Contextualization cues for media references in everyday conversation

Abstract

While scholars have explored the importance of quoting media in accomplishing relationship and identity work in conversation, there is little work on how speakers phonetically and paralinguistically signal spoken media references specifically so that they may be recognized in the speech stream. This article demonstrates how speakers make 148 media references recognizable across 5 audio-recorded everyday conversations among friends. I identify 5 ways that these playful media references are signaled in talk: word stress and particular intonation contours, pitch register shifts, smiling and laughter, performing stylized accents, and singing. This systematic analysis of the contextualization cues used to signal media references in everyday talk contributes to understanding how speakers actively participate in intertextual processes.