Interacting with Objects
Language, materiality, and social activity
Editors
| University of Southern Denmark
| University of Oulu
| University of Southern Denmark
| University of Oulu
Objects are essential for how, together, people create and experience social life and relate to the physical environment around them. Interacting with Objects: Language, materiality, and social activity presents studies which use video recordings of real-life settings to explore how objects feature in social interaction and activity. The studies consider many objects (e.g. paper documents, food, a camera, art, furniture, and even the human body), across various situations, such as shopping, visiting the doctor, interviews and meetings, surgery, and instruction in dance, craft, or cooking. Analyses reveal in precise detail how, as people interact, objects are seen, touched and handled, heard, created, transformed, planned, imagined, shared, discussed, or appreciated. With the companion collection Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond multitasking, the book advances understanding of the complex organisation and accomplishment of social interaction, especially the significance of embodiment, materiality, participation and temporality. By focussing on objects in and for actual occasions of human action, Interacting with Objects: Language, materiality, and social activity will interest many researchers and practitioners in language and social interaction, communication and discourse, design, and also more widely within anthropology, sociology, psychology, and related disciplines.
[Not in series, 186] 2014. vii, 393 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
|
Acknowledgements
|
vii
|
|
Introduction
|
|
|
3–26
|
|
|
Part A. Objects as situated resources
|
|
|
Organising and sequencing
|
|
|
31–56
|
|
|
57–78
|
|
|
79–98
|
|
|
Participating and involving
|
|
|
101–124
|
|
|
125–144
|
|
|
145–168
|
|
|
169–194
|
|
|
Part B. Objects as practical accomplishments
|
|
|
Shaping and creating
|
|
|
199–226
|
|
|
227–248
|
|
|
249–268
|
|
|
Experiencing and identifying
|
|
|
271–294
|
|
|
295–318
|
|
|
319–338
|
|
|
339–356
|
|
|
357–378
|
|
|
Epilogue
|
|
|
381–388
|
|
|
Person index
|
389–390
|
|
Subject index
|
391–393
|
“Objects are critical to the ways in which we produce and make sense of conduct. And yet, we can still paraphrase Bruno Latour over twenty years on to ask this question of most accounts of society: "where are the missing masses of objects?" This collection powerfully responds. It contains insightful and sophisticated analyses of how we use objects as interactional resources and, in so doing, how we constitute the sense and significance of those very same objects. As a result, it is a delight for everyone interested in the 'stuff' of social life.”
Jon Hindmarsh, King's College London
“From the sound made by the hoover to the knitting produced by needles, this exciting collection analyses how objects feature in everyday, educational and technical activities. While we might assume the qualities of an object to be constant and consistent, we learn from this book how these qualities are re-shaped from moment-to-moment. It brings the lived, intended and accomplished qualities of objects into the heart of current work in conversation analysis and ethnomethodology. At the same time it brings conversation analysis and ethnomethodology into the heart of research on objects and materiality.”
Eric Laurier, University of Edinburgh
“
Interacting with Objects is a unique collection of empirical studies. It takes seriously that there is no such thing as an object simpliciter; there are only objects in, for and of activities. Through detailed analyses of video recordings of diverse interactions in which various objects are perceived and manipulated, the contributors beautifully demonstrate that features of an object are intrinsically lodged in the spatial and temporal unfolding of each distinct activity. Objects shape, and are shaped by, ongoing action. This is an insightful and important book, and provides the foundation for all future studies on the subject.”
Aug Nishizaka, Chiba University
“Austin taught us that speaking is doing things with words. Nevile et al. now show us that talk does not occur in a material vacuum, but crucially involves using things for communicative purposes. With the methodological rigor of video-based multimodal interaction analysis, the authors illuminate how objects figure in structuring communicative encounters, how their use enhances participants’ opportunities for action and how objects are collaboratively produced. The rich universe of the fine grained coordination of verbal interaction, bodily conduct and manipulation of objects in social practice is deployed before the readers’ eyes in fascinating detail. This book will be indispensable for everybody who is interested in a comprehensive understanding of embodied communicative conduct in real world situations.”
Arnulf Deppermann, Institute for the German Language, Mannheim
“This book shows how the formulation of the concept of ‘objects’ provides an approach to studies which use an ethnomethodological and conversation analytic perspective: ‘objects’ are considered as ‘situated resources’ and as ‘practical accomplishments’. Empirical studies using data from video taped recordings of naturally occurring interaction are analyzed in detail to show how social interaction and ordinary actions can achieve this feat, for participants.”
