Embodied remembering in coordinated performances

Abstract

Abstract Drawing on multimodal conversation analysis and past literature on synchronization, this study sheds light on the temporal properties of embodied remembering, which we define as co-operative enactment(s) of a mutually-established recollectable. Our main argument is that the nature of a recollectable shapes the practical organization of embodied remembering. To demonstrate this, we investigate the phenomenon in three performance-based settings: (a) taiko ensemble rehearsal, (b) Korean TV show, and (c) ESL service-learning reflection. In each setting, participants jointly produce a (quasi-)synchronized performance, but for different purposes: to advocate one version of choral chanting against the other, to demonstrate one’s knowledge of choreographic moves and understanding of an expert correction in the pursuit of humor, and finally, to foster peer solidarity through nonserious competition. Detailed analysis uncovers varying degrees of performative precision, through which participants display their in-situ understanding of the consequentiality of achieved synchrony for the task-at-hand. The temporal unfolding of embodied remembering is locally shaped by participants’ mutual orientation to a given activity context and the nature of a recollectable. Participants’ orientation to relevant performative precision is embodied in the very way they enact the recollectable.