On rhetorical ricochet: expressivity of nominalization and da in Japanese discourse

This article investigates the grammatical aspects of nominalization and the Japanese da predicate as critical strategies for realizing the effect of what I call 'rhetorical ricochet' in Japanese discourse. The study explores the expressive function of the nominal/nominalizer and da in 28 i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Discourse studies 1999-02, Vol.1 (1), p.57-81
Main Author: MAYNARD, SENKO K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Discourse
Discourse analysis
Emotional expression
English language
Grammar
Japan
Japanese
Kotos
Linguistics
Narrators
Nominalization
Nouns
Relative clauses
Rhetoric
Sociolinguistics
Verbs
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Summary:This article investigates the grammatical aspects of nominalization and the Japanese da predicate as critical strategies for realizing the effect of what I call 'rhetorical ricochet' in Japanese discourse. The study explores the expressive function of the nominal/nominalizer and da in 28 imaginary letters appearing in Asahi Shimbun as well as a literary text (Yukiguni) along with its English translation (Snow Country). I conclude that the combination of a certain kind of nominal/nominalizer (i.e. the koto 'event' type) and the da predicate reinforces the topic–comment relationship, through which the rhetorical ricochet effect is realized. This article draws from theories on rhetoric and discourse functionalism, and the concept of shared perspectives, in particular.
ISSN:1461-4456
1461-7080
DOI:10.1177/1461445699001001004