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10. Encounters in public places: The establishment of interactional space in face-to-face openings

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Pragmatics of Space
This chapter is in the book Pragmatics of Space

Abstract

This chapter illustrates and discusses the practices through which individuals progressively engage in interaction. It begins with a presentation of seminal analyses of openings in phone call conversations, and then focuses on openings of encounters between unacquainted people in public places. In particular, the chapter presents and reviews openings as analyzed from the vantage point of Conversation Analysis (CA). This approach contributes significantly to the systematic analysis of the sequential, moment-by-moment organization of openings, on the basis of telephone conversations. This chapter demonstrates that this approach has been extended to the study of how people manage co-presence, including in unfocused interactions, and eventually engage in face-to-face encounters. Whereas classic conversation analytic studies highlighted the relevance of emergent temporalities in the organization of openings, this chapter insists on the importance of spatiality in their interactional accomplishment. By so doing, it highlights the different ways in which space features and is made relevant in social interaction. The chapter shows that verbal/vocal and embodied resources are fundamentally involved in the constitution of space, as well as the situated spatial arrangements of individuals’ bodies in the local environment. These resources enable individuals to build dynamic interactional spaces

Abstract

This chapter illustrates and discusses the practices through which individuals progressively engage in interaction. It begins with a presentation of seminal analyses of openings in phone call conversations, and then focuses on openings of encounters between unacquainted people in public places. In particular, the chapter presents and reviews openings as analyzed from the vantage point of Conversation Analysis (CA). This approach contributes significantly to the systematic analysis of the sequential, moment-by-moment organization of openings, on the basis of telephone conversations. This chapter demonstrates that this approach has been extended to the study of how people manage co-presence, including in unfocused interactions, and eventually engage in face-to-face encounters. Whereas classic conversation analytic studies highlighted the relevance of emergent temporalities in the organization of openings, this chapter insists on the importance of spatiality in their interactional accomplishment. By so doing, it highlights the different ways in which space features and is made relevant in social interaction. The chapter shows that verbal/vocal and embodied resources are fundamentally involved in the constitution of space, as well as the situated spatial arrangements of individuals’ bodies in the local environment. These resources enable individuals to build dynamic interactional spaces

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Preface to the handbook series v
  3. Preface ix
  4. Table of Contents xi
  5. 1. Doing space: The pragmatics of language and space 1
  6. I. Describing space through language
  7. 2. Deictic reference in space 23
  8. 3. The conceptualization of space in signed languages: Placing the signer in narratives 63
  9. 4. Spatiality in written texts 95
  10. 5. Interactional onomastics: Place names as malleable resources 125
  11. 6. Describing motion events 153
  12. 7. Discourses of place: The formation of space and place through discourse 181
  13. 8. Imaginary spaces in storytelling 209
  14. 9. Developmental perspectives on doing talk about space 251
  15. II. Spatial organization of social interaction
  16. 10. Encounters in public places: The establishment of interactional space in face-to-face openings 281
  17. 11. Interactional spaces in stationary, mobile, video-mediated and virtual encounters 317
  18. 12. The pragmatics of gesture and space 363
  19. 13. Distance and closeness: The im/politeness of space in communication 399
  20. III. Communicative resources of constructed spaces
  21. 14. Architecture-for-interaction: Built, designed and furnished space for communicative purposes 431
  22. 15. Building, dwelling, and interacting: Steps in the evolution of public space from Paleolithic to present 473
  23. 16. The pragmatics of linguistic landscapes 523
  24. 17. The pragmatics of written texts in space 549
  25. 18. Co-presence and beyond: Spatial configurations of communication in virtual environments 579
  26. IV. Pragmatics across space and cultures
  27. 19. Pragmatic variation across geographical and social space 611
  28. 20. Pragmatic variation across national varieties of pluricentric languages 637
  29. 21. Mapping perceptions and knowledge of language: Societal multilingualism and its sociopragmatic grounding 679
  30. Bionotes 715
  31. Author index 727
  32. Subject index 735
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110693713-010

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Preface to the handbook series v
  3. Preface ix
  4. Table of Contents xi
  5. 1. Doing space: The pragmatics of language and space 1
  6. I. Describing space through language
  7. 2. Deictic reference in space 23
  8. 3. The conceptualization of space in signed languages: Placing the signer in narratives 63
  9. 4. Spatiality in written texts 95
  10. 5. Interactional onomastics: Place names as malleable resources 125
  11. 6. Describing motion events 153
  12. 7. Discourses of place: The formation of space and place through discourse 181
  13. 8. Imaginary spaces in storytelling 209
  14. 9. Developmental perspectives on doing talk about space 251
  15. II. Spatial organization of social interaction
  16. 10. Encounters in public places: The establishment of interactional space in face-to-face openings 281
  17. 11. Interactional spaces in stationary, mobile, video-mediated and virtual encounters 317
  18. 12. The pragmatics of gesture and space 363
  19. 13. Distance and closeness: The im/politeness of space in communication 399
  20. III. Communicative resources of constructed spaces
  21. 14. Architecture-for-interaction: Built, designed and furnished space for communicative purposes 431
  22. 15. Building, dwelling, and interacting: Steps in the evolution of public space from Paleolithic to present 473
  23. 16. The pragmatics of linguistic landscapes 523
  24. 17. The pragmatics of written texts in space 549
  25. 18. Co-presence and beyond: Spatial configurations of communication in virtual environments 579
  26. IV. Pragmatics across space and cultures
  27. 19. Pragmatic variation across geographical and social space 611
  28. 20. Pragmatic variation across national varieties of pluricentric languages 637
  29. 21. Mapping perceptions and knowledge of language: Societal multilingualism and its sociopragmatic grounding 679
  30. Bionotes 715
  31. Author index 727
  32. Subject index 735
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