Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Bc. et Bc. Veronika Válkyová Aspects of Conversation in a Talk Show Discourse Master‟s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Mgr., Jan Chovanec, Ph. D. 2015 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author‟s signature I would like to express my gratitude to Mgr. Jan Chovanec Ph.D. for taking a chance on me. I would also like to thank Lenka for her never ending support and encouragement and Marika, my fellow traveler. Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................ 1 1. Media Discourse .................................................................................... 2 2. Spoken Discourse Analysis ..................................................................... 4 2.1 Conversation Analysis ...................................................................... 5 2.2 Gricean Pragmatics .......................................................................... 7 2.3 Interactional Sociolinguistics ............................................................ 8 3. Talk Show Characteristics ...................................................................... 9 3.1 Talk Show vs. Television Talk ........................................................... 9 3.2 History ......................................................................................... 11 3.3 Late Night Talk Show Format ......................................................... 13 3.4 Daytime Talk Show Format ............................................................ 15 4. Selected Features of Talk Shows .......................................................... 16 4.1 Institutional vs. Non-institutional Nature .......................................... 16 4.2 Spontaneous vs. Purposeful Talk .................................................... 18 4.3 Topic and Turn-taking ................................................................... 20 4.4 Roles of Talk Show Participants ...................................................... 22 4.5 Interlocutor-oriented, Message-oriented and Multiple Audience Oriented Talk 23 4.6 Closings ........................................................................................ 25 5. Description of the Methods .................................................................. 29 5.1 Corpora Description ....................................................................... 30 5.1.1 Brief Introduction of the Hosts and Talk Show Concepts in Focus 31 6. Studio Setting Description .................................................................... 32 6.1 The Talk ....................................................................................... 33 6.2 The Ellen DeGeneres Show ............................................................ 34 6.3 Jimmy Kimmel Live! ....................................................................... 34 6.4 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ......................................... 35 7. Aspects of Structure ............................................................................ 35 7.1 Chronological Structure of the Episodes .......................................... 36 7.1.1 Announcements ...................................................................... 37 7.1.2 Opening Lines ......................................................................... 39 7.1.3 Closings .................................................................................. 39 7.1.4 Commercial Breaks .................................................................. 40 7.2 Topic Structure of the Shows ......................................................... 42 7.2.1 The Talk: Thomas Lennon, Elisabeth Hurley, Fall Out Boy ........... 42 7.2.2 The Ellen DeGeneres Show: cast of Glee, Ne-Yo ........................ 44 7.2.3 Jimmy Kimmel Live: Barack Obama, Sean Penn ......................... 44 7.2.4 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Hugh Jackman, Tiffani Thiessen, Hozier .................................................................................. 46 8. Aspects of Talk Structure and Interaction .............................................. 47 8.1 Scripted vs. Unscripted Questions ................................................... 47 8.1.1 The Talk ................................................................................. 48 8.1.2 The Ellen DeGeneres Show ...................................................... 49 8.1.3 Jimmy Kimmel Live! ................................................................. 50 8.1.4 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ................................... 51 8.2 Turn-taking & Interaction ............................................................... 52 8.3 Laughter ....................................................................................... 55 8.3.1 The Talk ................................................................................. 55 8.3.2 The Ellen DeGeneres Show ...................................................... 55 8.3.3 Jimmy Kimmel Live! ................................................................. 56 8.3.4 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ................................... 57 8.4 Interruptions ................................................................................. 58 9. Aspects of Intimacy and Politeness ....................................................... 60 9.1 Addressing System ........................................................................ 60 9.2 Compliments ................................................................................. 61 9.3 Private Life Stories ........................................................................ 62 10. Conclusion ....................................................................................... 65 Bibliography .............................................................................................. 68 Primary Sources ..................................................................................... 68 Secondary Sources ................................................................................. 69 Summary .................................................................................................. 72 Resumé .................................................................................................... 73 Appendix 1: List of Symbols and Abbreviations ............................................ 74 Introduction The incredibly advanced level of technological innovativeness and constant progression in the field of information technology has been the intermediary for an unstoppable advancement in the media communication possibilities. Language of the media has been developing hand in hand with the technology itself. Despite the fact that this broadcast evolution started with audio transmitting, video enhancement was not far behind. In all likelihood no one could anticipate the enormous popularity and exploitation the video broadcast would have. Audio and video is no longer brought to the audiences in their inceptive form. The worldwide usage of internet, television, radio, computer and mobile phone, all of these gadgets represent fast growing and developing industries which have set the ground for the creation of a variety of new genres within the discourse of broadcast media. One of them is the discourse of television talk show. Over the years the concept of talk show has not been invariant. Its structure and rules have acknowledged the society and changing environment. People not only grew more interested in this type of program but also more invested in its content. The thesis aspires to take a look at the variety of contemporary talk shows in North America. The aim is to investigate the conversational aspects of talk show speech as well as examine the tendencies and preferences of hosts towards the spontaneous and more intimate approach to talk show speech. Accordingly, the thesis concentrates on selected American talk shows that are being presently broadcasted. 1 1. Media Discourse Essentially, scholars are required to distinguish between the concept of „discourse‟ without an article that “refers to language use […], a piece of text, an instance of discursive practice, and an instance of social practice" (Ilie, 2001, p. 213). On the other hand, the term 'a discourse' with an article “refers to a relatively discrete subset of a whole language used for specific social or institutional purposes” (Ilie, 2001, p. 213). In contrast, Fairclough divides the meaning of discourse into three levels. In an abstract sense, “discourse refers to „language use as social practice‟. […] Secondly, discourse is understood as the „kind of language used within a specific field‟, such as political or scientific discourse. And thirdly, in the most concrete usage, discourse is used as a count noun […] referring to a „way of speaking which gives meaning to experiences from a particular perspective‟” (cited from: Jorgensten & Phillips, 2002, p. 66- 67). Discourse does not have one strict specific definition. It is connected to the manner in which individuals and groups communicate. A more specific definition can refer to the systems of thoughts and beliefs that determine how individuals understand and interpret the world. If perceived in the broader sense, media discourse includes various channels such as newspapers and magazines, television, radio, and