1887
Volume 32, Issue 4
  • ISSN 1018-2101
  • E-ISSN: 2406-4238

Abstract

Abstract

This paper investigates accounts justifying the closures of businesses found on public signs in Athens and London during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data for the study was drawn from a corpus of COVID-19-related public signage collected in the two cities during the first lockdown. The accounts used on these signs are analysed as acts of identity and, specifically, as discursive means deployed by the authors of the signs to project themselves and their businesses favourably. It is shown that the accounts used at the micro-level of discourse align to various degrees with the dominant discourses surrounding the pandemic at the macro-level and with the values these discourses draw upon. It is also shown that the accounts are used to reframe the public’s understanding of the closures and to construct identities congruent with the interests of the business owners, ensuring post-pandemic continuity.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/prag.21033.bel
2022-03-25
2024-10-09
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/prag.21033.bel.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1075/prag.21033.bel&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Archakis, Argiris
    2020 “The Continuum of Identities in Immigrant Students’ Narratives in Greece.” Narrative Inquiry. Published online8 July 2020 10.1075/ni.19118.arc
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.19118.arc [Google Scholar]
  2. Archakis, Argiris, and Villy Tsakona
    2012The Narrative Construction of Identities in Critical Education. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9781137264992
    https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137264992 [Google Scholar]
  3. 2016 “Legitimising and Resistance Identities in Immigrant Students’ School Essays: Towards a Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy.” Brno Studies in English42 (1): 5–22. 10.5817/BSE2016‑1‑1
    https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2016-1-1 [Google Scholar]
  4. Austin, John
    1970 “A Plea for Excuses.” InJ. L. Austin – Philosophical Papers, ed. byJames Urmson, and Geoffrey Warnock, 175–204. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Benoit, William
    1995Accounts, Excuses and Apologies: A Theory of Image Restoration Strategies. New York: State University of New York Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Benwell, Brethan, and Elizabeth Stokoe
    2006Discourse and Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. 10.1515/9780748626533
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748626533 [Google Scholar]
  7. Blommaert, Jan
    2010The Socioliguistics of Globalisation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511845307
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511845307 [Google Scholar]
  8. 2013Ethnography, Superdiversity and Linguistic Landscapes: Chronicles of Complexity. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 10.21832/9781783090419
    https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783090419 [Google Scholar]
  9. Brown, Penelope, and Stephen Levinson
    1987Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511813085
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813085 [Google Scholar]
  10. Bucholtz, Mary, and Kira Hall
    2005 “Identity and Interaction: A Sociocultural Linguistic Approach.” Discourse Studies7 (4–5): 585–614. 10.1177/1461445605054407
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445605054407 [Google Scholar]
  11. Castells, Manuel
    2010The Power of Identity. 2nd edition. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Cobb, Anthony, Caroll Stephens, and George Watson
    2001 “Beyond Structure: The Role of Social Accounts in Implementing Ideal Control.” Human Relations54 (9): 1123–1153. 10.1177/0018726701549001
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726701549001 [Google Scholar]
  13. Cody, Michael, and Deborah Dunn
    2007 “Accounts.” InExplaining Communication: Contemporary Theories and Exemplars, ed. byBryan Whaley, and Wendy Samter, 237–256. London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Coupland, Nikolas
    2010 “Introduction: Sociolinguistics in the Global Era.” InThe Handbook of Language and Globalization, ed. byNikolas Coupland, 1–27. Chichester: Wiley/Blackwell. 10.1002/9781444324068.ch
    https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444324068.ch [Google Scholar]
  15. Day, Dennis, and Susanne Kjaerbeck
    2013 “‘Positioning’ in the Conversation Analytic Approach.” Narrative Inquiry23 (1): 16–39. 10.1075/ni.23.1.02day
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.23.1.02day [Google Scholar]
  16. De Fina, Anna, Deborah Schiffrin, and Michael Bamberg
    (eds) 2006Discourse and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511584459
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584459 [Google Scholar]
  17. Draper, Stephen
    1988 “What’s Going on in Everyday Explanation?”. InAnalysing Everyday Explanation: A Casebook of Methods, ed. byCharles Antaki, 15–31. London: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Du Bois, John
    2007 “The Stance Triangle.” InStancetaking in Discourse: Subjectivity, Evaluation, Interaction, ed. byRobert Englebretson, 139–182. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Bemjamins. 10.1075/pbns.164.07du
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.164.07du [Google Scholar]
  19. Fairclough, Norman
    2013Language and Power. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9781315838250
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315838250 [Google Scholar]
  20. Ferenčík, Milan
    2018 “Im/politeness on the Move: A Study of Regulatory Discourse Practices in Slovakia’s Centre of Tourism.” Journal of Pragmatics134: 183–198. 10.1016/j.pragma.2018.05.011
