The story of the nearest relative : shifts in footing in dramaturgical replayings

Morriss, L; Smith, GWH

Abstract

The utility of Goffman’s thinking about conversational interaction to illuminate features of a research interview between one of the two authors (LM) and a fellow social work professional is assessed. We use this case to explore aspects of Goffman’s contribution to the sociological understanding of spoken interaction. While many of his ideas offer rich sources of guidance for interactionist and qualitative researchers, the value of Goffman’s (1974) concept of “dramaturgical replaying” has been overlooked. We trace the leading themes of Goffman’s thinking about conversational interaction and show how they can provide for an analysis of the story of the “Nearest Relative” that is attentive to its live, improvised enactment. Goffman’s approach to storytelling is shown to be distinct from but complementary to conversation analytic approaches to storytelling.

Citation

Morriss, L., & Smith, G. (2019). The story of the nearest relative : shifts in footing in dramaturgical replayings. Qualitative Sociology Review, 15(2), 74-88. https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.15.2.06

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 21, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Apr 29, 2019
• Publication Date: May 23, 2019
• Deposit Date: Feb 25, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 2, 2019
• Journal: Qualitative Sociology Review
• Print ISSN: 1733-8077
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 74-88
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.15.2.06
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.15.2.06
• Related Public URLs: http://www.qualitativesociologyreview.org/ENG/index_eng.php