Getting Acquainted in Conversation

Book excerpt: What makes a ‘getting acquainted’ a recognizable conversational activity, and how are interpersonal relationships established in a first conversation? This book presents a theoretical framework for the study of relationship management in conversation and an empirical study of a corpus of initial interactions. It provides detailed descriptions of the sequential resources unacquainted interlocutors use in order to: – generate self-presentation – introduce topics – establish common contextual resources It is argued that these sequential patterns embody conventionalized procedures for establishing an interpersonal relationship involving some degree of: – solidarity (mutual rights and obligations) – familiarity (mutual knowledge of personal background) – mutual affect (emotional commitment) The sequential analysis is based on a conversation analytic approach, while the interpretive framework consists of pragmatic theories of politeness, conversational style and common ground.