A Cultural Approach to Interpersonal Communication Essential Readings

This engaging and innovative collection brings together key readings from the fields of linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, communication, and conversation analysis. Beginning with the theory that interpersonal communication is inseparable from culture, this volume introduces students to the rich and varied communicative practices of social communities in the United States and beyond. Readings explore interpersonal interactions in an internationally diverse range of settings, such as the use of slang in California high schools, the application of sign language in a church for the deaf, Tuareg greetings in the Sahara, everyday verbal encounters on American city streets, the speech of male rugby players in New Zealand, and the language of aggression among Mississippi girls. Drawing ethnographic case studies,A Cultural Approach to Interpersonal Communicationmoves beyond traditional approaches to the subject by examining the ways in which interpersonal relationships emerge through culturally mediated language practices.

Leila Monaghan Leila Monaghan teaches Anthropology at the University of Wyoming. Previously she was the Course Director of Interpersonal Communication in the Department of Communication and Culture, Indiana University. She is co-editor of the recent volumes Many Ways to Be Deaf: International Variation in Deaf Communities (2003) and HIV/AIDS and Deaf Communities (2006).

Jane E. Goodman is Associate Professor of Communication and Culture at Indiana University, where she teaches performance and ethnographic studies. She previously served as Course Director of Interpersonal Communication. Goodman is the author of Berber Culture on the World Stage: From Village to Video (2005).