Theoretical and methodological framework for visual reflexive ethology

Abstract

The research presented in this book is based on an interdisciplinary approach to multimodal and multisemiotic interactional data. The polyartefacted seminar analysed here is the subject of a multidimensional study, which in our approach required audiovisual access to the sequences of verbal and non-verbal actions of the participants. This involves adopting a comprehensive ethological approach (Cosnier 1978), i.e., a “direct observation of behaviours experienced in the here and now” (Cosnier 2013, 258), taking into account interactional events as much as affects and empathic processes (Cosnier 2013).

In this chapter, we introduce the theoretical and methodological foundations underlying the collection, selection and analysis of this corpus of audiovisual data. We also justify our interest in this field of research leading to the emergence of what we call a “visual ethology”.