‘She does not flee the house’
A multimodal poetics of space, path and motion in opening statements
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.35619Keywords:
multimodality, sexual assault trials, motion events, gender ideologies, opening statementAbstract
This article shows how an attorney’s multimodal narrative transforms an opening statement into an argument about the credibility of the main prosecution witness. The defence attorney integrates speech, gestures and exhibits to shape motion events and spatial images into relevant objects of evidentiary knowledge, creating inconsistencies in the witness’s account under the auspices of merely showing the jury locations and movements in the defendant’s home. We demonstrate how the encoding of motion events percolates in and through a polyrhythmic and multidimensional poetic format to naturalise gender ideologies – cultural expectations governing victim identity – in the social construction of rape’s legal facticity.
References
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Chaemsaithong , K. (2018) Use of voices in legal opening statements. Social Semiotics 28(1): 90–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2017.1278913
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Ginns, P., Hu, F., Byrne, E. and Bobis, J. (2015) Learning by tracing worked examples. Applied Cognitive Psychology 30(2): 160–169. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3171
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McNeill, D. (2006) Gesture and communication. In K. Brown (ed.) Encyclopedia of Linguistics (2nd edn) 58–67. New York: Elsevier.
Perrin, L., Caldwell, H. and Chase, C. (2003) The Art and Science of Trial Advocacy. Cincinnati: Anderson.
Roseano, P., González, M., Borràs-Comes J. and Prieto, P. (2016) Communicating epistemic stance: how speech and gesture patterns reflect epistemicity and evidentiality. Discourse Processes 53(3): 135–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2014.969137
Silverstein, M. (1985) On the pragmatic ‘poetry’ of prose: parallelism, repetition, and cohesive structure in the time course of dyadic conversation. In D. Schiffrin (ed.) Meaning, Form, and Use in Context: Linguistic Applications 181–198. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Talmy, L. (1985) Lexicalization patterns: semantic structure in lexical forms. In T. Shopen (ed.) Language Typology and Syntactic Description vol. 3: Grammatical Categories and the Lexicon 57–149. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, J. (1993) Prepositions and object concepts: a contribution to cognitive semantics. In C. Zelinsky-Wibbelt (ed.) The Semantics of Prepositions: From Mental Processing to Natural Language Processing 151–219. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Wermeskerken, M., Fijan, N., Eielts, C. and Pouw, W. (2016) Observation of depictive versus tracing gestures selectively aids verbal versus visual-spatial learning in primary school children. Applied Cognitive Psychology 30(5): 806–814. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3256
Chaemsaithong, K. (2017a) Evaluative stancetaking in courtroom opening statements. Folia Linguistica 51(1): 103–132. https://doi.org/10.1515/flin-2017-0003
Chaemsaithong, K. (2017b) Speech reporting in courtroom opening statements. Journal of Pragmatics 119: 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.08.003
Chaemsaithong , K. (2018) Use of voices in legal opening statements. Social Semiotics 28(1): 90–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2017.1278913
Cotterill, J. (2003) Language and Power in Court: A Linguistic Analysis of the O.J. Simpson Trial. New York: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230006010
Gilbert, K. and Matoesian, G. (2015) Multimodal action and speaker positioning in closing argument. Multimodal Communication 4(2): 93–112. https://doi.org/10.1515/mc-2015-0008
Ginns, P., Hu, F., Byrne, E. and Bobis, J. (2015) Learning by tracing worked examples. Applied Cognitive Psychology 30(2): 160–169. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3171
Givon, T. (1978) Negation in language: pragmatics, function, ontology. In P. Cole (ed.) Syntax and Semantics vol. 9, 69–112. New York: Academic Press.
Goldin-Meadow, S. (2003) Hearing Gesture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Goodwin, C. (1994) Professional vision. American Anthropologist 96(3): 606–633. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1994.96.3.02a00100
Goodwin, C. (2003) Pointing as situated practice. In S. Kita (ed.) Pointing: Where Language, Culture, and Cognition Meet 217–241. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Haydock, R. and Sonsteng, J. (1990) Trial Theories, Tactics and Techniques. St. Paul, MN: West.
