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Calculated overcommunication: Strategic uses of prolixity, irrelevance, and repetition in administrative language

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Calculated overcommunication: Strategic uses of prolixity, irrelevance, and repetition in administrative language. / Hansson, Sten.
In: Journal of Pragmatics, Vol. 84, 01.07.2015, p. 172-188.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Hansson, S 2015, 'Calculated overcommunication: Strategic uses of prolixity, irrelevance, and repetition in administrative language', Journal of Pragmatics, vol. 84, pp. 172-188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.05.014

APA

Hansson, S. (2015). Calculated overcommunication: Strategic uses of prolixity, irrelevance, and repetition in administrative language. Journal of Pragmatics, 84, 172-188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.05.014

Vancouver

Hansson S. Calculated overcommunication: Strategic uses of prolixity, irrelevance, and repetition in administrative language. Journal of Pragmatics. 2015 Jul 1;84:172-188. Epub 2015 Jun 23. doi: 10.1016/j.pragma.2015.05.014

Author

Hansson, Sten. / Calculated overcommunication : Strategic uses of prolixity, irrelevance, and repetition in administrative language. In: Journal of Pragmatics. 2015 ; Vol. 84. pp. 172-188.

Bibtex

@article{8151908df8ba438090ca723e114f3f96,
title = "Calculated overcommunication: Strategic uses of prolixity, irrelevance, and repetition in administrative language",
abstract = "Oversupply of information, irrelevance, and repetition in political and administrative text and talk have received considerable scholarly attention, but the tendency to date has been to analyse these phenomena separately. In this article, I argue that it would be fruitful to explore these aspects in combination, as constitutive dimensions of calculated overcommunicative behaviour in public administration. Based on a multidisciplinary review of literature on cognitive manipulation, prolixity, (ir)relevance, discourse repetition, and administrative behaviour, I propose an original 'overcommunication framework' for explicating certain discursive macro-strategies of positive self-presentation used by public officeholders. In particular, I discuss how governments may use calculated overcommunication to avoid or deflect blame, to signal democratic openness, and to perform swiftness. By problematising the notion of 'overcommunication' and introducing it into discourse studies, I seek to open up new avenues of understanding and investigating political and organisational communication.",
keywords = "Blame avoidance, Cooperative Principle, Discursive strategies, Government communication, Manipulation, Overcommunication",
author = "Sten Hansson",
year = "2015",
month = jul,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.pragma.2015.05.014",
language = "English",
volume = "84",
pages = "172--188",
journal = "Journal of Pragmatics",
issn = "0378-2166",
publisher = "ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Calculated overcommunication

T2 - Strategic uses of prolixity, irrelevance, and repetition in administrative language

AU - Hansson, Sten

PY - 2015/7/1

Y1 - 2015/7/1

N2 - Oversupply of information, irrelevance, and repetition in political and administrative text and talk have received considerable scholarly attention, but the tendency to date has been to analyse these phenomena separately. In this article, I argue that it would be fruitful to explore these aspects in combination, as constitutive dimensions of calculated overcommunicative behaviour in public administration. Based on a multidisciplinary review of literature on cognitive manipulation, prolixity, (ir)relevance, discourse repetition, and administrative behaviour, I propose an original 'overcommunication framework' for explicating certain discursive macro-strategies of positive self-presentation used by public officeholders. In particular, I discuss how governments may use calculated overcommunication to avoid or deflect blame, to signal democratic openness, and to perform swiftness. By problematising the notion of 'overcommunication' and introducing it into discourse studies, I seek to open up new avenues of understanding and investigating political and organisational communication.

AB - Oversupply of information, irrelevance, and repetition in political and administrative text and talk have received considerable scholarly attention, but the tendency to date has been to analyse these phenomena separately. In this article, I argue that it would be fruitful to explore these aspects in combination, as constitutive dimensions of calculated overcommunicative behaviour in public administration. Based on a multidisciplinary review of literature on cognitive manipulation, prolixity, (ir)relevance, discourse repetition, and administrative behaviour, I propose an original 'overcommunication framework' for explicating certain discursive macro-strategies of positive self-presentation used by public officeholders. In particular, I discuss how governments may use calculated overcommunication to avoid or deflect blame, to signal democratic openness, and to perform swiftness. By problematising the notion of 'overcommunication' and introducing it into discourse studies, I seek to open up new avenues of understanding and investigating political and organisational communication.

KW - Blame avoidance

KW - Cooperative Principle

KW - Discursive strategies

KW - Government communication

KW - Manipulation

KW - Overcommunication

U2 - 10.1016/j.pragma.2015.05.014

DO - 10.1016/j.pragma.2015.05.014

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84934898651

VL - 84

SP - 172

EP - 188

JO - Journal of Pragmatics

JF - Journal of Pragmatics

SN - 0378-2166

ER -