Direct and Indirect Self-Presentation in First Conversations

Abstract

This article presents a conversation analysis of strategies used by interlocutors in first encounters to solicit and display personal information. It presents a standardized sequence used to elicit personal information, called the self-presentational sequence, consisting of a request for self-presentation, an answer (the self-presentation proper) and a response to the self-presentation. The moves of the sequence may be considered as functionally adapted to establishing an interpersonal relationship by displaying other-attentiveness, claiming common ground, and establishing a relation of cooperativeness. The second part of the article presents a more indirect mode of self-presentation, in which participants provide personal background information as occasioned by the topic under discussion. The article contributes to describing the conversational forms self-presentation takes in authentic conversations and to explaining the relational functions of such forms in light of theories of politeness and relationship management.