Complaints about Misbehaviour

Abstract

AbstractThis paper is concerned with complaints to close friends about the misbehaviour of third non-present parties. In this sequential environment, we seek to identify the basic sequential as well as the distinctive features of complaints in Cypriot Greek ordinary conversations. Thus, this study analyzes the production of complaints as distinct topics with easily identifiable beginnings and endings. As it is shown, a crucial part of complaining is the expression of negative moral stance towards the non-present party's misbehaviour. This is followed by a description of the non-present party's misbehaviour which includes overdetailed and exaggerated reporting of the other's misbehaviour. Added to that, a critical point in the complaints analyzed is the reporting of the oppositional conversation the teller had with her opponent. By quoting this conversation, the teller enables the recipients to see the teller's innocence and the other's wrongdoings in their own words. Also considering that complaints are recipient designed, the recipients' responses are given their own analytical attention since they occur as affiliative interjections within the telling sequence, but also as affiliative evaluations upon complaint completion.