背离还是突破?--会话分析研究的知识论之争

A Departure or a Breakthrough?On the Debate on Epistemics in Conversation Analysis

本文对比评析了Discourse Studies(《话语研究》)有关会话分析领域知识论的14篇争论性文章和述评,结合后续研究动态,梳理出三个焦点问题:1)知识论是否是信息论和认知主义;2)知识论是否是抽象概论;3)知识论是否以分析者视角为主。本文认为,知识论是一种新视角,并未背离会话分析研究,进而强调:1)交际者在言谈应对中的知识(不)平衡是产生不同话轮设计的因素之一;2)知识分析需紧密依赖话轮转换、话轮设计和序列组织等会话分析核心概念;3)知识论乃至会话分析研究均亟待更加开放的学术争论氛围。

This paper is a comparative review of fourteen articles and commentaries in Discourse Studies and most recent studies that have contributed to the debate on epistemics in conversation analysis(CA). The debate revolves around three major concerns:(1) whether epistemics is informationism and cognitivism;(2) whether epistemic inquiries use abstract generalizations;and(3) whether the analysts’ perspective is privileged. It is argued that epistemics is a new perspective in CA rather than a departure from it. It is also noted that:(1) participants’ epistemic balance/imbalance in talk-in-interaction may constitute one of the factors that bring about turn design differences;(2) epistemic analysis should rely on pillar CA concepts such as turn-taking, turn design, and sequence organization;and(3) a more open academic environment should be fostered to facilitate the debate on epistemics and even on CA.