We look at long lists (i.e., longer than three parts) in political discourse, especially in talk ... more We look at long lists (i.e., longer than three parts) in political discourse, especially in talk shows from three cultures, the U.S., Pakistan, and the Netherlands, and ask how a long list is accomplished. Long lists are routinely produced in political discourse by extending the typical three-part list. The listing process to create a long list can happen in many ways, explicitly via counting verbally or physically and implicitly through other resources. These resources can also be used to project a list in advance and to create one retrospectively. Last, listing in politics creates two problems for the lister, requiring an artful application of the available listing resources. The audience may orient to only three parts, and the politician is faced with selecting the last item. Thus, we show that politicians use lists to structure their talk, but they also have to anticipate problems regarding the practice of listing.
Much research within the noncritical perspective on the public sphere has been quantitative. To s... more Much research within the noncritical perspective on the public sphere has been quantitative. To strengthen the argument for an ideologically disinterested approach to the study of publicity and counterpublicity, we use ethnomethodological discourse analysis to analyze how far-right movements claim counterpublicity, or “do being a counterpublic.” Specifically, we study the U.S. pundit Alex Jones and a prayer meeting of South Korean Evangelical Christians. For each, we considered how they created a shared discourse and attempted to change mainstream discourse while claiming being marginalized and different from the mainstream. Across these two case studies, the strategies for “doing being a counterpublic” are similar, even though they use different organizing symbols— conspiracy in the U.S. versus religion in Korea. These case studies show that the functionalist perspective yields benefits to understanding how publicity and counterpublicity are negotiated among various groups of activist citizens.
Late-night talk shows have become a central venue for political communication in the U.S.A. In th... more Late-night talk shows have become a central venue for political communication in the U.S.A. In these interviews, entertainment and politics are both used and therefore we name them Entertainment-Political Interviews (EPIs). While research on such shows generally assumes that the EPI is a hybrid discourse, crafting entertainment and politics into one coherent discourse, this assumption has not been empirically justified. Using membership categorization analysis (MCA) to study how the participants self-categorize in the EPI, we illustrate how they orient to political and entertainment talk. First, by applying Sacks’ (1972) hearer’s maxim to its fullest extent, entertainment and politics are identified as independently foundational devices for the EPI. Second, only one of these devices is relevant at a time to shape a turn at talk. Third, still, each device is continuously relevant to the participants. Thus, the understanding of the activity is based on the separation of the device of politics and of entertainment. Therefore, we argue, the EPI does not result in a hybrid device with a hybrid form of talk, but rather, participants alternate between politics and entertainment.
We look at long lists (i.e., longer than three parts) in political discourse, especially in talk ... more We look at long lists (i.e., longer than three parts) in political discourse, especially in talk shows from three cultures, the U.S., Pakistan, and the Netherlands, and ask how a long list is accomplished. Long lists are routinely produced in political discourse by extending the typical three-part list. The listing process to create a long list can happen in many ways, explicitly via counting verbally or physically and implicitly through other resources. These resources can also be used to project a list in advance and to create one retrospectively. Last, listing in politics creates two problems for the lister, requiring an artful application of the available listing resources. The audience may orient to only three parts, and the politician is faced with selecting the last item. Thus, we show that politicians use lists to structure their talk, but they also have to anticipate problems regarding the practice of listing.
Much research within the noncritical perspective on the public sphere has been quantitative. To s... more Much research within the noncritical perspective on the public sphere has been quantitative. To strengthen the argument for an ideologically disinterested approach to the study of publicity and counterpublicity, we use ethnomethodological discourse analysis to analyze how far-right movements claim counterpublicity, or “do being a counterpublic.” Specifically, we study the U.S. pundit Alex Jones and a prayer meeting of South Korean Evangelical Christians. For each, we considered how they created a shared discourse and attempted to change mainstream discourse while claiming being marginalized and different from the mainstream. Across these two case studies, the strategies for “doing being a counterpublic” are similar, even though they use different organizing symbols— conspiracy in the U.S. versus religion in Korea. These case studies show that the functionalist perspective yields benefits to understanding how publicity and counterpublicity are negotiated among various groups of activist citizens.
Late-night talk shows have become a central venue for political communication in the U.S.A. In th... more Late-night talk shows have become a central venue for political communication in the U.S.A. In these interviews, entertainment and politics are both used and therefore we name them Entertainment-Political Interviews (EPIs). While research on such shows generally assumes that the EPI is a hybrid discourse, crafting entertainment and politics into one coherent discourse, this assumption has not been empirically justified. Using membership categorization analysis (MCA) to study how the participants self-categorize in the EPI, we illustrate how they orient to political and entertainment talk. First, by applying Sacks’ (1972) hearer’s maxim to its fullest extent, entertainment and politics are identified as independently foundational devices for the EPI. Second, only one of these devices is relevant at a time to shape a turn at talk. Third, still, each device is continuously relevant to the participants. Thus, the understanding of the activity is based on the separation of the device of politics and of entertainment. Therefore, we argue, the EPI does not result in a hybrid device with a hybrid form of talk, but rather, participants alternate between politics and entertainment.
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Papers by Menno Reijven