The story in conversation : towards an integration of speech act theory and conversational analysis
This thesis is a study of the story in natural conversation. The story is an intuitively recognizable but problematic unit to describe, since the features which distinguish it in conversation are s~ markedly different from the features that characterise a narrative text. An attempt is made in the thesis to locate the study of stories in an area of research that allows analysis in terms )of the interaction of story-teller and addressees in a conversation. Within this area of linguistic research, which may broadly be termed pragmatics, some definitions of story-telling are examined which explicitly claim to be 'functional', that is, based on the asswnption that story-telling is an activity directed by the teller towards the achievement of certain goals. Such a definition is provided, for example, by Labov and Waletzky in their classic paper on oral versions of narrative, which is examined at some length in this thesis. It is concluded that a definition like the one offered by Labov and Waletzky is unsatisfactory when applied to stories in natural conversation despite the functional approach advocated. Two other approaches to the study of language use in so~ial interaction, however, appear to be suitable to the
Bhaya, Rukmini
The story in conversation : towards an integration of speech act theory and conversational analysis. This thesis is a study of the story in natural conversation. The story is an intuitively recognizable but problematic unit to describe, since the features which distinguish it in conversation are s~ markedly different from the features that characterise a narrative text. An attempt is made in the thesis to locate the study of stories in an area of research that allows analysis in terms )of the interaction of story-teller and addressees in a conversation. Within this area of linguistic research, which may broadly be termed pragmatics, some definitions of story-telling are examined which explicitly claim to be 'functional', that is, based on the asswnption that story-telling is an activity directed by the teller towards the achievement of certain goals. Such a definition is provided, for example, by Labov and Waletzky in their classic paper on oral versions of narrative, which is examined at some length in this thesis. It is concluded that a definition like the one offered by Labov and Waletzky is unsatisfactory when applied to stories in natural conversation despite the functional approach advocated. Two other approaches to the study of language use in so~ial interaction, however, appear to be suitable to the
story conversation towards integration speech_act_theory conversational analysis study story natural conversation story intuitively recognizable problematic unit describe since feature distinguish conversation markedly_different feature characterise narrative_text attempt_make locate study story area allow analysis term interaction story teller addressee conversation within_area linguistic may broadly term pragmatic definition story_telling examine explicitly claim functional base story_telling activity direct teller towards achievement certain goal definition provide_example classic paper oral version narrative examined length thesis conclude definition like offer unsatisfactory apply story natural conversation despite functional advocate two_approach study language_use interaction however_appear suitable