Frequency, Sources, and Functions of Direct Quotations in Montenegrin Parliamentary Discourse

Quotations are powerful rhetorical and persuasive devices in political discourse and are an aspect of its intertextualityIntertextuality. They can take various forms and serve multiple functions, and exploring their use in political discourse can contribute to the deconstruction of deeper political discourse dynamics. Despite this, quotations in political discourse have received limited scholarly attention in the political discourse of non-Western countries. The aim of this chapter is to investigate the presence, sources andQuotationsdirectfunctions of functions of direct quotationsQuotationsdirect i.e., verbatim quotationsVerbatim quotation, in Montenegrin parliamentaryMontenegrin parliament discourse, using a discourse-pragmatic approachDiscourse-pragmatic approach. The corpus comprises transcripts of six parliamentary debatesDebate conducted in MontenegroMontenegro in 2022. Direct quotations are identified using quotation marks as a search criterion. I determine their frequency, classify them according to their sources of attribution, and establish the purposes for which they are used. The findings indicate that theQuotationsdirectfrequency of frequency of direct quotationsQuotationsdirect can vary significantly from one debate to another. Further, Montenegrin MPs most frequently directly quote legal documents, literary sources, other politicians, and proverbs. The most frequent purposes for which direct quotationsQuotationsdirect are used include supporting one’s own argument, attacking political opponents, defending others, and proposing legal provisions.