Abstract
This chapter investigates the key question posed by Goffman, ‘What is it that is going on here?’, and how, using ethnographically informed insights from Geertz, we can understand and interpret discourse. It introduces Goffman’s concepts of frames, strips and footing, and participation roles such as ratified and unratified speaker/hearer. The chapter also discusses the management of ‘face’ and ‘facework’ in discourse, including its relation to politeness theory which is also introduced. Linguistic ethnography is presented and exemplified, and the various roles of the researcher in ethnography are critically discussed. Ethnographic practices are introduced, including assumptions relevant to ethnographic methodology in discourse analysis. The key concepts of ‘reflexivity’ and ‘thick participation’ are also introduced and discussed.
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Notes
- 1.
Derek Layder is an influential British sociologist and theorist whose ‘resource map for research’ is a framework we champion in this book for its ability to link different social perspectives across histories. More specifically, it integrates context, setting, situated activity and self as research elements, each of which are then glossed in terms of research focus. We cover this resource map in detail in Part II of this book.
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Candlin, C.N., Crichton, J., Moore, S.H. (2017). ‘What Is It That’s Going on Here?’. In: Exploring Discourse in Context and in Action. Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-31506-9_4
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