Università della Svizzera italiana

The semiotics of migrants’ food : between codes and experience

Greco, Sara

In: Semiotica, 2016, no. 211, p. 59–80

This paper sets out to analyze cultural semiotics of migrants’ food and culinary practices. Moving from the perspective of the Tartu school of semiotics, which views culture both as a grammar (a set of codes) and as a set of texts, food can be characterized as a specific cultural element where grammar and text (code and experience) are woven together. International migrants live one or more...

Università della Svizzera italiana

Adding a temporal dimension to the analysis of argumentative discourse : justified reframing as a means of turning a single-issue discussion into a complex argumentative discussion

Greco, Sara ; Schär, Rebecca ; Pollaroli, Chiara ; Mercuri, Chiara

In: Discourse Studies, 2018, vol. 20, no. 6, p. 1-17

This paper seeks to extend existing models of argumentation by considering an important dimension of real-life argumentative discourse: how complex argumentative discussions evolve over time. We define a complex argumentative discussion as a multi-issue discussion, in which the different issues are interrelated in the form of a hierarchy. We claim that justified reframing might be used to...

Università della Svizzera italiana

“You must eat the salad because it is nutritious” : argumentative strategies adopted by parents and children in food-related discussions at mealtimes

Bova, Antonio ; Arcidiacono, Francesco

In: Appetite, 2014, vol. 73, p. 81-94

At mealtimes, the evaluation of the appropriate (or not appropriate) behavior concerning the food is often assumed as a topic of discourse. The aim of this study is to single out the argumentative strategies used by parents with their children and by children with their parents in order to convince the other party to eat or not to eat a certain food. Within a data corpus constituted by 30...

Università della Svizzera italiana

Contextual frames and their argumentative implications : A case study in media argumentation

Greco Morasso, Sara

In: Discourse studies, 2012, vol. 14, no. 2, p. 197-216

On the basis of a case-study based on the argumentative analysis of news in the press, this paper introduces and discusses strategic manoeuvring with contextual frames. Drawing on the linguistic notion of frame, I introduce the concept of contextual frame to refer to the news context, i.e. the background against which a certain event is presented as a piece of news. I argue that newspapers and...

Università della Svizzera italiana

Invoking the authority of feelings as a strategic maneuver in family mealtime conversations

Bova, Antonio ; Arcidiacono, Francesco

In: Journal of community & applied social psychology, 2013, vol. 23, no. 3, p. 206-224

This paper is centred on family conversations and focuses on the conditions that allow a specific strategic maneuver, the invocation of the authority, to be an effective argumentative strategy when used by parents to convince their children to accept rules and prescriptions. Within a corpus of argumentative sequences selected from 30 video-recordings of family mealtime conversations, an...

Università della Svizzera italiana

Argumentation between parents and children : A study of family discussions at mealtime

Bova, Antonio ; Rigotti, Eddo (Dir.)

Thèse de doctorat : Università della Svizzera italiana, 2013 ; 2013COM005.

In recent years, the family context has emerged as one of the most important contexts for the study of argumentation. The activity of mealtime, in particular, represents a privileged moment for studying how parents and children interact with each other, because it is one of the few moments during the day in which all family members come together and engage in intensive verbal interaction....

Università della Svizzera italiana

Do journalists' opinions affect news selection in a low-key conflict? : Newspaper coverage of the discussion of smoking bans in Switzerland

Schulz, Peter J. ; Hartung, Uwe ; Fiordelli, Maddalena

In: Journalism and mass communication quarterly, 2012, vol. 89, no. 3, p. 414-430

This quantitative content analysis applies the theory of instrumental actualization to Swiss newspaper coverage of smoking bans in public places. The theory holds that journalists' opinions affect news selection; it is studied here for the weighting and evaluation of arguments in news stories. The editorial stance of newspapers was related to the weighting of argumentative fields and the...

Università della Svizzera italiana

Argumentative and other communicative strategies of the mediation practice

Greco Morasso, Sara ; Rigotti, Eddo (Dir.)

Thèse de doctorat : Università della Svizzera italiana, 2009.

This work investigates how argumentation, namely the communicative exchange aimed at founding ones position in a reasonable fashion, is an essential condition for the fulfilment of the pragmatic goals of mediation, conceived of as a conflict resolution practice. In mediation, the parties are competent and responsible for the decision on the conflict, while the mediator helps them assume an...

Università della Svizzera italiana

I want to talk but it is not possible : Dinnertime argumentation in Swiss and Italian families

Arcidiacono, Francesco ; Bova, Antonio

In: US-China education review, 2011, vol. 8, no. 3, p. 355-368

This paper investigates to what extent Swiss and Italian family members engage to resolve differences of opinion during their everyday conversations at home. The goal is to point out the importance of the context in the an alytical reconstruction of argumentation carried out by parents and children at dinnertime and to highlight the similarities and diferences among different strategies. By...