Interaction, speech acts and ritual: An integrative model

Abstract In this paper we provide an integrative model which brings together interactional structures, speech acts and ritual. Everyday ritual interactions can be systematically analysed by using this model which enables us to capture the ways in which speech acts operate in interactional slots through the lens of ritual. We illustrate the operation of this model through a study of bargaining in Chinese markets. The proposed analytical framework provides a replicable scheme for capturing many different everyday seemingly erratic interactions, which are in fact ritual in nature.