Elsevier

Journal of Pragmatics

Volume 194, June 2022, Pages 1-5
Journal of Pragmatics

Editorial
Relevance theory: New horizons Foreword by Tim Wharton, Caroline Jagoe and Deirdre Wilson

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2022.03.012Get rights and content

Highlights

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    The influence of relevance theory continues to spread to other disciplines.

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    Researchers draw on other disciplines and domains of study to inform relevance theory.

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    The boundaries of the theory are continually being expanded and redefined.

Abstract

This editorial provides an overview of some of the new horizons that are visible from the pragmatic framework of relevance theory. While its roots lie firmly in linguistic pragmatics, the influence of relevance theory has spread – indeed, continues to spread – to a range of disciplines, some of which might be said to lie beyond its original domain. As well as contributing to cognitive sciences such as developmental and evolutionary psychology and the emergent domain of experimental pragmatics – relevance theory was, after all, originally conceived as a model of communication and cognition – a growing number of researchers is bringing a relevance-theoretic perspective to work in: literary and artistic studies; anthropology, cross-cultural studies and the social sciences; and disciplines as diverse as affective science, internet-mediated discourse and clinical practice.

Keywords

Inferential communication
Ostension
Non-propositional effects
Pragmatics
Relevance theory

Cited by (0)

Tim Wharton is Principal Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Brighton. His research explores how ‘natural’, non-linguistic behaviours – tone of voice, facial expressions, gesture – interact with the linguistic properties of utterances. His main theses are outlined in his 2009 book, Pragmatics and Non-Verbal Communication (CUP) which charts a point of contact between pragmatics, philosophy, cognitive science and psychology, and provides the analytical basis to answer the questions he poses. Current projects include a monograph with Louis de Saussure entitled Pragmatics and Emotion and he recently won an EU-funded Marie Curie project with Patricia Kolaiti called ‘Literature as Cognitive Object’.

Caroline Jagoe is Assistant Professor at Trinity College, Dublin. She has worked as a speech and language therapist and a researcher in the fields of neurorehabilitation as well as in acute, community and forensic psychiatry. Clinical pragmatics is a particular focus of her work and she situates herself as a Relevance Theorist, working on applications to conversational data involving people with schizophrenia, aphasia, and those who use alternative and augmentative communication. She has a particular interest in optimising communication access for those with communication disabilities and has been involved in projects in countries as diverse as Ireland, South Africa and Iraq.

Deirdre Wilson is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at UCL. Her main research interests are in communication and theoretical pragmatics: her long-standing collaboration with Dan Sperber (Relevance: Communication and Cognition; Meaning and Relevance) has led to publications on a wide variety of pragmatic topics, from disambiguation and reference resolution to rhetoric, style and the interpretation of literary works. Her novel Slave of the Passions was shortlisted for two prizes, and she is working (very slowly) on a second.

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