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seemed to be being treated in much the same way that the Germans (in
conversation) were treating each other.
Several years later, on pondering the subject for my PhD research,
and having already attempted to touch on these English-German
differences in a post-graduate essay, I decided that the PhD would provide
a perfect opportunity to tackle systematically the bases for these
underlying differences in conversational style. This work is a result of that
endeavour.
Emergence of a Thesis
This project began life with the following aims: To systematically
gather a large corpus of conversational data in parallel settings across
both cultures, in order to look for variations in conversational style, then to
attempt to explain these by employing existing models of facework, most
notably Brown and Levinson (1987) and Goffman (1967). In that sense,
the intent was for the study to have a heavy empirical skewing, based on
the systematic analysis of a large body of data. The plan satisfied both
myself and the funding body from which the research grant was obtained.
However, the ride to explanation over the course of analysing ongoing
naturally occurring conversation from two cultures quickly turned out to be
a rocky one.
Let me cite from the initial proposal for funding for this study:
The purpose of this investigation is to conduct a cross-cultural
comparative study of 'face-work' (Goffman 1967) in parallel German and
English sociable settings (after-dinner conversations and the like).
Empirical data will be collected in the form of recorded, translated and
transcribed naturally occurring talk ... Analysis will then be conducted within
the Sociological framework of 'face-to-face' interaction. It is hoped that
such an investigation will identify culturally specific elements of face-work
during face-to-face spoken interaction in both cultures, and enable a
systematic comparison of the two societies. (ESRC Research Studentship
Proposal, 1998).
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