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Article published In: Language and Dialogue
Vol. 9:3 (2019) ► pp.418–443

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The polyphonic pastor

Two levels of constructed dialogue in argumentation

 | Hope College (USA)
Published online: 29 October 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00050.kra
Abstract
The current study draws on insights from research on reported speech, or more accurately what . 2007. Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue, and Imagery in Conversational Discourse. 2nd edition. Cambridge/ New York: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar calls “constructed dialogue” to elucidate its role as an argumentative device as observed in a journalistic interview with a prominent American minister. I explore diverse techniques the minister uses to marshal a multiplicity of respected voices – an impressive Bakhtinian polyphony – to defend faith. An important contribution of this study lies in its integration of what Gumperz (Gumperz, John. 1977. “Sociocultural Knowledge in Conversational Inference.” In Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics, ed. by Mariel Saville-Troike, 191–211. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 1982. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) calls “contextualization cues”, paralinguistic signaling mechanisms (stress, pitch, speech rate, etc.), and constructed dialogue as phenomena which function together. The study reveals how various contextualization cues embedded within constructed dialogue contribute to framing knowledge claims as reliable.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
  • 3.The study
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Enlisting allied voices
    • 4.2Appropriating opposing voices
    • 4.3Creating an ambiguous voice
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (50)
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Cramer, Peter
2025. Voiced illustrations: The use of constructed voices in the study of argument. Discourse Studies DOI logo
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2022. Constructed Dialogue as Hermeneutic in Small Group Bible Study. Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts 13:1 DOI logo

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