Claiming Individualized Knowledge of a Conversational Partner

Abstract

This study examines the conversational practice of claiming individualized knowledge of one's conversational partner.The database for the study consists of 44 half-hour conversations between close relational partners that were videotaped and transcribed according to Jefferson's (1984) transcript notation system.Findings demonstrate that (a) interactants treat assertions of individualized partnerknowledge as complex claims subject to challenge on multiple grounds; (b) claims of individualized partner-knowledge (CIPKs) explicitly display partner- and relationship-specific understandings that, when interactionally sustained, become ratified as "shared knowledge"; and (c) the mutually understood and specialized relevancies invoked by issuing a CIPK can contribute to the interactional achievement of ongoing intimate relational ties.Finally, this study demonstrates that such partner- and relationship-specific resources are a part of the interactional field close relational partners construct and, so, confront, whenever they converse.