Abstract:
How and why are narratives used for argumentation in contemporary political letters to the editor? In order to find answers to this question, I examine about 50 letters to the editor from Swiss and German daily newspapers, all of which are related to COVID-19. In all letters, the writer presents an argument by telling a story. It turns out that the story usually serves as a premise for an argument from example in an argumentation with an evaluative standpoint. For the writers, unfolding such a premise as a narrative has the advantage that they can successively convey an evaluation together with the exemplary event. A socio-cultural benefit of such narrative arguments from example might be that they can easily connect the social micro-level with the societal macro-level in political debates.
摘要:
如何以及为什么在给编辑的当代政治信件中使用叙述进行论证?为了找到这个问题的答案,我检查了瑞士和德国日报给编辑的大约50封信,所有这些都与COVID-19有关。在所有的信件中,作者通过讲故事来提出论点。事实证明,这个故事通常是在具有评价性的论证中从示例中论证的前提。对于作家来说,展开这样的前提作为叙事具有这样的优点,即它们可以与示例性事件一起连续传达评估。这种叙事论证的社会文化利益可能在于,它们可以在政治辩论中轻松地将社会微观层面与社会宏观层面联系起来。