Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T15:24:08.130Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Object transfers: An embodied resource to progress joint activities and build relative agency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2019

Sylvaine Tuncer  and
Pentti Haddington
Sylvaine Tuncer*
Affiliation:
Stockholm University, Sweden
Pentti Haddington
Affiliation:
University of Oulu, Finland
*
Address for correspondence: Sylvaine Tuncer, Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University, Postbox 7003, 164 07 Kista, Sweden[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article builds on ethnomethodological, conversation analytic research on object transfers: how participants hand over objects to one another. By analyzing video recordings of mundane (cars) and institutional interactions (laboratories), we focus on situations where an object is central to and talked about in the joint course of action. We focus on different organizations of object transfer and show that one embodied move is decisive, either a sequentially implicative ‘give’ or an arm extension designed as a stand-alone ‘take’. We examine the interrelationship between the organization of the object transfer and the broader course of action (e.g. request or offer sequence), which is either overlapping or intersecting. We demonstrate that by making the decisive move, either the participant initially holding the object or her recipient critically influences the progression and trajectory of the activity, and displays agency. (Ethnomethodology, Conversation Analysis, multimodal interactions, objects in interaction, object transfers, agency)*

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , February 2020 , pp. 61 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their invaluable insights and help to improve this manuscript; all remaining limitations are ours. We would also like to thank Gene Lerner, whose visit to Oulu in 2016 partly prompted the present research. Finally, we would like to thank Eric Laurier for letting us use the Habitable Cars corpus, and for his generous companionship through the years.

