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the self may also be considered to the extent that it 'overlaps' with other selves,
similar to the construal reading. That is, the extent to which the self is in
solidarity with or autonomous from other selves. Importantly, unlike the general
appropriation of the self as construal in cross-cultural work, I am not treating this
overlapping as a static one (as implied by cross-cultural studies attacking
western conceptualisations of facework - see Chapter 1), but rather as a
conversationally dynamic. That is, a conceptualisation of the self in construal
terms which is contingent on the flow of ongoing conversation. What this allows
us to arrive at is the notion of the 'conversational self-construal' (see fig. 8.1).
Fig. 8.1 The Conversational Construal
ENACTING / OVERLAPPING
ENACTED SELF SELF
(interactionally
contingent)
+ (culturally
contingent
construals)
INTERACTIONALLY
OVERLAPPING
'SELVES'
(interactionally
contingent construals)
This reading of the self is I believe essential to understanding both
positive and negative facework as alignment in terms of not the image of self,
but the status of self. Positive alignment can be regarded as a process whereby
participants work to 'overlap' selves, in terms of, for example, their experiences,
definitions, and points of view. Negative alignment can be regarded as the
process whereby participants work to similarly 'individuate' selves. Positive
alignment can thus be recast as evidencing the expansion of the self to include
others, and negative alignment as the contraction of the self as a more
individuated and salient entity (see figs 8.2a and 8.2b) (see also Chapter 9).
Fig 8.2a. The Overlapping Selves (as Conversational Construals) of
Positive Alignment
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