The Ultimate Compliment: A Sociological Analysis of Ceremonial Discourse

Abstract

Recent concepts and findings from conversation analysis are used as the point of departure in studying the social structure of Nobel Ceremonies. Six predictions about such ceremonies are derived from prior work on responses to compliments in ordinary conversations. Data obtained from the published texts of Les Prix Nobel confirm these predictions. It is shown that participants use the same forms of discourse to construct informal complimentary exchanges and celebratory rituals, such as the Nobel Ceremonies. It is suggested that the social structure of such ceremonies is indistinguishable from these regular patterns of discourse and that this is one reason why it has proved to be so fruitful to proceed in this analysis from the organisation of ordinary conversations to the structure of complex interactions.