Memory in interaction: an analysis of repeat calls to a home birth helpline

Shaw, R. and Kitzinger, C. (2007) Memory in interaction: an analysis of repeat calls to a home birth helpline. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 40(1), pp. 117-144.

Abstract

Drawing on a corpus of 80 calls to a Home Birth helpline, we use conversation analysis to analyze how callers and call takers display to one another that they are talking for a second or subsequent time. We focus in particular on the role of memory in these interactions. We show how caller and call taker are oriented to remembering at the beginning of calls as displayed in what we call the recognition-solicit pre-sequence, how participants are oriented to issues of forgetting and remembering during the course of repeat calls, and how remembering and forgetting are made manifest in interaction. Our analysis shows how the human capacity to remember and propensity to forget have reverberating implications in calling for help.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Shaw, Dr Rebecca
• Authors: Shaw, R., and Kitzinger, C.
• Subjects: R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine; R Medicine > RG Gynecology and obstetrics
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment
• Journal Name: Research on Language and Social Interaction
• Publisher: Routledge
• ISSN: 0835-1813
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2007 Routledge
• First Published: First published in Research on Language and Social Interaction 40(1):117-144
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.