In:Language, Multimodal Interaction and Transaction: Studies of a Southern Chinese marketplace
Xuehua Xiang
[Studies in Chinese Language and Discourse 14] 2021
► pp. v–viii
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Published online: 8 September 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/scld.14.toc
https://doi.org/10.1075/scld.14.toc
Table of contents
PrefaceIX
Chapter 1.Language and social interaction in Southern Chinese marketplace1
Chapter 2.The research context, methodology and theoretical preliminaries9
2.1Shishan market9
2.2The data21
2.3Theoretical preliminaries26
2.4Theoretical preliminaries30
Chapter 3.Initiating transactions: Interactional asymmetry in competitive cooperation33
3.1“Focus” in face-to-face encounters33
3.2Buyers35
3.2.1Body torque35
3.2.2A tripartite participation structure37
3.2.3Delays in activity progression42
3.3Sellers48
3.3.1Pursuing interactional togetherness49
3.3.2Instigating “chain of events”50
3.3.3Tools as emblems53
3.4At service shops54
3.5Discussion and conclusions56
Chapter 4.The many shades and shapes of transaction: Transactions as an oral genre59
4.1Oral genres in the marketplace59
4.2Fluidity and variability62
4.2.1Speech in transactional activities62
4.2.2Spatial layouts and information access65
4.3Emergent sociality73
4.4Dissolving “focus” at the finish move75
4.5Discussion and conclusions77
Chapter 5.Making deals, blocking sales: Conflict talk in the marketplace79
5.1Managing conflicts79
5.2Bargaining in the marketplace81
5.3Bargaining as emergent conflict talk83
5.4Freebies, upselling moves, and win-win resolutions88
5.5Moral dimensions of bargaining95
5.6Blocking sale advances with a negative style99
5.7Discussion and conclusions103
Chapter 6.Buyer Beware: ssessment and knowledge in the marketplace105
6.1Vendor spiels106
6.2Distributed knowledge and sensorial assessment117
6.2.1“Tasting moments”119
6.3Contesting epistemic primacy122
6.4Discussion and conclusions125
Chapter 7.Relationships in the marketplace: On phatic communication127
7.1Greetings128
7.1.1B-statements as greeting rituals130
7.1.2Greetings to manage norm expectation133
7.1.3Negative style to preempt topicalization135
7.2Gossip139
7.2.1Gossip’s dubious reputation139
7.2.2Touched off gossip141
7.2.3Contested gossip143
7.2.4Laughing together146
7.3Discussion and conclusions150
Chapter 8.Market has a heart: Empathy in conversational storytelling153
8.1Conversational storytelling154
8.2Story 1156
8.3Story 2165
8.4Spiral story structure172
8.5Identity and quotative172
8.6Discussion and conclusions174
Chapter 9.Language as a transaction cost: As market models evolve177
9.1Language, multimodal interaction and transaction cost178
9.1.1Verbal vs. non-verbal179
9.1.2(Cross-) cultural factors180
9.1.3Outgroup and ingroup dynamics182
9.2Language and social interaction in new models of e-commerce183
9.2.1Vertical integration of markets183
9.2.2Manufacturing desire187
9.3Conclusion192
References195
Appendix A.The transcription conventions209
Appendix B.Abbreviations211
Index213
