Page 22 - Žagar, Igor Ž. 2021. Four Critical Essays on Argumentation. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 22
four critical essays on argumentation
(Wodak 2009: 132–142), namely the problem of EU enlargement, as dis-
cussed among MEPs):
(1) If a specific action costs too much money, one should perform ac-
tions that diminish the costs. (Topos connecting argument with
conclusion)10
(2) EU enlargement costs too much money. (Argument)
(3) EU enlargment should be stopped/slowed down ... (Conclusion)
A real case in point of such an obsessive hunt for topoi is the analysis
we find in Krzyzanowski (2009: 104). First, he gives an example from one of
his corpora, then he provides an analysis:
Example:
As General de Gaulle said, ‘one's geography cannot be changed
and one can only change one's geopolitics’. Two dictators, Hitler
and Stalin, changed our geography. Yet, with help of democratic
institutions of the West and also thanks to a democratic rebirth
in the East, we have been changing our geopolitics on our own in
the recent years. Our current endeavours to join NATO and the
European Union, our efforts to create new shapes of the region-
al politics, shall be seen as crucial, yet only as fragments of con-
struction of a new, just and solid-based European order (PS-13: 2).
Analysis:
The fact that it is the national and not any other form of history
which is eventually invoked in discourse constitutes an attempt
typical of the constructions of national identities and identifi-
cations. In turn, the topos of East and West emphasises another
strictly national aspect of the first corpus in question. It includes
a set of elements of pre-1989 political language which very strong-
ly emphasised the differences that existed between Europe's East
and West and which reinforced the divisions introduced by the
post-Second World War geopolitical order. Accordingly, this to-
pos seeks [!] a unique placement of Poland above the divisions of
East and West, and thus (heading back [!] into the topos of na-
tional uniqueness) reinforces Poland’s attractiveness vis-a-vis the
10 It is worth noting that each topos can usually have two ‘converse’ forms, and several
different phrasings. Therefore the phrasing of this topos could also read: ‘If a specific
action costs too much money, this action should be stopped’, depending on the con-
text, and/or on what we want to prove or disprove (i.e. put forward as an argument).
22
(Wodak 2009: 132–142), namely the problem of EU enlargement, as dis-
cussed among MEPs):
(1) If a specific action costs too much money, one should perform ac-
tions that diminish the costs. (Topos connecting argument with
conclusion)10
(2) EU enlargement costs too much money. (Argument)
(3) EU enlargment should be stopped/slowed down ... (Conclusion)
A real case in point of such an obsessive hunt for topoi is the analysis
we find in Krzyzanowski (2009: 104). First, he gives an example from one of
his corpora, then he provides an analysis:
Example:
As General de Gaulle said, ‘one's geography cannot be changed
and one can only change one's geopolitics’. Two dictators, Hitler
and Stalin, changed our geography. Yet, with help of democratic
institutions of the West and also thanks to a democratic rebirth
in the East, we have been changing our geopolitics on our own in
the recent years. Our current endeavours to join NATO and the
European Union, our efforts to create new shapes of the region-
al politics, shall be seen as crucial, yet only as fragments of con-
struction of a new, just and solid-based European order (PS-13: 2).
Analysis:
The fact that it is the national and not any other form of history
which is eventually invoked in discourse constitutes an attempt
typical of the constructions of national identities and identifi-
cations. In turn, the topos of East and West emphasises another
strictly national aspect of the first corpus in question. It includes
a set of elements of pre-1989 political language which very strong-
ly emphasised the differences that existed between Europe's East
and West and which reinforced the divisions introduced by the
post-Second World War geopolitical order. Accordingly, this to-
pos seeks [!] a unique placement of Poland above the divisions of
East and West, and thus (heading back [!] into the topos of na-
tional uniqueness) reinforces Poland’s attractiveness vis-a-vis the
10 It is worth noting that each topos can usually have two ‘converse’ forms, and several
different phrasings. Therefore the phrasing of this topos could also read: ‘If a specific
action costs too much money, this action should be stopped’, depending on the con-
text, and/or on what we want to prove or disprove (i.e. put forward as an argument).
22
