Consciousness, Intersubjectivity and Evidentiality in Interaction: Parenthetical constructions in oral academic discourse

GISELA ELINA MÜLLER

Northumbria, Newcastle

Congreso; ICLC13 (13th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference); 2015

ICLA (International Cognitive Linguistics Association)

This paper posits a comprehensive view of parenthetical constructions that takes into account both the displacement of consciousness in the discourse unfolding and the specific metadiscourse functions these constructions fulfil in the discourse sequences they pertain to. The analysis is based on the following assumptions: 1) The parenthetical would be an expression of a sudden movement of consciousness that leaves in a semiactive state the previous discourse idea; 2) In colloquia of dissertation defenses, these parentheticals would create evidential metadiscourse spaces wherein different subcategories of evidential metadiscourse are carried out. The examined data come from a selective sample of two colloquia in Spanish. Three main analytical categories were found to be relevant: 1) evidential metadiscourse type; 2) referent identifiability degree; and 3) type of discourse continuity. The results confirm the initial assumptions and highlight the relevance of analyzing the parentheticals in the dynamic process of sequence configuration. Keywords: parenthetical constructions, activation states, evidentiality, intersubjectivity