A Study Of Vague Rhetorical Strategies In English Diplomatic Discourse From Contextual Adaptation Perspective

Vagueness is an inherent nature of language and vague language is universal in our dailylife, which plays an important role in communication. Vague rhetorical strategies have drawnmuch attention of researchers because they are used on diplomatic occasions as a tool tomaintain inter-state relationships. Vague rhetoric studies the rules which are used to improveeffects of expressions by making use of the vagueness of language. Previous related studiesare mostly about classification, forms of expression, and features of rhetorical strategies andso on, but no research has been done from contextual adaptation, especially in the field ofvague rhetorical strategies. This thesis chooses three dimensionalities of rhetorical strategies:attitude, style and manner under the framework of contextual adaptation. By focusing on howthe contextual elements effect on the choice-making of vague rhetorical strategies indiplomatic discourse, this thesis attempts to propose a unified explanatory framework. Thematerials of the thesis are from the website of U.S. Department of State, which are typicaland representative diplomatic language.According to the Adaptation Theory, the process of linguistic choice-making is theprocess of using language as adaptation to various worlds, and language use should beinvestigated from a comprehensive perspective. This thesis proposes that in diplomaticdiscourse diplomats employ different types of vague rhetorical strategies for specificdiplomatic purposes, which is a process of adapting to elements in the mental world, socialworld and physical world. For example, the employment of the vague rhetorical strategieswhich adapt to the mental world reflects the speaker’s communicative motivations: to protecthis own country’s benefits and dignities, and to show politeness to listeners. In the socialworld, the employment of the vague rhetorical strategies helps diplomats to create a favorableinternational environment and also comply with the conventions of diplomatic discourse. Inthe physical world, the employment of the vague rhetorical strategies mainly adapts to timeand space. This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter is an introductory part, focusing onthe research background, the purpose and significance, the data sources and the structure ofthesis. The second chapter reviews on literature of vague rhetoric, rhetorical strategies anddiplomatic discourse. The third chapter provides theoretical foundation of this thesis, giving adescription of Verschueren’s pragmatic view, Adaptation Theory and contextual adaptation aswell. The forth chapter is analyses of practical application of vague rhetorical strategies asadaptation to contextual elements in diplomatic discourse. The fifth chapter is a conclusion.