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2018.05.011 [Google Scholar]
  21. Garcés-Conehos Blitvich, Pilar, and Alexandra Georgakopoulou
    2021 “Analysing Identity.” InThe Cambridge Handbook of Sociopragmatics, ed. byMichael Haugh, Daniel Kadár, and Marina Terkourafi, 293–314. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781108954105.017
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108954105.017 [Google Scholar]
  22. Gee, James Paul
    1990Social Linguistics and Literacies: Ideology in Discourses. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Goffman, Erving
    1959The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday-Anchor.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Hall, Kira, and Mary Bucholtz
    2013 “Epilogue: Facing Identity.” Journal of Politeness Research9 (1): 123–132. 10.1515/pr‑2013‑0006
    https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2013-0006 [Google Scholar]
  25. Hall, Stuart
    2000 “Who Needs Identity?” InIdentity: A Reader, ed. byPaul du Gay, Jessica Evans, and Peter Redman, 1–16. London: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Meyer, Paul Georg
    2000 “The Relevance of Causality.” InCause, Condition, Concession, Contrast: Cognitive and Discourse Perspectives, ed. byElizabeth Couper-Kuhlen, and Bernd Kortmann, 9–34. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110219043‑002
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110219043-002 [Google Scholar]
  27. Ogiermann, Eva, and Spyridoula Bella
    2021 “On the Dual Role of Expressive Speech Acts: Relational Work on Signs Announcing Closures during the Covid-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Pragmatics. 10.1016/j.pragma.2021.07.020
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.07.020 [Google Scholar]
  28. Orbuch, Terri
    1997 “People’s Accounts Count: The Sociology of Accounts.” Annual Review of Sociology23: 455–478. 10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.455
    https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.455 [Google Scholar]
  29. Schlenker, Barry
    1980Impression Management: The Self-concept, Social Identity and Interpersonal Relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks/ Cole.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. 1986 “Self-identification: Towards an Integration of the Private and Public Self.” InPublic Self and Private Self, ed. byRoy Baumeister, 21–62. New York: Springer. 10.1007/978‑1‑4613‑9564‑5_2
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9564-5_2 [Google Scholar]
  31. Schlenker, Barry, Beth Pontari, and Andrew Christopher
    2001 “Excuses and Character: Personal and Social Implications of Excuses.” Personality and Social Psychology Review5 (1): 15–32. 10.1207/S15327957PSPR0501_2
    https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0501_2 [Google Scholar]
  32. Schwarz, Shalom H.
    1992 “Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries.” InAdvances in Experimental Social Phychology, Vol. 25, ed. byMark Zhanna, 1–65. San Diego: Academic Press. 10.1016/S0065‑2601(08)60281‑6
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60281-6 [Google Scholar]
  33. Schwarz, Shalom H., and Anat Bardi
    2001 “Value Hierarchies across Cultures: Take a Similarities Perspective.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology32 (3): 268–290. 10.1177/0022022101032003002
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022101032003002 [Google Scholar]
  34. Scott, Marvin, and Stanford Lyman
    1968 “Accounts.” American Sociological Review33: 46–62. 10.2307/2092239
    https://doi.org/10.2307/2092239 [Google Scholar]
  35. Seargeant, Philip, and Korina Giaxoglou
    2020 “Discourse and the Linguistic Landscape.” InThe Cambridge Handbook of Discourse Studies, ed. byAnna De Fina, and Alexandra Georgakopoulou, 306–326. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781108348195.015
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108348195.015 [Google Scholar]
  36. Shaw, John, Eric Wild, and Jason Colquitt
    2003 “To Justify or to Excuse? A Meta-analytic Review of the Effects of Explanations.” Journal of Applied Psychology88: 444–458. 10.1037/0021‑9010.88.3.444
    https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.3.444 [Google Scholar]
  37. Sifianou, Maria, and Angeliki Tzanne
    2018 “The Impact of Globalization in Brief Greek Service Encounters.” Journal of Pragmatics134: 163–172. 10.1016/j.pragma.2017.12.011
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.12.011 [Google Scholar]
  38. Solstad, Torgrim, and Oliver Bott
    2017 “Causality and Causal Reasoning in Natural Language.” InThe Oxford Handbook of Causal Reasoning, ed. byMichael R. Waldmann, 619–644. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Svennevig, Jan
    2021 “How to Do Things with Signs: The Formulation of Directives on Signs in Public Spaces.” Journal of Pragmatics175: 165–183. 10.1016/j.pragma.2021.01.016
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.01.016 [Google Scholar]
  40. Van Dijk, Teun
    2008Discourse and Power. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1007/978‑1‑137‑07299‑3
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-07299-3 [Google Scholar]
  41. Wierzbicka, Anna
    1998 “German Cultural Scripts: Public Signs as a Key to Social Attitudes and Cultural Values.” Discourse and Society9 (2): 241–282. 10.1177/0957926598009002006
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926598009002006 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/prag.21033.bel
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/prag.21033.bel
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): accounts; COVID-19; dominant discourses; Greece; identity; public signs; UK
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error