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Article published In:
Moving towards Peace, Compassion and Empathy through Semiotic Enquiry: Special issue of the Journal Language, Context and Text 6:1 (2024)
Edited by Elizabeth A. Thomson, Awni Etaywe, Ingrid Wijeyewardene and Penny Wheeler
[Language, Context and Text 6:1] 2024
► pp. 146–175
empathy

Empathic listening as a social semiotic practice within the tradition of Nonviolent Communication

A systemic functional analysis of choices in the systems of theme and information status

ORCID logo | University of Wollongong, Australia
This article investigates empathic listening as practised in the tradition of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), noting that this tradition is understood as a designed register of interpersonal connection, “concerned with progress toward a better world” (Hughes 2018). In the tradition, empathy is considered “a respectful understanding of what others are experiencing, … we give to others the time and space they need to express themselves fully and to be understood” (Rosenberg 2015: 91–92). The analysis in this article applies the tools of systemic functional linguistics to demonstrate that this empathic understanding is achieved by the empathiser supporting the speaker’s exploration of their emotions via a linguistic pattern of co-created, continuous thematic progression of resonated new information. The article provides insights into the linguistic machinery powering NVC empathy practice.
Keywords: Nonviolent Communication (NVC), positive discourse analysis (PDA), systemic functional linguistics, appraisal , thematic progression, compassion, empathy, empathic listening, the system of theme , the system of information status
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Empathy
  • 3.Nonviolent Communication
  • 4.Theory
  • 5.The study
    • 5.1Research questions
    • 5.2Data
    • 5.3Methodology
    • 5.4Results
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 20 August 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/langct.00068.tho
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