Papilota-Diaz 67
was with consent. DL’s phrasal self-repetition, “the accused was there
in front of you,” serves as illocutionary indicating device (IFID). DL’s
illocutionary effect or the intended effect of DL’s illocutionary act to
NM should have been acceptance of DL’s version of event. However
illustrated in Extract 4, the illocutionary and perlocutionary effects
are not compatible. The perlocutionary effect of DL’s illocutionary
act to NM is incongruence to what DL has intended. Instead, of
accepting DL’s version, she flouts the maxim of quantity which
states “Do not make your contribution more informative than is
required.” NM’s utterance, “He was in front of me and lying on top
of me,” provides information that is more than required. Possibly,
DL expects NM to answer his query with a “yes” or “no”, but NM
provides additional information which is more than what is required
by DL’s query. The reason here is obvious; NM does not admit to
DL’s version of an event. By providing the necessary information
based on her earlier testimony, she gets involved in an interactional
resistance during cross examination. DL’s discourse strategy—the use
of phrasal self-repetition and reformulation to proffer a contrasting
version of an event—is unsuccessful. DL’s question as a speech act,
in this sense, is not intended to ask or elicit information; instead, it
serves as an imperative that directs NM to accept his version of an
event.
According to Koshik (2007), there are two different types of
responses to the actions that questions initiate. Preferred responses
are those that forward the action initiated by the question and
promote social solidarity. On the other hand, dispreferred responses
are those that block the action initiated by the question. In a
segment of Extract 1, the cross-examining defense lawyer is met
with dispreferred response given by the witness, “He was in front
of me and lying on top of me,” because it is somehow opposing the
contrasting version of an event proffered by the lawyer. Instead of
simply agreeing to the lawyer’s version, she added her own version
of the event. NM’s repetition of “He was on top of me,” reinforces
her testimony and promotes consistency in her claim of truth. This
confirms the notion that discursive control is not always maintained
by the questioner—DL, but it can be seized and used to the advantage
of the answerer—NM.
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