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Part of
Language and Violence: Pragmatic perspectives
Edited by Daniel N. Silva
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 279] 2017
► pp. 107–124

Chapter 4
The circulation of violence in discourse

This paper examines two hypotheses concerning the relationship between language and violence. (1) Language does not merely represent violence, but enacts its own type of violence. (2) The use of violent language participates in the demarcation of political and subjective viability in the public sphere. I argue that these hypotheses are true to the extent that discourse circulates. I elaborate on two models of discourse circulation: iterability, a concept that Jacques Derrida proposed and that Judith Butler borrows in her understanding of the performativity of hate speech, and communicability, an anthropological concept devised by Charles Briggs to envision the complex infectious character of modern discourses. This paper also looks at the communicability of violent discourse in Brazilian contemporary political life.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Violent language and iterability
  • 3.Violent language and communicability
  • 4.Using language to wound
  • 5.Final remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 9 November 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.279.05sil
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French, Brigittine M.
2020. Maledictive Language: Arguments and Conflict. In The International Encyclopedia of Linguistic Anthropology, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Mestre-Mestre, Eva M.
2023. Representation of gender violence in appeal proceedings in Spain. Revista de Llengua i Dret :79 ► pp. 158 ff. DOI logo
Silva, Daniel do Nascimento e
2022. No movimento do caleidoscópio: Escalas sociolinguísticas e o ajuste de foco na pesquisa aplicada em linguagem. DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada 38:4 DOI logo

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