Margret Selting (University of Potsdam) Constructing climaxes in conversational storytelling 1

1.Introduction Storytelling = complex big-package action with different component parts with concomitant stance or affect often culminating in a point of higher emotive involvement, the climax of the story. 2

3 2.Aims and Methodology I will analyse participants' construction and management of a climax in storytelling, with concomitant affect display: a story told for amusement, with displays of 'joy' or 'merriment', which receives the recipients' affiliation.

4 2.Aims and Methodology, continued Methods from CA, IL, and MA

5 2.Aims and Methodology, continued Methods from CA, IL, and MA Reconstruction of - verbal display - vocal display - visual display

6 2.Aims and Methodology, continued Methods from CA, IL, and MA Reconstruction of - verbal display - vocal display - visual display Validation via next-turn proof procedure (Sacks)

7 2.Aims and Methodology, continued Methods from CA, IL, and MA Reconstruction of - verbal display - vocal display - visual display Validation via next-turn proof procedure (Sacks) Corpus of videotaped conversations in German

8 2.Aims and Methodology, continued Speakers construct component parts of big-package actions such as the climax of storytelling as fitted into their sequential interactional context.

9 2.Aims and Methodology, continued Speakers construct component parts of big-package actions such as the climax of storytelling as fitted into their sequential interactional context. After prior action components, speakers construct sequentially next action components with particular verbal, vocal, and visual cues that are designed to both construct this particular action component (with concomitant stances or affects) as well as make it recognizable for the recipient.

10 2.Aims and Methodology, continued Speakers construct component parts of big-package actions such as the climax of storytelling as fitted into their sequential interactional context. After prior action components, speakers construct sequentially next action components with particular verbal, vocal, and visual cues that are designed to both construct this particular action component (with concomitant stances or affects) as well as make it recognizable for the recipient. Upon recognition, the recipient can respond as made relevant by this prior action component. The climax analysed here will be shown to be a multimodally constructed point of displayed affectivity in storytelling.

3. Analysis 11

3. Analysis Re. terminology: 'Marked' cues = cues that deviate from the forms for the signaling of behavior of the same speaker in surrounding segments of talk. 'marked' realization of a cue = always more noticeable or more conspicuous in comparison to its 'unmarked' counterpart 12

The climax of an amusing story 13

14 The climax of an amusing story Sandra's story climax: Segments 51-52

PRAAT-Picture 1: Segment 51PRAAT-Picture 2: Segment 56 15

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18 The climax of an amusing story Segments 53-55

19 The climax of an amusing story Sandra's evaluations: Segments 56-62

4.Conclusions 20

4.Conclusions Construction and recognizability of actions – or components of actions = result of the speakers' orderly and systematic usage of verbal, vocal and visual resources designed for the (recipient designed) conduct of these actions, and – if made relevant – displays of concomitant stances or affects. 21

4.Conclusions Construction and recognizability of actions – or components of actions = result of the speakers' orderly and systematic usage of verbal, vocal and visual resources designed for the (recipient designed) conduct of these actions, and – if made relevant – displays of concomitant stances or affects. Constructed in particular sequential contexts, i.e. after prior actions or after prior action components of big-package actions such as storytelling. 22

4.Conclusions Construction and recognizability of actions – or components of actions = result of the speakers' orderly and systematic usage of verbal, vocal and visual resources designed for the (recipient designed) conduct of these actions, and – if made relevant – displays of concomitant stances or affects. Constructed in particular sequential contexts, i.e. after prior actions or after prior action components of big-package actions such as storytelling. Made locally recognizable like this, the recipient(s) in turn can interpret and respond to the action and thus co-construct the action sequence. 23

4.Conclusions Construction and recognizability of actions – or components of actions = result of the speakers' orderly and systematic usage of verbal, vocal and visual resources designed for the (recipient designed) conduct of these actions, and – if made relevant – displays of concomitant stances or affects. Constructed in particular sequential contexts, i.e. after prior actions or after prior action components of big-package actions such as storytelling. Made locally recognizable like this, the recipient(s) in turn can interpret and respond to the action and thus co-construct the action sequence. For systematization: 'levels of granularity' (Schegloff 2000, cf. also Imo 2009), only separable for analytic purposes. 24

