Modalization and argumentation

overmodalization, remodalization and commodalization in Pope Francis' self-help books

Abstract

In this work, we aim to describe and analyze the different modalizations (epistemic, deontic, volitive and facultative) and their distinctive uses (overmodalization, remodalization and commodalization) as argumentative strategies in Pope Francis' self-help books. For this, we resort to the typology of the modalities of Hengeveld (2004) and the works related to the distinctive uses of modalization, in this case, Corbari (2016), Valentim (2017) and Gasparini-Bastos and Brunelli (2019). After analyzing the books, we concluded that the different modalities serve to confirm pragmatic information already shared between the religious leader and the faithful (epistemic), to establish subjective evaluations of rules and norms of conduct (deontic), to express capacities and abilities with the power of the divine (facultative) and manifest what is desirable on the part of the divinity (volitive). In relation to distinctive uses, commodalization is used to assert or mitigate the modal contents engendered in the discourse, while overmodalization seeks to superimpose the subjectivity of one modal content over the other. On the other hand, the remodalization intends to assert the modal values ​​expressed, showing the need to materialize the event described by the predicates that are under the influence of the modalizer.