Heckling in Parliamentary Interactions

Abstract

This paper aims to describe and discuss the phenomenon of gaining illegal speakership in the Jordanian parliament with reference to the application of conversation analysis (CA), the participation framework, the notion of activity type, the notion of participation framework patterns, and the forms of embodiment and social organisation. The use of these strands enabled a fine-gained analysis of the ways in which hecklers enter the interaction, what they do with the floor and how other participants respond to these incursions. This study also shows how allotting certain roles in institutional contexts impacts people’s rights to speak and how they can disobey the rules to become speaking participants.