Central and East European
Society for Phenomenology

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145463

Notionalization

the transformation of descriptions into categorizations

Arnulf Deppermann

pp. 155-181

Abstract

Drawing on audio- and video-taped German data from various types of interaction, the paper focuses on one particular practice of notionalization, the formulation of purportedly common ground by TCUs prefaced with the connective also. The paper discusses their turn-constructional and morphological properties, pointing out affinities of notionalization with language for special purposes. Notionalizations are used for reducing detail and for topical closure. They provide grounds for emergent keywords, which can be reused to re-contextualize topical issues and interactional histories efficiently. Notionalizations are powerful means for accomplishing intersubjectivity while pursuing (sometimes one-sided) practical relevancies at the same time. Their inevitably perspective design thus may lead to re-open the issue they were deemed to settle. The paper closes with an outlook to other practices of notionalization, pointing to dimensions of interactionally relevant variation and commonalities.

Publication details

Published in:

Deppermann Arnulf (2011) Formulation, generalization, and abstraction in interaction. Human Studies 34 (2).

Pages: 155-181

DOI: 10.1007/s10746-011-9186-9

Full citation:

Deppermann Arnulf (2011) „Notionalization: the transformation of descriptions into categorizations“. Human Studies 34 (2), 155–181.