The Modern Racist Ideology and its Reproduction in “Pseudo-Argument”

Abstract

A discourse analysis of conversations between American undergraduate students discussing issues of race on a university campus reveals a well-defined speech activity which shares many features in common with argumentative discourse. However, the data are quite distinct from ordinary argumentative discourse on structural and functional grounds. The kind of discourse involved in the data is called “pseudoargument” because participants employ features of ordinary argumentation in order to shield themselves against potential negative attributions, and thus, by making their talk appear argumentative, participants are able to appear rational, unbiased, and nonracist in what is essentially a onesided discussion in which controversial beliefs and attitudes are continuously put forward and go unchallenged. Pseudo-argument is a collaborative activity in which participants jointly construct arguments (in the sense of to “make” an argument), and also simulate arguments (in the sense of to “have” an argument) in which the views of an absent antagonist are imported into the conversation and jointly disputed. It is this collaboration within the organizational framework of pseudo-argument which allows participants to diffuse, reinforce, practice and validate their beliefs and values. It is argued that the study of pseudo-argument may contribute to our understanding of discursal processes of reproduction of the “modern racist” ideology in everyday talk.