The concept of framing has been pivotal in research on social interaction among anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, and linguists. This collection shows how the discourse analysis of frames can be applied to a range of social contexts. Tannen provides a seminal theoretical framework for conceptualizing the relationship between frames and schemas as well as a methodology for the discourse analysis of framing in interaction. Each chapter makes a unique theoretical contribution to frames theory while showing how discourse analysis can elucidate the linguistic means by which framing is accomplished in a particular interactional setting. Applied to such a wide range of contexts as a medical examination, psychotic discourse, gender differences in sermon performance, boys' "sportscasting" their own play, teasing among friends, a comparison of Japanese and American discussion groups, and sociolinguistic interviews, the discourse analysis of framing emerges here as a fruitful new avenue for interaction analysis.

The concept of framing has been pivotal in research on social interaction among anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, and linguists. This collection shows how the discourse analysis of frames can be applied to a range of social contexts. Tannen provides a seminal theoretical framework for conceptualizing the relationship between frames and schemas as well as a methodology for the discourse analysis of framing in interaction. Each chapter makes a unique theoretical contribution to frames theory while showing how discourse analysis can elucidate the linguistic means by which framing is accomplished in a particular interactional setting. Applied to such a wide range of contexts as a medical examination, psychotic discourse, gender differences in sermon performance, boys' "sportscasting" their own play, teasing among friends, a comparison of Japanese and American discussion groups, and sociolinguistic interviews, the discourse analysis of framing emerges here as a fruitful new avenue for interaction analysis.

In discourse, verbal messages are "framed" speakers offer cues on the basis of which hearers are able to anchor the verbal message to the context. Furthermore, speakers cannot contribute to the discourse without at the same time showing their view on the subject matter of the discourse: the content of a discourse is necessarily displayed from a certain "perspective." Both the framing and perspectivising of verbal messages are not static, but subject to possible changes during the development of the discourse. Both concepts function at the intersection of a psychological-cognitive and a social-functional approach to discourse. In this volume, eight contributions are brought together which offer theoretical tools for describing and explaining framing and perspectivising devices in the production and comprehension of discourse, and apply them to the analysis of several types of discourse such as political satire, letters-to-the-editor, everyday narrations and newspaper reports.

In this book, Alexander demonstrates the linguistic distractions, euphemisms and pitfalls of corporate-political discourse on the environment subjecting them to a trenchant analysis.

How do words mean? What is the nature of meaning? How can we grasp a word’s meaning? The frame-semantic approach developed in this book offers some well-founded answers to such long-standing, but still controversial issues. Following Charles Fillmore’s definition of frames as both organizers of experience and tools for understanding, the monograph attempts to examine one of the most important concepts of Cognitive Linguistics in more detail. The point of departure is Fillmore’s conception of “frames of understanding” – an approach to (cognitive) semantics that Fillmore developed from 1975 to 1985. The envisaged Understanding Semantics (“U-Semantics”) is a semantic theory sui generis whose significance for linguistic research cannot be overestimated. In addition to its crucial role in the development of the theoretical foundations of U-semantics, corpus-based frame semantics can be applied fruitfully in the investigation of knowledge-building processes in text and discourse.

In discourse, verbal messages are framed: speakers offer cues on the basis of which hearers are able to anchor the verbal message to the context. Furthermore, speakers cannot contribute to the discourse without at the same time showing their view on the subject matter of the discourse: the content of a discourse is necessarily ‘displayed’ from a certain perspective. Both the framing and perspectivising of verbal messages are not static, but subject to possible changes during the development of the discourse. Both concepts function at the intersection of a psychological-cognitive and a social-functional approach to discourse. In this volume, eight contributions are brought together which offer theoretical tools for describing and explaining framing and perspectivising devices in the production and comprehension of discourse, and apply them to the analysis of several types of discourse such as political satire, letters-to-the-editor, everyday narrations and newspaper reports.

Culler (English and comparative literature, Cornell) begins with an historical overview of the relationship between criticism and the academy and explores what has come to characterize contemporary theory. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR