The Messiah, Georg Fredrich Handel // Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer // “The Significance of the Table and the Cup,” Beth Moore // Luke 22:41-44 // This Too Shall Last, K.J. Ramsay // “The Seven Last Words,” made at wordart.com // “God Rested,” Andrew Peterson // The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis // “Was It a Morning Like This?” Sandi Patty // “Christ Arose,” Robert Lowry // The Holy Spirit, Sinclair Ferguson
Published by: Linguistic Society of America Annual Meeting Plenary Address January 8, 2009
LL Abstract:
In this address, Deborah Tannen outlines a theoretical framework for the notion of dialogicality, or the way that people draw on constructed voices of others to display identities that either display relationship status or hierarchies in a given interaction. Focusing on the constructed dialogue strategy of ventriloquizing, or the practice in which a speaker uses phonological, lexical, and syntactic resources to take on the voice of another or of an alternative personal persona. Illustrating her claims with examples from natural conversation, she argues that this animation allows speakers to negotiate two dynamics shaping conversation: relative closeness or distance on one hand, and relative hierarchy or equality on the other.
LL Summary:
Tannen (2009) begins this address by connecting Penelope Eckert’s work on indexicality and personae to her framework of meaning in interaction, noting the influence of Bateson, Bakhtin, and Becker. Describing her address as dealing with prior text and thus intertextuality, she next introduces her focus on the discursive strategy of reported speech, which she characterizes as “constructed dialogue” due to how speakers use this strategy to “take on the persona” of others. Tannen then outlines her theoretical framework, beginning with Mikhail Bakhtin’s (1952-53 [1986])views on dialogicality (or the interplay between current and previously experienced instances of language). Bakhtin describes every utterance as full of echoes and reverberations of other utterances, so that a current utterance is in “dialogue” with previous utterances. After explaining Gregory Bateson’s (1979) ideas on meaning as relationships from things to other things, Tannen ends this section by adopting A.L. Becker’s (1995) concept of ‘languaging’, where language is context-shaping (in other words, context is created by language) and outlined by a series of six relations. Before moving on to further examples, Tannen explains her own theoretical framework of the ambiguity and polysemy of connection and power. In her concept, every utterance and relationship results from a combination of two dynamics driving conversational discourse: relative closeness vs. distance and relative hierarchy vs. equality. She gives the example of overlapping speech, which can be in some instances be an interruption (or power maneuver) and in others be a cooperative overlap (as an enthusiastic chiming in or “cooperative overlap”, a connection maneuver). In her theory, such a display can be both polysemous (both a connection and power play) or ambiguous (can be either of the two moves). In the next part of her address, Tannen uses examples of ventriloquizing to show how people take on voices of others to introduce a persona, and to borrow characteristics from that persona in a move of creating closeness or distance with their interlocutor. In the family interactions she describes, fathers take on the voices of mothers to downplay directives, mothers voice dogs to get their kids to clean toys, children voice themselves and fathers, and expecting mothers voice their unborn children to chastise fathers-to-be. In these examples, Tannen argues that speakers communicate meaning by taking on voices that create personas, then borrow recognizable characteristics associated with them to negotiate relative connection and hierarchy. She concludes by revealing the role of this linguistic strategy in shaping family relations, arguing that intertextuality plays a key role in shaping discourse and the negotiation of connection and power in interaction.
Much as this delicious dish is remarkably easy to make (in one pot!), you will find this address remarkably easy to consume quickly! Tannen raises some thoughtful arguments about the role of prior text in conversation, and you will raise normal arguments with your family about who gets to finish this garlicky, cheesy pasta. I’d recommend adding some sun-dried tomatoes or dried kalamata olives to add a pit of texture to this amazing recipe, and it only takes 15 minutes to make! Good Cooking!
Published in: Narrative Matters in Medical Contexts across Disciplines Edited by: Franziska Gygax and Miriam A. Locher Pages 117-140
LL Abstract:
In this chapter, Gordon applies computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) methods to explain how participants in a single thread on a medical discussion board jointly work to address the first poster’s description of an interaction where a doctor criticizes her weight. Using a small stories perspective, she identifies six intertextual linking strategies that posters use to co-create a small story that works through the first poster’s dilemma: posing information-seeking questions, paraphrasing and reframing, creating “constructed dialogue” (Tannen, 2007), using the board’s quotation function, pointing (i.e. using the ^ sign), and advice-giving. In mapping these strategies, this chapter shows how participants use linguistic strategies to attribute responsibility for a problematic interaction to both the doctor and original patient/poster.
