On Covert Exercitives

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Kate McGowan
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Social Hierarchy ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Company Policy

It is familiar from speech act theory how saying so can make it so. When the C.E.O. declares that no more overtime will be approved, for example, the C.E.O. thereby enacts a new company policy; her words effect an immediate change to the norms and policies operative in that company. Clearly, speech can enact facts about what is permissible and the familiar way for speech to do this is via an exercise of speaker authority. In this essay, though, I argue for a different way that speech enacts permissibility facts. Starting in the kinematics (i.e. the mechanics) of conversation, I first argue that conversational contributions routinely enact norms for the very conversation to which they contribute. I then argue that this phenomenon generalizes in a way that illuminates the crucial role of speech in enacting and perpetuating social hierarchy.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Marco Pinfari
Keyword(s):  
Speech Act ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Emotional Appeal ◽  
Linguistic Conventions ◽  
Terrorist Acts

This chapter presents basic definitions, operational assumptions, and the key literature that form the basis for the analysis of “terrorists as monsters” in this book. It begins by discussing the concept of terrorism, drawing from speech-act theory but also arguing that linguistic conventions alone cannot explain the emotional appeal that can be associated with the use of monsters as political metaphors. It then elaborates on the role of culture in shaping the metaphorical use of monstrosity, before introducing and discussing in depth the concept of “archetypal metaphor”—which serves as the basis for explaining the different functions that monster metaphors play in framing and presenting performatively terrorist acts. The following sections then discuss the logic of “terrorizing” and the nature of terrorism as performance. The final part of the chapter summarizes the main themes and content of the book.

Asymmetrical Conversations

2019 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-418
Author(s):  
Claudia Bianchi
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Social Position ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Object Of Study ◽  
Mitchell Green

According to Mitchell Green, speech act theory traditionally idealizes away from crucial aspects of conversational contexts, including those in which the speaker’s social position affects the possibility of her performing certain speech acts. In recent times, asymmetries in communicative situations have become a lively object of study for linguists, philosophers of language and moral philosophers: several scholars view hate speech itself in terms of speech acts, namely acts of subordination (acts establishing or reinforcing unfair hierarchies). The aim of this paper is to address one of the main objections to accounts of hate speech in terms of illocutionary speech acts, that is the Authority Problem. While the social role of the speaker is the focus of several approaches (Langton 2018a, 2018b; Maitra 2012; Kukla 2014; Green 2014, 2017a, 2017b), the social role of the audience has too often been neglected. The author will show that not only must the speaker have a certain kind of standing or social position in order to perform speech acts of subordination, but also the audience must typically have a certain kind of standing or social position in order to either license or object to the speaker’s authority, and her acts of subordination.

scholarly journals Nie-egte vrae in 1 Korintiërs 5–6

2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas H. Snyman
Keyword(s):  
Speech Act ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Paul's Letters ◽  
Rhetorical Questions ◽  
Scientific Framework

In tradisionele grammatikas en kommentare word gewoonlik net onderskei tussen egte en retoriese vrae. In hierdie artikel word nie-egte vrae geklassifiseer aan die hand van ’n model wat ontwikkel is uit die taalhandelingsteorie. In plaas van alle nie-egte vrae as retoriese vrae te beskou (soos die meeste kommentators doen), maak die model voorsiening vir ses hoof- en verskeie subkategorieë van nie-egte vrae. Die model word kortliks opgesom, gevolg deur ’n sistematiese ondersoek van al die vrae in 1 Korintiërs 5–6. Die slotsom is dat die voorgestelde model nuttig is vir die onderskeiding van verskillende soorte nie-egte vrae binne ’n wetenskaplike raamwerk en vir die bepaling van hulle kommunikatiewe funksies. Op dié wyse word ’n bydrae gelewer tot die vertaling en eksegese van die betrokke gedeeltes. Die model behoort navorsing oor die rol van nie-egte vrae in al Paulus se briewe te stimuleer.Non-real questions in 1 Corinthians 5–6. In this article, questions previously distinguished in traditional grammars and commentaries as mainly real or rhetorical, are classified in terms of a model developed from speech act theory. Instead of classifying all non-real questions as rhetorical questions (as commentators tend to do), the model makes provision for six main and various sub-categories of non-real questions. The model is briefly summarised, followed by a systematic investigation of all the questions in 1 Corinthians 5–6. The conclusion is that the proposed model is useful for distinguishing various types of non-real questions within a scientific framework and for determining their communicative functions, thereby contributing to the translation and exegesis of the passages involved. The model could stimulate research on the role of non-real questions in all Paul’s letters.

Sites and parasites of meaning: Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-140
Author(s):  
Robin Melrose
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
The Right

Robert Browning’s so-called dramatic lyric ‘My Last Duchess’ has been interpreted differently by different critics, some seeing the Duke as shrewd and others seeing him as witless. This article attempts to account for these differing interpretations by analysing indeterminacies in the language of the poem. Starting out with the work of Derrida on speech act theory, and findings on the role of the right hemisphere in language processing, it goes on to propose techniques of linguistic analysis based on systemic-functional linguistics and the concept of particle-waves of language first discussed in Melrose (1996). The article then analyses a number of these so-called particle-waves in ‘My Last Duchess’, and concludes that opposing interpretations of the Duke can be traced to the indeterminacies of language in the particle-waves.

scholarly journals Is securitization theory racist? Civilizationism, methodological whiteness, and antiblack thought in the Copenhagen School

