Argumentative Style
A pragma-dialectical study of functional variety in argumentative discourse
Authors
Argumentative Style discusses the various ways in which the defence of a standpoint is given shape in argumentative discourse. In this innovative study the new notion – ‘argumentative style’ – introduced for this purpose is situated in the theoretical framework of the pragma-dialectical approach to argumentation. This means that the choices involved in utilising a particular argumentative style do not only concern the presentational dimension, but also the topical selection and the audience adaptation of the strategic manoeuvring taking place in the discourse. In identifying the functional variety of the argumentative styles utilised in the political, the diplomatic, the legal, the facilitatory, the academic, and the medical domain, the point of departure is that these argumentative styles manifest themselves in the discourse in the argumentative moves that are made, the dialectical routes that are chosen and the strategic considerations that are brought to bear.
[Argumentation in Context, 20] 2022. x, 332 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
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Preface | pp. ix–x
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Chapter 1. Argumentative style: The strategic shape of argumentative discourse | pp. 1–8
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Chapter 2. Manifestation of argumentative styles in argumentative discourse | pp. 9–20
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Chapter 3. Detached argumentative styles and engaged argumentative styles | pp. 21–32
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Chapter 4. Variety of argumentative styles in different argumentative practices | pp. 33–56
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Chapter 5. Argumentative style in political advertising | pp. 57–94
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Chapter 6. Argumentative style in parliamentary debates | pp. 95–124
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Chapter 7. Confrontational argumentative style at diplomatic press conferences | pp. 125–146
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Chapter 8. Argumentative style in civil court’s judgments | pp. 147–188
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Chapter 9. Argumentative style in mediators’ opening statements | pp. 189–216
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Chapter 10. Argumentative style in a peer-reviewed research paper | pp. 217–254
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Chapter 11. Argumentative style in family-centred medical consultations | pp. 255–288
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Chapter 12. Conclusion | pp. 289–314
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References | pp. 315–322
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About the authors | pp. 323–326
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Index | pp. 327–332
“
Argumentative Style is the joint product of a group of seven experienced scholars who follow the productive pragma-dialectical approach to argumentation and Frans van Eemeren’s insights on style published in 2019. The opening chapters set the theoretical ground rules of analysis and identify two comprehensive types of argumentative style, the detached and engaged. These are carried through the remaining seven chapters covering specific contexts and activity types in important argument domains. With exemplary clarity, the authors tie their explorations to the dimensions and stages of argumentation, offering readers a model of precise, theoretically rigorous stylistic analysis.”
Jeanne Fahnestock, University of Maryland
“This book brings clarity to the complex topic of argumentative style. Understood as how argumentation is conducted – including the analytic overview, dialectical route, and strategic design – argumentative style, seen in the stages of an argumentative discourse, reveals how arguers attempt to convince their audiences of the acceptability of standpoints. The empirical studies reported are a vivid example of the cutting-edge work driving today’s research.”
Christopher Tindale, University of Windsor, Canada
“This outstanding and hugely important study is both theoretically and empirically innovative. Van Eemeren and his colleagues have succeeded in redefining the concept of ‘style’ in a new and adequate way, useful for and applicable to analysing strategic manoeuvring in real-life interactions, in the context of a range of relevant social fields – from political advertising to parliamentary debates and medical decision-making. This book is a must-read for anybody interested in understanding and explaining the plethora of frequently polarised and complex debates which we are all confronted with in our ever more globalised world.”
Ruth Wodak, Lancaster University / University Vienna
“My critical remarks do not diminish a very positive overall assessment: As van Eemeren et al. (2022) have shown, the notion of "argumentative style" can be fruitfully and successfully integrated into the research program of Pragma-Dialectics and further enhance its status as the most comprehensive theory of argumentation of our time.”
Manfred Kienpointner, University of Innsbruck, in Journal of Argumentation in Context 12:2 (2023).
Cited by
Cited by 7 other publications
Kienpointner, Manfred
2023. Introduction. Discourse Studies 25:4 ► pp. 465 ff. 
Strukowska, Marta E.
2023. Argumentative indicators in the adjudication of Russia-Ukraine dispute. A pragma-dialectical study. Scripta Neophilologica Posnaniensia 23 ► pp. 77 ff.
van Eemeren, Frans & Bart Garssen
2023. A functional diversity of argumentative styles. Discourse Studies 25:4 ► pp. 510 ff.
van Eemeren, Frans H.
2022. Characterising an MEP’s argumentative style. Journal of Argumentation in Context 11:1 ► pp. 6 ff.
van Eemeren, Frans H. & Ton van Haaften
2023. The Making of Argumentation Theory: A Pragma-dialectical View. Argumentation 37:3 ► pp. 341 ff.
Wu, Peng & Tian-bao Zhou
2023. Argumentative patterns based on pragmatic argumentation at China’s diplomatic press conferences. Discourse Studies 25:4 ► pp. 549 ff.
[no author supplied]
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Subjects
Communication Studies
Main BIC Subject
CFG: Semantics, Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009030: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Pragmatics