Topic 13 - Shared knowledge and absurdist drama (Session A) > Shared knowledge

Shared knowledge

When we communicate with one another, without realising it, we depend upon the fact that we share all sorts of background knowledge with our interlocutors. So, if you want to tell someone about a wonderful meal you had in a restaurant the previous evening, you are unlikely to begin by telling them that the restaurant contained tables and chairs, that you had to order your food before eating it, and so on. In other words, you rely on the fact that your addressee shares with you quite a lot of knowledge about restaurants, and you can therefore limit yourself to the most interesting parts of your experience. Similarly, if you make a reference to ‘my husband’ or ‘my wife’ in the course of the conversation, you would expect your hearers to assume that you are married, that you live with that person, and so on. In the majority of the cases, we don't need to think consciously about the contribution of shared knowledge to the success of our interactions with others.

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