Poetic confluence : The social organization of a telepathic experience

This paper is an exploratory sociological analysis of poetic confluence, a spontaneous telepathic phenomenon that occurs in everyday social interaction. In poetic confluence, one person’s talk exhibits an enigmatic relationship to another’s unstated thoughts or imagery at that moment. The analyses draw from an empirical approach called Conversation Analysis, a formal qualitative method for the analysis of naturally occurring interaction in everyday life. In Conversation Analysis, talk-in-interaction is analyzed as coordinated and sequentially organized action. The focus on the action orientation of talk informs this analysis, treating poetic confluence as a form of social action. The data are (unavoidably) anecdotal accounts of experiences. Although the techniques of Conversation Analysis cannot be applied to anecdotal reports, its methodological principles and substantive focus can inform a systematic analysis of anecdotal data. A case is made for the robustness of poetic confluence via analysis of recurrent properties found in examples from three corpora of candidate cases. The analysis identifies three interpersonal functions of poetic confluence: its role in restoring mutual attention; its affiliative, affective function; and its role as a mechanism for managing threats to social propriety, or keeping “face.” In the discussion, alternative skeptical explanations are assessed; the empirical approach is framed in terms of Cardeña’s (2019) observations on the metaphoric quality of some psi phenomena and Carpenter’s (2012) first sight theory, and some suggestions are offered for further research on social interaction and psi phenomena

The transgressive that: making the world uncanny.

In this article, we examine how the demonstrative that may be used to notice an event in the world in such a way as to suggest it has highly unusual or transgressive properties and in so doing invite others to align with that implicit claim. Drawing on Freud's notion of the uncanny, we examine instances of the transgressive that in circumstances in which participants at least entertain the possibility that they are experiencing anomalous or paranormal objects and entities. The analysis outlines the basic features of the transgressive that and examines how it may be the vehicle for a range of delicate interpersonal activities. Throughout the article, we try to show the broader relevance of the analytic argument by reference to data from more mundane interactional settings and to other forms of discourse, including fiction, commentary and interview narrative

Walking with Gail : the local achievement of interactional rhythm and synchrony through footwork.

By analysing the movements through space of a famous conversation analyst delivering a well known lecture this paper reveals the creative construction of space within the social and physical constraints of the lecture hall, and in so doing contributes to the embodied analysis of humans in material environments. It uses terminology and insights from dance to help 'see' and analyse the movements as 'footwork' and 'figures'

Conversation analysis and discourse analysis : a comparative and critical introduction/ Wooffitt

234 hal.; 25 cm

Conversation analysis and discourse analysis : a comparative and critical introduction/ Wooffitt

234 hal.; 25 cm

Conversation analysis and discourse analysis: a comparative and critical introduction

This book shows how the methods and findings of conversation and discourse analysis may inform the development of empirical research questions. It will therefore be an invaluable resource for social science students on courses which require them to undertake practical or empirical exercises

Conversation analysis and discourse analysis : a comparative and critical introduction/ Wooffitt

234 hal.; 25 cm

Looking in and speaking out: introspection, consciousness, communication

The authors argue it is essential to examine the linguistic and communicative practices that are used in the production of introspective data, and thereby make an important contribution to debates about how we may study experience that are relevant to a wide range of disciplines. The book has three objectives. It offers an account of the way in which contemporary researchers are employing introspection methodologies; it argues for the importance of viewing introspective data as discourse, and illustrates this via discussion of research findings in four substantive chapters; and it outlines new directions for research and theorising on introspection and consciousness which will have implications for a range of psychological and social science disciplines

Coincidence by design

In this paper we develop an approach to coincidences as discursive activities. To illustrate the range of empirical questions that can be explored in the analysis of coincidence accounts, we examine one single written account, which was submitted to a website of a research project to investigate the statistical dimensions of coincidence experiences. Our analysis is broadly ethnomethodological in that we examine this single case to identify how structural and narrative components work to constitute the recognizably coincidental quality of the events so described. The analysis identifies a mirror structure that resembles chiasmus, a figurative device found in classical texts. The analysis also describes how the account is designed to address inferential matters related to the site to which it was submitted. In the discussion we reflect on the implications of this approach for other approaches to coincidenc