-study 281
- 12. Teaching language learners how to understand sarcasm in L2 English 317
- 13. Anti-language: Linguistic innovation, identity construction, and group affiliation among emerging speech communities 347
- 14. Celebrations of a satirical song: Ideologies of anti-racism in the media 377
- Index 403
