INTERSUBJECTIVE POSITIONING IN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INTERVIEWS

Vol.8,No.1(2015)

Abstract
The aim of this paper is to examine linguistic means of intersubjective positioning used in the genre of interview, which is typically connected with establishing speaker’s identity and position. The theoretical framework for this study is the Appraisal Theory proposed by Martin and White (2005), in concrete terms the category of Engagement, which enables us to analyse how speakers adopt and express their attitude not only to the proposition but also to a potential audience. Modal expressions modify the strength of the illocutionary force of propositions. Thus, intersubjective positioning overlaps with such concepts as hedging, boosting, evidentiality, and modality. A corpus of political and economic interviews will be analysed with the aim of investigating and comparing markers of intersubjective positioning, and further, of explicating their pragmatic functions.

Keywords:
Appraisal Theory; Engagement; intersubjective positioning; political interviews; economic interviews; speaker involvement
References

Aijmer, K., Foolen, A., and Simon-Vandenbergen, A.-M. (2006) ‘Pragmatic markers in
translation: A methodological proposal.’ In: Fischer, K. (ed.) Approaches to Discourse
Particles. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 101-114.


Bybee, J. and Fleischmanm, S. (1995) ‘Modality in grammar and discourse.’ In: Bybee,
J. and Fleischman, S. (eds) Modality in Grammar and Discourse. Amsterdam and
Philadelphia: John Benjamins.


Chafe, W. (1986) ‘Evidentiality in English conversation and academic writing.’ In: Wallace,
C. and Nichols, J. (eds) Evidentiality: The Linguistic Encoding of Epistemology.
Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. 261-272.


Coates, J. (1983) The Semantics of the Modal Auxiliaries. London and Canberra: Croom
Helm.


Defrancq, B. and De Clerck, B. (2011) ‘Intersubjective positioning in French and English.
A contrastive analysis of ‘ca dépend’and ‘it depends’. In: Aijmer, K. (ed.) Contrastive
Pragmatics. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 40-71.


Downing, L. H. and Perucha, B. N. (2013) ‘Modality and personal pronouns as indexical
markers of stance: Intersubjective positioning and construction of public identity in
media interviews.’ In: Marín-Arrese, J. I., Carretero, M., Arůs Hita, J. and van der
Auwers, J. (eds) English Modality: Core, Periphery and Evidentiality. Mouton de
Gruyter. 379-410.


Fetzer, A. (2011) ’I think this is I mean perhaps this is too erm too tough a view of the
world, but I often think …’: Redundancy as a contextualization device.’ Language
Sciences 33/2, 255-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2010.10.003


Jucker, A. (1986) News Interviews. Amsterdam and Philadephia: John Benjamins.
Kozubíková Šandová, J. (2014) Speaker Involvement in Political Interviews. Frankfurt
am Main: Peter Lang.


Martin, J. R. (2000) ‘Beyond exchange: Appraisal systems in English.’ In: Hunston, S.
and Thompson, G. (eds) Evaluation in Text: Authorial Stance and the Construction of
Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 142-175.


Martin, J. R. and P. R. R. White (2005) The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English.
Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.


Palmer, F. R. (2001) Mood and Modality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Simon-Vandenbergen, A.-M. (1996) ‘Image-building through modality: The case of
political interviews.’ Discourse and Society 7/3, 389-415.


Simon-Vandenbergen, A.-M. (2000) ‘The functions of I think in political discourse.’
International Journal of Applied Linguistics 10/1, 41-63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2000.tb00139.x


White, P. R. R. (2003) ‘Beyond modality and hedging: A dialogic view of the language of
intersubjective stance.’ Text 23/2, 259-284.


White, P. R. R. and Sano, M. (2006) ‘Dialogistic positions and anticipated audiences:
A Framework for stylistic comparisons.’ In: Aijmer, K. and Simon-Vandenbergen, A.-
M. (eds) Pragmatic Markers in Contrast. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 191-214.

Balls, E. (2014) Ed’s Interview on Currency Union. 13 February, 2014. http://www.
edballs.co.uk/blog/?p=4830.


Blair, T. (2011) Tony Blair Interview. 13 November, 2011. BBC News. http://news.bbc.
co.uk/2/hi/programmes/andrew_marr_show/9638498.stm.


Hague, W. (2012) William Hague Interview. 19 February, 2012. BBC News. http://news.
bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/andrew_marr_show/9697684.stm.


Osborne, G. (2011) George Osborne Interview. 10 May, 2011. BBC News. http://news.
bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/andrew_marr_show/9479525.stm.


Smaghi, L. B. (2011) FT Interview Transcript: Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. 22 December,
2011. Financial Times. http://www.lorenzobinismaghi.com/documents/interviste/
2011/2011%2012%2023%20-%20FT%20-%20LBS_transcript.pdf.


Vines, D. (2011) The Eurozone Crisis: Greek Recovery and the Challenges of Asymmetric
Monetary Union. 5 August, 2011. VOX. http://www.voxeu.org/vox-talks/eurozonecrisis-
greek-recovery-and-challenges-asymmetric-monetary-union.

Metrics

496

Views

392

PDF views