Through everyday talk, individuals forge the ties that can make a family. Family members use language to manage a household, create and maintain relationships, and negotiate and reinforce values and beliefs. The studies in this book are based on a unique research project in which four dual-income American families recorded everything they said for a week. This book extends our understanding of family discourse and of how family members construct, negotiate, and enact their identities as individuals and as families. This book addresses issues central to the academic discipline of discourse anal ... More

Through everyday talk, individuals forge the ties that can make a family. Family members use language to manage a household, create and maintain relationships, and negotiate and reinforce values and beliefs. The studies in this book are based on a unique research project in which four dual-income American families recorded everything they said for a week. This book extends our understanding of family discourse and of how family members construct, negotiate, and enact their identities as individuals and as families. This book addresses issues central to the academic discipline of discourse analysis as well as to families themselves, including decision-making and conflict-talk, the development of gendered family roles, sociability with and socialization of children, the development of social and political beliefs, and the interconnectedness of professional and family life. This book provides insights into the subtleties of family conversation.