27.4106, Diss: Intertextual Media References as Resources for Managing Frames, Epistemics, and Identity in Conversation among Friends

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LINGUIST List: Vol-27-4106. Thu Oct 13 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.4106, Diss: Intertextual Media References as Resources for Managing Frames, Epistemics, and Identity in Conversation among Friends

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Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2016 13:45:45
From: Sylvia Sierra [ssierra at syr.edu]
Subject: Intertextual Media References as Resources for Managing Frames, Epistemics, and Identity in Conversation among Friends

 
Institution: Georgetown University 
Program: Department of Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2016 

Author: Sylvia Sierra

Dissertation Title: Intertextual Media References as Resources for Managing
Frames, Epistemics, and Identity in Conversation among
Friends 

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis


Dissertation Director(s):
Heidi E Hamilton
Cynthia M Gordon
Deborah Tannen

Dissertation Abstract:

Gordon (2009) has demonstrated that intertextuality (e.g., Bakhtin 1981, 1986;
Kristeva 1986; Becker 1994; Hamilton 1996; Tannen 2007) and framing (e.g.,
Bateson 1972; Goffman 1974; Tannen & Wallat 1987/1993) are intrinsically
intertwined. This study builds on this work, merging the study of
intertextuality and framing with Raymond and Heritage’s (2006) analysis of
epistemics in social relations, and simultaneously contributing to the study
of ‘intertextual identity construction’ (Hamilton 1996) and ‘epistemic
discourse analysis’ (van Dijk 2013). I demonstrate how intertextual ties,
specifically media references (to movies, TV shows, songs, videogames, and
online memes), contribute to epistemic management and frame shifts, which is
conducive to group identity construction in ‘epistemic ecologies’ (C. Goodwin
2013).

The analysis focuses on five conversations of seven hours among ten American
friends in their mid-twenties. These data include 116 media references across
the five interactions, where speakers use repeated words, phrases, and
phonetic and paralinguistic features appropriated from media texts.

Expanding on Gumperz’s (1977, 1982) work on contextualization cues, I
demonstrate how these speakers use vowel lengthening, loudness, pitch shifts,
laughter, smile voice, regional and foreign accents, singing, and creaky voice
to signal media references in talk. I also show that speakers primarily
demonstrate recognition of media references through laughter and participating
in play frames, and that repetition or explicit affirmation also occasionally
demonstrate recognition. I argue that and demonstrate how media references
often serve to remedy epistemic imbalances and simultaneously manage frames,
thereby negotiating interactional dilemmas (M. Goodwin 1996). Building on
Gordon's (2009) understanding of what Goffman (1974) refers to as laminated
frames, I show how two kinds of frame laminations are constructed and
interrelated in play frames around media references: overlapping (two frames
at once) and embedded (a specific frame within a more general frame). Through
such play frames, speakers rekey, reframe (Tannen 2006), and re-adjust the
epistemic territory of conversation and ultimately construct group identities
as speakers with shared experiences. This study demonstrates how shared prior
texts that are referenced by a group of people, such as media references, are
used as a resource for managing epistemics, shifting frames, and identity
construction.




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