ABSTRACT
To date, the study of communicated explanations has been, at best, unsystematic. There has been little recognition that many, if not most, explanations are eventually delivered to a hearer or hearers. These potential audiences constrain the way the explanation is ultimately shaped. Similarly, researchers have devoted themselves to the study of "accounts," for the most part without an accompanying interest in the fundamental processes of event comprehension. This volume is devoted to bridging the gap between these two traditions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part 1|146 pages
The Nature of Social Explanations
chapter 3|19 pages
The Study of Causal Explanation in Natural Language
Analysing Reports of the Challenger Disaster in The New York Times
part 2|148 pages
Explanations and Social Contexts