Cooperative Overlap, Gender, and Identity in Late Night Talk Show Interviews
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COOPERATIVE OVERLAP, GENDER, AND IDENTITY IN LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW INTERVIEWS by SARAH KRUEGER Submitted in partial ful0illment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Cognitive Linguistics CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY May, 2019 B2 CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES WE HEREBY APPROVE THE THESIS/DISSERTATION OF Sarah Krueger candidate for the degree of Cognitive Linguistics Committee Chair Vera Tobin Committee Member Todd Oakley Committee Member Fey Parrill Date of Defense March 28, 2019 *We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any proprietary material contained therein. B3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5 1 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………. 6 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………………………………………………… 8 2.1 Overlap …………………………………………………………………………………….. 10 2.2 Gender ……………………………………………………………………………………… 12 2.3 The Late Night Talk Show ………………………………………………………….. 13 2.4 Late Night Talk Shows and Women …………………………………………….. 19 3 METHOD …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 23 4 FINDINGS …………………………………………………………………………………………….….. 26 5 EXAMPLES ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 29 6 DISCUSSION …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 45 7 CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………….……………………….. 51 8 APPENDIX ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 54 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 55 10 CASE STUDY BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………. 60 B4 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1 - The Late Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Overlap ………..……………………… 26 TABLE 2 - I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman Overlap …………..…………….. 26 TABLE 3 - Transcription Annotation De0initions …………………………………………… 52 B5 Cooperative Overlap, Gender, and Identity in Late Night Talk Show Interviews Abstract by SARAH KRUEGER This thesis observes the intersection of conversational overlap and genderlect in a small corpus in a specialized discourse genre: the two person semi-scripted televised late night talk show interview. To build rapport, speakers use strategies such as conversational overlap and latching to create open lines of communication. When used cooperatively, these features can promote ef0icient communication and create meaningful connections. Overlapping can be a site of genderlectical variation in that, stereotypically, men and women use overlap differently to accomplish their communicative goals. Working from selected interviews, this study observes communicative overlap and gendered differences with respect to features where overlap most often occurs. The classical account of gendered overlapping features is complicated by factors including other dimensions of discourse genre and communicative goals. Communicative overlap is not solely a gendered phenomenon, but is rather inluenced by other outside factors. B6 1 Introduction To have an engaging and cooperative conversation, communication partners build rapport through a variety of conversational strategies. The focus of the present study is on the use and avoidance of overlap as an element of these strategies. In the past, studies have shown genderlectical differences between male and female speech patterns around rapport. Stereotypically, women generally create a connection and build a relationship to relate to one another. They commonly prefer to build rapport through cooperative overlap and connect through empathy. Men often prefer conversational styles in which some sort of status is implicitly established. This occurs through the use of report talk and discourse patterns organized on the principle that whoever has command of the conversation is the communicative leader (Hidalgo-Tenorio 2016, Tannen 1983, 1990, and 2012). However, in practice, genderlect is just one of many factors affecting when and how speakers use overlap and which kind of rapport style they choose to pursue in a given conversation.. Conversation partners, topics, mood, and atmosphere all play a role in communicative styles. Other aspects of speaker identity also come into play Identity can be de0ined through class, race, age, sexual orientation, shared community membership, hierarchical status in a group, and more. This study primarily considers aspects of the conversational environment alongside gender. Overlapping, or the lack thereof, contributes to how interlocutors connect to one another. At times it moves the conversation forward to use high overlapping techniques while other circumstances require considerate listening skills. More serious, in-depth conversations may call for a report talk, or high-considerateness, style. The lighter B7 conversations that involve anecdotes, shared experiences, or jokes turn to rapport talk, or high-involved style. Variances in conversational styles play different roles. In lighter dialogue, people are drawn in through the fast paced, highly involved aspects of overlap and rapport building. In more serious talks, the use of silence draws people in to listen attentively and therefore build a rapport through mutual respect. In this observational study, cooperative overlap and genderlect are observed through a focused case-study analysis of late night talk show (LNTS) interviews. Guests with a political background or stance are often featured on these shows. This provides the opportunity to have serious as well as lighter conversations, and when we look at how hosts navigate these different kinds of conversations while maintaining their mandate to entertain their audience, we have the opportunity to observe striking changes in conversational delivery throughout one dialogue. LNTS interviews pose the issue of quickly building rapport, or the perception of having rapport, in a very short period of time, in highly structured settings. The participants have to do a lot of work very quickly in order to produce the impression of relaxed, natural conversation in very demanding circumstances, while also often navigating a complex and varied range of talking points the guest hopes to deliver. The hosts therefore often need to make rapid changes to switch between conversational styles in order to align with the guest. By looking at how these high-intensity performances use overlap and other gendered components of rapport and report talk in service of these goals, we get a window onto the complexity and 0lexibility of these discourse features. Rapport does B8 not necessarily need to be something that is naturally occurring or from a real connection with a communication partner but can also be the perception of one. Knowing when to use the best conversational style for any given situation and using it appropriately can create the idea of rapport whether there is any or not. A more speci0ic purpose of this study is to highlight the idea that there are marked differences in genderlect between men and women, but LNTS hosts, of both genders, show similar characteristics in terms of communication styles, rapport building, comedy, and leadership. Before analyzing the interviews, I will 0irst explore and de0ine communicative overlap in terms of cooperative overlap and its features. Then I will provide a brief overview of sociolinguistic research that has de0ined communicative styles in terms of gender. Next, the late night talk show genre is discussed in terms of the interview, style, and personas of the hosts. Finally, I will tie in LNTS with gender and the dif0iculties women face in thriving as a host in the genre. These areas of study allow me to observe the in0luence overlap and gender has on rapport in LNTS interviews. To study these effects, two interviews are observed in-depth to view the changes in conversation styles individual hosts deploy, and investigate what prompts them. Two additional interviews are also considered, to mark any notable similarities or differences between the interviews. 2 Literature Review 2.1 Overlap B9 Overlap, or simultaneous talk, occurs when there is more than one person speaking at a time. Overlapping talk can be “intrusive or cooperative…(it) is ambiguous: it can be experienced as a negative move, an interruption, or a positive one, a ‘joining- in’” (Tannen 2012). Overlap can be “reinforcement, a contradiction, or a change in topic” (Tannen 1990). Reinforcement is the listener encouraging and agreeing with the speaker through the use of “continuers” (discussed below). Generally, reinforcement is cooperative. Contradiction and change in topic are typically seen as intrusive. Contradiction is interrupting to point out how the speaker is incorrect and change in topic is interrupting in the middle of a speech turn to discuss a different topic. Cooperative overlapping “shows participation and support” (Tannen 2012) in the conversation while intrusive interruption creates discordant. Cooperative overlapping contributes to conversation in a few ways. According to Tannen, there are three types of overlap: cooperative sentence- building, requesting and giving veri0ication, and choral repetition. Cooperative sentence-building typically occurs at the end of a sentence and does not indicate turn taking. The overlapping speaker jumps in to show that they understand and give af0irmation to what the initial speaker is saying. Requesting and giving veri0ication is employed when a speech partner needs clari0ication on a point to reinforce understanding or to con0irm what the initial speaker is saying. “Ratifying repetition” is often used in this type of overlap. It is when the listener will repeat what the speaker said in order to question something or offer con0irmation. Veri0ication alerts the initial