Beyond questions and answers
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Krisda Chaemsaithong
Abstract
Exploring the discursive process of identity construction and ascription, the study reveals the ways in which a set of identities emerged in and through the dynamic interaction between the lawyers and the witness of a homosexual rape trial in 18th century London. Grounded in Goffman’s notion of footing, the study argues that, through sequential turns of questions and answers, these identities were interactively constructed and negotiated by the lawyers and the witness. Shifting into and departing from a particular identity can be seen as a strategic means by which the participants contextualized and framed the local context of the rape trial to substantiate their legal arguments and to offset oppositional arguments that might render the testimony inconsistent and invalid. The findings indicate that such identities allowed the participants to assume and speak from particular perspectives (logical, moral, and psychological) with respect to the event at issue, thereby shaping courtroom reality by either mitigating or magnifying the culpability of the witness.
Abstract
Exploring the discursive process of identity construction and ascription, the study reveals the ways in which a set of identities emerged in and through the dynamic interaction between the lawyers and the witness of a homosexual rape trial in 18th century London. Grounded in Goffman’s notion of footing, the study argues that, through sequential turns of questions and answers, these identities were interactively constructed and negotiated by the lawyers and the witness. Shifting into and departing from a particular identity can be seen as a strategic means by which the participants contextualized and framed the local context of the rape trial to substantiate their legal arguments and to offset oppositional arguments that might render the testimony inconsistent and invalid. The findings indicate that such identities allowed the participants to assume and speak from particular perspectives (logical, moral, and psychological) with respect to the event at issue, thereby shaping courtroom reality by either mitigating or magnifying the culpability of the witness.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Norse influence on English in the light of general contact linguistics 15
- The Germanic roots of the Old English sound system 43
- Monetary policy and Old English dialects 73
- The order and schedule of nominal plural formation transfer in three Southern dialects of Early Middle English 95
- The temporal and regional contexts of the numeral ‘two’ in Middle English 115
- Grammaticalisation, contact and corpora 131
- Discourse organization and the rise of final then in the history of English 153
- The origins of how come and what…for 177
- “Providing/provided that” 197
- Prefer 215
- The 400 million word Corpus of Historical American English (1810–2009) 231
- Gender change from Old to Middle English 263
- “Please tilt me-ward by return of post” 289
- Multilingualism in the vocabulary of dress and textiles in late medieval Britain 313
- “No man entreth in or out” 327
- Beyond questions and answers 349
- The demise of gog and cock and their phraseologies in dramatic discourse 369
- Index 383
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Norse influence on English in the light of general contact linguistics 15
- The Germanic roots of the Old English sound system 43
- Monetary policy and Old English dialects 73
- The order and schedule of nominal plural formation transfer in three Southern dialects of Early Middle English 95
- The temporal and regional contexts of the numeral ‘two’ in Middle English 115
- Grammaticalisation, contact and corpora 131
- Discourse organization and the rise of final then in the history of English 153
- The origins of how come and what…for 177
- “Providing/provided that” 197
- Prefer 215
- The 400 million word Corpus of Historical American English (1810–2009) 231
- Gender change from Old to Middle English 263
- “Please tilt me-ward by return of post” 289
- Multilingualism in the vocabulary of dress and textiles in late medieval Britain 313
- “No man entreth in or out” 327
- Beyond questions and answers 349
- The demise of gog and cock and their phraseologies in dramatic discourse 369
- Index 383
