Susanne Kj?rbeck

Narratives in talk-in-interaction: organization and construction of cultural identities

Introduction

Narratives in talk-in-interaction: organization and construction of cultural identities. Uncover how narratives in talk-in-interaction organize and construct cultural identities within culturally mixed business focus groups. Insights from international negotiations.

Abstract

This paper takes its point of departure in material which was established as part of the European research project INES, International Negotiations in Spanish: linguistic and cultural issues, in which researchers participated from the business school ESADE (Barcelona), Wirtschaftsuniversit?t Wien, and Copenhagen Business School/Roskilde University. The objectives of the INES project were to study the language of negotiations as well as the cultural aspects of this activity type and of the international business community in Spain. The empirical part of the project is composed of focus groups, individual interviews, and simulated negotiations; all of the material was videotaped. In our focus group material, a salient communicative resource is the narrative. In this article, I want to look into the narratives used in the focus group interaction, and specifically within a culturally mixed group of business people operating in the Barcelona area.

Review

This paper, aptly titled "Narratives in talk-in-interaction: organization and construction of cultural identities," sets out to explore a highly relevant and intricate aspect of human communication. The abstract clearly establishes the study's scope, positioning it within the larger European research project INES, which investigated linguistic and cultural dynamics in international business negotiations in Spain. By leveraging a substantial existing dataset comprising videotaped focus groups, interviews, and simulated negotiations, the authors have judiciously narrowed their focus to a specific, compelling phenomenon: the role of narratives within focus group interactions, particularly within a culturally mixed group of business professionals operating in Barcelona. This origin in a well-resourced, interdisciplinary project from prestigious business schools lends significant weight to the study's empirical foundation. The chosen focus on "narratives in talk-in-interaction" strongly suggests a qualitative and detailed micro-analytic approach, likely drawing from conversation analysis or discourse analysis. This methodological orientation is well-suited for unpacking the "organization and construction" aspects of cultural identities, as it allows for close examination of how stories are deployed, co-constructed, and interpreted in real-time interaction. The specific context of a culturally mixed group of business people in a dynamic international hub like Barcelona offers a particularly rich empirical site for investigating the fluid and negotiated nature of cultural identity, moving beyond static definitions to understand identity as an emergent product of interactional work. The use of videotaped material further enhances the potential for rigorous analysis, capturing not just linguistic content but also non-verbal cues and interactional sequences crucial for such a study. Overall, the abstract presents a promising and well-defined research endeavor with significant potential to contribute to our understanding of intercultural communication, business discourse, and identity construction. The paper is poised to offer valuable insights into how individuals strategically use narrative as a communicative resource to manage, express, and negotiate their cultural identities within professional, inter-group settings. While the abstract effectively outlines the 'what' and 'where' of the study, the full paper will undoubtedly elaborate on the specific theoretical frameworks employed and the detailed analytical procedures that will illuminate the 'how' of this fascinating phenomenon. I anticipate a nuanced and empirically rich contribution to the literature.

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