Collaborative Storytelling of "my Own Story:"

An Analysis of Participation in Japanese Conversation

Chisato Koike

University of California, Los Angeles

In this study I analyze the roles of recipients of storytelling in two face-to-face conversations among female Japanese speakers. I focus on recipients’ clarification requests and co-constructions when a storyteller is telling her own experience. In Japanese conversation, when one of the participants starts telling a story and holds the conversational floor, other participants also contribute to storytelling as story recipients by providing aizuchi—‘back-channel utterances’ such as un ‘uh-huh’ or laughter.

Although vocal/non-vocal aizuchi or laughter from story recipients are crucial for successful storytelling, these responses are minimum contributions. Moreover, it is true that recipients can provide aizuchi without attentively listening to a speaker or understanding what the speaker has said (Goffman 1981, Schegloff 1982). Story recipients, however, need not merely be “passive listener[s]”, but may also be “dynamic entit[ies] that can actively influence the interpretation that will be given a speaker’s talk” (C. Goodwin 1986: 306). I will demonstrate how story recipients actively contribute to storytelling and enhance storytelling by providing more than aizuchi, and how the storyteller and story recipients collaboratively participate in storytelling even when the storyteller is telling about her own personal experience.

The conversational data used in this study are two approximately one-minute storytelling segments of Japanese casual face-to-face video-taped conversations among female Japanese speakers. I transcribed the conversations and included descriptions of the participants’ body movements under the gloss of utterances in each transcription. I also put smiley faces above the transcriptions to indicate when participants used nodding as non-vocal aizuchi.

In my data the story recipients did more than just “listen” to the stories passively and provide aizuchi for storytellers as in (1) and (2). In (1), Asai, a storyteller, starts telling the story of her experience at an international airport when she first came to the United States, and Chiba, a recipient, requests clarification to elicit missing information from the storyteller in the middle of storytelling.

In 57A, Asai launches into the storytelling of her first visit to the United States, providing information about time and space. However, as a 0.4-second pause in line 58 indicates, the story recipients did not understand clearly what Asai was talking about in this “story preface” (Sacks 1974: 340-341). After a 0.4-second pause, Chiba initiates repair in 59C Nani, sono: ‘what, that’ and gives candidate understanding in 61C a, kaiwa? ‘oh conversation?’ as she is pointing at Asai with the index finger of her right hand (Figure 1). Rather reorganizing the story preface, Asai in 62A simply gives confirmation to Chiba in order to make a smooth transition to the next step of her story.

In a storytelling sequence, to tell a story smoothly and to get more appropriate responses, a storyteller should produce her story by providing necessary information in an organized way, so that the recipients can understand it without getting confused. Although requesting clarification about missing or unclear information seems to challenge the storyteller, I suggest that clarification requests can be viewed as a way to demonstrate the recipients’ involvement and to facilitate story developments. Clarification requests show that the recipients are actively engaging in storytelling and analyzing each bit of information they receive from the storyteller. Hence they can provide appropriate responses to the storyteller as the story unfolds.

Co-construction of an utterance is another effective way for participants to demonstrate their understanding of what a prior speaker has said and their involvement in storytelling. Even if the storyteller is telling her own experience, the recipients can co-construct the storyteller’s utterance by relying on a prior sequence as in (2). In (2), Asai describes how she diligently practiced answers while on the airplane for questions she expected to be asked in English at the immigration window. Chiba co-constructs Asai’s quotation which appeared in a prior sequence.

From 64A to 71A, Asai describes the scene in which she practiced English phrases on the airplane. In 64A and 69A, she quotes her own speech and demonstrates how she practiced English phrases using self-repetition of the words; in 64A she repeats hoomusutei ‘home-stay’ three times, and in 69A wan-mansu ‘one-month’ four times. Then, in 84A Asai demonstrates again how diligently she practiced the English phrases, this time, in front of the immigration window, repeating the same word as in 69A wan-mansu ‘one month’. Then Chiba co-constructs by adding the second word in the sequence (‘home-stay’) in line 85C. Although Chiba does not know Asai’s story, Chiba can co-construct Asai’s utterance, because Asai’s use of the same word in the same manner in a prior sequence enables Chiba to project upcoming utterances.

