Nancy Ainsworth-Vaughn, Claiming power in doctor–patient talk. (Oxford studies in sociolinguistics.) Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. 1998. Pp. xii, 212. Pb $19.95.

Abstract

Devoted to addressing various aspects of doctor–patient interactions, this comprehensive volume explores how patient-subjectivities get positioned and constructed as turns unfold into each other in ongoing interactions. Though recent research in conversation and narrative analysis has addressed features of patient-talk (Hamilton 1995, Ferrara 1994), few writers have seriously considered how issues of power are embedded in the language that patients and doctors use to each other, as well as in the genres that contain the talk. AV adds to our knowledge of these critical issues through an in-depth, incisive analysis of her data.