Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

This paper focuses on the complex relations between argumentation and dialogue-based interaction in language. Restoring argumentation study in discourse analysis is currently a widely used research paradigm which, in turn, gives rise to a strong new interest in argumentation in all disciplines. This fuels our desire to examine the relevance of argumentation’s roles in discourse building, based on the conception of argumentation as opposite points of view in face-to-face arguments of Lord Illingworth and Rachel in O. Wilde’s play “An Unemportant Woman.” This study is based on the premise that evaluation of this or that argument used in a real case should be seen as one of raising critical questions about whether that argument is relevant in terms of the highly contextual eristic dialogues where both parties are emotionally upset and they are blaming each other for some past character faults. Specifying how and to what extent the arguments advanced by the sides “contribute” to degenerating the discussion into a quarrel, blocking the possibility of smooth collaboration, and holding the interaction together as a sequence of argumentation (although the quarrel is skipping rapidly from one topic to another) is also among the main concerns of the research.