Article published in:
Closeness and conflict: The discourse of domestic discord across English and Spanish-speaking communities
Edited by Diana Boxer and María Elena Placencia
[Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 6:2] 2018
► pp. 248–270

Accusations and interpersonal conflict in televised multi-party interactions amongst speakers of (Argentinian and Peninsular) Spanish

| The University of Queensland
| The University of Queensland

While there is a growing body of research on impoliteness and conflict talk, the role of accusations in interpersonal conflict has been only addressed in passing. In this paper, we focus on accusations in conflict talk amongst interactants who are in a situation demanding the formation of intimate relationships within a relatively short span of time, namely, the television reality show Big Brother. We examine, in particular, accusation sequences arising in multi-party interactions from the Argentinian and Spanish versions of the show. We analyse the ways in which assertions of fault or wrongdoing are construed as accusations through such responses as denials, counter-accusations and challenges, and the ways in which participants explicitly evaluate each other’s behaviour through such sequences. We conclude that accusations are designed primarily to enact moral denunciation or condemnation of another party, and so almost invariably occasion interpersonal disputes.

Keywords: accusation, complaint, moral transgression, argument, (Peninsular and Argentinian) Spanish, reality television, interactional pragmatics
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Accusations, blamings and complaints
  • 3.Accusations and interpersonal conflict in Spanish-speaking multi-party interactions in Big Brother
    • 3.1Accusations and overall sequence organisation
    • 3.2Accusation sequences and interpersonal conflict
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 26 November 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.00012.hau
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