Closing conflicts. Conversational strategies across Greek and Roman tragedies

Abstract

Abstract – Pre-closing and closing sequences are a standard feature of conversations, permitting a harmonious end to an exchange. As Schegloff and Sacks (1973, p. 289) put it, a conversation “does not simply end, but is brought to a close”. The absence of closing sequences, in turn, is a strong indicator of some irregularity, potentially a conflict between the interlocutors. This paper deals with closing sequences in ancient tragedy. According to the rules of the genre, tragedies deal with conflicts that do not find a peaceful resolution, barring a few exceptions. There is thus a significant number of conversations in which no agreement is reached. Often, the close of the dialogues does not follow the regular patterns. Instead, the non-negotiated and unmediated end affirms the non-cooperative nature of the dialogue. This paper looks specifically at how the close of the conversation is managed where disagreement persists, in an approach that considers both the specificity of the individual situation and broad diachronic developments. It thus offers a contribution to the systematization of termination of dialogue, complementing in particular the wide field of studies on closing procedures with a survey of texts in which these procedures are not observed.