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24 HB: [And then there are also the differences in [steering
25 KH: [Peter what kind of a
26 store must they have
Of course again, and this appears often in conversational environments
when such selves are mobilised in my own data, in response to an other-
directed affirmative self, a demeaned self may be mobilised, and perhaps more
often than not is. Conversationally this may result in the by now familiar
objective discussion or even Wettkampf.
In my earlier consideration of English conversation, I identified what I
termed an in-the-know self. I noted there that the German equivalent - although
also taking up a conversational stance to in effect impart individuated
knowledge to co-present others - was slightly different. What I am terming the
knowledgeable self. here is one that allows the speaker to display, not a
knowledge based in some unique aspect of personal experience, but one based
in a more in-depth and often quite technical knowledge of the conversational
topic per se being developed. Thus, in mobilising a Knowledgeable Self, a
particular participant will proceed along the lines - and is expected to proceed
along the lines - of positing a factual rather than an experiential base for any
particular knowledge claims. From my own observations I can attest to the fact
that in German sociable conversation, the knowledgeable self can be mobilised
against someone who has clearly more experience of a given sphere of
expertise (or at least is claiming the same). As an anecdotal example from my
own participation, if and when I have been talking about my own research, there
has been no shortage of participants who have stepped forward to display their
own knowledge of 'sociological matters' and engage with me in conversation, in
effect as equals. Recipients of any explanations I have proffered for my
research have often made suggestions for improvements as to how I might
gather my data (for example in the positioning of the microphone), identified
neglected aspects of my model, or suggested themes to consider in my analysis
and final write-up (incidentally, this runs somewhat contra to English sociable
participants who more often than not have made a point about not having a clue
about what I was doing or how I should do it).
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