ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the intercorporeal shapes of hugs within two contexts: greetings and farewells between family members and greetings at a special surprise party gathering among friends. While in both settings, participants convey heightened affect, there are distinctive “display rules” for the performance of the hug in the two environments, entailing voice quality (creaky voice is used in the family). In each of these contexts, there are also different participation frameworks at play. Hugs in the family occur exclusively within intimate dyadic contexts at punctual points during the day. Hugs during the surprise party, however, occur in the midst of multiparty participation frameworks. Chuck, as recipient of the hug, must attend not only to the participant initiating the hug but also to the entire assembly of those gathered on his behalf. How the hug recipient manages to respond to the hug initiator while not forsaking the larger group is an achieved accomplishment.
