Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: “Unofananidza Jesu naKombayi here? (Lit. Are you comparing Jesus with Kombayi?) (Condolences on the death of Senator Patrick Kombayi, 28th July 2009, Appendix B4, line 350) This Shona interjection during the debate on the motion on condolences on the death of Senator Patrick Kombayi (MDC- T) in the Zimbabwean parliament presents the speaker stance taking, appraising and strategically manoeuvering advancing certain argumentative positions. Considering the impact of the outcome of these debates on governance, discourse- analytic researches have to be carried out in order to explore the sorts of appraisal and argumentation principles that are realised. This study makes a multifaceted theoretical approach to a comprehensive exploration of debates and speeches in the Zimbabwean parliament and their representation in newspaper articles. The appraisal theory, the extended pragma- dialectic theory of argumentation and controversy analysis have been integrated to uncover important linguistic insights on parliamentary discourse and news reporting. The analysis is based on a corpus of debates and speeches in the Zimbabwean parliament within the period 2009 and 2010. Another corpus consists of newspaper reports on these debates and speeches in this period. A thematic approach informed by theoretical principles is utilised in the selection of reports, debates and speeches. Firstly, I examined parliamentary discourse. Focus have been on the critical discussion model, argumentative strategies- forms of strategic manoeuvering, how the dialectic- rhetoric relation can be understood, how appraisal resources are realised in the argumentation process and on examining how appraisal resources employed reflect the type of a debate or speech. Secondly, I explored newspaper articles from four Zimbabwean newspapers reporting on the same themes on debates and speeches. Focus has been to make comparative analysis of news reporting examining how appraisal resources are utilised in the representation of parliamentary discourse in different newspapers (independent versus government or state owned newspapers and English versus Shona newspapers) and to examine the nature of argumentation and strategic manoeuvering principles that are utilised in news reporting and how controversial (divergent) debates or issues are represented. This multifaceted analysis offered varied dimensions in the exploration of parliamentary discourse and news reporting and expansions of the appraisal and argumentation theories. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: “Unofananidza Jesu naKombayi here? (Letterlik: Vergelyk jy Jesus met Kombayi?) (Medelye ten tye van die dood van senator Patrick Kombayi, 28 Julie 2009, Bylaag B4, reël 350) Hierdie Shona-uitroep gedurende die debat oor die mosie van medelye ten tye van die dood van senator Patrick Kombayi (MDC-T) in die Zimbabwiese parlement wys hoe die spreker standpunt inneem, en sekere beredenerende posisies opper, beoordeel en op strategiese wyse manipuleer. Met die uitkomste van hierdie debatte oor bestuur in gedagte, moes diskoers-analitiese navorsing gedoen word om die soorte waardebepalende en beredenerende beginsels wat gerealiseer is, te verken. Hierdie studie het ʼn veelvlakkige teoretiese benadering tot ʼn omvattende verkenning van debatte en toesprake in die Zimbabwiese parlement en hulle uitbeelding in koerantartikels ingeneem. Die teorie van waardebepaling, die uitgebreide pragma-dialektiese teorie van beredenering- en geskilsanalise is geïntegreer om belangrike linguistiese insigte oor parlementêre diskoers en nuusrapportering bloot te lê. Die analise is gebaseer op ʼn korpus debatte en toesprake in die Zimbabwiese parlement uit die tydperk 2009 tot 2010. ʼn Verdere korpus bestaan uit koerantberigte oor hierdie debatte en toesprake uit hierdie tydperk. ʼn Tematiese benadering wat deur teoretiese beginsels geïnspireer is, is gebruik by die keuse van berigte, debatte en toesprake. Eerstens het ek parlementêre diskoers nagegaan. Die fokus was op die kritiese besprekingsmodel, beredenerende strategieë, vorme van strategiese manipulering, die wyse waarop die dialekties-retoriese verhouding verstaan kan word, die wyse waarop hulpbronne vir waardebepaling tydens die beredeneringsproses verwesenlik word en op ʼn ondersoek na hoe hulpbronne wat vir waardebepaling gebruik word, die soort debat of toespraak uitbeeld. Tweedens het ek koerantartikels uit vier Zimbabwiese koerante verken wat oor dieselfde temas oor debatte en toesprake verslag gedoen het. Die fokus was op die maak van ʼn vergelykende analise van beriggewing om na te gaan hoe hulpbronne vir waardebepaling gebruik word by die uitbeelding van parlementêre diskoers in verskillende koerante (onafhanklik teenoor koerante in besit van die regering of die staat en koerante in Engels teenoor ander in Shona) en om die aard van beredenering en strategiese manipulerings-beginsels wat by beriggewing gebruik word en die wyse waarop kontroversiële (uiteenlopende) debatte of kwessies uitgebeeld word, te ondersoek. Hierdie veelvlakkige analise het wisselende dimensies by die verkenning van parlementêre diskoers en beriggewing en uitbreidings van die waardebepaling- en beredeneringsteorieë gebied. / This project is a reality because of the generous scholarship I received from the African Doctoral Academy

