Forms of Talk (Conduct and Communication)

Forms of Talk extends Erving Goffmans interactional analyses of face-to-face communication to ordinary conversations and vebal exchanges. In this his most sociolinguistic work Goffman relates to certain forms of talk some of the issues that concerned him in his work on frame analysis. This book brings together five of Goffmans essays: Replies and Responses Response Cries Footing The Lecture and Radio Talk. Of lasting value in Goffmans work is his insistence that behavior―verbal or nonverbal―be examined along with the context of that behavior. In all of these classic essays there is a topic at hand for discussion and analysis. In addition as those familiar with Goffmans work have come to expect there is the wider context in which the topic can be viewed and related to other topics―a characteristic move of Goffmans that has made his work so necessary for students of interaction in many disciplines.