情态隐喻视阈下庭审律师身份建构研究

Identity Construction of Defense Attorneys in the Courtroom from the Perspective of Mo-dality Metaphors

庭审作为法律正义实现的关键环节,是涉案利益各方交际的重要场所,在这个动态复杂的语境中,律师作为法庭的核心参与者,通过言语选择塑造自身在案件重现过程中的身份。情态隐喻作为一种独特的语法手段,不仅用于传递表层语义信息,还可将说话者的态度、观点或情感等深层次信息表达出来。因此,本研究选取美国最高法院30场庭审,旨在揭示庭审语境下辩护律师情态隐喻的使用特点以及通过情态隐喻所建构的语用身份。研究发现,辩护律师倾向于使用情态化隐喻式且多采取显性主观取向,借此主要建构了四种语用身份,即专业的法律从业者、利益维护者、观点持有者和建议者。本研究有助于揭示法庭交际中辩护律师的语用策略,拓展情态隐喻在法律语境中的应用范围,为提升辩护律师在法庭交际的效果提供实际指导。

The trial, as a pivotal stage in the realization of legal justice, serves as a crucial arena for communi-cation among parties involved in the case. In this dynamic context, attorneys, being central partici-pants in the courtroom, construct their identities through their choice of language. Modality meta-phor, as a grammatical device, is employed not only to convey the ideational information but also to articulate deeper aspects, including the speaker’s attitudes, viewpoints, and emotions. Therefore, this research explores 30 Supreme Court trials in the United States, aiming to reveal the character-istics of defense attorneys’ use of modality metaphors in the trial and the pragmatic identities con-structed through it. The findings suggest that defense attorneys tend to use modalization resources, often adopting an explicitly subjective orientation, and primarily construct four pragmatic identi-ties: Professional legal practitioners, advocates of interests, holders of viewpoints, and advisors. This study contributes to unveiling the pragmatic strategies employed by defense attorneys in courtroom communication, broadening the application of modality metaphor in legal contexts, and providing practical guidance to enhance the effectiveness of defense attorneys in courtroom com-munication.