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In:Intersubjectivity in Action: Studies in language and social interaction
Edited by Jan Lindström, Ritva Laury, Anssi Peräkylä and Marja-Leena Sorjonen
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 326] 2021
► pp. 373–395

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How an improvised scene emerges in theatre rehearsal

Constructing coherence by recycling

 | University of Helsinki
 | University of Helsinki
Published online: 17 November 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.326.17sav
Abstract
This paper investigates how a group of young adults participating in theatre rehearsals construct a spontaneous improvised scene. The analysis shows how the youths construct a fairly coherent scene in a situation in which the interactional moves and the interactional frame emerges. We analyse how the improvisation is initiated, how it is carried forward, and how the scene is discussed afterwards. After the improvised scene, it emerged that the participants had differing conceptions of what exactly they had been doing. However, these differing conceptions did not hinder them from participating and contributing to the scene in coherent ways and were thus sufficiently similar for practical purposes. In our analysis, we focus on how the youths constructed the scene by recycling lexemes, syntactic forms and embodied actions.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data and method
  • 3.Analysis
    • 3.1Preceding scene: Getting going and getting stuck
    • 3.2Moving on to improvisation and constructing coherence
    • 3.3Orchestrating with embodiments
    • 3.4Reflecting on the scene
  • 4.Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Harjunpää, Katariina, Arnulf Deppermann & Marja-Leena Sorjonen
2023. Displaying Inner Experience Through Language and Body in Community Theater Rehearsals. Human Studies 46:2 ► pp. 247 ff. DOI logo

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