George Psathas, Boston University
“[T]his book, examining specifically and in detail how objects feature in social actions, provides a substantial first step toward describing ‘the interactional ecology of objects’ (p. 17). As objects are an integral part of our everyday actions, the analysis and findings here will interest and impact research in various fields, especially discourse analysis and social action analysis.”
Zeng Xiaorong, Jiangxi Agricultural University, P.R. China, in Discourse Studies, Vol. 18:2 (2016), pp. 226-228.
Cited by
Cited by 47 other publications
No author info given
2015. Publications Received.
Language in Society 44:2 ► pp. 293 ff. 
No author info given
2017. New and recent publications.
Gesture 16:2 ► pp. 364 ff.
No author info given
2017. New and recent publications.
Gesture 16:3 ► pp. 480 ff.
Asplund, Stig-Börje & Janne Kontio
2020. Becoming a construction worker in the connected classroom: Opposing school work with smartphones as happy objects.
Nordic Journal of Vocational Education and Training ► pp. 65 ff.
Burdelski, Matthew & Chie Fukuda
2019. Multimodal membership categorization and storytelling in a guided tour.
Pragmatics and Society 10:3 ► pp. 337 ff.
Chazal, Kirby
2020.
In Mobilizing Others [Studies in Language and Social Interaction, 33],
► pp. 175 ff.
Clinkenbeard, Mary
2018. Multimodal conversation analysis and usability studies.
Communication Design Quarterly 6:2 ► pp. 103 ff.
David, Samuel S. & Mikel W. Cole
2021. Jostling Isaac: dynamic configurations of bodies and objects during a language problem solving event.
Classroom Discourse 12:1-2 ► pp. 101 ff.
Deppermann, Arnulf & Jürgen Streeck
2018.
In Time in Embodied Interaction [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 293],
► pp. 1 ff.
Due, Brian L., Dirk Vom Lehn, Helena Webb, Christian Heath & Johan Trærup
2020. Servicing the body: placing glasses on the client’s head at the opticians.
Visual Studies 35:2-3 ► pp. 109 ff.
Fukuda, Chie & Matthew Burdelski
2019. Multimodal Demonstrations of Understanding of Visible, Imagined, and Tactile Objects in Guided Tours.
Research on Language and Social Interaction 52:1 ► pp. 20 ff.
Green, Jennifer
2016. Multimodal complexity in sand story narratives.
Narrative Inquiry 26:2 ► pp. 312 ff.
Guerrettaz, Anne Marie
2021. Coda: materials-in-interaction as assemblages, grammars of action, and phenomenological activity.
Classroom Discourse 12:1-2 ► pp. 168 ff.
GUERRETTAZ, ANNE MARIE, MEL M. ENGMAN & YUMI MATSUMOTO
2021. Empirically Defining Language Learning and Teaching Materials in Use Through Sociomaterial Perspectives.
The Modern Language Journal 105:S1 ► pp. 3 ff.
Haddington, Pentti, Tiina Keisanen, Lorenza Mondada & Maurice Nevile
2014.
In Multiactivity in Social Interaction,
► pp. 3 ff.
Heath, Christian & Paul Luff
2018. The Naturalistic Experiment.
Organizational Research Methods 21:2 ► pp. 466 ff.
Heinonen, Pilvi, Jarkko Niemi & Timo Kaski
2021. Changing participation in web conferencing: the shared computer screen as an online sales interaction resource.
Applied Linguistics Review 0:0
Hiippala, Tuomo
2021. Distant viewing and multimodality theory: Prospects and challenges.
Multimodality & Society ► pp. 263497952110070 ff.
Hoey, Elliott M.
2015. Lapses: How People Arrive at, and Deal With, Discontinuities in Talk.
Research on Language and Social Interaction 48:4 ► pp. 430 ff.
Kilbrink, Nina, Stig-Börje Asplund & Hamid Asghari
2021. Introducing the object of learning in interaction: vocational teaching and learning in a plumbing workshop session.
Journal of Vocational Education & Training ► pp. 1 ff.
Krummheuer, Antonia Lina & Pirkko Liisa Raudaskoski
2016. Trying-out a walking help: Participation through situated learning in the adjustment and assessment of welfare technology.
Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 30:10 ► pp. 812 ff.
Kusters, Annelies
2017. Gesture-based customer interactions: deaf and hearing Mumbaikars’ multimodal and metrolingual practices.
International Journal of Multilingualism 14:3 ► pp. 283 ff.
Kusters, Annelies
2017. “Our hands must be connected”: visible gestures, tactile gestures and objects in interactions featuring a deafblind customer in Mumbai.
Social Semiotics 27:4 ► pp. 394 ff.
