DECONSTRUCTING “MY SWEET LORD”: PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF AN ARGUMENT

Adopting a pragmatic approach to discourse analysis, I undertake an analysis of one argument between two men using a constructionist framework. I select three interactional features for analysis: self-reference, other-reference, and metaphorical language. I demonstrate how the two men agree to cooperate “as a kind of rationality” (Mey 1993, p.71) in order to co-produce meaningful interaction, while simultaneously advancing their own agendas and weakening each other s positions. From my analysis, four highly-intertwined themes emerge for discussion: constructions of the identity of the self, constructions of the identity of the other, affiliation, and disaffiliation.