4.Final conclusions (1)The level of granularity of action construction in social interaction Storytelling as an interactional achievement, with a particular participation structure as a big-package action with different component parts climax = sequentially organized component part of storytelling as a big package 25

(2)The level of granularity of the sequential organization of climaxes with affect display 26

(2)The level of granularity of the sequential organization of climaxes with affect display Adjacency pair sequence for the collaborative construction and treatment of story climaxes with concomitant displays of affectivity + affiliative responses by the recipient 27

(2)The level of granularity of the sequential organization of climaxes with affect display Adjacency pair sequence for the collaborative construction and treatment of story climaxes with concomitant displays of affectivity + affiliative responses by the recipient 1 st adjacency pair – for the display and accomplishment of shared affectivity 1 st PPstoryteller's production of the climax of the story with concomitant display of reconstructed, reported affectivity 2 nd PPstory recipient'saffiliative response 28

(2)The level of granularity of the sequential organization of climaxes with affect display Adjacency pair sequence for the collaborative construction and treatment of story climaxes with concomitant displays of affectivity + affiliative responses by the recipient 1 st adjacency pair – for the display and accomplishment of shared affectivity 1 st PPstoryteller's production of the climax of the story with concomitant display of reconstructed, reported affectivity 2 nd PPstory recipient'saffiliative response 2 nd adjacency pair sequence (may be realized more than once) – for the consolidation and savouring of and/or exit from shared affectivity: 1stPPstoryteller's in-situ evaluation, confirmation, or the like, entails uptake of recipient's affiliation 2 nd PPstory recipient'saffiliative response 29

(2)The level of granularity of the sequential organization of climaxes with affect display, continued Displays of amusement are being savoured, "celebrated"; displays of anger or indignation are often being soothed, calmed down. 30

4.Final conclusions (3)The level of granularity of verbal, vocal and visual practices or resources 31

4.Final conclusions (3)The level of granularity of verbal, vocal and visual practices or resources Rhetorical devices Lexico-semantic devices Syntactic devices Prosodic devices Voice quality devices Visual devices 32

4.Final conclusions (3)The level of granularity of verbal, vocal and visual practices or resources None of the cues has a fixed interactional meaning. 33

4.Final conclusions (3)The level of granularity of verbal, vocal and visual practices or resources None of the cues has a fixed interactional meaning. In order to make climaxes recognizable as such within the local sequential context, storytellers deploy marked verbal, vocal and visual structures – marked in relation to their surrounding units. 34

4.Final conclusions (3)The level of granularity of linguistic structure and visual resources Production principle for the construction and making-recognizable of climaxes in conversational storytelling: In the sequential context of telling a story, after having projected the climax, and after having given the necessary pre-climax information to enable recipients to understand your climax, use a number of marked verbal, vocal and visual resources in relation to surrounding units in co- occurrence and/or concurrence in order to make your intended climax recognizable as a climax for the recipient. For this, produce TCUs that contrast with the prior ones by using markedly/recognizably/noticeably more, less or different cues than before. The stronger the marking (and/or higher the number of marking cues), the better the recipient might be able to recognize your climax and its interactional meaning. 35

4.Final conclusions (3)The level of granularity of linguistic structure and visual resources Some particular practices and cues associated with climaxes of 36

4.Final conclusions (3)The level of granularity of linguistic structure and visual resources Some particular practices and cues associated with climaxes of amusing stories: presentation of sth. as agree-able via lexical items and assessments implying agreement, smiling and laughing 37

4.Final conclusions (3)The level of granularity of linguistic structure and visual resources Some particular practices and cues associated with climaxes of amusing stories: presentation of sth. as agree-able via lexical items and assessments implying agreement, smiling and laughing complaint stories:presentation of 'offender' or 'offending' as egregious (cf. Drew 1998) via swear words/expletives, negative assessments, pressed or tense voice, movements of eyebrows enacting 'frowning' or 'staring' 38

4.Final conclusions (3)The level of granularity of linguistic structure and visual resources Some particular practices and cues associated with climaxes of amusing stories: presentation of sth. as agree-able via lexical items and assessments implying agreement, smiling and laughing complaint stories:presentation of 'offender' or 'offending' as egregious (cf. Drew 1998) via swear words/expletives, negative assessments, pressed or tense voice, movements of eyebrows enacting 'frowning' or 'staring' Interpretation of these cues = context- or sequence-specific. 39

40 Thank you for your attention!