DISCOURSE AND RHETORIC

The course is one of the interdisciplinary activities of the degree course in Language Sciences, of the course in Comparative International Relations (curricula: Americas and European Union Studies) and of the course in Environmental Humanities. It promotes theoretical knowledge and methodological competence that can be applied to the analysis of texts and textual corpora in different domains. In particular, the course aims to illustrate the principles and the instruments that are typical of discourse analysis, a multidisciplinary research approach which aims to investigate the tight relationship between discursive practices and societal structures and values.
Drawing on different disciplines, linguistics and rhetoric in the first place, discourse analysis helps to disclose the ideological features and the objectives of texts, emphasising the constitutive role of language in the social context.

Students will acquire the fundamentals of discourse analysis; they will be able to understand the nature of communication processes, focusing in particular on enunciation and persuasion. Rhetorical strategies will be analysed both in the argumentative and in the emotional dimension.
On the basis of the acquired theoretical and methodological competence, students will be able to analyse texts across domains and genres, with a main focus on climate crisis communication.
The investigation of actual examples will promote a critical attitude, making it possible to single out discursive and persuasive features in texts. This, in its turn, will develop communicative competence to be exploited also in text production.

No specific previous knowledge is required.

The course will begin with a critical discussion of the principles of rhetoric and discourse analysis, with a particular focus on textual analysis. Text types and genres will be defined, and the principles of enunciation and dialogism will be illustrated. The main tenets of pragmatics (speech acts, illocutionary forces, cooperative principle, performativity, implicit meanings) will be examined, together with the textual structures that represent them. Special attention will be devoted to argumentation and to the other components of persuasion (ethos, pathos).
All general concepts will be illustrated with numerous examples, mainly drawn from the domain of climate crisis communication, focusing on various text genres.

Augé, Anaïs (2023), Metaphor and Argumentation in Climate Crisis Discourse, Routledge, New York/London (a choice of chapters)
Rankema, J., and Schubert, C., Introduction to Discourse Studies, John Benjamins (a choice of chapters)
Santulli, F., and Degano, C., Agreement in Argumentation. A Discursive Perspective, Springer (a choice of chapters)

Further readings will be indicated during the lessons, and made available on the moodle web page of the course

Oral exam. Students are required to comment on a text and analyise some of its linguistic features. They will also answer questions concerning the theoretical contents of the course. Both parts of the exam will be assessed.

oral

Marks from 18 to 22 correspond to a pass level; from 23 to 26 good; from 27 to 30 cum laude very good/excellent

Conventional lectures; analysis of examples. Students are encouraged to participate to class discussions.

Overview of the lessons

2025-2026
15th Oct. Introduction to the course: programme, materials, exam
15th Oct. What is rhetoric? What is discourse analysis?
22nd Oct. Text and discourse: criteria of textuality and levels of text analysis
22nd Oct. The relationship between text and discourse
29th Oct. Text types: informative, descriptive, narrative, argumentative, prescriptive. Characteristics and examples
29th Oct. Text genres. Characteristics and examples
5th Nov. Polyphony and dialogism
5th Nov. The use of pronouns
12th Nov. Rhetoric and pragmatics
12th Nov. Principles of pragmatics. Speech acts, presuppositions, inferences
19th Nov. Metaphors
26th Nov. Metaphors and other figures of speech
26th Nov. The argumentative functions of figures of speech
3rd Dec. Further useful rhetorical tools: the concept of agency in climate crisis discourse
3rd Dec. General review based on the needs of the students

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Climate change and energy" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development