Rethinking Western individualism from the perspective of social interaction and from the concept of ba

Inspired by the emerging perspective of emancipatory pragmatics, this study reconsiders the assumption of a Western self that is “individualistic” and at the same time brings into question the “individualism–collectivism” dichotomy. Employing first of all the ideas of conversation analysts such as Charles Goodwin and Gene Lerner, it is suggested that speakers of American English often approach interaction in a way that appears to be more “collective”. In addition, the analysis focuses on the usage of pronouns in a collaborative story-construction task to highlight not only the collective side of American interaction but also the dynamic relationship of pronouns to the self in interaction. Finally, the study puts forth the Japanese notion of ba (most often translated into English as “field”) as an alternative to the individualism–collectivism dichotomy. It is argued that ba offers an opportunity to understand the positioning of the self when people engage in interaction without necessarily imposing polarized categories on groups of people based on perceived styles of interaction.