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previously relayed some of the details of this particular pub - the extent and
nature of such being indicated by RP's claims in line 6 of not wanting to 'go
there' and experience what KP&LP had experienced - this moment marks the
beginning of the phase 'rommy Fields'. From this point onwards, all
participants can be seen to mutually conversationally align to the past reality
of 'Tommy Fields.
The conversational and symbolic resources are embedded in this past
individuated event, and, like 'Cookie's Party', for the duration of this particular
phase of the episode, these linguistic and sociological resources are drawn
upon to achieve equilibric sociable conversation. Subsequently, KPUP and
RP&EP mobilise and align sociable selves as both players and images
grounded in essentially - at least for the duration of the narrative - unique
symbolic universes.
As conversational players, the salient selves mobilised in 'Tommy
Fields' are narrative ones. If we consider the talk itself, it is clear that what the
narrating selves mobilised by KP&LP are conveying is not a measured and
factual account of the interior of Tommy Fields. Rather, such selves are
conversationally manifest in the dramatic licence being exercised to make this
account a sociable one, that is, entertaining and interesting for the recipients
RID and EP. There are frequent vivid claims made as to the nature of the pub
and participants within it. For instance, claims such as 'You walk in and
everybody stops talkin" (lines 25 and 60), 'all' customers (necessarily apart
from KP&LP) had 'skinheads' and 'teeth missing' (line 82), 'coshes' (lines 43
and 70), 'hob nail boots' (line 35), and being 'bigger than any cunt' KP had
ever seen in his life appear prima facie exaggerated - untrue even. However,
as I noted above (Chapter 5), and has been observed by others (e. g. Byrnes
1986; Straehle 1997), truth value, factual accuracy, and clarity are not
characteristic of English sociable conversation or, importantly, not
conversationally characteristic of narrative selves. This is clearly evidenced in
Tommy Fields as KP&LP mobilise narrating selves which allow the invocation
of Tommy Fields and allow also for the invocation of KP&LP as conversational
images around which the situated reality of 'Tommy Fields' unfolds.
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