Forms of aggressive speech actions in public communication (Ch. 7 in a monograph Normativity and Variety of Speech Actions, eds. Maciej Witek and Iwona Witczak-Plisiecka. Theme Issue of Poznań Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities)
Abstract
The chapter aims at the phenomenon of aggression in speech actions performed in public communication events. The relation among the notions of speech act and speech action, as well as among un/im/politeness, rudeness, verbal aggressivity (the last two mostly described as a use of vulgarities), and aggressive communication are all discussed in speech act theoretic perspective.
Analyses of relevant dialogues, being extracts from TV shows and a recording of an interview, demonstrate that aggressive/openly offensive communication can be seen not just as a borderline case of impoliteness but, more accurately, as a parallel phenomenon, a communicative strategy which can use vulgarities but can dispense with them as well. It is evident that within this strategy, speech actions such as accusations (statements concerning the past/current oponents' activities), defamations and rhetorical questions are among the most frequent types of actions used.