Analysis On Conflict Talks In Prison Break

Conflict talk is also called adversative episode or oppositional argument, which is a natural linguistic phenomenon in life, frequently occurs in daily communications. It is a type of interaction in which hostile acts are exchanged between two or more parties. The term of conflict talk is often used in the broad sense and it includes many linguistic behaviors and events, such as arguing, disputing, quarreling, opposing and squabbling. This language phenomenon has been attracting the attention of discourse analyst since 1980s. The study on conflict talk has been analyzed in these fields, such as anthropology, linguistics, and sociology; they conducted it from different perspective. However, linguistic means of conducting conflict talk among adults did not receive much attention because conflict talk is regarded as a type of disorderly discourse and the data is not easily collected. Compared with the study abroad, the study on conflict talk in China is far from being thoroughly conducted.Using both description and explanation as our studying methods, we collect a lot of materials in American TV series Prison Break not only from qualitative perspective but quantitative perspective. This paper explains how conflict talk is started, developed and ended. At the same time, it analyzes the construction of conflict talk and gives the relative interpretation from the perspective of discourse analysis and Cooperative Principle.Through the analysis of conflict talks in Prison Break in which three phases are analyzed respectively: the starting modes, developing modes, and terminating modes, three findings are obtained: first, there are three formats of starting conflict talk in the first phase: claim and counter claim, directive and refusal and provoking question and opposed answer. Disputants tend to choose more indirect expressions in order to avoid further dispute. Second, in the phase of developing conflict talk, argumentative and rhetorical questions are two major formats. Third, among the six formats within the terminating phase, compromise, stand-off and the third party intervention are three major formats. Based on these findings are from dramatic dialogues occurring in the TV Series, they might make the researchers better understand the starting and construction of conflict talk.It is expected that this study could present a more comprehensive and systematic illustration of conflict talk, and get a better understanding of the conflict talk by analyzing formats of the starting modes, developing modes, and terminating modes. It might help avoid, relieve and eliminate conflict effectively, and create a more harmonious society.