ANALYZING THE PRAGMATIC FUNCTIONS OF RHETORICAL QUESTIONS IN PUBLIC DISCOURSE

Abstract

This article examines the macro-textual and pragmatic functions of rhetorical questions within public and political discourse from the perspective of text linguistics. Moving beyond traditional, sentence-level grammatical views, this study treats rhetorical questions as vital structural devices that govern textual coherence, segment boundaries, and the overall argumentative flow. Based on a structural corpus analysis, a new typology of rhetorical questions (introductory, refutational, and concluding) is proposed. Through a step-by-step contextual analysis, the paper illustrates how these structures actively transform passive text consumption into active reader participation, bridging logical premises with emotional conclusions. The study highlights new avenues for analyzing persuasive strategies in public media.