Heath, C., Hindmarsh, J. and Luff, P. (2010) Video in Qualitative Research. London. Sage.
Heffer, C. (2005) The Language of Jury Trial: A Corpus-Aided Linguistic Analysis of Legal–Lay Discourse. New York: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502888
Horn, L. (1979) A Natural History of Negation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hu, F., Ginns, P. and Bobis, J. (2014) Does tracing worked examples enhance geometry learning. Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology 14: 45–49.
Hu, F., Ginns, P. and Bobis, J. (2015) Getting the point: tracing worked examples enhances learning. Learning and Instruction 35: 85–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2014.10.002
Huber, J. (2017) Motion and the English Verb: A Diachronic Study. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190657802.001.0001
Jackendoff, R. (2002) Foundations of Language: Brain, Meaning, Grammar, Evolution. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198270126.001.0001
Jakobson, R. (1960) Closing statement: linguistics and poetics. In T. Sebeok (ed.) Style in Language 398–429. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kendon, A. (2004) Gesture: Visible Action as Utterance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511807572
Klippel, A., Tenbrink, T. and Montello, D. (2013) The role of structure and function in the conceptualization of direction. In M. Vulchanova and E. van der Zee (eds) Motion Encoding in Language and Space 102–119. New York: Oxford University Press.
Krahmer, E. and Swerts, M. (2007) The effects of visual beats on prosodic prominence: Acoustic analyses, auditory perception and visual perception. Journal of Memory and Language 57(3): 396–414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2007.06.005
Lempert, M. (2012) Indirectness. In C. Paulston, S. Kiesling and E. Rangel (eds) The Handbook of Intercultural Discourse and Communication 180–204. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
Levin, B. (1993) English Verb Classes and Alternations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Maricchiolo, F., Gnisci, A., Bonaiuto, M. and Ficca, G. (2009) Effects of different types of hand gestures in persuasive speech on receivers’ evaluations. Language and Cognitive Processes 24(2): 239–266. https://doi.org/10.1080/01690960802159929
Matoesian, G. (2001) Law and the Language of Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Matoesian, G. and Gilbert, K. (2016) Multifunctionality of hand gestures and material conduct during closing argument. Gesture 15(1): 79–114. https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.15.1.04mat
Mauet, T. (2017) Trial Techniques (10th edn). New York: Aspen.
McNeill, D. (1992) Hand and Mind: What Gestures Reveal about Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McNeill, D. (2005) Gesture and Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226514642.001.0001
McNeill, D. (2006) Gesture and communication. In K. Brown (ed.) Encyclopedia of Linguistics (2nd edn) 58–67. New York: Elsevier.
Perrin, L., Caldwell, H. and Chase, C. (2003) The Art and Science of Trial Advocacy. Cincinnati: Anderson.
Roseano, P., González, M., Borràs-Comes J. and Prieto, P. (2016) Communicating epistemic stance: how speech and gesture patterns reflect epistemicity and evidentiality. Discourse Processes 53(3): 135–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2014.969137
Silverstein, M. (1985) On the pragmatic ‘poetry’ of prose: parallelism, repetition, and cohesive structure in the time course of dyadic conversation. In D. Schiffrin (ed.) Meaning, Form, and Use in Context: Linguistic Applications 181–198. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Talmy, L. (1985) Lexicalization patterns: semantic structure in lexical forms. In T. Shopen (ed.) Language Typology and Syntactic Description vol. 3: Grammatical Categories and the Lexicon 57–149. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, J. (1993) Prepositions and object concepts: a contribution to cognitive semantics. In C. Zelinsky-Wibbelt (ed.) The Semantics of Prepositions: From Mental Processing to Natural Language Processing 151–219. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Wermeskerken, M., Fijan, N., Eielts, C. and Pouw, W. (2016) Observation of depictive versus tracing gestures selectively aids verbal versus visual-spatial learning in primary school children. Applied Cognitive Psychology 30(5): 806–814. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3256
Published
2018-12-07
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Matoesian, G., & Gilbert, K. E. (2018). ‘She does not flee the house’: A multimodal poetics of space, path and motion in opening statements. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 25(2), 123-149. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.35619
