How can speech functions in opening phases help us identify characters in tv sitcoms

Abstract

TV is the principal medium mass communication and TV series are one of its most powerful tool. TV discourse is an interesting field of study because of two main facts: to achieve the objectives of this type of communicative interactions, among which is to attract the attention of TV audience and because of the enormous influence that interactions in this genre may exert on the discourse uses and communicative habits of the present society due mainly to the high levels of diffusion reached by its programs. The present study is about how talk is constructed in TV sitcoms, in particular, how the prevalence of certain speech functions may be considered as a distinctive and essential feature when describing the characters in a TV sitcom, therefore supporting the central role that language has in the construction of identity (Bednarek, 2010b). The purpose of this study is to explore how language plays an essential role in the characterization of Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) of the TV series The Big Bang Theory. Among all the available options that linguistic studies offer, this thesis focuses on the analysis of speech functions after reading Eggins and Slade’s The Discourse Structure of Casual Conversation: Negotiating Support and Confrontation (1997), where they link discourse structure to both context and speech functions. Although Eggins and Slade’s network (1997) of speech functions in casual conversation was a good starting point, I had to adapt it to the particular genre of this dissertation, the TV sitcom, because fictional dialogue may have some resemblance to casual conversation (Gregori-Signes, 2000; Quaglio, 2009; Bednarek, 2011) but it can never be judged under exactly the same parameters. Besides, Eggins and Slade (1997) carried out the analysis of speech functions over whole conversations (opening and sustaining moves). However, I decided to study the opening of sitcoms (or the initial conversation exchanges) because as Schegloff affirms they are interactionally compact, brief and because in opening sequences “participants may use conversational strategies to negotiate interpersonal relationships” (Schegloff, 1986: 113). There are four research questions in this thesis: RQ1. Who are the most important and the most incidental participants in the Opening Phases of TBBT? RQ2. Which type of Opening Phase do the protagonists use to establish the first topic of the scene? RQ3. Which speech functions are prevalent in each initiator and interactant? RQ4. How do the protagonists relate to each other? As Brown and Yule (1983: 69) affirm, "the data studied in discourse analysis is always a fragment of discourse and the discourse analyst always has to decide where the fragment begins and ends”. In this thesis the unit of analysis for the opening of scenes is referred to as "the Opening Phase”. The first turn of the scene is called the "Opening Turn" and the unit of analysis ends in the turn where the first conversational topic is established, and this turn is called the "First Topic-Turn"). Opening Phases are defined here in relation to the sitcom genre and are understood as being conceptually different from the opening sequences in casual conversation as defined by Schegloff (1986), Hutchby and Wooffitt (1998) and Hunston and Oakey (2010). Only the “Opening Turn” and the “First Topic Turns” are analyzed and assigned a speech function from the network. I have identified three different types of Opening Phases, which I have called "Type A" (Formulaic Opening Phase), "Type B" (Formulaic/First Topic + Real First topic Opening Phase) and "Type C" (First Topic Opening Phase). The classification of the different types of Opening Phases identified here is based on how topic is managed. The results revealed in the corpus analyzed is that speakers in TBBT seem to favor Opening Phases C, which means that initiators frequently establish the topic of the conversation in the Opening Turn. Regarding the use of Opening Phases by the main protagonists, the analysis showed that Sheldon initiates most of the openings and shows a clear preference for Opening Phases C. This means that most of the time that Sheldon initiates, the discourse speakers "speak on a topic" (Brown and Yule, 1983: 84), which implies that the interactants continue talking about the topic which Sheldon has introduced without amendment. Sheldon usually ignores the first contributions of those characters who act as initiators and changes the first topic of the conversations when he is the interactant. Leonard and Penny follow a different conversational approach to Sheldon: as interactants, they generally respect the first topic of the conversation established by the initiator in the Opening Turn and continue speaking about the same topic that the initiator has established, so they tend to "speak topically" (Brown and Yule, 1983: 84). After a dynamic interpretation of the results from the analysis of the 16 speech functions used by the protagonists in the Opening Phases I was able to verify that through their linguistic choices, the stereotypes of the "nerd" and the "dumb blonde" applied to these characters. Concerning the general use of speech functions, the protagonists show a clear preference for the use of initiating rather than attending moves. This use of OPCs is somewhat characteristic of the sitcom genre. Initiating moves help the audience follow the storyline and remind them about what happened in previous scenes. Regarding the use of speech functions by Sheldon Cooper, his infrequent use of questions serves as proof of his arrogance as he does not feel the need to ask anyone else for an opinion or information. When he does use them, Sheldon favors closed questions, which limit the power of the interactant to choose between one of the two alternatives that he gives them. Additionally, Sheldon is the protagonist who uses the highest amount of rhetorical questions and, thus, he takes for granted that his listener is going to comply with what he says. This type of question is considered a sophisticated conversational strategy (Snoeck, 2006) which could be linked to the fact that, as a scientific nerd, Sheldon does not incorporate colloquial forms into his speech. Instead, he speaks in an exaggeratedly formal version of Standard English. Sheldon’s use of commands also portrays his personality. He is the protagonist who uses the most commands, especially willful directives, which are impositive, enact his authority and make a strong appeal to the interactant to do what he