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Howell ◽  
Melanie Richter-Montpetit
Keyword(s):  
Speech Act ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Racial Violence ◽  
Moral Imperative ◽  
Liberal Politics ◽  
The World ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
History Of ◽  
Securitization Theory

This article provides the first excavation of the foundational role of racist thought in securitization theory. We demonstrate that Copenhagen School securitization theory is structured not only by Eurocentrism but also by civilizationism, methodological whiteness, and antiblack racism. Classic securitization theory advances a conceptualization of ‘normal politics’ as reasoned, civilized dialogue, and securitization as a potential regression into a racially coded uncivilized ‘state of nature’. It justifies this through a civilizationist history of the world that privileges Europe as the apex of civilized ‘desecuritization’, sanitizing its violent (settler-) colonial projects and the racial violence of normal liberal politics. It then constructs a methodologically and normatively white framework that uses speech act theory to locate ‘progress’ towards normal politics and desecuritization in Europe, making becoming like Europe a moral imperative. Using ostensibly neutral terms, securitization theory prioritizes order over justice, positioning the securitization theorist as the defender of (white) ‘civilized politics’ against (racialized) ‘primal anarchy’. Antiblackness is a crucial building-block in this conceptual edifice: securitization theory finds ‘primal anarchy’ especially in ‘Africa’, casting it as an irrationally oversecuritized foil to ‘civilized politics’. We conclude by discussing whether the theory, or even just the concept of securitization, can be recuperated from these racist foundations.

scholarly journals What are they saying? A speech act analysis of a vaccination information debate on Facebook

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Bonnici ◽  
Jinxuan Ma
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Speech Act Analysis

The global resurgence of vaccine preventable diseases is garnering attention amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccination information debates in a Facebook group give participants access to second-hand knowledge conveying personal experiences. Through the lens of Speech Act Theory, this study analysed discourses on pro-and anti-vaccination perspectives along with views from vaccine hesitant groups. Analysis reveals significant criticism of behaviour around information. Findings indicate provision of substantiating information would play a crucial role in debate within divergent information contexts. Application of Speech Act Theory serves to inform participant communication more intimately and empowers their engagement in polarized discussion.

The relevance of prosody and context to the interplay between intensity and politeness. An exploratory study on Italian

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Gili Fivela ◽  
Carla Bazzanella
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Expression ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
One To One

AbstractThe linguistic feature of intensity, lying “at the heart of social and emotional expression” (Labov 1984: 43), is significantly intertwined with politeness. In relation with intensity (that is, both upgrading and downgrading), the role of context and prosody in modifying and expressing politeness is discussed here in a pragmatic perspective. The complex interplay between intensity, politeness and prosody is explored with reference to several examples related to Italian, showing both the crucial role of prosody in conveying politeness and intensity and the relevance ofHowever, the overall effect of a speech act in terms of politeness is shown to be due to the variegated intertwinement between context, intensity and prosody, which is at play with or without other linguistic forms of politeness and accounts for the lack of a one-to-one correspondence between politeness and single utterance features.

scholarly journals A Pragma-stylistic Study of Hybrid Speech Acts in Selected Dramatic Texts

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies ◽  
RIYADH KHALIL IBRAHIM ◽  
Khamail Ali Waheeb
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Birthday Party ◽  
Proper Interpretation

The study is intended to investigate the role of speech act theory (SAT) in understanding dramatic texts through using pragma-stylistic approach. It is also an attempt to examine the stylistic effects of using speech acts (SAs) and their implication in conveying the theme of the play and the intentions of the characters. Therefore, eight extracts are selected from Harold Pinter's Plays : A Night Out and The Birthday party, to be the data of analysis. The analysis reveals that the interaction between stylistics and pragmatics is a vital tool for analyzing dramatic texts in terms of (SAT). SAs are grouped into systematic combination depending on the purpose of the speaker or the playwright. Direct of fit is the most decisive aspect of the combination of some hybrid speech acts. The pragma-stylistics analysis of hybrid (SAs) also reveals the importance of these speech acts in conveying the intended message of the dramatist through the contextual details offered about the characters and events. These details can secure a proper interpretation of the socio-psychological relationships between the characters and the audience of the play.

On the Reality of Lekta

2019 ◽  
pp. 223-286
Author(s):  
Ada Bronowski
Keyword(s):  
Speech Act ◽  
Ordinary Language ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
The Status ◽  
Ontological Framework

This chapter focuses on the lekton as an independent item in ontology. It analyses the role of lekta in ordinary language, questioning the claim that lekta are separated from language. Platonic separation is distinguished from the status granted to lekta against a background of polemics and wilful simplifications from ancient critics. The place in ontology of lekta is further sharpened in a comparison with modern speech act theory, to conclude that the Stoics conceive of context and content (even for actors on a stage) in terms of ontological structure, not linguistic production. This hinders an assimilation of the Stoics to the moderns, not necessarily to the detriment of the Stoics, whose position is defended as a competing rather than an underdeveloped theory. The Stoics are shown to propose a radically different ontological framework from their rivals and predecessors. The critiques of the Peripatetics are revelatory rather than damning, their efforts at straitjacketing the Stoics laying bare fundamental incompatibilities. In comparison with the Epicureans, the status of incorporeality is fine-tuned as the differences between Epicurus’ only incorporeal, the void, and the Stoics’ four incorporeals are put in focus. Lucretius’ contribution to the debate, as also the suggestion—ultimately dismissed—of adding limits to the Stoic list of incorporeals, leads to the conclusion that lekta are foundational elements of Stoic ontology.

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