Language Use in the Public Sphere: Methodological Perspectives and Empirical Applications

This book comprises a range of general discussions on tradition and innovation in the methodology used in discourse studies (Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis, Argumentation Theory, Rhetoric, Philosophy) and a number of empirical applications of such methodologies in the analysis of actual instances of language use in the public sphere – in particular, discourses arising in the context of the debate on the presence of religious symbols in public places.

Manuel Casado is Chair Professor of Spanish Linguistics at the University of Navarra (Spain), where he directs the interdisciplinary Research Project «Public Discourse: Persuasive and Interpretative Strategies» at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) and the Navarra Research Group on Discourse Analysis (GRADUN). He is a Corresponding Member of the Royal Spanish Academy. His research currently focuses on Text Linguistics and Discourse Analysis.
Óscar Loureda is Chair Professor of Spanish Linguistics at the University of Heidelberg (Germany), and since 2011 he has been the director of the University’s Iberoamerika-Zentrum. He is also a member of the Research Group «Discourse Particles and Cognition» in the Heidelberg University Language and Cognition Lab (HULC LAB). His research interests center on Semantics and Lexicography of Spanish, and on general theory of discourse (Text Linguistics, Text Grammar, Discourse Analysis).
Inés Olza is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with GRADUN (Discourse Analysis Group, University of Navarra) in ICS (Institute for Culture and Society). She also works as a Lecturer in General and Spanish Linguistics at the Spanish National University for Distance Education (UNED, associated center in Pamplona). Her research focuses on the semantic-pragmatic analysis of phraseology and metalanguage (of Spanish and other languages), on multimodality, and on the argumentative use of figurative language in public discourse.