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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. 271–298

Intimacy matters

Uruguayan women’s refusal behavior in couples talk

 | Samford University
This chapter analyzes conflict discourse between domestic partners/couples. The interactions, recorded in Rosario, Uruguay, were part of a larger study on the refusal behavior of Uruguayan women in various spheres of life (domains). From this corpus, 41 refusal sequences were extracted in which a female participant rejected or refused her male partner in some respect (e.g. request, offer, suggestion). Refusal sequences found in couples talk positively correlated with aggravating moves and the use of upgraders, and negatively with mitigating moves and the use of downgraders. These results are discussed in terms of Wolfson’s (1988) Bulge theory of social distance.
Keywords: conflict discourse, Uruguayan Spanish, couples talk, refusal, domain, Bulge theory
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
  • 3.Key concepts and theoretical framework
  • 4.Corpus and data collection
  • 5.Data analysis
  • 6.Results and discussion
    • 6.1Refusal behavior in comparative perspective
    • 6.2Refusal strategies
    • 6.3Topics
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 26 November 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.00013.kai
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