Everyday Talk: Building and Reflecting Identities (review)

In this very accessible book, Karen Tracy discusses how the ‘little stuff’ (187) of everyday conversation expresses as well as constructs who we are. This book is divided into four major sections. Section 1, ‘The argument’ (1–42), includes Ch. 1, ‘Talk and identity’ and Ch. 2, ‘Two perspectives’. In Ch. 1, T examines the importance of understanding the connection between talk and identity, the logic of conversation, interactional meanings and identity-work, and the meaning of identity. Ch. 2 contains a discussion of two perspectives on everyday talk—the rhetorical and the cultural—and the relationship between them.

Section 2, ‘Talk’s building blocks’ (43–110), consists of Ch. 3, ‘Person-referencing practices’; Ch. 4, ‘Speech acts’; Ch. 5, ‘The sound of talk’; and Ch. 6, ‘Language selection’. In Ch. 3, T examines the interaction between identity and the use of marital names, personal address, and ethnicity/gender-connected references. In Ch. 4, T first introduces the philosophical background to the study of speech acts and then discusses the link between speech acts and identities; she also examines various face-threatening speech acts. Ch. 5 examines how the sounds of talk factor into identity construction. T discusses the role of paralinguistic devices in identity building, the meaning of stable voice features, and also the role of dialect in identity-work. Ch. 6 is mostly concerned with the identity implication of language choice as exemplified by codeswitching. A discussion of the relationship between speaking English and an American identity is also included in this chapter.

Section 3, ‘Complex discourse practices’ (111–84), contains Ch. 7, ‘Interaction structures’; Ch. 8, ‘Direct or indirect style’; Ch. 9, ‘Narratives’; and Ch. 10, ‘Stance indicators’. In Ch. 7, T discusses the role of turn-taking and the use of adjacency pairs and remedial exchanges in identity building. She also discusses speech community differences in this regard. Ch. 8 contains a discussion of types of speech acts and what constitutes direct vs. indirect speech styles. In Ch. 9, T examines how narratives are linked with identity building. This chapter also includes an examination of the key features and functions of narratives and cultural differences in storytelling. In Ch. 10, T looks at a set of stance indicators and shows how they are tied to personal identity.

Section 4 is the conclusion (185–91). Here, T argues that in reflecting and building identities, ‘little stuff often has big effects’ (188). She also notes that talk usually has multiple goals that may not be achieved together. In addition, she emphasizes the importance of both the rhetorical and the cultural perspectives in studying everyday conversation. Furthermore, she points out that the aim of this book is to ‘foster a better understanding of how everyday talk works’ (191).

This book provides a readable synthesis of research on language and identity. It also successfully integrates the findings of discourse analysis with communication theories. It would serve as a helpful textbook for courses in speech communication, sociolinguistics, and anthropology. Although the intended audience of this book is primarily undergraduate students, it would be useful to graduate students and professionals as well.