Actio som förkroppsligad attityd. En burkesk och multimodal metod för analys av ickeverbal kommunikation

Abstract

This article presents a study of attitudes as displayed in a case of situated mediation in a Swedish reality TV show concerning conflicts between neighbours (Grannfejden produced by Strix Television; broadcast 2007-2011 on Swedish TV3). The aim of the study is to develop a theoretical and methodological framework for rhetorical analysis of nonverbal aspects of situated communication. A theory based on Kenneth Burke’s notion of embodied attitudes and the rhetorical concept of actio is outlined. Actio is explored through multimodal analysis that maps how different modalities of embodied performance – gestures, facial expressions, head movements, postures, vocal pitch and so on – interact and work simultaneously. By uncovering differences in such qualities of actio, two attitudes are identified as having a clear impact on situated mediation: condescension and obstinacy. These two attitudes tend to trigger each other or be mimicked, so that condescension is met with obstinacy, and obstinacy, in turn, is met with either condescension or more obstinacy, a dynamic that serves to entrench conflict rather than resolve it. The article concludes that the theoretical concepts of attitude and actio qualities provide a useful model for analyzing situated communicative interaction, and that early observations of nonverbal displays of attitude can facilitate conflict resolution processes in practice. Keywords multimodal analysis, mediation, performance, actio, ­attitude, ­Kenneth Burke