Offene und versteckte Aggression im Gebrauch von Dysphemismen und Euphemismen
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Paweł Bąk
Abstract
The article sheds light on the connection between euphemism, dysphemism, and verbal aggression. Dysphemisms mostly appear with a pejorative effect in the literature, whereas euphemisms appear with a preventive or mitigating function. The concept of this article is based on the conviction that euphemisms and dysphemisms are not to be understood as expressions that inherently contain an enhancing or disavowing function. Rather, they involve euphemistic or dysphemistic acts, respectively, whose success (i.e. effect) is determined by all sorts of factors, and not only by lexical meaning. Among other things, the perlocutionary effect depends on the situational and linguistic context, on the relationship between the interactants (i.e. discourse participants), on their roles in the discourse, and on the individual characteristics of the interactants (i.e. language competence, discourse competence, awareness, empathy, aggressiveness etc.). In addition to overt verbal aggression, the article also considers rarely investigated aspects of covert aggression based on examples of private and public discourse; that is, verbal attacks through euphemisms and non-aggressive effects of dysphemisms. At the center of these considerations are the prevention of aggression, overt and covert forms of verbal aggression, and intended (i.e. intentional) and unintended (i.e. unintentional) hostility. The article discusses with which communicative factors and in which speech acts certain expressions have a euphemistic (i.e. polite) or dysphemistic (i.e. aggressive) effect, and, furthermore, which factors constitute euphemisms and dysphemisms. This discussion highlights the most important features of these.
Abstract
The article sheds light on the connection between euphemism, dysphemism, and verbal aggression. Dysphemisms mostly appear with a pejorative effect in the literature, whereas euphemisms appear with a preventive or mitigating function. The concept of this article is based on the conviction that euphemisms and dysphemisms are not to be understood as expressions that inherently contain an enhancing or disavowing function. Rather, they involve euphemistic or dysphemistic acts, respectively, whose success (i.e. effect) is determined by all sorts of factors, and not only by lexical meaning. Among other things, the perlocutionary effect depends on the situational and linguistic context, on the relationship between the interactants (i.e. discourse participants), on their roles in the discourse, and on the individual characteristics of the interactants (i.e. language competence, discourse competence, awareness, empathy, aggressiveness etc.). In addition to overt verbal aggression, the article also considers rarely investigated aspects of covert aggression based on examples of private and public discourse; that is, verbal attacks through euphemisms and non-aggressive effects of dysphemisms. At the center of these considerations are the prevention of aggression, overt and covert forms of verbal aggression, and intended (i.e. intentional) and unintended (i.e. unintentional) hostility. The article discusses with which communicative factors and in which speech acts certain expressions have a euphemistic (i.e. polite) or dysphemistic (i.e. aggressive) effect, and, furthermore, which factors constitute euphemisms and dysphemisms. This discussion highlights the most important features of these.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Inhalt V
- Einleitung: Sprachliche Aggression beschreiben, verstehen und erklären 1
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Teil I: Zum Ausdruck verbaler Aggression
- Was sind aggressive Sprechakte? 35
- On the strength of explicit and implicit verbal offences 51
- The offensiveness of animal metaphors 73
- Aggression in Banter 89
- Aggressiv oder supportiv? 123
- Offene und versteckte Aggression im Gebrauch von Dysphemismen und Euphemismen 145
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Teil II: Verbale Aggression in Praxisfeldern
- Kommunikative Gewalt in der Psychotherapie 171
- Ist Fehlerkorrektur im Fremdsprachenunterricht ein aggressives Verhalten? 209
- „Von Ihrer Bewerbung können wir keinen Gebrauch machen“ 219
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Teil III: Hassrede und Ideologie
- Zur Multi-Akt-Semantik der Ethnophaulismen 245
- Kulturhistorische Blicke auf die Sprache des Dritten Reiches und die antisemitische Hassrede 269
- „Um den Schädling zu vernichten” 289
- Implizite Aggression in Onlinekommentaren anlässlich der Debatte um rassistische Sprache in Kinderbüchern 305
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Teil IV: Inszenierungen verbaler Aggression
- „Doing aggressive 2.0“ 331
- The leader’s voice and communicative aggression in social media 357
- Politische Clowns in Klartext-Manier: Expressivität und Aggressivität in Zeiten transnationaler Öffentlichkeit 377
- Verbale Aggression in parlamentarischen Debatten 401
- Verbale Aggression im Realsozialismus und ihre Literarisierung 425
- Inszenierte Aggression in poetischer Sprache 447
- Autorinnen und Autoren 471
- Namen- und Sachregister 479
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Inhalt V
- Einleitung: Sprachliche Aggression beschreiben, verstehen und erklären 1
-
Teil I: Zum Ausdruck verbaler Aggression
- Was sind aggressive Sprechakte? 35
- On the strength of explicit and implicit verbal offences 51
- The offensiveness of animal metaphors 73
- Aggression in Banter 89
- Aggressiv oder supportiv? 123
- Offene und versteckte Aggression im Gebrauch von Dysphemismen und Euphemismen 145
-
Teil II: Verbale Aggression in Praxisfeldern
- Kommunikative Gewalt in der Psychotherapie 171
- Ist Fehlerkorrektur im Fremdsprachenunterricht ein aggressives Verhalten? 209
- „Von Ihrer Bewerbung können wir keinen Gebrauch machen“ 219
-
Teil III: Hassrede und Ideologie
- Zur Multi-Akt-Semantik der Ethnophaulismen 245
- Kulturhistorische Blicke auf die Sprache des Dritten Reiches und die antisemitische Hassrede 269
- „Um den Schädling zu vernichten” 289
- Implizite Aggression in Onlinekommentaren anlässlich der Debatte um rassistische Sprache in Kinderbüchern 305
-
Teil IV: Inszenierungen verbaler Aggression
- „Doing aggressive 2.0“ 331
- The leader’s voice and communicative aggression in social media 357
- Politische Clowns in Klartext-Manier: Expressivität und Aggressivität in Zeiten transnationaler Öffentlichkeit 377
- Verbale Aggression in parlamentarischen Debatten 401
- Verbale Aggression im Realsozialismus und ihre Literarisierung 425
- Inszenierte Aggression in poetischer Sprache 447
- Autorinnen und Autoren 471
- Namen- und Sachregister 479
