Dass Sie so argumentieren, erschreckt mich! : Strategien der verbalen Ablehnung in Fernsehtalkshows.

Sammanfattning: German talk shows enjoy great popularity among the TV audience and the most acclaimed ones can reach several million viewers each week. Talk shows are public platforms where the participants give their opinion on current events and present their ideas to a broad audience. The fact that they take place in public is of great importance. As politicians, journalists or legal experts, they do not only take part in a debate but also represent their own public image or possibly even the institutions they work for. The role they take within the discussion influences the perception of them as a person during the show and can affect their professional life outside of the talk show as well. This thesis analyses acts of verbal rejections used by participants and moderators of German TV talk shows as to how they impact the image of the recipient with regard to their role within the discussion. In accordance with the concept of face, introduced by Goffman, Brown and Levinson, this study evaluates acts of rejection according to their potential of face threatening, as well as possible revaluation for the critics own face. The analysis will draw attention to expressions used to undermine other participants’ ability to argue correctly as well as their credibility in the discussion assessing the importance of such acts in the light of the public nature of the discussion. Finally, this paper will also give view of the moderators’ role in the show, as, apart from their neutral leading position in the discussion, they too can express rejection or become victim of the participants’ criticism.