Celia Kitzinger Constructing Heteronormativity Through Talk in Interaction

University of York
Department of Sociology
York YO10 5DD
UK
celia_kitzinger@yahoo.com
www.york.ac.uk/depts/soci/s_kitz.html

About Celia Kitzinger

Kitzinger is an important figure in the emerging field of feminist conversation analysis who has argued persuasively for the importance of close attention to discourse context in the analysis of gender. She has worked extensively on the salience of sexuality in discourse, thereby contributing significantly to the study of language and sexuality, in which debates over the perception and realization of socially meaningful linguistic features are especially dynamic.


Abstract

This paper is based on sequential conversation analysis of 50 out-of-hours telephone calls to the doctor. I explore how, through the use of person-reference terms drawn from the category set of the heterosexual family, the traditional form of family organisation is reinforced and upheld by people who are not overtly focused on issues relating to gender and sexuality, but are oriented to other concerns entirely. I focus especially on the inferences associated with the terms 'husband' and 'wife' as these are displayed in the talk by both caller and doctor, and show the reverberating consequences of the use of such terms for actions later in the same calls. I suggest that it is through interactions such as these that the reproduction of normative heterosexuality is woven into the fabric of everyday life.



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