LL Summary:
Gordon (2015) opens this chapter by introducing online discussion boards as similar to what Ochs, Smith, and Taylor (1989) suggest about dinner tables, in that both act as “opportunity spaces” for the possibility of joint action of participants. In the introduction, she situates her research focus on this discussion board thread by describing her small stories approach to exploring the metadiscourse in this thread about a doctor’s unwelcome comments. Gordon next gives an overview of the chapter, then reviews previous research on online discussion boards, small stories, and intertextuality. Describing a range of studies making up the theoretical background of the study, she begins this section by discussing research showing how online discussion boards often feature participants engaging in storytelling to manage health-related issues while connecting with others. Gordon then reviews the “small stories” perspective in narrative analysis, wherein collaborative, fragmented, or incomplete “narrative-like formats of talk” have been demonstrated to act as a form of problem-solving behavior. The theoretical background section ends with a discussion of intertextuality - the relationships linking language meaning to prior instances of that language - and current research on linking/quoting others while revealing awareness of language through metadiscourse (language about language). In the next section of the chapter, the author describes “FriendInFitness/FIF”, an app and website geared to users attempting to track their caloric consumption and expenditure (aka food intake and exercise). Gordon describes how she applied Herring’s (2004) sampling methods to identify a thread with 46 posts by 24 participants beginning with a post by “Alma_Michelle” about a doctor-patient interaction about her body weight. The chapter then presents Gordon’s analysis, starting with a description of the linguistic strategies used by “Alma_Michelle” in her original post, such as the use of constructed dialogue to voice the doctor and the providing of details and information about her personal health statistics. Next, Gordon provides an analysis of the 6 intertextual strategies she identifies in the thread responding the original post. The first, asking information-seeking questions, occurs early in the thread and is typical of problem-solving narrative episodes. With the second strategy - paraphrasing and reframing - Gordon finds that participants recontextualize select elements of the first poster’s language, sometimes reinforcing her perspective and sometimes offering new understanding. The author finds that posters use the third strategy of constructed dialogue to create hypothetical utterances, re-create past utterances from outside of the thread, and to tie back to words used earlier in the thread, essentially suggesting the reinterpretation of information. Related to constructed dialogue, Gordon next shows how the fourth strategy - using the board’s built in quotation function - to link posts and create coherence on the thread. The fifth strategy of pointing echoes the previous two strategies, as Gordon reveals that posters use symbols and deictic pronouns to vividly link back to prior posts and introduce advice by modifying understandings of those previous posts. Finally, the sixth strategy of advice-giving is presented by Gordon as an interconnected activity with narration, as she finds that posters move their tellings into the future (similar to what has been found for small stories in other contexts) via advice that helps solve the original poster’s dilemma. Gordon ends the analysis section by summarizing her findings about the six strategies realizing posters’ co-telling or co-problem-solving via narration, suggesting that these strategies facilitate the gradual gathering and sharing of information and multiple perspectives. The chapter ends with a discussion of the larger themes referenced by the small story evoked in this thread (aka about how doctors should communicate with patients), tying Gordon’s analysis to questions of identity and narrative problem-solving online and the ways that online discussion forums provide opportunities for collaborative sense-making.
While Gordon finds that many discussion board participants had to work together to solve a poster’s dilemma, you will find that this recipe only requires one participant to make and will have no dilemmas about reaching for seconds! The fresh kale and tomatoes pair quite nicely with the light garlic sauce in this dish, much as online discussion boards pair nicely with soliciting advice about health. Good cooking!
