LINGUIST List 15.255

Fri Jan 23 2004

Confs: Discourse Analysis/Lyon, France

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  • melanie.lesguillons, International Association for Dialogue Analysis, Lyon 2004

    Message 1: International Association for Dialogue Analysis, Lyon 2004

     Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 12:31:18 -0500 (EST)
    From: melanie.lesguillons <melanie.lesguillonsetu.univ-lyon2.fr>
    Subject: International Association for Dialogue Analysis, Lyon 2004


    International Association for Dialogue Analysis, Lyon 2004: Confiding/Self-Disclosing in Interaction

    Date: 22-Sep-2004 - 24-Sep-2004 Location: Lyon, France Contact: Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni Contact Email: kerbratuniv-lyon2.fr

    Linguistic Sub-field: Discourse Analysis

    Meeting Description:

    ''Le moi est ha�ssable'' (''Self is detestable''): in the perspective of Discourse Analysis, Pascal's famous saying can be seen as referring to the fact that self-centered discourse (''conversational narcissism'') is generally discredited and even stigmatized in our societies. For different reasons, self-disclosure is a difficult and risky activity. The risks are for example to contravene the ''modesty maxim'' (Leech), to ''expose'' oneself and thus become vulnerable by giving the other access to one's ''reserves'' (Goffman) and ''secrets''.

    This is the case in ''confidences'', the activity of confiding being considered as a particular case of self-disclosing. However, self-centered talk is widespread in everyday life (Derlega & al. : ''Self-disclosure is a fundamental ingredient of human communication''). It is an expected communicative activity between intimates, and even an obligatory one in certain institutional settings or situations (such as confessional, surgery, courtroom, job interview, etc.). So the questions are: where, when, how, and why do people engage in this discursive activity? Which contexts favour its emergence? Which mechanisms and strategies are displayed by the two parties in the exchange in order to start, carry on, and complete self-disclosure activity? What are the aims of this activity and its effects on the construction of the exchange and interpersonal relationships? And finally : How is it represented in different kinds of fictional works (novels, plays, movies, operas, etc.)?

    Five years ago, a symposium took place in Paris (Ren� Descartes University) about a similar topic. The main focus was the construction of self-identity through the production of autobiographical discourse. The Lyon IADA conference will continue this investigation, with a focus on self-centered talk in oral interactions, considered as a co-constructed activity, eventually "negotiated" between the participants. From this common point of view, the investigation will be led in different directions, given that self-disclosure is an activity which can take various forms according to:

    (1) The context in which it takes place: programs on the media (such as "intimity shows"), institutional settings (where the script of the interaction allocates some place for self-centered talk), or informal situations (where it "emerges" in a more unforseeable manner).

    (2) The fact that we are dealing with "authentic" interactions, or on the contrary, with fictional dialogue: in novels, plays, and maybe in other types of artistic productions (opera, comic strips, etc.), "confiding" appears in sorts of "scenes de genre" which are codified to some degree (in love novels, "confidence" is a necessary episode of the prototypical scenario; and classical drama has instituted a specific character, the "confident", whose role is to appeal for hero or heroin's confidences and so, to get the audience informed of his/her hidden thoughts and feelings).

    Self-disclosure is therefore particularly relevant in order to investigate how one and the same discursive activity can, from common characteristics, modulate according to the communicative context in which it takes place, and the semiotic system from which it is shaped.