What is more interesting about Chiba’s co-construction in 85C is that while Chiba co-constructs Asai’s utterance, she gives non-vocal aizuchi twice to Asai, smiling and looking at Asai without changing her “listener’s posture”, i.e. resting her right elbow on the desk (Figure 2). Chiba’ co-construction by means of quoting Asai’s own speech using the same word in the same manner as Asai, could have intruded on Asai’s storytelling. However, Chiba successfully contributed to and participated in Asai’s storytelling, manifesting her role as a story recipient through non-vocal aizuchi and a “listener’s posture”, without interrupting or disturbing Asai’s role as a storyteller.

In a storytelling sequence in which a storyteller tells his/her own story, it is the storyteller that provides information and constructs the story. The primary roles of story recipients typically include listening to storytellers and providing aizuchi. However, as I have demonstrated, story recipients more actively participated in storytelling by performing additional roles and collaboratively constructed stories along with storytellers through clarification requests and co-constructions. My analysis sheds light on the interaction and collaboration between the storyteller and the story recipients by elucidating the recipients’ roles in Japanese storytelling.

(1) Clarification Request to elicit missing information

57 A: Atashi hajimete

I for the first time

>umarete hajimete kita toki ni< sa:, (1.2)

be-born-and for the first time came time in FP

renshuu-shita n da hikooki n naka de. (.) ni-jikan gurai.

practiced NOM BE airplane of inside in two hours about

When I came for the first time, >for the first time in my life< you know, (I) practiced on the airplane. (For) about two hours.

58 (0.4)

59 C: Nani, so[no:=

what that

What, that

60 A: [Anoo:

uhm

Uhm

61 C: =a, kaiwa?

oh conversation

((Chiba points at Asai with the

index finger of her right hand.))

Oh, conversation?

62 A: U:n. kikareru kara: tte iwaretete. Figure 1

Yeah be-asked so QT be-told-and

Yeah. Because (I) would be asked, (I) was told and.

63 C: >Un un un.<

yeah yeah yeah

Uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh.

(2) Co-construction: repetition of a prior sequence

J J J J J

à64 A:Hoomusutei hoomusutei. hoomu[sutei.=

Home-stay home-stay home-stay

çFD ëC

((lower-pitched normal volume voice)) ((Asai smiles at Chiba))

Home-stay home-stay home-stay (lit. to stay in a person’s home)

65 B: [((laughter))

J

66 A: =>to ka [omot[te.<

QT Q think-and

éB ëC

((Asai smiles at Bando))

= or something, (I) thought, and.

J

67 B: [Un.

yeah

[Uh-huh.

68 C: [Atashi mo shita yo. (.)

I too did FP

((Chiba points at Asai with the index finger of her right hand))

[sono renshuu.

that practice

((Chiba brings back her right hand to her mouth.))

I did too, you know, that practice.

J J J J J

à69 A:[Wan-mansu wan-mansu wan-mansu wan-ma(h)n(h)su: ˙h((laughter))

one month one month one month one month

ëC éB

((lower-pitched normal volume voice))

Wan-mansu wan-mansu wan-mansu wan-mansu (“One month one month one month one month” English words pronounced in Japanese)

70 C: ˙hh

J

J J J J

71 A: Sugge: renshuu-shite:,

very practiced-and

éB ëC êDN

(I) practiced really hard, and,

J

72 B: ˚Un.

yeah

Uh-huh.

(10 lines omitted)

J J

83 C: Aa aa.

oh oh

Oh oh.

à84 A:U:WA YABBE::

wow in-trouble

ëC

((Asai puts both hands down on the table, separating them.))

J J J

to ka omotte te:

QT Q thinking-and

êDN

((Asai brings both hands, which are still on the table, together.))

J

wan-mansu wan-ma(h)n(h)[su: to ka itte=

one month one month QT Q say-and

çFD ëC

((lower-pitched))

Oh my gosh, or something, (I) was thinking and, wan-mansu wan-mansu (“one month one month: English words pronounced in Japanese”) or something, I said and,

J J

à85 C: [((laughter)) ˙h >Hoomusutei hoomusutei.<

home-stay home-stay

Home-stay home-stay

J J J J

J J

86 A: =erai kinchoo-shite:

very be-nervous-and

ëC êDN

((lower-pitched, slower paced))

=(I) was really nervous and, Figure 2

J J

87 (0.4)