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Article published In: Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 19:4 (2020) ► pp.563–582

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“So my position is…”

So-prefaced answers and epistemic authority in British news interviews

ORCiD logo with link | University of York
Published online: 24 March 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.19089.hut
Abstract
This article examines the interactional functions of the so-prefaced answer, when used by interviewees in news and other political discussion broadcasts. Using the methods of conversation analysis, based on a data corpus of recent broadcasts from British mainstream television, the analysis shows that the so-preface functions in a cluster of related ways within the question-answer discourse structure of the political news interview. Specifically, it is used to reset or reframe the prior question from a standpoint of epistemic authority, enabling the interviewee to answer on their terms rather than the interviewer’s.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Pragmatics of news interviews
  • 3.“So” as a turn-initial particle
  • 4.Data
  • 5.So-prefacing in context
  • 6.Explanatory answers and epistemic privilege
  • 7.Agenda resets and position-avowals
  • 8.Evasive action
  • 9.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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