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The Dynamics of Political Discourse: Forms and functions of follow-ups
Edited by Anita Fetzer, Elda Weizman and Lawrence N. Berlin
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 259] 2015
► pp. 219–243

If I am elected President …

Other-quotations in French presidential debates

ORCID logo | University of Turku, Finland

The main objective of this chapter is is to examine how other-quotation is used in French political debates. Other-quotations are follow-ups, i.e. communicative acts by which speakers take up what the other speaker has said in previous contexts. The data come from six second round presidential debates held in France from 1974 up to 2012. The objective is to study what candidates take up in their quotations, and what are functions of other-quotations. The other-quotations are studied in their local context accounting for their dialogical and socio-pragmatic characteristics. The results show that the targets of other-quotations are sociopolitical topics, and discursive identities of politicians, as well as the nature and force of communicative acts. They mark a positioning by which the candidates disagree by showing accurate facts according to them, challenge the opponent, and mark their own standpoint when the topic is related to sociopolitical discourse. When the other-quotation concerns the identity of the politician, they aim at undermining it with negative evaluations or accusations. Other-quotations are also used to describe the emotional talk or to conduct the dialogue in an ironic manner. These two latter cases are more intense in the political debates held in 2007 and 2012 with Nicolas Sarkozy.

Published online: 27 August 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.259.09joh
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