Arguing with otherness: intertextual construction of the attorney stance in the Chinese courtroom

Liping Zhang

doi:10.1515/text.2011.036

Article

Arguing with otherness: intertextual construction of the attorney stance in the Chinese courtroom

Liping Zhang

Published/Copyright: November 3, 2011

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From the journal Volume 31 Issue 6

Abstract

Situated in the hybrid context of a Chinese courtroom, this paper sets out to examine how attorneys orient themselves to differences in court debate. Applying the notion of intertextuality as understood within the tradition of Bakhtinian dialogism, the analysis focuses on how attorneys handle otherness, their adversary, and the situated texts (i.e., the legal documents, witness statements, etc.) when they argue. The findings suggest that attorneys may intertextually construct two stances, confrontational monologue and rational dialogue. The implication of this study is two-fold: attorneys are aware of contextual conditioning and, procedurally, attorney advocacy has a potential to influence the final judgment. Data for this study are drawn from three highly iconic infringement cases in China.

Keywords:: confrontational monologue; rational dialogue; dialogism; intertextuality; attorney stance; Chinese courtroom

Address for correspondence: Liping Zhang, Foreign Language Department, School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, P. R. China.

Published Online: 2011-11-03

Published in Print: 2011-November

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/text.2011.036

Keywords for this article

confrontational monologue; rational dialogue; dialogism; intertextuality; attorney stance; Chinese courtroom