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- Volume 11, Issue, 2001
Pragmatics - Volume 11, Issue 3, 2001
Volume 11, Issue 3, 2001
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Displays of concession in university faculty meetings
Author(s): Scott Saftpp.: 223–262 (40)More LessIn light of the tendency in studies of Japanese discourse and communication to account for patterns of social interaction in terms of cultural concepts such as wa (“harmony”), omoiyari (“empathy”), and enryo (“restraint”), this report sets out to demonstrate how much of an endogenously produced, local achievement social interaction can be in Japanese. To do so, the techniques and principles of conversation analysis are employed to describe how a particular social action, the expression of concession to statements of opposition, is produced by participants in a set of Japanese university faculty meetings. Although it is suggested that the very direct and explicit design of the concession displays could be explained in terms of concepts such as wa and/or enryo, it is nonetheless argued that the interactional significance of this action can be best understood by undertaking a detailed, sequential analysis of the interaction. The analysis itself is divided into two parts: First it is demonstrated that the concessions are products of the participants’ close attendance to and monitoring of the details of the unfolding interaction; second it is shown that instead of turning to pre-determined cultural concepts to account for the trajectory of the interaction, it is possible to understand the concession displays by situating them within the flow of the interaction itself.
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Critical analysis of American representations of Russians
Author(s): Leena M. Tomipp.: 263–283 (21)More LessCultural differences have been shown to be social phenomena, arising in a complex reciprocal relationship between social actors and historical context. National character descriptions have also been shown to do ideological work. Language plays a crucial role in the construction of perceived reality, including perceived differences, and in the support of power structures. This study uses critical language analysis to uncover ideological frameworks behind cultural descriptions Americans have constructed of Russians. First, I will argue that American images of Russians became reified during the Cold War forming crucial building blocks in the ideological war between communism and anti-communism. I will show that linguistic strategies known to be used to gain symbolic control over the Other shaped these descriptions. I will then turn to the post-Cold War era and examine whether the change in ideological climate is reflected in current descriptions. The analysis shows the old descriptions and their familiar vocabulary to persist. Underlying reasons for the continued acceptance of the old descriptions are explored.
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The reproduction of culture through argumentative discourse
Author(s): Shi-xu and Manfred Kienpointnerpp.: 285–307 (23)More LessDiscourse and communication approaches to culture have traditionally been concerned with the role of language in (mis)representing cultures. But how text and talk reproduce and transform cultures is just beginning to be understood. Proceeding from the view that cultural creation, development and transformation are constituted in and through situated discursive practice, this study explores the interconnections between argumentative discourse and cultural reproduction. The research is based on multinational and multilingual data of journalistic communication on Hong Kong’s historic transition. It is shown that the causes of Hong Kong’s economic success, as an important cultural feature, are used as arguments to undermine contrary claims. It is also revealed that the future development of Hong Kong is being constrained by the argument ad baculum. In addition, it is observed that Hong Kong’s identities are used as bases for prescribing desired course of action. Finally, these argumentative strategies are re-examined in their broader historical and cultural context in order to show how Hong Kong’s past, present and future are cultural realities bound up with Western desire and power.
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The rhetoric of the extraordinary moment
Author(s): Robin T. Lakoffpp.: 309–327 (19)More LessThe speeches delivered by Al Gore and George W. Bush at the conclusion of the contested 2000 U.S. presidential campaign are of especial interest because they represent a type of political speech that is virtually unique and, because the speakers and their staffs had no previous models to fall back upon, as spontaneous as political utterance currently gets. This paper analyzes those speeches, focusing on the relationships between their forms and what their speakers feel they have to do, and finds interesting similarities as well as differences, in style and content, between them.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 35 (2025)
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Volume 34 (2024)
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Volume 33 (2023)
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Volume 32 (2022)
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Volume 31 (2021)
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Volume 30 (2020)
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Volume 29 (2019)
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Volume 28 (2018)
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Volume 27 (2017)
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Volume 26 (2016)
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Volume 25 (2015)
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Volume 24 (2014)
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Volume 23 (2013)
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Volume 22 (2012)
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Volume 21 (2011)
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Volume 20 (2010)
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Volume 19 (2009)
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Volume 18 (2008)
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Volume 17 (2007)
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Volume 16 (2006)
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Volume 15 (2005)
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Volume 14 (2004)
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Volume 13 (2003)
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Volume 12 (2002)
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Volume 11 (2001)
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Volume 10 (2000)
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Volume 9 (1999)
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Volume 8 (1998)
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Volume 7 (1997)
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Volume 6 (1996)
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Volume 5 (1995)
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Volume 4 (1994)
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Volume 3 (1993)
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Volume 2 (1992)
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Volume 1 (1991)
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