The debates over the structure of the Turkish government in the context of Public Administration Reform that point to restructuration of state and/or to re-organization of social relations between state, market and &amp / #8216 / civil society&amp / #8217 / have gained momentum especially since the arrival of draft law about Main Principles of Public Administration and Restructuring of Public Administration to the Turkish Parliament. This thesis attempts to analyze the debate on recent public administration reform in Turkey in the contexts of the socio-economic transformations of new capitalism/neo-liberalism within the notion of decentralization and of how/in what ways the neoliberal policies have been legitimated within the specific historical context of Turkish public administration reform. The purpose of the study is to understand the connection between the legal text of public sector reform and the social context in which these legal regulations find their meanings. For this aim, the debate on public administration reform in the Turkish Parliament was argued as a discursive battlefield where the demands and interests of the conflicting social groups &amp / #8216 / clash&amp / #8217 / with each other. Therefore, this study concentrates its attention on the critical analysis of the discursive acts of the Justice and Development Party government, and of the Republican People&amp / #8217 / s Party on reform for understanding how both authority/legitimacy and resistance/de-legitimacy are (re)produced within the parliamentary debates/discourse.

This paper contributes to the discussion on the reference to ‘the people’ in contemporary politics. Illuminating the tension raised by representation, this corpus-assisted analysis investigates how Members of Parliament discursively construct the necessity to represent and involve the people while being at the same time the ones holding the floor. Close analysis of British, German, and French parliamentary debates on Europe reveals that parliamentary talk relies on a twofold dynamic: enacting the people’s voice and making parliamentary debates accessible. These patterns are represented in the speeches of all parliamentary groups. This shows that none of these discourse strategies are, per se, a prerogative of populist movements, thus shedding light on the necessity to think the articulation between populist style and populist ideology.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T19:34:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Rodrigues de Oliveira.pdf: 2144385 bytes, checksum: c5a5e3d73a93bcbd76acae283ec6c9ad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation deals with the retextualization of parliamentary debates and intends to map changes introduced by retextualizers during the transformation of parliamentary oral speeches into written texts, as well as to analyze these changes in order to understand their implications for the meaning of the text. The research is relevant because parliamentary debates contribute to the validation of Executive and Legislative acts. Translated from oral into written language, these speeches make up the annals of legislative chambers, and so become essential historic records, and can be ordered by the Courts as evidence in legal proceedings. The retextualization of these speeches, having in mind the importance of what is said in plenary sessions, should excel in their fidelity to the speaker s words and respect for his style. However, these two requirements are not always met because there are changes in the retextualization process that distance the source text (speech) from the secondary text (written). This research is based primarily on studies located in the field of Textual Linguistics and Conversation Analysis and its corpus consists of extracts from five Guarulhos City Chamber (São Paulo State) ordinary sessions that took place between 2001 and 2007. The results indicate that deletions, insertions and substitutions are the main changes made by retextualizers and that those affect the style, the speakers words and the meaning of the text / Esta dissertação trata da retextualização de discursos parlamentares e tem como objetivo o levantamento de alterações promovidas por retextualizadores na passagem de discursos parlamentares orais para a modalidade escrita, como também a análise dessas alterações com vistas às suas implicações para o sentido do texto. Justifica-se pelo fato de que os discursos parlamentares contribuem para a validação de atos dos Poderes Executivo e Legislativo. Transpostos da