References

REFERENCES

Bezemer, Jeff; Murtagh, Ged; Cope, Alexandra; Kress, Gunther; & Kneebone, Roger (2011). ‘Scissors, please’: The practical accomplishment of surgical work in the operating theatre. Symbolic Interaction 34(3):731–45.10.1525/si.2011.34.3.398CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cekaite, Asta (2015). The coordination of talk and touch in adults’ directives to children: Talk and social control. Research on Language and Social Interaction 48(2):162–75.10.1080/08351813.2015.1025501CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Couper-Kuhlen, Elizabeth (2014). What does grammar tell us about action? Pragmatics 24(3):623–47.10.1075/prag.24.3.08couCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deppermann, Arnulf (2013). Multimodal interaction from a conversation analytic perspective. Journal of Pragmatics 46(1):1–7.10.1016/j.pragma.2012.11.014CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, Sally (2015). Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!: Object requests, ownership and entitlement in a children's play session. Journal of Pragmatics 82:39–51.10.1016/j.pragma.2015.03.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drew, Paul (1997). ‘Open class’ repair initiators in response to sequential sources of troubles in conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 28(1):69–101.10.1016/S0378-2166(97)89759-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekström, Anna, & Lindwall, Oskar (2014). To follow the materials: The detection, diagnosis and correction of mistakes in craft education. In Nevile et al., 227–47.10.1075/z.186.10eksCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fasulo, Alessandra, & Monzoni, Chiara (2009). Assessing mutable objects: A multimodal analysis. Research on Language and Social Interaction 42(4):362–76.10.1080/08351810903296481CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, Barbara, & Heinemann, Trine (2015). The alignment of manual and verbal displays in requests for the repair of an object. Research on Language and Social Interaction 48(3):342–62.10.1080/08351813.2015.1058608CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, Charles (1994). Professional vision. American Anthropologist 96(3):606–33.10.1525/aa.1994.96.3.02a00100CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, Charles (1997). The blackness of black: Color categories as situated practice. In Resnick, Lauren B., Saljö, Roger, Pontecorvo, Clotilde, & Burge, Barbara (eds.), Discourse, tools, and reasoning: Essays on situated cognition, 111–40. Berlin: Springer.10.1007/978-3-662-03362-3_6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, Charles (2000). Action and embodiment within situated human interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 32(10):1489–1522.10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00096-XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haddington, Pentti (2012). Movement in action: Initiating social navigation in cars. Semiotica 191:137–67.Google Scholar
Heath, Christian; Luff, Paul; Sanchez-Svensson, Marcus; & Nicholls, Maxim (2018). Exchanging implements: The micro-materialities of multidisciplinary work in the operating theatre. Sociology of Health & Illness 40(2):297–313.10.1111/1467-9566.12594CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hindmarsh, Jonathan, & Heath, Christian (2000). Sharing the tools of the trade. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 29(5):523–62.10.1177/089124100129023990CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hindmarsh, Jonathan, & Pilnick, Alison (2007). Knowing bodies at work: Embodiment and ephemeral teamwork in anaesthesia. Organization Studies 28(9):1395–1416.10.1177/0170840607068258CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horlacher, Anne-Sylvie (2019). Workplace asymmetries and object-passing in hair salons. In Day, Dennis & Wagner, Johannes (eds.), Objects, bodies and work practice, 33–60. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.10.21832/9781788924535-005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jefferson, Gail (2004). Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction. In Lerner, Gene H. (ed.), Conversation analysis: Studies from the first generation, 13–31. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.10.1075/pbns.125.02jefCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, Sarah E., & Zimmermann, Don H. (2003). A child's point and the achievement of intentionality. Gesture 3(2):155–85.10.1075/gest.3.2.03jonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kendrick, Kobin H., & Drew, Paul (2016). Recruitment: Offers, requests, and the organization of assistance in interaction. Research on Language and Social Interaction 49(1):1–19.10.1080/08351813.2016.1126436CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kidwell, Mardi (2013). Interaction among children. In Stivers, Tanya & Sidnell, Jack (eds.), The handbook of conversation analysis, 511–32. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kidwell, Mardi, & Zimmermann, Don H. (2007). Joint attention as action. Journal of Pragmatics 39:592–611.10.1016/j.pragma.2006.07.012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knorr-Cetina, Karin (1997). Sociality with objects: Social relations in postsocial knowledge societies. Theory, Culture & Society 14(4):1–30.10.1177/026327697014004001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korkiakangas, Tehri; Weldon, Sharon-Marie; Bezemer, Jeff; & Kneebone, Roger (2014). Nurse-surgeon object transfer: Video analysis of communication and situation awareness in the operating theatre. International Journal of Nursing Studies 51(9):1195–1206.10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2014.01.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Latour, Bruno (1993). La Clef de Berlin, et autres Leçons d'un Amateur de Sciences. Paris: La Découverte.Google Scholar
Laurier, Eric (2013). Before, in and after: Cars making their way through roundabouts. In Mondada, Lorenza, Haddington, Pentti, & Nevile, Maurice (eds.), Interaction and mobility: Language and the body in motion, 210–42. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
