Abstract

This paper analyzes dialogues between insurance sales agents and their clients in transformational rural China from the perspective of interactive frames, footings and discourse identities. Through the analysis of three types of talk, namely, friendship talk, institutional talk and task-oriented talk, the ambiguous and conflicting identities that both agents and clients adopt in the conversations are captured and described. It then describes and analyzes the dynamics of the mobilization and strategic management of relative identities that both parties assume and employ in order to resolve conflicts, justify oneself and resume control. The analysis further probes into the transforming nature of the modern Chinese rural society, where old and traditional value systems have, to a large extent, been shattered, while new value systems are yet to be established.

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