modalidade oral para a escrita, esses discursos compõem os anais das casas legislativas, constituindo-se em registros essenciais para a história, além de poderem ser requisitados pela Justiça para instrução de peças judiciais. A retextualização desses discursos, tendo em vista a importância do que é dito no plenário, deveria primar pela fidelidade ao dito pelo orador e pelo respeito ao seu estilo. Observa-se, porém, que esses dois itens nem sempre são atendidos, pois, no processo de retextualização, ocorrem mudanças que afastam o texto derivado (escrito) do texto fonte (oral). A investigação fundamenta-se primordialmente em estudos situados no campo da Lingüística Textual e da Análise da Conversação e tem como corpus cinco trechos de atas de sessões ordinárias da Câmara Municipal de Guarulhos, Estado de São Paulo, realizadas no período de 2001 a 2007. Os resultados indicam que eliminações, inserções e substituições são as principais alterações realizadas pelos retextualizadores que afetam o estilo, o dito do orador e o sentido do texto

La sémantique des cadres et l’analyse argumentative comptent parmi les approches les plus sollicitées en linguistique du discours. De nombreuses études parues ces dernières années font ainsi appel aux cadres sémantiques pour analyser la dimension lexicale des discours et aux topoï argumentatifs pour analyser leur dimension argumentative. Or, cette simple addition de différentes techniques d’analyse est contradictoire avec les prémisses même de la sémantique des cadres. En effet, plus encore qu’un outil d’analyse sémantique, les cadres sémantiques sont un format de représentation cognitive structurant nos connaissances ainsi que notre perception du monde. Par conséquent, les cadres sémantiques permettent, en principe, de décrire l’intégralité des structures de savoir sous-jacentes aux discours, et ceci à tous les niveaux d’abstraction. L’intégration des dimensions de sens ici analysées passe par l’intégration du concept de relation argumentative dans la méthodologie communément appliquée en analyse des cadres. Les structures argumentatives reposant nécessairement sur des structures conceptuelles analogues, l’outil méthodologique ainsi développé permet une description intégrée de ces différentes dimensions et de leur interaction dans la construction discursive du sens. Dans la partie empirique, il sera ensuite appliqué à l’analyse des discours parlementaires sur le nucléaire civil à l’Assemblée nationale française et au Bundestag allemand sur la période 1946–2012. / Frame semantics and argumentation analysis are among the most popular research methodologies in discourse linguistics. Over the course of the last few years, semantic frames and argumentative topoi have been used in numerous studies to analyse the lexical and argumentative dimension of discourse. However, their simple addition contradicts one of the most basic premises of frame semantics, namely, the idea that frames are not only a tool of semantic analysis but also the universal format of conceptual representation structuring our know ledge of and our interactions with the world that surrounds us. Semantic frames, thus, potentially allow for a description of all knowledge structures underlying discourse at different levels of abstraction. By integrating the concept of argumentative relations in the established methodology of frame analysis, these different dimensions of discursive meaning construction become describable in frame semantic terms. These argumentative relations between discourse elements at the text surface can be seen as mirroring equivalent relations between the constituent elements of cognitive frames at the conceptual level. This approach will be used in the empirical section to analyse the parliamentary discourse on nuclear energy in the French Assemblée nationale and the German Bundestag from 1946 to 2012.

Taking the form of a case study on an interpellation on ‘youth crime and street gangs’ and its consideration in plenary debate in the Finnish Parliament in December 2022, the purpose of this study is to examine how politicians narrate the Finnish community of value and its boundaries. The methodological framework of this study consists of strategic narrative analysis, poststructural and critical research theoretical underpinnings, and the operationalization of the concept of ‘community of value’. The findings of the study show that the strategic narratives on the Finnish community of value are diverse but return to similar points of boundary-making problematizing the ‘Migrant’ as part of a ‘suspect population’. The character of the community of value is simultaneously defined through the ordinary actions of its ‘Good Citizens’ and Finland as ‘not-Sweden’. Ultimately, the role left to play for the ‘Migrant’ is one of a ‘Tolerated Citizen’. These findings add a contribution to the field of critical migration and integration studies, as well as to the field of Finnish and Nordic political discourses.

