Ethical
Levinas’s other-priority structure.
The Eighteen Convergent Patterns
15. Refusal to be the conversational centre, even where the medium invites it
He directs attention away from himself even in structures that would ordinarily direct it toward him. The refusal is of the position, not of the attention: the medium's invitation is declined rather than unnoticed.
The relational particulars through which this pattern first became visible remain private. This page stays with the form of the pattern and the interpretations it opens.
Read through the lenses
Sociological
Bourdieu’s refusal of dominance-display.
Performative-dramaturgical
Counter-performance against ego-centering default.
Discourse-analytic
Turn-yielding and floor-management.