Pragmatic analysis of exclusionary language

a study of speech macroacts

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-4301.2024.1.46226

Keywords:

Exclusionary Language, Discourse, (Macro)Speech Acts, Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the speech acts uttered in a political discourse that contains exclusionary language of the xenophobic, racist, social, and ideological kind. It is based on the hypothesis that the exclusionary discourse in question follows certain linguistic patterns that aim to mask the speaker's real intentions and persuade the recipients to align themselves with his speech.  To this end, the article explores linguistic theories that are at the interface of oratory, pragmatics, and textual analysis, considering textual segments that are longer than the utterance. The theoretical framework is made up of Aristotle's principles of discourse (2018), the linguistic perspective of Austin's Speech Acts (1962), Van Dijk's Speech Macroacts (1980, 1981), and Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (1995, 1996, 2001). The conclusion is that the discourse analyzed is situated in a context of institutional social practice, in which the speaker represents, incorporates and performs standardized positions in the social structure, signaled several times throughout the observed pronouncement, explicit in the lexical choices themselves and in the intentions underlying them.

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Author Biographies

Cristina Becker Lopes Perna, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

PhD, with a sandwich doctorate internship at Indiana State University (USA) and a postdoctoral fellowship at Newcastle University, England (Capes Senior Internship), and a master's degree in Linguistics from the Postgraduate Program in Letters at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). Bachelor's degree in Portuguese-English-French Letters from PUCRS. Full professor at the School of Humanities (Letters) and the Postgraduate Program in Letters at PUCRS, where she coordinates the research group on Language Use and Processing: Pragmatics and Interfaces (UPLA).

Leonardo Sarmento Travincas de Castro, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

PhD student in the Postgraduate Program in Literature at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Capes/Proex scholarship holder. Master in Applied Linguistics from the University of Taubaté (Unitau). Graduated in English Literature from Ceuma University (Uniceuma). English teacher in the Maranhão state education network.

Lucas Zambrano Rollsing, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

PhD and Master's degree in Linguistics from the Postgraduate Program in Letters at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Capes/Proex scholarship holder. Graduated in English-Portuguese Letters from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS).

Maria Fernanda do Nascimento, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Master's student in Linguistics in the Postgraduate Program in Letters at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Capes/Proex scholarship holder. Bachelor's degree in Portuguese Language Letters from the Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG).

Martha Machado Porto, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Master's student in Linguistics in the Postgraduate Program in Letters at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Capes/Proex scholarship holder. Graduated in Letters from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS).

Mônica Silveira Jorge da Silva, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

PhD and Master's degree in Linguistics from the Postgraduate Program in Letters at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Capes/Proex scholarship holder. Graduated in English Letters from Uniasselvi (Nead) and in Portuguese and Literature from the Lutheran University of Brazil (Ulbra). Portuguese Language Teacher appointed by the City Hall of Alvorada.

References

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Published

2024-12-12

How to Cite

Becker Lopes Perna, C., Sarmento Travincas de Castro, L., Zambrano Rollsing, L., do Nascimento, M. F., Machado Porto, M., & Silveira Jorge da Silva, M. (2024). Pragmatic analysis of exclusionary language: a study of speech macroacts . Letrônica, 17(1), e46226. https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-4301.2024.1.46226

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2024): Single Volume

Section

Seção Livre

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Copyright (c) 2024 Cristina Becker Lopes Perna, Leonardo Sarmento Travincas de Castro, Lucas Zambrano Rollsing, Maria Fernanda do Nascimento, Martha Machado Porto, Mônica Silveira Jorge da Silva

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.