Face as an indexical category in interaction


Ruhi Ş.

Journal of Pragmatics, vol.42, no.8, pp.2131-2146, 2010 (SSCI) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 42 Issue: 8
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.pragma.2009.12.020
  • Journal Name: Journal of Pragmatics
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.2131-2146
  • Keywords: Affective responses, Face, Indexicality, Membership categorization analysis, Parallel documents
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

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.