Abstract :
In this talk I aim to set the scene for the symposium. I will theorize the notion of transcription, situating it, first, in the linguistic ethnographic research cycle; and second, considering its distinct character, relative to other types of text making in (social) research and beyond. I will explore some of the semiotic operations through which we form and transform our ‘data’, including substitution of genre, mode, medium, and language. This serves to a) make explicit some of the semiotic principles and resources that we draw on in transcription (including those embedded in transcription, annotation and video-editing software); b) consider the affordances of transcriptional principles and resources, i.e. their representational effects; and c) provide a framework for evaluating the methodological and social/ethical implications of choices of transcription.
