The body of anecdotes, the case of reported speech

The present paper takes a compilation of stories taken from chat shows and analyses their body, i.e. the medial section which is subsequent to the orientation section and preceding the coda. It argues that anecdotes in chat shows rely heavily on reported speech. In fact, reported speech frequently forms the entire body of anecdotes. My findings disclose features inherent in the body of anecdotes, namely that reported speech is always animated and involves role-playing, simulating a character or more. It is recurrently introduced with a reporting verb such as
“say” or the more informal verb “go”. In some cases, a reporting verb is not used at all, in which case the story tellers depend solely on “making voices”.