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Aggression in Banter

Patterns, Possibilities, and Limitations of Analysis
  • Björn Technau
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Verbale Aggression
This chapter is in the book Verbale Aggression

Abstract

This paper focusses on the interactional phenomenon of banter and the possibilities and limitations of its analysis. It traces the steps and relevant aspects typically involved in a banter situation and discusses the different roles and evaluation processes of speakers, listeners and analysts respectively. Due to their combination of an impolite or even aggressive surface structure and bonding components, banter utterances typically result in interpretative varia­tion that seems to be part of their very nature. The theoretical approach is backed by conversation analyses of some real banter examples collected within a speech community of college students and young graduates in Mainz, Germany.

Abstract

This paper focusses on the interactional phenomenon of banter and the possibilities and limitations of its analysis. It traces the steps and relevant aspects typically involved in a banter situation and discusses the different roles and evaluation processes of speakers, listeners and analysts respectively. Due to their combination of an impolite or even aggressive surface structure and bonding components, banter utterances typically result in interpretative varia­tion that seems to be part of their very nature. The theoretical approach is backed by conversation analyses of some real banter examples collected within a speech community of college students and young graduates in Mainz, Germany.

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