Fifty Shades of Fear: Enhancing Persuasion in Sermon Conclusions through Fear Induction

ADAM, Martin. Fifty Shades of Fear: Enhancing Persuasion in Sermon Conclusions through Fear Induction. In Silesian Studies in English SILSE 2018: 5th International Conference of English and American Studies. 2018.

Basic information

• Original name: Fifty Shades of Fear: Enhancing Persuasion in Sermon Conclusions through Fear Induction
• Name in Czech: Padesát odstínů strachu: posílení persvaze v závěrečných pasážích kázání skrze vybuzení strachu
• Authors: ADAM, Martin (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Silesian Studies in English SILSE 2018: 5th International Conference of English and American Studies, 2018.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 60203 Linguistics
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14410/18:00101134
• Organization unit: Faculty of Education
• Keywords (in Czech): persvaze; pathos; kázání; strach; emoce; důvěryhodnost
• Keywords in English: persuasion; pathos; sermon; fear; emotion; credibility
• Tags: International impact

Abstract

Pathos, one of the three Aristotelian sources of appeal, is generally mediated via affect and emotions. In religious discourse it is, among other things, effectively reinforced by the intentional juxtaposition of the factual (serious theological content, intertextual references to credible sources) on the one hand, and the affective (both positive and negative emotions) on the other. It follows that a whole scale of emotions may undoubtedly be ignited in religious discourse, including sentiment, compassion, excitement, sadness, guilt, fear, and the like; these are eventually to promote the doctrine, to make the believers to realise and accept spiritual truths, to encourage them to strive for a godly life, etc. The proposed corpus-based paper will examine how negative affect, viz. fear induced deliberately by the preacher, may foster the persuasive effect in sermons. Scrutinizing both rhetorical conventions and language practices of sermons, the paper will demonstrate that owing to the employment of various shades of negative emotions, the message conveyed is more appealing, and thus persuasive, to the audience.

Abstract (in Czech)

Pathos, jeden ze tří aristotelských typů apelu, je obecně zprostředkován prostřednictvím afektu a emocí. V náboženském diskurzu je mimo jiné účinně posílen záměrným souběhem faktů (vážný teologický obsah, intertextuální odkazy na věrohodné zdroje) na jedné straně a afektem (pozitivní i negativní emoce) na straně druhé. Příspěvek zkoumá strach vyvolaný úmyslně kazatelem, a to, jak může podpořit přesvědčivý účinek v kázních.

Links

• GA17-16195S, research and development project: Name: Persvaze v anglickém a českém specializovaném diskurzu

Investor: Czech Science Foundation