Face as an indexical category in interaction


Ruhi Ş.

Journal of Pragmatics, cilt.42, sa.8, ss.2131-2146, 2010 (SSCI, Scopus) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 42 Sayı: 8
  • Basım Tarihi: 2010
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.pragma.2009.12.020
  • Dergi Adı: Journal of Pragmatics
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.2131-2146
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Affective responses, Face, Indexicality, Membership categorization analysis, Parallel documents
  • Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Informed by the understanding of indexicality and membership categorization in ethnomethodology (Garfinkel, 1967; Sacks, 1986, 1989), the paper proposes that face is a Janus-like indexical concept which categorizes the self-in-interaction, as it indexes and is indexed by (linguistic) acts, and features of underlying conceptualizations of social practices relevant to the interaction. According to this understanding of face, affective responses, such as pride, liking, solidarity, dissociation, embarrassment or resentment, and other orientations to face derive from (perceived) categorizations emerging in the unfolding interaction. To examine the indexicality of face, membership categorization analysis (Sacks, 1986) is adopted as an analytic tool, and applied to a sequence of interactions in a ceremonial event. The paper further demonstrates that face may be made accountable by employing 'parallel documents' in research, defined in the study as data that stand in indexical relations to the situated interaction. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.