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
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