ACCUSATION AS A DISCURSIVE ACT OF THE “BLAMING” TYPE

Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of the conflict potential of the accusation tactics in the communicative situation of accusation/excuse as a special type of conflict interaction. An attempt is made to analyze the accusation as a discursive act of the “blaming” type, implemented by a set of direct and indirect speech acts: representatives, commissives, directives and expressives. The situation of accusation/excuse is understood as a stereotypical situation in which the speaker’s attitude is characterized as negative, since the addressee bears the responsibility for the speaker’s unwelcome state of affairs. This communicative situation is characterized by the following: the communicative interests of the participants do not coincide; the speaker’s actions aim at the change of the addressee’s behavior or state; the addressee’s actions aim at the conflict management, the decrease of the harm done to the speaker and the improvement of his/her emotional state. The situation of accusation/excuse is attributed to the harmonizing type of conflict interaction, characterized by distinct features of conflict interaction and the interlocutors’ will to harmonize communication and pass over to cooperative interaction. The conducted research opens up new vistas for the thorough analysis of the excuse as a discursive act of the “apologizing” type, implemented by a set of the appropriate direct and indirect speech acts.