The Pragmatic Dimension of Discourse as Articulation

Abstract

This chapter introduces linguistic pragmatics as a poststructuralist perspective on language use, context and the self. It introduces a notion of articulation enriched by pragmatic insights. Exemplifying the value of his approach, Zienkowski analyses how one of his interviewees delineates boundaries for interpretation in talk about integration policy. He traces pragmatics back to its origins in pragmatism, philosophy of language and enunciative linguistics. The author argues that discourse and language use are characterised by negotiability, variability and adaptability. He considers metapragmatic or metadiscursive awareness to be preconditions for political awareness to emerge. Without an ability to perform and index (one’s relationship to) wider discursive realities by means of metadiscourse, it would be impossible to articulate critique or to engage in political engagement.