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sociable conversation. This sociable expanding and contracting of the self as
construal was seen to be conversationally achieved and empirically manifest in
and through the mobilisation of selves as both conversational players and
conversational images. Conversationally, contraction, it was argued, can be
seen to be achieved through the proffering of individuate standpoints or
perspectives, in for example the reporting of a unique narrative or proffering and
defending an individuated personal standing on an issue. Expansion of the self
can be regarded as the symbolic converse of this, namely, the weakening of the
self as a unique of individuated locus of expression vis-A-vis those other selves
co-present. Conversationally this is realised through expressions of sameness
during positive alignment whereby the self in effect expands to encompass
sociable others, in terms of stances, viewpoints, and definitions. The self then in
this sense has been treated as a conversational entity, capable of being
expanded and contracted to allow the claiming of negative and positive face
needs.
Fundamentally, the way participants in sociable episodes were
demonstrated to achieve such expansion and contraction of the self as
construal was in and through the mobilisation and mutual ratification and
support of both negative and positive sociable selves as images and players.
That is, in the preceding analysis I have demonstrated that solidaric and
individuated claims are made in and through routinely mobilised sociable
selves, ones which index prevailing cultural values (see Chapter 2). This
relationship between the self as conversational-construal and the sociable self
as both player and image is represented in figure 9.1.
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