Page 228 - Gabrijela Kišiček and Igor Ž. Žagar (eds.), What do we know about the world? Rhetorical and argumentative perspectives, Digital Library, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana 2013
P. 228
What Do We Know about the World?
discourse practice. Therefore, possible in/experience of politicians in po-
litical discourse and its correlation with success of getting across ideas/
views will be left for some future studies.
After the Croatian War of Independence and the formation of the
modern Croatian Parliament in 1990, the predominant numbers of
seats were mostly won by the moderate right-wing party HDZ (Croa-
tian Democratic Union). According to Čular (2001) the Croatian party
system consists of 7 larger parties: HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union),
SDP (Social Democratic Party), HNS (Croatian Peoples Party), HSLS
(Croatian Social Liberal Party), HSS (Croatian Peasant Party), IDS (Is-
trian Democratic Assembly) and HSP (Croatian Party of the Right).
Although the number of parties has changed over time, the two most
influential parties from that time onwards are the already mentioned
HDZ and SDP (Social Democratic Party), which is a moderate left-wing
party. Although both parties place themselves around the centre, Croa-
tian people perceive them as more predominantly left and right (Bank-
ović–Mandić, 2007).
2. Theoretical Background
2.1. Insults and Culture
Different cultures use abusive language in a variety of ways and in
different areas of life. Brown and Levinson (1987) claimed that polite-
ness is a universal concept, but also that some cultures may be charac-
terized as negative politeness cultures and others as positive politeness
cultures. Although Spencer-Oatey (2002, qtd. in Hickey and Stewart,
2005) disputes this approach saying it is susceptible to ethnocentrism,
everyone who is familiar with the situation in Croatia can confirm that
Croatian society is quite ethnocentric, especially because of the Croa-
tian War of Independence that made Croatians quite sensitive to their
own national identity. Even though tradition makes up an important
part of Croatian everyday life, polite forms of address have changed as
they have been much more rigid in the past than they are nowadays (Ma-
rot, 2005). This could be the result of a merger between previously strict-
ly separated forms of written and spoken politeness, or “multifunction-
ality“3 (Silić, 2006: 36) of language in different contexts of public com-
munication, which is shaped by different functional styles (Silić, 2006).
The same dichotomy has been noted in Italian political language (Held,
2005; Galli de’ Paratesi, 2009). As in Italy, written politeness in Croatia
3 Originally in Croatian, translated by Vančura.
discourse practice. Therefore, possible in/experience of politicians in po-
litical discourse and its correlation with success of getting across ideas/
views will be left for some future studies.
After the Croatian War of Independence and the formation of the
modern Croatian Parliament in 1990, the predominant numbers of
seats were mostly won by the moderate right-wing party HDZ (Croa-
tian Democratic Union). According to Čular (2001) the Croatian party
system consists of 7 larger parties: HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union),
SDP (Social Democratic Party), HNS (Croatian Peoples Party), HSLS
(Croatian Social Liberal Party), HSS (Croatian Peasant Party), IDS (Is-
trian Democratic Assembly) and HSP (Croatian Party of the Right).
Although the number of parties has changed over time, the two most
influential parties from that time onwards are the already mentioned
HDZ and SDP (Social Democratic Party), which is a moderate left-wing
party. Although both parties place themselves around the centre, Croa-
tian people perceive them as more predominantly left and right (Bank-
ović–Mandić, 2007).
2. Theoretical Background
2.1. Insults and Culture
Different cultures use abusive language in a variety of ways and in
different areas of life. Brown and Levinson (1987) claimed that polite-
ness is a universal concept, but also that some cultures may be charac-
terized as negative politeness cultures and others as positive politeness
cultures. Although Spencer-Oatey (2002, qtd. in Hickey and Stewart,
2005) disputes this approach saying it is susceptible to ethnocentrism,
everyone who is familiar with the situation in Croatia can confirm that
Croatian society is quite ethnocentric, especially because of the Croa-
tian War of Independence that made Croatians quite sensitive to their
own national identity. Even though tradition makes up an important
part of Croatian everyday life, polite forms of address have changed as
they have been much more rigid in the past than they are nowadays (Ma-
rot, 2005). This could be the result of a merger between previously strict-
ly separated forms of written and spoken politeness, or “multifunction-
ality“3 (Silić, 2006: 36) of language in different contexts of public com-
munication, which is shaped by different functional styles (Silić, 2006).
The same dichotomy has been noted in Italian political language (Held,
2005; Galli de’ Paratesi, 2009). As in Italy, written politeness in Croatia
3 Originally in Croatian, translated by Vančura.
