Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Argument in a Nutshell: Condensation as a Transfiguring Mechanism in Argumentative Discourse

  • Published:
Argumentation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although not generally regarded as a significant area of inquiry, the condensation of argumentative structures and the presence of `miniaturized' yet self-sufficient arguments in stand-alone, sub-discursive linguistic units, especially those below the level of a compound sentence, deserve a close look. Built skillfully into key words, catchy phrases, subtly appealing tropes, etc., these condensed arguments are often instrumental in accounting for the way some small linguistic units work magic on the audience. Taking such mini structures seriously holds two promises for argumentation studies: a widened scope of investigation and a unique contribution to the understanding of how rhetorical effects are being produced at the sub-syntactic or lexical level.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Anderson, Benedict: 1991, Imagined Communities (revised ed.), Verso, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Benedict: 1998, The Spectre of Comparisons, Verso, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aristotle: 1984, Jonathan Barnes (ed.), The Complete Works of Aristotle, Princeton University Press, Princeton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, Pierre: 1990, The Logic of Practice, Stanford University Press, Stanford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee, Partha: 1999, 'Anderson's Utopia', Diacritics 29, 128–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • and_event/v002/2.4connolly.html.

  • Docherty, Thomas (ed.): 1993, Postmodernism: A Reader, Columbia University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eagleton, Terry: 1996, The Illusions of Postmodernism, Blackwell, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eemeren, Frans H. van, Rob Grootendorst and Francisca Snoeck Henkemans et al.: 1996, Fundamentals of Argumentation Theory, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eemeren, Frans H. van and Rob Grootendorst: 1992, Argumentation, Communication, and Fallacies: A Pragma-dialectical Perspective, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, Michel: 1980, The History of Sexuality Vol I: An Introduction, Vintage Books, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassan, Ihab: 1987, The Postmodern Turn, Ohio State UP, Columbus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kittay, Eva Feder: 1989, Metaphor, Oxford UP, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyotard, Jean-François: 1992, The Postmodern Explained, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zarefsky, David: 1998, 'Definitions', Argument in a Time of Challenge: Definitions, Frameworks, and Critiques, National Communication Association, Annandale, VA.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Foreign Languages, Fujian Normal University, Fozhou, Fujian, 350007, China

    Yameng Liu

Authors
  1. Yameng Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Liu, Y. Argument in a Nutshell: Condensation as a Transfiguring Mechanism in Argumentative Discourse. Argumentation 18, 43–59 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ARGU.0000014870.56718.6c

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:ARGU.0000014870.56718.6c

Search

Navigation