Multimodal amusement resonance as a conversation interactional device

Abstract

The incorporation of materials from the previous speaker in subsequent speaker talk has been variably characterised as repetition (Tannen, 1987), format tying (M. Goodwin, 1990), resonance (Du Bois, 2014) and so forth (henceforth “resonance”). Resonance has been shown to be a pervasive feature of everyday talk-in-interaction. This paper, with data from Mandarin Chinese and American English, shows first that resonance can manifest in multiple modalities, namely morphosyntax, prosody and embodied actions, often simultaneously. Second, it will be shown that the next speaker often does this in the service of creating an amusing effect, or conversational humour. It is proposed that multimodal resonance with amusing effects is an uplifting device in conversation that has a unique impact on the way interaction is managed. As such, investigating such a practice can further our understanding of resonance as a pervasive interactional phenomenon and how multimodality is deployed for coherent courses of action.