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Facing differences in conceptualizing “Face” in everyday interacting

  • Robert B. Arundale

    Robert B. Arundale is Professor Emeritus of Communication at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research involves issues in language and social interaction related to understanding everyday language use in interpersonal communication. Recent publications focus on re-conceptualizing understandings of human communication and of human relating in view of research in conversation analysis, as in Communicating & Relating: Constituting face in everyday interacting (2020).

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Published/Copyright: August 29, 2024
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Abstract

Ever since Goffman examined “face” in social interaction in 1955, researchers in intercultural and sociocultural pragmatics have employed the concept in many ways, and have developed a number of different positions on what the concept entails and on how to study it. Following Goffman, face is uniformly conceptualized as a phenomenon apparent in everyday interacting, but in focusing on the characteristics of face, researchers have routinely overlooked their conceptualizations of everyday interaction. This article examines twelve current conceptualizations of face, focusing particularly on their conceptualizations of everyday interacting and their implications for examining face, and providing researchers with bases for choosing a conceptualization that will be productive in addressing their research questions regarding face in everyday interacting.


Corresponding author: Robert B. Arundale, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA, E-mail:

About the author

Robert B. Arundale

Robert B. Arundale is Professor Emeritus of Communication at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. His research involves issues in language and social interaction related to understanding everyday language use in interpersonal communication. Recent publications focus on re-conceptualizing understandings of human communication and of human relating in view of research in conversation analysis, as in Communicating & Relating: Constituting face in everyday interacting (2020).

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Published Online: 2024-08-29
Published in Print: 2024-09-25

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