Linguistic Contradiction: Power and Politeness in Courtroom Discourse

Abstract

This article examines the courtroom as a workplace using Brown and Levinson's politeness model. It is argued that while the model is a valuable tool for analyzing courtroom discourse, the courtroom, as well as institutional and organizational contexts in general, possesses characteristics that demand a more complex contextual analysis. The article first looks at some ef the distinct characteristics ef language use in a courtroom setting, and then analyzes excerpts drawn from a courtroom transcript. Institutional factors that affect the model's petformance in this workplace are delineated. The article concludes that these institutional factors are not unique to the courtroom; they are relevant to understanding language use in many types ef workplace, including corporate, public, and organizational contexts.