engleski

Rational Argumentation in Irrational Discourse: Argumentative Techniques of Verbal Charms

In the study of verbal charms, which has grown significantly during the last decades, the folklorists have been studying not just the structure of verbal charms, but also the act of charming and the role of charmers, the persons performing the act of charming. This triadic focus of interest, where all instances are treated with equal importance, is very similar to the rhetorical approach and its focus on speaker, message and the audience. Modern rhetorical approach is necessarily connected with the argumentation theory and pragmalinguistics because they are all interested in the influence of specific text or discourse on the desired audience. Because the verbal charms essentially rely on the belief in the magical power of words, they have been traditionally treated as a form of irrational discourse which emphasizes the role of sound patterning and nonsense words. Indeed, the common use of nonsense and “magical” words is the main stylistical feature of this folklore genre, but nevertheless there are many signals of rational argumentative techniques employed for the purpose of achieving the desired effect (verbal charm as a peformative speech act). Typical argumentative structures can be seen in the common use of analogies, especially those which rely on the experience of divine creatures and saints (especially in Christian verbal charms). In healing charms, the argumentative procedure of qualifying the source of illness (abusive argumentum ad hominem) is highly used. This procedure is also typical for the charms with the function of exorcism. The third important aspect of argumentative discourse is the argument from authority, which is expressed in paratextual comments made by the charmer, but it is also encrypted in the structure of the charm. This paper will present how these three aspects of argumentation are employed in Croatian verbal charms collected from the 19th century onwards. In addition the analyzed corpus is compared with English and German verbal charms in order to show common argumentative traits of European Christian charms.

argumentation; authority; charm; folk prayer; rhetoric

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