wants. Besides, Sheldon makes use of suggestions because they encode advice and position him as having some power over his addressee(s). His repeated use of closed factual statements is a hallmark of his arrogance as, rather than offering opinions (which could be challenged), his frequent use of facts intends to display his intellectual superiority. Leonard and Penny produced similar results in terms of the way they open new scenes. They show a clear preference for Opening Phases C but they also use a high amount of Opening Phase Bs, unlike Sheldon. This suggests that they negotiate the topic of conversation more often than Sheldon, who tends to impose the topic on his interactant(s). Looking at the exchange structure analysis, Leonard asks many questions and initiates a high amount of exchanges, which give him a good degree of control over the direction the conversation will take in the Opening Phases. Leonard is the protagonist who uses the lowest amount of suggestions and commands. The qualitative analysis I have undertaken indicates that, unlike Sheldon who uses suggestions for his own benefit, Leonard uses suggestions and commands to give advice to the rest of speakers, to offer them help or to encourage them. Leonard is also stereotyped as a "nerd" and, as such, he shares some of the linguistic characteristics found in Sheldon's idiolect. The qualitative analysis of the statements used by Leonard indicates that, like his roommate, he frequently uses "superstandard" (Bucholtz, 2001) English in his statements when he addresses Sheldon. This suggests that he tries to speak in a manner which is comprehensible to Sheldon and which will also convey his intelligence in the scientific community. Penny’s lack of advanced education but outgoing personality and common sense drastically contrast with the personalities of the male protagonists in the series; and it is this juxtaposition of characterization that provokes much of the humor throughout the series. Penny is not domineering and lets others establish the first topic of the conversation. She uses a higher amount of Opening Phases B than Sheldon, which indicates that she considers a conversation to be a negotiation, an exchange of turns in which all speakers have an equal right to establish the topic of the conversations. Furthermore, she shows much greater conformity to Grice’s politeness principle than Sheldon does as she rarely interrupts the initiator. Instead, she "speaks topically" by respecting the first topic that the initiator establishes (unlike Sheldon who "speaks on a topic" ignoring what the previous initiator has said) (Brown and Yule, 1983: 84). Penny’s empathy is shown through her use of questions which she tends to ask in order to find out about the opinions and/or the well-being of the rest of the group. Indeed, she is the only protagonist who uses invariant questions, which, according to Eggins and Slade (1997), are used in non-standard speech. This stands in marked contrast to the formal, academic English that the other two protagonists use. Penny is also careful with her use of commands and produced few in comparison with a great amount of statements of opinion, attending moves, questions and suggestions. Penny uses indirect suggestions with the purpose of helping others and giving them advice, particularly in social matters (for example, to Sheldon when does not show Amy any kind of affection). In answering Research Question 4, my analysis has revealed the type of relationships that exist between Sheldon, Leonard and Penny. In particular, evaluating the topics and speech functions they address to each other, as well as how they negotiate conversational topics, have been key in defining each interactant in terms of their roles and character traits. When Sheldon addresses Leonard, he sometimes speaks in a fully independent way, thereby ignoring Leonard's preceding contribution. In this sense, he "speak[s] on a topic" (Brown and Yule, 1983: 84). However, Leonard does this on a fewer amount of occasions because he normally respects the first topic of the conversation that Sheldon, as the initiator, has established. Sheldon's conversational style is more direct than Leonard’s because he uses a lower amount of attending moves when they relate to each other. He also uses a higher amount of commands and suggestions than Leonard. After my analysis of how questions are used in the series, I conclude that Sheldon shows little interest in Leonard’s mood or point of view because he mainly asks closed questions (which give his interactant little opportunity to respond). Additionally, Sheldon ignores the pragmatic principle of politeness in some of the questions he poses to Leonard. By contrast, when Leonard asks questions to Sheldon, he shows his interest in his friend’s daily activities. After examining the interactions between Leonard and Penny, I have realized that they do not impose or ignore the topics of conversation that they establish but, instead, they actively seek to negotiate them. Having explored the linguistic dynamics at work in their conversations, the role of Leonard is one of giving whereas the role of Penny is more one of demanding. Analyzing the interactions between Sheldon and Penny has been particularly illuminating, since Penny is the main non-stereotypically "nerdy" character who contrasts with Sheldon and his friends. Sheldon addresses a much lower amount of questions to Penny than she does to him. On the one hand, Penny knows that she is much less intelligent than her friends and, on the other, Sheldon believes in his own superiority and so he considers Penny to be unworthy of questioning. Most of the questions that Penny addresses Sheldon have the objective of supporting him when he feels sad or angry about a problem at work or after being lied to by his friends. Sheldon addresses willful directive commands and suggestions to Penny, pointing to his non-cooperative or "face-aggravating behavior" (Locher and Bousfield, 2008: 3). To sum up, as Aronson (2000) suggests, when creating a family of sitcom characters, it is important to create characters whose perspectives are in opposition to each other. In TBBT, Penny’s personality and stereotype of dumb blonde is in drastic contrast to the characterization of the nerds Sheldon and Leonard. The thesis has presented a methodology for analyzing speech functions, social roles and relationships in TV sitcoms, in other words, the linguistic behaviours of the interactants in TBBT was examined in order to explore the way in which speech functions in Opening Phases were used to construct personal identities and interpersonal relations.