Grammaire, discours, interaction : vers une approche interactionniste des ressources grammaticales liées à l'organisation discursive

This introductory paper discusses how recent developments in discourse-functional and interactionally oriented work have drastically changed the way we look at information structure, and more generally how we understand the grammatical resources used to organize discourse. It is shown how the axis described in the title of this volume, grammar-discourse-interaction, identifies both a theoretical development regarding the way in which linguistic facts are conceptualized, and an empirical development regarding the types of data on which the former are based. The discussion focuses on the latest and maybe most non-traditional development in the area of grammar and discourse organization, namely interactional linguistics. It is demonstrated how interactional linguistics, by inviting us to reconsider grammar in the light of the social and sequential organization of talk-in-interaction, radically changes the way we understand and analyze reference and more generally information structure in discourse. The paper closes with a brief presentation of the contributions to this volume, each stressing in its own way the idea that grammatical facts cannot be dissociated from social and sequential organization of talk-in-interaction.