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“Is it the case that … ?”: Building toward findings of fact in Japanese criminal trials

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From the journal Semiotica

Abstract

This article explores the adversarial nature of Japanese criminal court proceedings by analyzing functions of the questions with X to iu koto ga arimasu ka? (‘Is it the case that X took place?’), based on courtroom discourse data and trial manuals for legal professionals. To discuss the roles of lawyers’ questions with the projection with the frame “Is it the case that … ?” in witness examination, the projection’s ideational, textual and interpersonal functions are analyzed drawing on Halliday’s systemic functional approach to discourse. By analyzing sequential roles of the projection, the article highlights the ways in which it serves as a story-construction device, as well as a signpost marker towards exposing inconsistency in witness’s testimony. The analysis also reveals that the dual ideational meanings of the projection – one everyday and the other technical – may leave lay participants unaware of its legal purposes, thus creating a potentially problematic lay-professional communication gap. The discussion of the interpersonal aspect suggests the projection’s role to neutralize coercive force of leading questions as well as to index an identity of legal authority. The paper concludes that while projection “Is it the case … ?” seems to symbolize the adversarial nature of Japanese criminal trials, its neutralizing effect and arbitrariness in use also imply the pseudo-adversarial and hybrid orientation.

Appendix: Symbols and abbreviations for transcription and interlinear gloss

ACC

accusative

CAUS

causative

COP

copula

DAT

dative

GEN

genitive

HORT

hortative

IMP

imperative

INS

instrumental

IP

interpersonal particle

LOC

locative

PAST

past tense

PASS

passive

PERF

perfective

POL

polite

PROG

progressive

NEG

negative

NOM

nominative

NOMZ

nominalizer

TE

Te-form

TEMP

temporal

TOP

topic

()

inaudible speech

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Published Online: 2017-4-20
Published in Print: 2017-5-24

© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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