“Also für mich war es absolut die Erfüllung meiner Träume, hier zu leben”. Uses of here in Anne Betten’s interview with Else Sternberg (1991)

Abstract

This paper examines how two interlocutors construct and actualize a complex spatial system based on presence in discourse, in which a graded deictic here-system merges with taxonomic not-here-systems. The commonality of the presentness of the speakers allows and substantiates the here references as a shared anchoring in a spatial system that allows the inscription of different perspectives in its denotative constancy. The speakers use here basically in the same spatial functions, namely as framing of an event or localization of an entity, as well as the destination of a movement, but with different weightings. The interviewer can use here to connect her questions to the shared deictic space, while the interviewee uses here to refer to the habitual framework of her life. The spatial expressions are also examined in their discursive uses, namely in the question-answer sequences, in reformulations and semantic negotiations.