Strategic uses of certainty and uncertainty in a political debate

Bibliographic Data

ID22342152
AuthorsLiliana Ionescu-Ruxăndoiu (University of Bucharest, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume4
Issue1
Pages149-162
Publication date2014-06-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage and Dialogue (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2210-4119 • E-ISSN: 2210-4127
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/ld.4.1.09rux
OpenAlexW2065552620
LanguageEN
References cited13

The paper analyses the contribution of modal forms expressing certainty and uncertainty to the construal of a politician’s ethos. Deontic modals are considered implicit evidentials. The theoretical and methodological background of the analysis is provided by pragmatics and discourse analysis, as discourse is the main place where ethos is construed. The illustrative data are selected from a TV debate which took place in the last presidential election campaign in Romania (2009). The confrontation involved Traian Bǎsescu (TB), the President in office, running for a second term, and Crin Antonescu (CA), the president of the National Liberal Party. The differences in their strategic use of certainty and uncertainty marks define two types of ethos for the audience: an ethos of power (TB) vs. an ethos of a man of character (CA)

Certainty · Demonstrative · Epistemology · Ethos · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Presidential system · Sociology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Philosophy

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