LeBaron, Curtis, & Streeck, Jürgen (1997). Built space and the interactional framing of experience during a murder interrogation. Human Studies 20:1–25.10.1023/A:1005305331171CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lerner, Gene, & Zimmermann, Don H. (2003). Action and the appearance of action in the conduct of very young children. In Glenn, Phillip, LeBaron, Curtis, & Mandelbaum, Jenny (eds.), Studies in language and social interaction: In honor of Robert Hopper, 441–57. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Mondada, Lorenza (2018). Multiple temporalities of language and body in interaction: Challenges for transcribing multimodality. Research on Language and Social Interaction 51(1):85–106.10.1080/08351813.2018.1413878CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nevile, Maurice; Haddington, Pentti; Heinemann, Trine; & Rauniomaa, Mirka (eds.) (2014). Interacting with objects: Language, materiality, and social activity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/z.186CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nishizaka, Aug (2011). Touch without vision: Referential practice in a non-technological environment. Journal of Pragmatics 43:504–20.10.1016/j.pragma.2009.07.015CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogiermann, Eva (2015a). Object requests: Rights and obligations surrounding object possession and object transfer. Journal of Pragmatics 82:1–4.10.1016/j.pragma.2015.04.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogiermann, Eva (2015b). In-directness in Polish children's requests at the dinner table. Journal of Pragmatics 82:67–82.10.1016/j.pragma.2015.03.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rauniomaa, Mirka, & Keisanen, Tiina (2012). Two multimodal formats for responding to requests. Journal of Pragmatics 44(6–7):829–42.10.1016/j.pragma.2012.03.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raymond, Chase Wesley, & Stivers, Tanya (2016). The omnirelevance of accountability. In Robinson, Jeffrey D. (ed.), Accountability in social interaction, 321–53. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190210557.003.0011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robles, Jessica (2012). Troubles with assessments in gifting occasions. Discourse Studies 14(6):753–77.10.1177/1461445612457490CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossi, Giovanni (2014). When do people not use language to make requests? In Drew, Paul & Couper-Kuhlen, Elizabeth (eds.), Requesting in social interaction, 303–34. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Sanchez-Svensson, Marcus; Heath, Christian; & Luff, Paul (2007). Instrumental action: The timely exchange of implements during surgical operations. In Bannon, Liam J., Wagner, Ina, Gutwin, Carl, Harper, Richard H. R., & Schmidt, Kjeld (eds.), ECSCW 2007: Proceedings of the 10th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, 24–28 September 2007, Limerick, Ireland, 41–60. Berlin: Springer.Google Scholar
Schegloff, Emanuel A. (1968). Sequencing in conversational openings. American Anthropologist 79(6):1075–95.10.1525/aa.1968.70.6.02a00030CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schegloff, Emanuel A. (2007). Sequence organization in interaction: A primer in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511791208CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schegloff, Emanuel A., & Sacks, Harvey (1973). Opening up closings. Semiotica 7(4):289–327.Google Scholar
Scollon, Ron (2001). Mediated discourse: The nexus of practice. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Steensig, Jakob, & Heinemann, Trine (2013). When ‘yes’ is not enough – as an answer to a yes/no question. In Reed, Beatrice S. & Raymond, Geoffrey (eds.), Units of talk: Units of action, 213–48. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Stivers, Tanya (2004). ‘No no no’ and other types of multiple sayings in social interaction. Human Communication Research 30(2):260–93.10.1111/j.1468-2958.2004.tb00733.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Streeck, Jürgen (1996). How to do things with things: Objets trouvés and symbolization. Human Studies 19:365–84.10.1007/BF00188849CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Streeck, Jürgen; Goodwin, Charles; & LeBaron, Curtis (eds.) (2011). Embodied interaction: Language and the body in the material world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Szymanski, Margaret H. (1999). Re-engaging and dis-engaging talk in activity. Language in Society 28(1):1–23.10.1017/S0047404599001013CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szymanski, Margaret H.; Vinkhuyzen, Erik; Aoki, Paul; & Woodruff, Allison (2006). Organizing a remote state of incipient talk: Push-to-talk mobile radio interaction. Language in Society 35:393–418.Google Scholar
Takada, Akira, & Endo, Tomoko (2015). Object transfer in request-accept sequence in Japanese caregiver-child interactions. Journal of Pragmatics 82:52–66.10.1016/j.pragma.2015.03.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuncer, Sylvaine, & Haddington, Pentti (2019). Looking at and seeing objects: Instructed vision and collaboration in the laboratory. Discourse and Conversation Analysis, to appear.Google Scholar
Tuncer, Sylvaine; Licoppe, Christian; & Haddington, Pentti (eds.) (2019). Special issue: Object-centred sequences in interaction: Generating knowledge about objects in specialised activities. Discourse and Conversation Analysis, to appear.Google Scholar
Valsiner, Jaan (2000). Culture and human development: An introduction. London: SAGE.Google Scholar
Weilenmann, Alexandra, & Lymer, Gustav (2014). Incidental and essential objects in interaction: Paper documents in journalistic work. In Nevile et al., 319–38.10.1075/z.186.14weiCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wootton, Anthony J. (1994). Object transfer, intersubjectivity and third position repair: Early developmental observations of one child. Journal of Child Language 21(3):543–64.10.1017/S0305000900009454CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zinken, Jörg (2015). Contingent control over shared goods. ‘Can I have x’ requests in British English informal interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 82:23–38.Google Scholar
Zinken, Jörg, & Ogiermann, Eva (2013). Responsibility and action: Invariants and diversity in requests for objects in British English and Polish interaction. Research on Language and Social Interaction 46(3):256–76.10.1080/08351813.2013.810409CrossRefGoogle Scholar