Co-presence during lapses
On “comfortable silences” in Finnish everyday
interaction
This study examines video-recorded, naturally occurring
Finnish dyads focusing on lapses (inter-sequential silences). During
most lapses, participants undertake bodily activities or behaviors
(Hoey 2015). Adding to
previous work, this study describes “comfortable” silences where
participants share the moment with no bodily activities or mutual
gaze, inhabiting the silence with simple co-presence. The analysis
suggests that instead of the gathering/encounter dualism,
participant behavior in social situations is better described as a
continuum of orientations. Also during the “comfortable” silences,
understanding of behavioral involvements is intersubjectively
created and maintained. Thus, even outside of sequences that
allegedly create and maintain the “architecture of
intersubjectivity” (Heritage
1984), social organization is jointly negotiated and
achieved, most importantly by mutual monitoring and reciprocation of
(bodily) orientations.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction: Co-presence and social situations
- 2.Empirical background: Lapses as silent moments in
interaction
- 3.Data and methodology
- 4.On ways to orient to lapses: Towards the “comfortable”
silence
- 5.On the reciprocity of orientations: Negotiating understandings of
the lapse
- 6.Concluding remarks: On co-presence and its intersubjective
transformation
-
Acknowledgements
-
Notes
-
References
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