Carefully examining the discourse of six speakers over the course of a two-and-a-half hour Thanksgiving dinner
conversation, Tannen analyzes the features that make up the speakers' conversational styles, and in particular
how aspects of what she calls a 'high-involvement style' have a positive effect when used with others who share
the style, but a negative effect with those whose styles differ. This revised edition includes a new preface and
an afterword in which Tannen discusses the book's place in the evolution of her work. Conversational Style is
written in an accessible and non-technical style that should appeal to scholars and students of discourse analysis
(in fields like linguistics, anthropology, communication, sociology, and psychology) as well as general readers
fascinated by Tannen's popular work. This book is an ideal text for use in introductory classes in linguistics
and discourse analysis. Features
Highly accessible, of interest to both students and scholars.
Still in high demand after twenty years, with new preface.
Of interest not just to linguists, but to anthropologists, sociologists, and psychologists as well.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Conversational Style: Theoretical Background
3. The Participants in Thanksgiving Dinner
4. Linguistic Devices in Conversational Style
5. Narrative Strategies
6. Irony and Joking
7. Summary of Style Features
8. The Study of Coherence in Discourse
9. Coda: Taking the Concepts into the Present
