Early English Debate Poetry as Conflict Talk

This study examines conflict-related features in a corpus of English debate poems from ca. 1250–1650. The dataset includes 30 central texts of varying lengths from the medieval and early modern periods. The theoretical framework is that of historical discourse linguistics and dialogue analysis, with input from studies of present-day speech-in-interaction. Earlier research on this genre has been largely literary, and the present work provides new insights both into the types of moves found within the conflict sequence and the actual linguistic building blocks used to represent conflict interaction. The approach is mainly based on close reading, but qualitative methods are complemented with a quantitative analysis of frequently appearing linguistic items such as modals and negatives. The study begins with a survey of the earlier tradition of academic and literary debates, and a review of how conflict talk has been conceptualised in previous research. Most of the conflictive moves [...]established in earlier research on modern English were also found in debate poetry. This study identified two additional moves: predictions and formulations used for aggressive purposes. In terms of self-oriented moves, self-praise seems to be common in my material, and the methods of backing a claim are quite varied. The beginning phase of the conflict sequence was found to have a localised asymmetry which replicates that found in present-day conflicts: the attacking party has an initial advantage. As for the ending sequences, it emerged that a successful submission apparently required a full admission of error and a commitment not to repeat it. Other ways of negotiating a termination of conflict included mentioning time constraints and requesting a ruling from an arbitrator. The quantitative analysis also shows strategies that would tend to highlight the conflict element: the opponent’s statements are made to seem more extreme, and the speaker’s own arguments are represented as the only available option. The analysis also foregrounds the notion of evidentiality and the centrality of negotiating what constitutes acceptable proof. This is the first study to explore both medieval and early modern debate poetry in detail. The findings support those of earlier literary criticism, while shedding light on the linguistic aspect and thereby enhancing our understanding of how conflict was viewed and represented at the time. Some findings have relevance for today: the conflictive use of formulations and predictions may well be present also in everyday conflicts, even if it is less salient there.