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MariaSifianou
p.63),andshouldbefollowed.Iwillnowproceedwiththediscussionofsome
examplesfrommydata.
Inoneinstance,abloggerwrotethatshehadsentaniconoftheVirgin
Maryasaweddingpresent.Whenshesawtheweddingpicturestwoweeks
laterandrealisedthatitwasacivilweddingandthatboththebrideandthe
groomwereMuslims,shesaid“myfacefelldown”tohavesentsuchapresent.
Anotherbloggerwasseekingadviceonanunhealthyplantandsaid“myface
felldownwhenIsawwhatIhadboughtbutIhaddonesolateoneeveningand
Iwassortofhypnotised.”Suchexamplessignifythatindividualsconceptualise
faceasapossessionwhichisaffectedbytheirownacts.Whatevertheresulting
feelingsare,theyareexperiencedinprivate,ininteractiononlywithoneself
andinpossibleanticipationofwhatothersmightthinkofoneiftheyfound
out.Inotherwords,theseareself-evaluativejudgementswhichmayemerge
evenintheabsenceofcriticismbyotherswhomayhavewitnessedtheevent
(cf.Hoetal.,2004,p.70).Suchself-assessmentsmayneverbevoiced;orthey
mayberecountedinreportinganevent.Butrecountsareadifferenttypeof
eventwithdifferentself-presentationalaimsandadifferentaudience(cf.Ruhi,
2010,p.166).TheseexamplesillustrateSpencer-Oatey’s(2011,p.3575)sug-
gestionthatanydiscomfortresultingfromanactmaybetheoutcomeofself-
reflectionandnotnecessarilytheoutcomeofnegotiationbetweenparticipants
inaninteraction.Spencer-Oatey(2011,p.3575)alsosuggeststhattheensuing
discomfortmaybetheresultofempathywithsomeoneelse,apointwhichis
alsosupportedbymydata.Forinstance,aladydescribedhowdepressedshe
feltafterherthirdunsuccessfulattemptatinvitrofertilisation,andaddedthat
her“facefelldown”whensheheardstoriesofotherpeoplehavingveryseri-
oushealthproblems.
Inadditiontobeingconstructedasanindividual’spossession,facemayalso
beinteractional,thatis,itmayemergeininteraction.Forinstance,inonecase,
amotherexplainsthather“facefelldown”whenthenurseryschoolteacher
askedherifshehadbroughtextraclothesforherthree-year-oldsonincase
theyneededtochangehim.Sinceshehadnot,thequestionprobablymadeher
feelinadequateintheeyesoftheteacher.Insuchinstances,facemaybeco-
constructedinspecificinteractions,butonthebasisofspecificresourcesthat
anindividualhasdevelopedthroughsocio-situationalexperience.Wecaneasily
imaginethatsomeothermotherwouldhavebeenunaffectedbysuchaquery,
anissuewhichmakestheanalyst’staskverydifficult.“Thepotentialforface
damageisrelatedtothedegreeofsensitivityofthefacecomponentatissue”
(Culpeper,2011,p.202).
