Page 233 - 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. 233
the analysis of insulting practices – sticks and stones
in the croatian parliament 233
ticular term. Direct insults, even in the forms of address are quite fre-
quent and the etiquette sometimes presents a good opportunity for a di-
rect insult, as the following examples will show:7
(1) B, A. (SDP): Moje pitanje će biti upućeno predsjednici Vlade RH, preds-
jednici HDZ-a, bivšoj potpredsjednici Vlade i ministrici branitelja, bivšoj potpreds-
jednici Hrvatskog sabora, bivšoj predsjednici HDZ-a Grada Zagreba i bivšoj na-
jbližoj suradnici i prijateljici gospodina Ive Sanadera gospođi Jadranki Kosor.
A ono glasi: znate li koliko radnika u Hrvatskoj radi, a ne prima plaću? (6
saziv/23 sjednica, Aktualno prijepodne, 6. travnja 2011.)
A. B. (SocDem) I will address my question to Croatian Prime Minister, the
president of CDU, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Veteran Affairs,
former Deputy Speaker, former President of HDZ’s Zagreb Branch, and former clos-
est associate and friend of Mr. I. Sanader: Mrs. Jadranka Kosor. And the ques-
tion is: do you know how many workers in Croatia do not receive a salary?
(Term 6/ session 23, Question time, 6 April, 2011)
This example precisely shows how insults are context-based, as it
seems like there is no harm in an MP enumerating all of the ex-Prime
Minister’s (PM) titles. The context in which these forms of address were
perceived and interpreted as insulting was instigated by the Prime Min-
ister’s reaction during the Question time in which she often warned oth-
er MPs who spoke before A. B. to use the proper forms to address her, for
instance when they forgot to say Prime Minister before her name. This
example shows how irony and playful tone can disguise the MP’s hostile
and scornful attitude, but also how paralinguistic cues can be essential
for insult recognition, since the whole form of address is purely ironic.
It also displays guilt by association type of ad hominem (Tindale, 2007),
with the attempt to discredit the PM by closely associating her in the pe-
nultimate and the last form of address to the ex-prime minister, who was
at the time awaiting trial for a corruption scandal. The insult assumes
that any ‘guilt’ that characterizes the former PM can be transferred to
the insult target (PM at the time) as well.
(2) J. Ž. (SDP): Moje pitanje je namijenjeno osobno odabranoj nasljedni-
ci Ive Sanadera na mjesto predsjednice Vlade, gospođi Kosor. Gospođo Kosor
možete li nam reći kako se u Hrvatskoj može preživjeti sa 2 tisuće kuna
plaće ili mirovine? (6/23, Aktualno prijepodne, 6.travanj 2011)
7 The examples show MPs‘ initials followed by his/her political party. We believe that party allegianc-
es are important for better understanding of the examples. Italicized is the part of the example that
best represents the category under discussion.
in the croatian parliament 233
ticular term. Direct insults, even in the forms of address are quite fre-
quent and the etiquette sometimes presents a good opportunity for a di-
rect insult, as the following examples will show:7
(1) B, A. (SDP): Moje pitanje će biti upućeno predsjednici Vlade RH, preds-
jednici HDZ-a, bivšoj potpredsjednici Vlade i ministrici branitelja, bivšoj potpreds-
jednici Hrvatskog sabora, bivšoj predsjednici HDZ-a Grada Zagreba i bivšoj na-
jbližoj suradnici i prijateljici gospodina Ive Sanadera gospođi Jadranki Kosor.
A ono glasi: znate li koliko radnika u Hrvatskoj radi, a ne prima plaću? (6
saziv/23 sjednica, Aktualno prijepodne, 6. travnja 2011.)
A. B. (SocDem) I will address my question to Croatian Prime Minister, the
president of CDU, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Veteran Affairs,
former Deputy Speaker, former President of HDZ’s Zagreb Branch, and former clos-
est associate and friend of Mr. I. Sanader: Mrs. Jadranka Kosor. And the ques-
tion is: do you know how many workers in Croatia do not receive a salary?
(Term 6/ session 23, Question time, 6 April, 2011)
This example precisely shows how insults are context-based, as it
seems like there is no harm in an MP enumerating all of the ex-Prime
Minister’s (PM) titles. The context in which these forms of address were
perceived and interpreted as insulting was instigated by the Prime Min-
ister’s reaction during the Question time in which she often warned oth-
er MPs who spoke before A. B. to use the proper forms to address her, for
instance when they forgot to say Prime Minister before her name. This
example shows how irony and playful tone can disguise the MP’s hostile
and scornful attitude, but also how paralinguistic cues can be essential
for insult recognition, since the whole form of address is purely ironic.
It also displays guilt by association type of ad hominem (Tindale, 2007),
with the attempt to discredit the PM by closely associating her in the pe-
nultimate and the last form of address to the ex-prime minister, who was
at the time awaiting trial for a corruption scandal. The insult assumes
that any ‘guilt’ that characterizes the former PM can be transferred to
the insult target (PM at the time) as well.
(2) J. Ž. (SDP): Moje pitanje je namijenjeno osobno odabranoj nasljedni-
ci Ive Sanadera na mjesto predsjednice Vlade, gospođi Kosor. Gospođo Kosor
možete li nam reći kako se u Hrvatskoj može preživjeti sa 2 tisuće kuna
plaće ili mirovine? (6/23, Aktualno prijepodne, 6.travanj 2011)
7 The examples show MPs‘ initials followed by his/her political party. We believe that party allegianc-
es are important for better understanding of the examples. Italicized is the part of the example that
best represents the category under discussion.
