Colloquium: PhD student Jamie Hudzik presents "Sisters, Stance, & Sociolinguistic Interviews: How Stance Graphs Offer a Dynamic Application of Du Bois’ Stance Triangles"

Previous research by Du Bois (2004, 2007), Jaffe (2009), and Haddington (2004) use Du Bois’ stance triangles as a theoretical model to examine stance taking and the relationships between subjects and stance objects with respect to positioning, alignment, and evaluation in conversations and interviews.  The current study seeks to expand on these theoretical models of stance taking by demonstrating the ability of stance graphs to present the dynamic nature of stance from complex, interactional contexts in a more practical way.  Using the sociolinguistic interview data of two sisters from the Language and Communication in Washington, D.C. (LCDC) corpus, this talk qualitatively examines the sisters’ stance relationships through stance graphs.  Analysis of the sisters’ interviews using stance graphs depicts the interactive nature of evaluation, positioning, and alignment between the interviewer, two interviewees, and stance objects as the interlocutors discuss various topics, including the interviewees’ Panamanian culture and each other as sisters.  The stance graph model presented here could be extended to explore other types of interview data as well as speakers’ relationships in more conversational interactions.  While stance graphs are still a cumbersome way to analyze stance, they are a systematic, replicable, and accessible application of theories like Du Bois’ stance triangles.