w.s. merwin separation(via@lilllium) \ renee stout \ lorde hard feelings (via@lyricsilove) \ ramon haindl \ anna akhmatova selected poems of anna akhmatova (via@propertiesofjoy)
anna akhmatova (via@propertiesofjoy) \ mary oliver mindful(via@lilllium) \ leila chatti tea(via@propertiesofjoy) \ mary oliver blue horses: “i’m feeling fabulous, possibly too much so. but i love it” (via@liriostigre) \ sylvia plath the unabridged journals of sylvia plath (via@metamorphesque) \ warsan shire what we own
susan sontag as consciousness is harnessed to flesh: diaries (via@saccharineguilt) \ hélène delmaire \ olivia laing the lonely city \ david molina-molina object / mirror \ sophocles (tr. anne carson) (via@mortisha) \ hélène delmaire \ banana yoshimoto amrita(via@propertiesofjoy)
hieu minh nguyen this way to the sugar (via@luthienne) \ via@zuvson\ natalie diaz postcolonial love poem: “postcolonial love poem” (via@beingharsh) \ salman toor the star (2019) \ elena ferrante the story of a new name \ adonis selected poems (tr. khaled mattawa)
i am home [집 이야기](2019)dir. park je-bum \ charles baudelaire complete poems: ever the same: “spleen et idéal(tr. walter martin) \i am home [집 이야기](2019)dir. park je-bum \ margaret atwood you are happy: “chaos poem” (via@poetrywillsaveme) \i am home [집 이야기](2019)dir. park je-bum \ gabrielle bates & jennifer s. cheng so we must meet apart \ natsumi goldfish a short break (2021) \ clarice lispector a breath of life (via @flowerytale)\ les paumées du petit matin(1981) dir. jean rollin (via@365filmsbyauroranocte)
pjirawat \ sue zhao \ trois couleurs: bleu [“three colours: blue”]dir. krzysztif kieślowski (1993)via@ouugg \ ourbrokenbeatinghearts \ james lipnickasa place that could have been (2021) \ adonis selected poems (tr. khaled mattawa)via@weltenwellen \ salvador dali the persistence of memory (1931) \ samuel menashe samuel menashe: new and selected poems: “forever and a day” \@catilinas
@passionfruitfairy \ deborah stevenson let’s stay in touch \ katherine mansfield selected letters \ jennifer s lange mars terra love \@_journalsandjunk_\ leslie jean porter thinking of you, out there: i am \@maihonhassan \ fuen chin isolation ii \ maggie nelson bluets(via@liriostigre) \ trixie pitts long distance love
hanif abdurraqib it is once again the summer of my discontent and this is how we do it\ erté (romain de tirtoff) abondance [“plenty”] (1979) \ joy harjo conflict resolution for holy beings: “this morning i pray for my enemies” \ hilary faye calls to the clouds \peaky blinders s1e6 \ magnus gjoen no time to grieve for roses when forests are burning \ camille rankine
molly fisk winter sun \via@you-photo \ s. osborn blasphemies at the 5th street station \via@you-photo \ jeanette winterson lighthousekeeping\@omenalehto
Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous // Fortesa Latifi, We Want To Be Ruined // Mashmello, Silence// Richard Siken, A Primer of the Small Weird Loves // Guillermo del Toro, Crimson Peak // Leah Reader, Black Iris // Azra T., via thelovejournals // Florence and the Machine, Howl// Helen Cixous, Stigmata: Escaping Texts // Casey MxQuiston, Red, White & Royal Blue // Georges Bataille // Charlotte Bronte, in a letter to Ellen Nussey // Yves Olade, Bloodsport// Andria Zabala, Coffee and Cigarettes // Caitlyn Siehl, Start Here
the inescapable structure of tragedy, the lines of causality
matthew stover, star wars episode III: revenge of the sith novelization/prophetic perfect tense/ louise glück, the triumph of achilles/hadestown, “road to hell” /sunnyscenegenerator/ joanna newsom, “waltz of the 101st lightborne”
oh god it must feel insane to play guildenstern every night and say that line at the end “There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said–no. But somehow we missed it. Well, we’ll know better next time.” Like an audience only has to see it play out once but as that actor every single night for months you have to watch this character re-forget and make the same choices and fight against the same tide towards the inevitable conclusion and swear that there’s a way to do it differently next time. rinse repeat.
And now I’m thinking of Hermes from Hadestown, singing this part every night:
“‘Cause here’s the thing: To know how it ends / And still begin to sing it again / As if it might turn out this time – / I learned that from a friend of mine.”
