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Phatic communion 231 (Laver 1981: 290) as analyzed by Brown & Levinson (1978). Discussing utterances of phatic communion, he finds that besides the two social functions already mentioned by Malinowski (viz. to "defuse the potential hostility of silence" and to allow participants in a social verbal encounter "to cooperate in getting the interaction comfortably under way": Laver 1981: 301), these linguistic routines also have a third and probably more important function in the initial phase of conversation: "phatic communion [...] allows the participants to feel their way towards the working consensus of their interaction [...], partly revealing their perception and their relative social status" (Laver 1981: 301). In an earlier, and most important paper for the discussion of Malinowski's concept, Laver (1975) elaborates on all "communicative functions of phatic communion" in detail. In this paper, he first points out that "the fundamental function of the [...] communicative behavior that accompanies and includes phatic communion is the detailed management of interpersonal relationships during the psychologically crucial margins of interactions" (p. 217). He then describes and analyzes the functions of so-called 'phatic communion utterances in the opening and closing phases of interaction, especially with respect to the transition phases from "noninteraction to full interaction" and from "interaction back to noninteraction" (p. 232), as well as the role of phatic communion with respect to interactional consensus and as a kind of 'rite of passage'. After his minute analyses of all the functions of phatic communion, Laver (p. 236) concludes the following: [...] phatic communion [...] serves to establish and consolidate the interpersonal relationship between two participants [...]. phatic communion is a complex part of a ritual, highly skilled mosaic of communicative behaviour whose function is to facilitate the management of interpersonal relationships. The information exchanged between the participants in this communicative process is not primarily referential information, but rather is indexical information about aspects of the participants' social identity relevant to structuring the interactional consensus of the present and future encounters. The function of phatic communion thus goes beyond the creation, in Malinowski's phrase, of 'ties of union': it certainly does serve to establish such broad ties in that the tokens of phatic communion are tokens exchanged in the ritual transactions of psychosocial acceptance, but it also provides the participants with a subtle tool for use in staking indexical claims which shape and constrain their detailed relationship in the crucial marginal phases of encounters when their psychological comfort is most at risk. Thus, Laver modifies and broadens Malinowski's concept, emphasizing and proving again that "language is used to convey more than the prepositional content of what is said" (Levinson 1983: 42). It was mentioned above that Malinowski's ideas about language had much influence on discourse analysis and conversation analysis. Thus, although Malinowski may have failed to fully define a linguistic concept which he observed and for which he
232 Gunter Senft coined the term 'phatic communion', he may still be regarded as one of the founding fathers for an important approach in linguistics that has since refined, rephrased and expanded his own ideas and theories about language. Moreover, at least within the study of language use in Oceania, Malinowski's concept of "language as a mode of action" and his "emphasis on understanding utterances within their context of situation" (Watson-Gegeo 1986: 149) are still highly valued and appreciated. In general, it seems that within linguistics, anthropology, and anthropological linguistics some of Malinowski's basic ideas about language and culture continue to be thought-provoking. With explicit reference to Malinowski as "an ethnographic precursor" (Goodwin & Duranti 1992: 14), social scientists have for instance started 'rethinking context' (Duranti & Goodwin 1992). Thus, although some of his ideas about language — such as the concept of 'phatic communion — have to be modified and redefined, there still seems to be much in Malinowski's research from which we can learn and profit. References Austin, J.L. (1975). How to do things with words (2nd Edn). Oxford University Press. Bauman, R. (1992). Text and discourse in anthropological linguistics. In W. Bright (Ed.), International encyclopedia of linguistics: 145-147. Oxford University Press. Brown, P. & S.C. Levinson (1978). Universals in language usage. In E.N. Goody (Ed.), Questions and politeness: 56-289. Cambridge University Press. Bühler, K. (1934). Sprachtheorie. Fischer. Crystal, D. (1987). The Cambridge encyclopedia of language. Cambridge University Press. Coulmas, F. (1981). 'Poison to your soul'. In F. Coulmas (Ed.): 69-91. (Ed.) (1981). Conversational routine. Mouton. Duranti, A. & C. Goodwin (Eds) (1992). Rethinking context. Cambridge University Press. Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. & G. Senft (1987). Studienbrief 'Rituelle Kommunikation. Fernuniversität — Gesamthochschule Hagen, Fachbereich Erziehungs- und Sozialwissenschaften. Ehlich, K. (1993). Kommunikation. In H. Glück (Ed.), Metzler Lexikon Sprache: 315-317. Metzler. Firth, J.R. (1957). Ethnographic analysis and language with reference to Malinowski's views. In R. Firth (Ed.), Man and culture: 93-118. Routledge 8c Kegan Paul. Gardner, P. (1966). Symmetric respect and memorate knowledge. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 22:389-415. Goodwin, C. & A. Duranti (1992). Rethinking context. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds): 1-42. Gumperz, J.J. & D.H. Hymes (Eds) (1972). Directions in sociolinguistics. Holt, Rinehart 8c Winston. Huxley, J. (1966). A discussion of ritualization of behaviour in animals and man. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences No. 772, Vol. 251: 247-526. Hymes, D.H. (1967). Models of the interaction of language and social setting. Journal of Social Issues 23/2: 8-28. (1972). Models of the interaction of language and social life. In J.J. Gumperz 8c D. Hymes (Eds): 35-71. (1974). Foundations in sociolinguistics. University of Pennsylvania Press.
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