“By then you'd say ‘why hadn't I hung on a little bit longer?’”: Ventriloquizing as indirectness in Chinese medical interaction

Abstract

Ventriloquizing, where a speaker adopts another's voice or identity to communicate one's own thoughts, is a form of indirectness that remains understudied, particularly in Chinese medical interactions. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of indirectness by examining instances of ventriloquizing employed by medical professionals (MPs) in China. Our analysis reveals that MPs utilize ventriloquizing by attributing speech to themselves, their interlocutors or third parties (such as patients or their family members), or sometimes unspecified individuals. Through this strategic linguistic technique, MPs mitigate complaints, advocate medical suggestions, and informs patients and families of potential risks, all while delicately navigating various interactional concerns such as doctor-patient rapport and issues of medical liability. This paper argues that MPs' employment of ventriloquizing serves to decenter themselves, enhance message authority, and maintain relational harmony, thereby achieving both relational and transactional goals in medical interactions. This practice reflects Confucianism-based medical ethics in the Chinese medical context.