Issues of Relevance for Discourse Analysis: Contingency in Action, Interaction and Co-Participant Context

Abstract

There are three themes on which I would like to focus attention, whose full incorporation into the analysis of discourse is, in my view, critical for its optimum further development. What needs to be incorporated is an orientation 1) to action, 2) to interaction, and 3) to multi-party interaction. It will turn out that orientation to each of these themes confronts the student of discourse with a sort of challenge whose depth and consequentiality has not yet been fully registered or explored, but is likely to be substantial. What becomes inescapable in facing up to action, interaction and multi-party interaction is the challenge of contingency. What exactly I mean by "contingency" will only come into view over the course of the discussion of empirical materials; as it cannot be usefully elaborated here, I will return to the import of contingency at the end.