ABSTRACT
Goffman’s intellectual practice is characterised by a close relationship between how he writes and what he writes about. The writing stylistics are very tightly bound up with methodology, data collection, types of data, and analysis of data. The interaction order is brought into the light by Goffman’s writing style, and the construction of metaphors is at the heart of his endeavours. Metaphors arise from, and are projected onto, very diverse sources of data, which are much more varied than is usual in interaction studies today. Despite great technological innovations in data gathering since Goffman’s time, analysts still must use metaphors, and draw on literary sensibilities, to draw out the significance of audio-visual materials recording interaction. These do not speak for themselves but must be handled by the investigator’s imaginative capacities and literary dexterity, so as to coax them into the light of conceptual significance. Interaction analysis still requires the kind of imaginative leaps and lateral thinking that Goffman practised. Such imagination, worked out in and through literary expression, are central parts of Goffmanesque investigation and still essential for those who might follow in his footsteps.
