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The role of facework in navigating trauma: stories from a superdiverse consulting room. 

By Ayse Gur Geden, on 30 May 2020

The role of facework in navigating trauma: stories from a superdiverse consulting room

by Emma Brooks

Using a linguistic ethnographic lens, my research explores the range of resources used by participants during antenatal consultations in a south London hospital. This data analysis workshop focuses on a consultation, where a pregnant patient appears to have an allergic reaction to a routine injection. While the midwife immediately administers emergency adrenalin and the patient suffers no long-term effects, the period of recovery following the incident is observed to involve extensive strategies of repair. I would like to take advantage of working with peers, to explore how Goffmanian conceptualisations of ‘facework’ (1972) can illuminate participant response to unpredictable events.

 CCM Seminar 29- ‘Tactful overlooking’: the role of facework in avoiding confrontation

By Ayse Gur Geden, on 16 December 2019

Dear all,

The next in the series of fortnightly CCM seminars will be held from 1-2pm, on Tuesday 24th March, in room 790, 20 Bedford Way, WC1H 0AL. The presenter this week is Emma Brooks, who will be presenting on aspects of her doctoral research (see below).

‘Tactful overlooking’: the role of facework in avoiding confrontation

Drawing on an observation of an antenatal consultation with a vulnerable patient, this data analysis session seeks to explore the range of face-saving and communicative strategies (Linell & Bredmar, 1996; Goffman, 1972) employed by the attending consultant and interpreter, as they seek to avoid detailing the series of events which have led to this visit. Those attending this interactive session will be invited to contribute to an interpretation and discussion of the interaction, especially in relation to wider institutional and societal concerns.