Title

The Use of Address Forms in Chinese Political Discourse: Analyzing the 1998 Taipei Mayoral Debates

Author

Sai-hua Kuo

Genre

Article  

Pages

153-172

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Language

English

Key words

address forms, political debates, speech activity, communicative style

Abstrac

    Analyzing video-taped date from two televised 1998 Taipei mayoral debates, this study has found that there were differences in the use of address forms between the two debates and among the three debaters. While the incumbent mayor always addressed his rivals with a surname (SN) + general title in both debates, the two challenger shifted from the more deferential address forms, which tend to include the official title, to the more distant and less respectful surname (SN)+ general title or the full name (FN) to address or refer to the incumbent mayor in the second debate. This strategic choice of address forms implies that comp ared with the first debate, the second debate, which took place only four days before election day, had become more antagonistic and confrontational in nature. In addition, a debater’s choice of address form marks his communicative style and (re) frames the speech activity. For instance, one debater’s choice of kinship terms and nickname, which carries the connotation of informality, to address his opponent(s), on the one hand, reframed the debates away their tenor of serious exchanges of political views to informal banter. On the other hand, this use of familiar forms of address also characterized his more casual and informal communicative style, which stands in contrast with the other two debaters.