Publications

Publication details [#64470]

Aronsson, Karin. 2018. Negative interrogatives and adversarial uptake: Building hostility in child custody examinations. Journal of Pragmatics 136 : 39–53.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
Elsevier

Annotation

This paper exposes the adversarial role of negative interrogatives in courtroom talk. Negative interrogatives excessively turn up during the cross-examination phase. The litigants' uptake marked extended accounts beyond projected yes-/no- responses. Litigants' metapragmatic comments were handled as social order offenses. Excessive case formulations and ironic rhetorical talk formed parts of hostile uptake.