Given that the basic functions of parliamentary Question Time are to provide information and to hold the Government accountable for its actions, the possibility of evasion occurring in such a context is of crucial importance. Evasion (equivocation) has been identified as a matter of concern in political interviews, but no systematic study has been undertaken in the context of parliamentary discourse, notably Question Time, anywhere in the world. This study applies and adapts Harris's (1991) coding framework on various types of responses, Bull and Mayer's (1993) typology of non-replies and Clayman's (2001) work on how politicians 'resist' answering questions, all of which are based on political news interviews, to the study of evasion in Australia's House of Representatives' Question Time. A comprehensive, unified framework for the analysis of evasion is described, a decision flow-chart for the framework is provided, and an illustrative example of the applied framework is given based on Australia's Federal House of Representatives' Question Time. Put simply, the study was undertaken to determine if evasion occurred, how frequently it occurred and how it occurred. It involved the classification of responses as 'answers' (direct or indirect), 'intermediate responses' (such as pointing out incorrect information in the question), and 'evasions' based on specific criteria. Responses which were considered evasions were further analysed to determine the levels of evasion, whether they were covert or overt in nature and the types of 'agenda shifts' that occurred, if any. The thesis also involved a discourse-analytical study of other factors that appear to facilitate Ministerial evasion in Australia's House of Representatives, including the Speaker's performance and the use of 'Dorothy Dixers'. The research data was sourced from Question Time transcripts from the House of Representatives Hansard for the months of February and March 2003, dealing only with questions and responses on the topic of Iraq. In those months there were 87 questions on the topic of Iraq, representing more than two thirds of all questions on Iraq for the whole of 2003. Of these 87 questions, the majority (48) came from the Opposition party, through its leader. The balance (39) was asked by Government MPs. Analysis of the question/answer discourse for all 87 questions revealed that every question asked by Government members was answered compared to only 8 of the 48 Opposition questions. Of the 40 remaining Opposition questions, 21 were given intermediate responses and 19 were evaded outright. The fact that the overwhelming majority (83%) of Opposition questions were not answered together with other findings such as instances of partiality on the part of the Speaker; the use of 'friendly', prearranged questions by Government MPs; and the 'hostile' nature of questions asked by Opposition MPs casts serious doubt on the effectiveness of Question Time as a means of ensuring the Government is held accountable for its actions. The study provides empirical evidence that evasion does occur in Australia's House of Representatives' Question Time.

Le sujet de cette recherche est l´analyse sémantico-pragmatico-discursive de l´ironie dans le débat parlementaire portugais. Nous étudions plus particulièrement les degrés d´implicitation de la critique ironique, les indices, les fonctions et les stratégies discursives de l´ironie. Notre approche théorique interdisciplinaire permet de couvrir la pluralité des formes d´expression de l´ironie dans notre corpus, et elle comprend des concepts opératoires émanant notamment: de la théorie des actes de langage (Austin 1962 et Searle 1969 et 1979); des maximes conversationnelles de Grice 1975; de la perspective antiphrastique de l´ironie (Kerbrat-Orecchioni 1980); des théories de la polyphonie linguistique (Ducrot 1984) et de la politesse verbale (Brown & Levinson 1987 et Kerbrat-Orecchioni 2005 et 2010), ainsi que des études sur l´argumentation (Amossy 2000). La première partie de ce travail est consacrée à la caractérisation du discours parlementaire portugais et à l´analyse critique de certaines études sur l´ironie. Dans la deuxième partie, nous étudions les diverses formes de manifestation de l´ironie dans notre corpus, établissant trois grandes classes d´ironie à partir des différents degrés d´implicitation du jugement ironique; nous y dégageons également les indices d´ironie les plus fréquents. Dans la troisième partie, nous nous penchons sur les principales fonctions et stratégies discursives qui sous-tendent l´utilisation de l´ironie dans le genre discursif en question. Cette démarche nous a permis d´envisager l´ironie comme un mécanisme linguistico-discursif de nature axiologique, visant la disqualification d´autrui, au service de l´argumentation et de la persuasion. / The subject of this study is a semantic, pragmatic and discursive analysis of irony in Portuguese parliamentary debate. We study in particular the implicitation degrees of ironic criticism, the signals, the functions and the discursive