Affect-Language Interface: A Pragmatic Perspective

Abstract

Until recently, research on affective word processing has mainly looked at the impact of affective valence on the comprehension of single, decontextualised words. In communication, however, both semantic and affective meaning are constructed in and shaped by the broadly construed context (e.g. linguistic, pragmatic, social, cultural, introspective). Studying affective language in context, rather than in isolation, will therefore help us better understand how people comprehend affective content in everyday communication. The pragmatic side of affective communication lies at the heart of this chapter. In the first sections, the reader will be familiarised with the pillar of pragmatic investigation, i.e. the study of language in context. Here, a distinction will be drawn between the views of the traditional cognitive pragmatics and the relatively recent affective pragmatics on which the discussion is centered. At the empirical heart of this chapter lies a review of the recent neuropragmatic studies of language in general and affective language in particular. Particular attention is given to electrophysiological (EEG) studies looking at how linguistic, pragmatic, and socio-personal context modulates cortical activation to affective words, which is mainly reflected on the EPN, N400, and LPC waves. The reviewed neuropragmatic evidence testifies to the profound impact of contextual information on affective language processing.