The construction of future and hypothetical dialogues in third-party complaints as enactments of a subsequent direct complaint

Abstract

This article shows that third-party complaints can orient to future or possible actions to solve an ongoing conflictive or problematic situation with the absent complainees. Relying on data from naturally occurring interactions among speakers of Spanish and Galician, the article analyses instances of future and hypothetical dialogues in complaint sequences about absent parties and demonstrates that these are designed as enactments of a direct complaint to be addressed to such people. Sequentially positioned in the complaint development, these enactments serve to rehearse this confrontation as a future remedial action, inviting audience's assessments, as well as to reinforce the legitimacy of the complaints by demonstrating how these can be defended in addressing to the complainees. In so doing, even though in a fictitious way, complainers can vent their feelings of indignation against these people, avoiding the problems of real direct complaints as face-threatening acts (Brown and Levinson, 1987).