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Brown and Levinson (1987). Indeed, I shall argue that how solidarity and
autonomy are indexed in conversational framework is fundamental to
understanding the cultural variations between the Germans and the English in
terms of their respective conversational styles.
This then is the empirical and conceptual remit with which I shall pursue
my investigation of variations in English and German sociable style in the
present study. It is one which will evidently draw on the work carried out already
by scholars addressing English - German comparative research, but one which
will also address conceptual, analytic, and empirical avenues not fully
explicated but identified as holding significant potential for the furthering of an
understanding of the bases for differences between the two speech
communities.
2.5 Conclusion
I began the chapter by outlining my own experiences as a participant in
English and, more importantly, German sociable gatherings (2.1). Here I spelt
out from quite a subjective standpoint my own experiences of and difficulties
with engaging unproblematically in sociable conversation as an Englishman
attempting to speak German. I noted that my early difficulties and negative
misperceptions may well have been grounded, not in a lack of awareness of
language usage, but of what was essentially conversational style. Following this
I moved on to identity salient characteristics of German and English
communicative style (2.2). 1 focused on a range of discourse phenomena, from
single speech acts to more general orientations to ongoing conversational
interaction. Specific salient differences were identified. Of particular interest
here was what I termed conversational style, that is, culturally normative and
routine ways of engaging in ongoing naturally occurring conversational
interaction. Following this, I invoked the fundamental concepts and extant
interpretative frameworks set out in Chapter 1 in an attempt to identify the
underpinnings of the salient variations in facework practices in the two cultures.
I noted that, although many of the works cited in this chapter have touched on
face as a concept, and pointed to cultural variations in the achievement of
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