strategies of irony. Our interdisciplinary theoretical approach covers the multiple forms that irony takes in our corpus, and includes operating concepts deriving from : the speech act theory (Austin 1962 and Searle 1969 and 1979) ; Grice´s conversational maxims (1975) ; the antiphrastic irony´s point of view (Kerbrat-Orecchioni 1980) ; the linguistic theory of polyphony (Ducrot 1984) ; the verbal politeness theory (Brown & Levinson 1987 and Kerbrat-Orecchioni 2005 and 2010) and studies on argumentation (Amossy 2000). The first part of this work focuses on the characteristics of the Portuguese parliamentary discourse and on the critical analysis of different studies on irony. In the second part, we study the different forms of irony in our corpus and identify the most common signals of irony. In the third part, we focus on the main discursive functions and strategies that underlie the use of irony in the discursive genre being analysed. This approach has allowed us to conceive irony as an axiological linguistic-discursive mechanism that aims to depreciate someone, while supporting argumentation and persuasion. / O objeto de estudo deste trabalho é a análise semântico-pragmático-discursiva da ironia no debate parlamentar português. São estudados em particular os graus de implicitação da crítica irónica, os índices, as funções e as estratégias discursivas da ironia. A abordagem teórica interdisciplinar permite contemplar a multiplicidade de formas de expressão da ironia no nosso corpus e inclui conceitos operatórios oriundos nomeadamente: da teoria dos atos de fala (Austin 1962 e Searle 1969 e 1979); das máximas conversacionais de Grice (1975); da perspetiva antifrástica da ironia (Kerbrat-Orecchioni 1980); das teorias da polifonia linguística (Ducrot 1984) e da cortesia verbal (Brown & Levinson 1987 e Kerbrat-Orecchioni 2005 e 2010), assim como dos estudos sobre a argumentação (Amossy 2000). A primeira parte do trabalho é dedicada à caracterização do discurso parlamentar português e à análise crítica de determinados estudos sobre a ironia. Na segunda parte, estudamos as várias formas de manifestação da ironia no corpus em análise, estabelecendo três grandes classes de ironia a partir dos diferentes graus de implicitação da apreciação irónica; identificamos igualmente os índices de ironia mais frequentes. Na terceira parte, debruçamo-nos sobre as principais funções e estratégias discursivas da ironia que subjazem à utilização da ironia no género discursivo em questão. Este procedimento permitiu-nos considerar a ironia como um mecanismo linguístico-discursivo de natureza axiológica, que visa a desqualificação de outrem, estando ao serviço da argumentação e da persuasão.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the personal pronoun “we” in a political debate using Conversation Analysis as research method. More specifically, the thesis aims to identify and analyse how the speakers of a political debate use “we” to express different referential domains in terms of group affiliation. Consequently, to support the thesis’s aim, the following research questions have been devised: What different categories of “we” can be found in the debate? How and when are these different categories used to manifest group affiliation and what do they accomplish?

Discourse pervades all areas of human activity. Beyond the use of verbal communication, discourse also extends to non-verbal elements such as body language, facial expressions, intonation and laughter. Despite the wide range of studies that examine the structures and nature of political discourse, very few have looked at the ways in which politicians use non-verbal elements and, in particular, laughter as part of their discourse strategies. This study looks at the use of laughter in the German Bundestag by analysing 16,000 observations of laughter taken from the transcripts of 847 plenary sessions spanning four electoral terms. The study finds that laughter can be used by politicians as a non-verbal means of expressing opinion and making a statement without breaking the stringent rules of conduct. The use of laughter in parliament can provide information on party alliances, both current and traditional, as well as the general ‘mood’ of the electoral period. Due to the changing nature of political debates and the increasing rejection of ‘traditional’ means of doing politics, fascinating changes are taking place in the political landscape.:1 Introduction 2 Discourse analysis 2.1 Political discourse analysis 2.2 Parliamentary debates 2.2.1 According to Klein 2.2.2 Parliamentary discourse as monologue, dialogue or trialogue? 2.2.3 Interjections as parliamentary discourse 2.3 Non-verbal communication 3 Humour 3.1 Humour in politics 3.2 The study of humour in politics 4 Background 4.1 The German Bundestag 4.2 Stenographic reports 4.2.1 Written or spoken language? 4.2.2 The difference between Lachen and Heiterkeit 4.3 Electoral term specifics 5 Data 5.1 Hypotheses 5.2 Description of the analysis 6 Results 7 Discussion 7.1 Reflections 7.2 Outlook 8 Conclusion References