Indirectness and co-construction
A discourse-pragmatic view
Indirectness in language can basically be understood in two different ways: on the
one hand, there is the indirectness that is associated with the meaning (either literal or
‘indirect’) of the speaker’s words; on the other hand, we have the indirectness that
is specific for the discourse, understood as the textual work of co-constructing
meaning. The first kind of indirectness is a semantic-contextual one; the other kind
(while also relying on the context for its interpretation) is a pragmatic one, as it
involves the active collaboration of the interactants in language use. It is this
latter understanding of indirectness, in particular as it concerns the ‘voices’ of
the interactants and their access to the underlying ‘indirect’ meanings of the
discourse that will be the subject of my contribution.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction: Two kinds of indirectness?
- 2.Egocentric vs. pluricentric acts
- 3.Adapting to pluricentricity: On facts and ‘indirect speech’
- 4.The dialectics of context
- 5.The dynamics of discourse
- 6.Indirectness and discourse: the discoursants’ voices
- 6.Conclusion
-
Notes
-
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Cited by
Cited by 2 other publications
Cornish, Francis
2021.
L’anaphore revisitée : fonctionnements discursifs et interactionnels.
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Cornish, Francis
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Journal of French Language Studies ► pp. 1 ff.
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