Title: Speaking relationally
First published: 1998
Description: Deepening our understanding of the social context of interpersonal interaction, this book examines the communication practices through which members of a particular culture construct and maintain their relationships. The author presents an ethnographic case study of urban, largely middle-class Colombians, taking a close look at interactional practices and speech patterns in a range of everyday settings - from schools, workplaces, and social service agencies, to gatherings of family and friends.

In focusing on a context outside of North America and Europe, the book sheds light on cultural assumptions about personhood, relationships, and communication that often remain unexamined in the literature. A compelling epilogue offers a more personal glimpse of Colombian culture and probes both the rewards and the limitations of the ethnographic approach.
Subjects: Culture, Interpersonal communication, Interpersonal relations, Social aspects, Social aspects of Culture, Social life and customs
Places: Colombia
LC classification: HM132 .F576 1998