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Article published In: Hearer-Orientation in Spoken Genres
Edited by Bert Cornillie and Barbara De Cock
[Spanish in Context 12:1] 2015
► pp. 10–34

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Subjectivity, intersubjectivity and non-subjectivity across spoken language genres

Published online: 23 June 2015
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https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.12.1.02coc
Various authors have pointed out a relationship between (inter)subjectivity and spoken language. This article looks into the relationship between subjectivity, intersubjectivity, non-subjectivity and spoken discourse genres in a more detailed way. On the basis of a quantitative and qualitative corpus analysis of informal conversation, TV-debates and parliamentary debates, this article offers a detailed operationalization of the concepts of subjectivity, intersubjectivity and non-subjectivity, and shows that they may be expressed not only in person deixis (which is typically associated with these phenomena) but also in impersonal strategies. On the other hand, the analysis of three spoken discourse genres shows that these concepts contribute to establishing a more detailed genre typology. Moreover, they allow for describing more accurately the usage pattern of specific deictic and impersonal strategies.
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