Eristic argumentation in digital interactions: a medical polemic about chloroquine in CNN Brazil's Debate 360 show.

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing two types of eristic argumentative interactions held in CNN Brazil YouTube channel: an interaction between debaters and mediators in the 'Debate 360' show and an interaction between the comments of the social network users about the same debate. The study draws on Plantin's (2008) interactional perspective on argumentation, on Amossys's (2018) view on argumentative polemics, on Walton's (1998) conception of eristic dialogue and on Culpeper's (2011) and Blitvich's (2010) discussion on interactive impoliteness. The corpus is composed, in terms of the debate, of twelve argumentative interventions and, in terms of comments, of a chain of nine utterances, all of them characterized by the instantiation of eristic features. The analysis focuses on (1) the interaction between two specialists, mediated by two journalists, about a controverse theme - the usage of hydroxichloroquine on Covid-19 patients, and (2) the interaction between the social network users in reaction to the debaters' argumentation. The study shows which characteristics of polemics are instantiated in both interactions, specifies the features of the eristic dialogue that characterize the interactions and indicates how impoliteness acts are associated with argumentation. The results enable to comprehend how eristic argumentative interactions work in the digital environment and how the formation of ideological bubbles affords opportunities for conflicts of opinion. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Este artigo visa a analisar dois tipos de interacoes argumentativas eristicas realizadas na rede social YouTube da CNN Brasil: a interacao entre debatedores e mediadores do Debate 360 e a interacao entre os comentarios dos usuarios da rede social sobre o mesmo debate. Apoia-se nos aportes teoricos de Plantin (2008) sobre a perspectiva interacional da argumentacao, de Amossy (2018) sobre a argumentacao polemica, de Walton (1998) sobre o dialogo eristico e de Culpeper (2011) e Blitvich (2010) sobre a impolidez na interacao. O corpus constitui-se de doze intervencoes argumentativas do debate e uma cadeia de nove comentarios, caracterizados pelo dialogo de teor eristico. A analise do corpus focaliza (1) a interacao entre dois especialistas sobre o tema controverso do uso da hidroxicloroquina em pacientes de covid-19, mediados por dois jornalistas e (2) a interacao entre usuarios da rede em reacao a argumentacao dos medicos. O estudo demarca quais caracteristicas da modalidade polemica estao presentes nos dois tipos de interacao, especifica as marcas do dialogo eristico e indica como os atos de impolidez associam-se a argumentacao. Os resultados permitem compreender o funcionamento da interacao argumentativa eristica no ambiente digital e como o processo de formacao de bolhas ideologicas potencializa as oportunidades de confronto de posicao. (Portuguese) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Revista de Estudos da Linguagem is the property of Revista de Estudos da Linguagem and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)