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In:Persuasive Games in Political and Professional Dialogue
Edited by Răzvan Săftoiu, Maria-Ionela Neagu and Stanca Măda
[Dialogue Studies 26] 2015
► pp. 3–18

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Persuasion or the integration of grammar and rhetoric

ORCiD logo with link | University of Münster (Germany)
Published online: 1 October 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ds.26.01wei
The term persuasion attracts the interest of both linguists and rhetoricians. Traditionally grammar and rhetoric have been conceived of as separate disciplines. The paper starts by clarifying the concept of persuasion and defines it as the attempt to exert influence on the interlocutor in a way which is favourable to the speaker. Human beings want to be accepted; they are by their very nature persuasive beings. Then the question is posed how such a kind of meaning is expressed in the dialogic action game. Authentic examples are analysed which demonstrate that there are multiple communicative means which are used to influence the interlocutor in the interest of the speaker. They range from the power of words to cognitive means based on emotions. Persuasion is revealed as a variable of performance which requires a holistic model of dialogic interaction or the integration of grammar and rhetoric in order to be adequately described. The Mixed Game Model is introduced as such a model which is capable of describing human beings’ competence-in-performance as persuasive beings.
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Cited by five other publications

Kayam, Orly
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2018. The persuasive use of pronouns in action games of election campaigns. Language and Dialogue 8:1 ► pp. 21 ff. DOI logo
Agyekum, Kofi
2017. The language of Akan herbal drug sellers and advertisers. Language and Dialogue 7:3 ► pp. 360 ff. DOI logo
Agyekum, Kofi
2024. The ethnopragmatics of Akan leave-takings and farewells. Language and Dialogue 14:3 ► pp. 403 ff. DOI logo
Weigand, Edda
2016. How to verify a theory of dialogue. Language and Dialogue 6:3 ► pp. 349 ff. DOI logo

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