Abstract
This paper considers the ways in which Wittgenstein’s (1958) later philosophy and his ideas on language games, as well as Sacks’ (1992) work on conversational turns, has been applied in relation to the notion of context in language use discourse studies, and in particular discursive psychology. In terms of the application of Wittgenstein, I argue that it is not simply the case that he is referring to different language games as different interactional contexts, but rather that he is making a much more complex point concerning language use by competent users within a given game. In the case of Sacks, I argue that turns within conversation cannot be simply read of as evidence of a particular (inter-)action on the analyst’s part but rather must be considered in terms of how interlocutors render to one another the intelligibility of “what is going on” within the ordering of turns.
About the author
James Moir is Professor of Language and Professional Communication at the Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland. His research covers a range of discourse studies including, career choice accounts, doctor-patient interaction, professional practice discourse, stances on immigration, marketing rhetoric, educational change discourse, and environmental sustainability accounts.
References
Austin, John L. 1962. How to do things with words. Oxford: Clarendon.Search in Google Scholar
Baker, Gordon P. & Peter M. S. Hacker. 1990. Malcolm on language and rules. Philosophy 65. 67–79.10.1017/S0031819100064457Search in Google Scholar
Button, Graham & Wes Sharrock. 2016. In support of conversation analysis’ radical agenda. Discourse Studies 18(5). 610–620.10.1177/1461445616657955Search in Google Scholar
Coulter, Jeff. 2005. Language without mind. In Hedwig te Molder & Jonathan Potter (eds.), Conversation and cognition 241–259. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Coulter, Jeff. 2010. Reflections on the “Darwin-Descartes” problem. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 40. 274–288.10.1111/j.1468-5914.2009.00434.xSearch in Google Scholar
Edwards, Derek. 1997. Discourse and cognition. London: Sage.10.4135/9781446221785Search in Google Scholar
Edwards, Derek & Jonathan Potter. 1992. Discursive psychology. London: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
Edwards, Derek & Jonathan Potter. 2005. Discursive psychology, mental states and descriptions. In Hedwig te Molder & Jonathan Potter (eds.), Conversation and cognition 241–259. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511489990.012Search in Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, Richard. 2019. The data and methodology of Harvey Sacks: Lessons from the archive. Journal of Pragmatics 143. 205–214.10.1016/j.pragma.2018.04.005Search in Google Scholar
Garfinkel, Harold. 1963. A conception of and experiments with “trust” as a condition of concerted stable actions. In O. J. Harvey (ed.), Motivation and social interaction 187– 238. New York: Ronald Press.Search in Google Scholar
Garfinkel, Harold. 1967. Studies in ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Goodwin, Charles. 2018. Co-operative action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Goodwin, Charles. 2018. Co-operative action. CambridgeCambridge University Press10.1017/9781139016735Search in Google Scholar
Harris, Roy. 1981. The language myth. London: Duckworth.Search in Google Scholar
Kripke, Saul A. 1982. Wittgenstein on rules and private language: An elementary exposition. Oxford: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar
Mead, George. H. 1910. What social objects must psychology presuppose? The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods 7. 174–180.10.2307/2010782Search in Google Scholar
Mead, George H. 1934. Mind, self and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Search in Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan 2001. Wittgenstein and Austin. In Margaret Wetherell, Stephanie Taylor & Simeon J. Yates (eds.), Discourse theory and practice: A reader 39–46. London: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan. 2003. Discursive psychology: Between method and paradigm. Discourse & Society 14. 783–794.10.1177/09579265030146005Search in Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan. 2006. Representing reality: Discourse rhetoric and social construction. London: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan. 2020. Discursive psychology: A non-cognitivist approach to practices of knowing. In Klaus Krippendorff & Nour Halabi (eds.), Discourses in action: What language enables us to do 71–86. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780429356032-4Search in Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan. 2021. Discursive psychology and naturally occurring talk. In D. Silverman (ed.), Qualitative research 202–222. London: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan & Derek Edwards. 2001. Sociolinguistics, cognitivism and discursive psychology. In Nicholas Coupland (ed.), Sociolinguistics and social theory 103–118, New York: Wiley.10.5040/9781350933927.ch-002Search in Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan & Derek Edwards. 2013. Conversation analysis and psychology. In Jack Sidnell & Tanya Stivers (eds.), The handbook of conversation analysis 701–725, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.10.1002/9781118325001.ch35Search in Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan & Alexa Hepburn. 2020. Shaming interrogatives: Admonishments, the social psychology of emotion, and discursive practices of behaviour modification in family mealtimes. British Journal of Social Psychology 59(2). 347–364.10.1111/bjso.12346Search in Google Scholar
Potter, Jonathan & Jessica Robles. 2022. Constructionism and qualitative research design. In U. Flick (ed.), Handbook of qualitative research design 89–106. London: Sage.10.4135/9781529770278.n7Search in Google Scholar
te Molder, Hedwig & Jonathan Potter (eds.). 2005. Conversation and cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511489990Search in Google Scholar
Sacks, Harvey. 1992. Lectures on conversation. Vols. I & II. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar
Schegloff, Emanuel A. 2005. On integrity in inquiry of the investigated, not the investigator. Discourse Studies 7(4–5). 455–480.10.1177/1461445605054402Search in Google Scholar
Sharrock, Wes. 2009. Closet Cartesianism in discursive psychology. In Ivan Leuder & Alan Costall (eds.), Against theory of mind 191–208. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780230234383_10Search in Google Scholar
Svensson, Hanna & Burak S. Tekin. 2021. Rules at play: Correcting projectable violations of who plays next. Human Studies 44(4). 791–819.10.1007/s10746-021-09591-6Search in Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 1958. Philosophical investigations. Oxford: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
