Chapter published in:
From Pragmatics to Dialogue
Edited by Edda Weigand and Istvan Kecskes
[Dialogue Studies 31] 2018
► pp. 113–136

Bounded segments of interaction

The case of redressing the breach of a cultural norm once it is flagged

This study examines naturally occurring instances of “bounded segments” of interaction. A bounded segment has a start point when interacting persons launch a task or activity, and a completion point when they reach closure. The importance of bounded segments from a dialogical perspective is that they account for the extensiveness of most interactions, and for the combination of successive action-reaction pairs into a progression from start point to completion point. In the instances we examine, the start point occurs when a participant flags a breach of a cultural norm by the other, and the end point occurs when the flagger is satisfied that the breach has been redressed, or the parties mutually give up trying to achieve an acceptable resolution.
Keywords: activity analysis, dialogue analysis, bounded segment, start point, completion point, cultural norm, normative breach
Article outline
  • 1.Bounded segments of interaction
    • 1.1The start point
    • 1.2Carrying on to reach a completion point
  • 2.Remedial work
  • 3.Data
    • 3.1Case one: Beth discloses to a suitor that her “ex-boyfriend” has a key to her house
      • 3.1.1Producing the trouble source
      • 3.1.2The start point: Flagging the trouble source
      • 3.1.3The cultural norm that Beth breached: How women should treat suitors
      • 3.1.4The remedial exchange
      • 3.1.5The completion point
    • 3.2Case two: Will discloses to co-workers that he wishes he could get a divorce
      • 3.2.1Producing the trouble-source
      • 3.2.2The start point: Flagging the trouble-source
      • 3.2.3The cultural norm that Will breached: To whom one discloses marital disaffection
      • 3.2.4Will continues his disclosure despite its being flagged as a trouble-source
      • 3.2.5Remedial exchange: Will backs away from and then recants his disclosure
      • 3.2.6The completion point
    • 3.3Case three: Peter discloses that he shot some cats and a dog while hunting
      • 3.3.1Producing the trouble-source
      • 3.3.2The start point: Flagging the trouble-source
      • 3.3.3The cultural norm that Peter breached: Which animals recreational hunters can kill
      • 3.3.4Pursuing a remedial exchange in the face of resistance
      • 3.3.5The remedial exchange
      • 3.3.6The completion point
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 05 October 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/ds.31.07san
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