Kusters, Annelies, Massimiliano Spotti, Ruth Swanwick & Elina Tapio
2017. Beyond languages, beyond modalities: transforming the study of semiotic repertoires.
International Journal of Multilingualism 14:3 ► pp. 219 ff.
Leyland, Christopher
2016. ‘Pre-enactment’ in team-teacher planning talk.
Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) 26:4 ► pp. 675 ff.
Licoppe, Christian, Paul K. Luff, Christian Heath, Hideaki Kuzuoka, Naomi Yamashita & Sylvaine Tuncer
2017.
In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems,
► pp. 5295 ff.
Lloyd, Mike, Max Baddeley & Ben Snyder
2019. The road ahead: using the “Sharrow” in new cycling infrastructure.
Applied Mobilities 4:1 ► pp. 26 ff.
Luff, Paul, Christian Heath, Naomi Yamashita, Hideaki Kuzuoka & Marina Jirotka
2016. Embedded Reference: Translocating Gestures in Video-Mediated Interaction.
Research on Language and Social Interaction 49:4 ► pp. 342 ff.
Majlesi, Ali Reza, Anna Ekström & Lars-Christer Hydén
2019. Spatiotemporal arrangement of objects in activities with people with dementia.
Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology 44:1 ► pp. 31 ff.
Mondada, Lorenza
2015.
In Temporality in Interaction [Studies in Language and Social Interaction, 27],
► pp. 267 ff.
Mondada, Lorenza
2019.
In Discussing New Materialism,
► pp. 109 ff.
Mori, Junko & Chiharu Shima
2021. Person reference and recognition in shift handovers: An analysis of interactions between Japanese and international care workers
.
Multilingua 40:1 ► pp. 33 ff.
Nevile, Maurice
2015. The Embodied Turn in Research on Language and Social Interaction.
Research on Language and Social Interaction 48:2 ► pp. 121 ff.
Nielsen, Søren Beck
2016. How Doctors Manage Consulting Computer Records While Interacting With Patients.
Research on Language and Social Interaction 49:1 ► pp. 58 ff.
Oittinen, Tuire
2018. Multimodal accomplishment of alignment and affiliation in the local space of distant meetings.
Culture and Organization 24:1 ► pp. 31 ff.
Pulles, Maaike, Jan Berenst, Kees de Glopper & Tom Koole
2020. Text selection proposals in dialogic reading in primary school.
Pragmatics and Society 11:4 ► pp. 591 ff.
Reichinger, Andreas, Svenja Schröder, Christian Löw, Sam Sportun, Peter Reichl & Werner Purgathofer
2016.
In Proceedings of the 9th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction,
► pp. 1 ff.
Ro, Eunseok
2021. Using PowerPoint slides as a resource for coordinating understanding during presentation consultations at an L2 speaking center.
Applied Linguistics Review 0:0
Ro, Eunseok
2021. Using written task answer sheets as notes while speaking: changing task-report practices in a second language book club.
Text & Talk 41:3 ► pp. 335 ff.
SYDORENKO, TETYANA, STEVEN L. THORNE, JOHN HELLERMANN, AMBER SANCHEZ & VANESSA HOWE
2021. Localized Globalization: Directives in Augmented Reality Game Interaction.
The Modern Language Journal 105:3 ► pp. 720 ff.
Thiburce, Julien, Biagio Ursi, J. Thiburce & B. Ursi
2018. Quelles ressources mobilisées en interaction ? Réflexions transversales sur une notion ubiquitaire.
SHS Web of Conferences 52 ► pp. 00001 ff.
Urbanik, Paweł
2020. Getting others to share goods in Polish and Norwegian: Material and moral anchors for request conventions
.
Intercultural Pragmatics 17:2 ► pp. 177 ff.
Wagner, Johannes
2018. Multilingual and Multimodal Interactions.
Applied Linguistics 39:1 ► pp. 99 ff.
Waring, Hansun Zhang
2021.
In How Emotions Are Made in Talk [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 321],
► pp. 211 ff.
Wiggins, Sally & Karin Osvaldsson Cromdal
2020.
In Discursive Psychology and Embodiment,
► pp. 1 ff.
H. Ekkehard Wolff
2019.
In The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics,
Xiaorong, Zeng & Chen Zeyuan
2020. Book review: Dennis Day and Johannes Wagner (eds), Objects, Bodies and Work Practice.
Discourse Studies 22:3 ► pp. 388 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 08 september 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Subjects & Metadata
Communication Studies
Interaction Studies
Psychology
BIC Subject: JMJ – Occupational & industrial psychology
BISAC Subject: PSY031000 – PSYCHOLOGY / Social Psychology