Occasioned semantics: Systematic approaches to formulation in conversation
| Number: | P39 |
| Organizer: | Bilmes, Jack |
| Co-Organizer: | Arnulf Deppermann |
| Abstract: | |
| A \'formulation\', as we use the term here, is a way of alluding to, describing, or categorizing a referent, given that there are multiple ways of doing so. Our interest is in the relationship between different formulations within actual contexts of conversation, e.g., but not exclusively, by re-formulations, co-selection, or repair. Various fields of study have made contributions to our knowledge of formulation, including membership categorization analysis, semantics, linguistic pragmatics, sociolinguistics, discursive psychology, and conversation analysis. On the other hand, much analysis of formulation has been done in a rather ad hoc manner. This panel is intended to advance the theory and methodology of formulation analysis as a coherent field of study. The panel will address questions such as: What are the determinants of formulative choices? These may range from cultural, semantic, and institutional to the local situation of interaction, including the social relations of the individuals involved and the sequential aspects of the conversation. What are the consequences of particular types of formulation, in the immediate situation and perhaps within larger societal contexts? How do the parties to an interaction create occasioned semantic fields (sets of formulations that have structured relations to one another)? How are various approaches, already established or newly proposed, adapted to the study of formulation? How can we go about synthesizing them in a coherent and systematic way to establish a general field of formulation studies? Although the papers in this panel will rest on sequential analysis, they will go beyond analyses of particular expressions, interactions, or practices. The aim of the panel is to explicate and systematize the methods that have been used to study formulation , to present new methods, and, on a more theoretical level, to propose conceptual advances regarding types and functions of formulation. |
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