Discourse, Materiality and Agency within Everyday Social Interactions

Understanding the relationship between language, discourse, and materiality is essential for analysing everyday social action. This Element draws on linguistic ethnography to explore how objects, talk, and people interact in corner shops and markets in Sydney, Australia. Using insights from actor-network theory and the concept of mediational means/tools, it examines how discourse and materiality are mutually constitutive. Building on post-humanist approaches in applied linguistics, it reconceptualises the role of non-human entities in meaning-making. The Element offers a novel perspective on how objects participate in shaping cultural practices and social dynamics, extending applied linguistics' engagement with materiality. By treating objects as agents in discourse, it provides fresh insights into the entanglement of language, agency, and the material world. This Element highlights the importance of material conditions in shaping meaning and interaction, foregrounding the dynamic interplay between humans and non-humans in everyday communicative practices.