Startseite Linguistik & Semiotik Chapter 1 Metalanguage in the penalty phase of a capital trial: A study of two monologic genres
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Chapter 1 Metalanguage in the penalty phase of a capital trial: A study of two monologic genres

  • Krisda Chaemsaithong
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More than (Just) Words
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch More than (Just) Words

Abstract

This chapter investigates manifestations of linguistic reflexivity in two monologic courtroom genres, namely, the opening and closing speech in the penalty phase of a high-profile Anglo-American death trial. Aiming to establish a function-based taxonomy for metalinguistic activities in courtroom discourse, the study reveals how explicit attention to different aspects of talk serves to organize the opening and closing speech, signal and invoke authorial stances towards the presented material or relevant social actors, and cater to the processing needs and expectations of the fact finders. It is argued that both genres are highly reflexive, and metalinguistic expressions are instrumental in contextualizing the relevance of facts and application of the legal principles, thereby mediating the jurors’ perception and empathy for the person on trial.

Abstract

This chapter investigates manifestations of linguistic reflexivity in two monologic courtroom genres, namely, the opening and closing speech in the penalty phase of a high-profile Anglo-American death trial. Aiming to establish a function-based taxonomy for metalinguistic activities in courtroom discourse, the study reveals how explicit attention to different aspects of talk serves to organize the opening and closing speech, signal and invoke authorial stances towards the presented material or relevant social actors, and cater to the processing needs and expectations of the fact finders. It is argued that both genres are highly reflexive, and metalinguistic expressions are instrumental in contextualizing the relevance of facts and application of the legal principles, thereby mediating the jurors’ perception and empathy for the person on trial.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgments VII
  3. Contents IX
  4. Foreword XIII
  5. Introduction: More than (just) words 1
  6. Part I: (Just) words
  7. Legal perspectives
  8. Chapter 1 Metalanguage in the penalty phase of a capital trial: A study of two monologic genres 27
  9. Chapter 2 Political discrimination or reasonable conduct? Motive-implicative discourse moves in a civil trial’s closing arguments 49
  10. Chapter 3 Legal-lay interaction and recontextualization in Swedish criminal proceedings 73
  11. Non-legal perspectives
  12. Chapter 4 . . .and I’m telling you honestly, I don’t measure: Emotive reframing and evasiveness in expert testimony 99
  13. Chapter 5 Navigating the linguistic complexity of cross-examination: The role of the witness intermediary for an autistic defendant 127
  14. Chapter 6 Between semantics and pragmatics: Witnesses’ credibility and the linguistic expression of the source of information in Italian criminal trials 149
  15. Chapter 7 Identity construction in complainants’ narratives in the investigative public hearings on the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory administration 185
  16. Part II: More than (just) words
  17. Speech and gesture
  18. Chapter 8 I wanna be somebody: Enacted reported thought in an actual jury deliberation 213
  19. Chapter 9 Multimodal discursive authority of the judge: Analyzing the judge’s interactions with courtroom participants in Chinese criminal trials 231
  20. Image and architecture
  21. Chapter 10 Allegories of justice in contemporary France: In search of a new paradigm 267
  22. Chapter 11 Criminal law, court architecture, and the space of justice: Stakeholder perceptions of ‘special’ courts used in child sexual abuse trials in India 293
  23. Index 319
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111431789-002

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgments VII
  3. Contents IX
  4. Foreword XIII
  5. Introduction: More than (just) words 1
  6. Part I: (Just) words
  7. Legal perspectives
  8. Chapter 1 Metalanguage in the penalty phase of a capital trial: A study of two monologic genres 27
  9. Chapter 2 Political discrimination or reasonable conduct? Motive-implicative discourse moves in a civil trial’s closing arguments 49
  10. Chapter 3 Legal-lay interaction and recontextualization in Swedish criminal proceedings 73
  11. Non-legal perspectives
  12. Chapter 4 . . .and I’m telling you honestly, I don’t measure: Emotive reframing and evasiveness in expert testimony 99
  13. Chapter 5 Navigating the linguistic complexity of cross-examination: The role of the witness intermediary for an autistic defendant 127
  14. Chapter 6 Between semantics and pragmatics: Witnesses’ credibility and the linguistic expression of the source of information in Italian criminal trials 149
  15. Chapter 7 Identity construction in complainants’ narratives in the investigative public hearings on the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory administration 185
  16. Part II: More than (just) words
  17. Speech and gesture
  18. Chapter 8 I wanna be somebody: Enacted reported thought in an actual jury deliberation 213
  19. Chapter 9 Multimodal discursive authority of the judge: Analyzing the judge’s interactions with courtroom participants in Chinese criminal trials 231
  20. Image and architecture
  21. Chapter 10 Allegories of justice in contemporary France: In search of a new paradigm 267
  22. Chapter 11 Criminal law, court architecture, and the space of justice: Stakeholder perceptions of ‘special’ courts used in child sexual abuse trials in India 293
  23. Index 319
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Heruntergeladen am 30.11.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111431789-002/html
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