Serifu Utterances by Recipients of Storytelling : Interactive Developments of Stories

Abstract

This study focuses on the specific type of reactions which listeners give while listening to stories in naturally occurring conversations. These reactions, which I call serifu utterances, are given by listeners as voices of characters in stories. The functions of these utterances in storytelling are examined using the framework of interaction analysis. It is argued that listeners use serifu utterances to show speakers that listeners have understood stories and to reconstruct the utterance to show their points more distinctively. What these reactions tell us is that, in talk-in-interaction, listeners actively contribute to the construction of stories, and that storytelling is accomplished collaboratively among participants of conversations. The present study also analyzes sequences initiated by serifu utterances.