‘They That Sow the Wind...’: Proverbs and Sayings in Argumentation

Abstract

Proverbs are frequently used in everyday language to support or summarize a point of view. Because of their illocutionary force, the polyphonic nature of their use and the way they operate at the cognitive level, the use of proverbs is a powerful strategy in argumentation. In this article, the efficacy of proverbs for argumentative goals is analysed in three texts that enable us to see how they project a pattern onto specific situations. Here, the use of proverbs introduces a cause-and-effect relationship to the analysis of the 11 September terrorist attacks on the United States of America. The analytical approach used is based upon enunciation theory and discourse analysis.

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