Communicative Constructions and the Refiguration of Spaces

Abstract

How is space communicatively achieved in face-to-face interaction and how can we account for the means and forms of such an achievement of space among those present? Answering these questions within an ethnomethodological framework, we propose the assumption of a general interactional problem of situational anchoring; that is, of a participant’s task to ascertain and to communicate the actually relevant aspects of their spatial surroundings. In solving this problem, space becomes interactively achieved as “interactional space”. Interactional space draws heavily on resources prior to the ongoing interaction. Among these are architectures for interaction, which provide a rich and powerful set of usability cues for participants. Especially within institutionalized communication, participants systematically utilize architectural manifestations in terms of buildings, settings, furnishings, and technologies. This abstract view is elaborated on with evidence from data of over-the-counter ticket-sales conversation, which is currently undergoing a process of significant refiguration affecting architectural, bodily, and verbal resources of situational anchoring.

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