Fictive Deixis, Direct Discourse, and Viewpoint Networks

Abstract

This paper proposes a renewed and more textured understanding of the relation between deixis and direct discourse, grounded in a broader range of genres and reflecting contemporary multimodal usage. I re-consider the phenomena covered by the concept of deixis in connection to the speech situation, and, by extension, to the category of Direct Discourse, in its various functions. I propose an understanding of Direct Discourse as a construction which is a correlate of Deictic Ground. Relying on Mental Spaces Theory and the apparatus it makes available for a close analysis of viewpoint networks, I analyze examples from a range of discourse genres - textual, visual and multimodal, such as literature, political campaigns, internet memes and storefront signs. These discourse contexts use Direct Discourse Constructions but usually lack a fully profiled Deictic Ground. I propose that in such cases the Deictic Ground is not a pre-existing conceptual structure, but rather is set up ad hoc to construe non-standard uses of Direct Discourse–I refer to such construals as Fictive Deictic Grounds. In that context, I propose a re-consideration of the concept of Direct Discourse, to explain its tight correlation with the concept of deixis. I also argue for a treatment of Deictic Ground as a composite structure, which may not be fully profiled in each case, while participating in the construction of viewpoint configurations.

Staged and natural gesturing in argumentation and description

“…Moreover, the use of adaptors is largely dependent on the type of behavior. Therefore, the results extend the outcomes of the studies on staged and natural communication [10,27,30] since they present the contrastive values for females and males and in both communication types.…”

Constructions of speech and thought representation

“…This suitability for highlighting dramatic, emotive content perhaps explains why direct speech or thought features prominently in Internet memes and other forms of social media discourse (see Box 1). Turning to the reporting clauses of direct speech or thought, these can be present (Chachki purple-orange now says, I was sort of like) but also, in BOX 1 Social media forms of direct speech and thought Different forms of social media communication are co-opting and renewing the forms and functions of direct speech and thought (see, e.g., Dancygier & Vandelanotte, 2017;Vandelanotte, 2019Vandelanotte, , 2020Dancygier, 2021).…”

“…A possible “type of thing one might say” in an exchange (such as “I love you” responded to with “no I love you more”) thus becomes emblematic of the particular attitude or experience it can be related to metonymically (Dancygier, 2021, p. 6).…”

Authority and solidarity on the Estonian COVID-19 signs: In line with the government's guidelines, we ask you to wear a mask

“…Linguistic Landscape studies focus on multilingualism and/or interpret public signs as semiotic objects. There is significantly less research on the linguistic (lexical and/or grammatical) means used on public signs (from the pre-COVID era, e.g., Wierzbicka, 1998 ; Wetzel, 2010 ; Mautner, 2012 ; Wagner, 2015 ; Bonner, 2016 ; Ferenčík, 2018 ; Svennevig, 2021 ; and about the COVID-19 signs, e.g., Dancygier, 2021 ; Ogiermann and Bella, 2021 ; Bella and Ogiermann, 2022 ; Dancygier et al, in press ). Our study contributes to the latter direction.…”

“…We consider the COVID-19 sign as a genre of its own with special discourse roles, discursive moves and specific purposes (cf. Swales, 1990 ; Dancygier, 2021 ; Ogiermann and Bella, 2021 ). Drawing on Laver's further development of Malinowski's notion of “phatic communion” (see the next section for details), we relate the presence and absence of markers of 1st and 2nd grammatical person on the COVID-19 signs to solidarity and status relations between the authors of the signs and the addressees.…”