Anticipatory Discourse

Researchers interested in anticipatory discourse are, generally speaking, concerned with discourses in or about the future. They investigate how individuals, texts, or utterances project representations of future events, states, or relations. Unlike other areas of applied linguistics, the study of anticipatory discourse is still very much in its infancy. As yet, there is no set tradition or school for the study of such discourse, even if it has often been linked with critical discourse analysis. Given this state of affairs, this article focuses on research by authors who take the study of futurity as central to their work, although not all of them designate this work as “anticipatory discourse.” The study of anticipatory discourse thus makes a central claim: futurity is an inevitable component of text, talk, and more largely of social life, because human action has an intrinsically forward-looking nature. The study of anticipatory discourse thus proposes to add to the existing body of knowledge in discourse analysis by casting light on this future dimension of text and interaction. With its focus on the future, the study of anticipatory discourse contrasts with the more well-known fi eld of narrative studies, which has traditionally focused on the recounting of the past and on the historical processes through which events, identities, and actions come to be constructed. Even in this fi eld, however, a number of authors have noted that narratives can be used in reference to the future as well as to the past. For example, research has shown that recollections of the past can be an opportunity for interlocutors to think about what might, could, should, or should not happen in the future (Ochs, 1994). Recounting of past events can also be used as a tactic for co-opting interlocutors into performing actions at a future point in time (Goodwin, 1990). Alternatively, such recollections may serve to explore innovative solutions to old problems or situations (Al Zidjaly, 2006). As used in the more general fi eld of discourse analysis, however, the study of anticipatory discourse typically encompasses a range of linguistic phenomena besides narratives. It potentially includes research on any forward-looking behaviors, such as intention, action, planning, negotiating, decision making, and so forth.