Elsevier

Journal of Pragmatics

Volume 5, Issue 5, October 1981, Pages 399-422
Journal of Pragmatics

The rejection of advice: Managing the problematic convergence of a ‘troubles-telling’ and a ‘service encounter’

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Abstract

A recurrent phenomenon in talk about a ‘trouble’ is the rejection of advice. This phenomenon is explored as a possible consequence of a convergence between two closely-related but distinctive environments for talk about a ‘trouble’, the Troubles-Telling and the Service Encounter. Each of these has its own appropriate activities and its own appropriate relationships between participants; only one of these, the Service Encounter, may have advice-giving as a proper component. The rejection of advice in a Troubles-Telling may, then, constitute an attempt to counteract the environmental shift, and the attendant shift of activities and relationships, implicated thereby.

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There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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1

Gail Jefferson (b. 1938). B.A. (dance): University of California (Los Angeles); Ph.D. (social sciences): University of California (Irvine).

Formerly research associate, Center for Urban Ethnography, University of Pennsylvania, lecturer, University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and University of California (Santa Barbara, Irvine and Los Angeles). Currently research associate, University of Manchester.

2

John R.E. Lee (b. 1938). B.A. (philosophy/sociology): University of Hull; M.A. (economics): University of Manchester; Ph.D. (sociology): University of Manchester.

Formerly lecturer in Sociology, University of Salford. Currently lecturer in Sociology, the University of Manchester.

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