On The Conflict Talk Between Mother-in-law And Daughter-in-law

"Conflict talk" is also be addressed as "adversative episode"."verbal discord" and "oppositional argument" etc. No matter what it is named, it refers to people’s disputing phenomenon or verbal argument in daily life. The relation of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is very important part of social relations, which is directly related to harmony and stability in a family, even in the whole society. So it is of great value to research the conflict talk between them.This thesis focuses on conflict talk between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in Chinese verbal communication, whose universality and destructive effect on mother and daughter-in-law’s emotion and family should not be ignored. Methodologically speaking, it belongs to the combination study methods of description and explanation based on a Chinese TV Series:Shuang Mian Jiao. The thesis reveals the root the conflict talk happened between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and it also explains how the conflict talk is started, developed and what the main resolutions are.Through the analysis of conflict talks in Shuang Mian Jiao in which three phases are analyzed respectively:the starting modes, developing modes, and terminating modes, three findings are obtained:first, there are four 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.There are always conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law because of the differences in cultural background and customs and so on, which can be solved only based on bilateral understanding and confidence. Only in this way can the family be harmony and can the society be harmonious.