TY - JOUR

T1 - Micro situations and macro structures

T2 - natural-language communication and context

AU - Fetzer, Anita

PY - 2002

Y1 - 2002

N2 - This contribution investigates the role of context in natural-language communication by differentiating between linguistic and sociocultural contexts. It is firmly anchored to a dialogue framework and based on a relational conception of context as a structured and interactionally organised phenomenon. However, context is not only examined from this bottom-up or micro perspective, but also from a top-down or macro viewpoint as pre- and co-supposed sociocultural context. Here, context is not solely seen as an interactionally organised phenomenon, but rather as a sociocultural apparatus which strongly influences the interpretation of micro situations. The section, micro building blocks and local meaning, argues for a sociopragmatic approach to natural-language communication thus accommodating both speech act theory and conversation analysis. It examines the question of how linguistic and sociocultural contexts are accommodated by the micro building blocks of speech act and turn, and speaker and hearer. The results obtained are systematised in the section, micro meets macro, and adapted to the requirements of the dialogue act of a plus/minus-validity claim based on the contextualisation of Jürgen Habermas's conception of ratification of validity claim adopted from this theory of communicative action (1987). The definition of a plus/minus-validity claim is further supplemented by the Gricean Cooperative Principle, the ethnomethodological premise of accountability of social action, the conversation-analytic notion of sequential organisation and the interpersonal concepts of face and participation format. Validity claims are discussed from both bottom-up and top-down perspectives stressing the dynamics of context with regard to both process and product, and selection and construction. In conclusion, the relational status of context requires an interactive frame of reference accounting for context, contextualisation, decontextualisation and recontextualisation.

AB - This contribution investigates the role of context in natural-language communication by differentiating between linguistic and sociocultural contexts. It is firmly anchored to a dialogue framework and based on a relational conception of context as a structured and interactionally organised phenomenon. However, context is not only examined from this bottom-up or micro perspective, but also from a top-down or macro viewpoint as pre- and co-supposed sociocultural context. Here, context is not solely seen as an interactionally organised phenomenon, but rather as a sociocultural apparatus which strongly influences the interpretation of micro situations. The section, micro building blocks and local meaning, argues for a sociopragmatic approach to natural-language communication thus accommodating both speech act theory and conversation analysis. It examines the question of how linguistic and sociocultural contexts are accommodated by the micro building blocks of speech act and turn, and speaker and hearer. The results obtained are systematised in the section, micro meets macro, and adapted to the requirements of the dialogue act of a plus/minus-validity claim based on the contextualisation of Jürgen Habermas's conception of ratification of validity claim adopted from this theory of communicative action (1987). The definition of a plus/minus-validity claim is further supplemented by the Gricean Cooperative Principle, the ethnomethodological premise of accountability of social action, the conversation-analytic notion of sequential organisation and the interpersonal concepts of face and participation format. Validity claims are discussed from both bottom-up and top-down perspectives stressing the dynamics of context with regard to both process and product, and selection and construction. In conclusion, the relational status of context requires an interactive frame of reference accounting for context, contextualisation, decontextualisation and recontextualisation.

KW - English

KW - Dialogue act of a plus/minus-validity claim

KW - Linguistic context

KW - Ratification of a validity claim

KW - Relational conception of context

KW - Sociocultural context

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=52649148016&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/ea18ca31-bdd3-37fc-9005-0ad280d7f031/

U2 - 10.1023/A:1019609109906

DO - 10.1023/A:1019609109906

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 7

SP - 255

EP - 291

JO - Foundations of Science

JF - Foundations of Science

SN - 1233-1821

IS - 3

ER -