Emotional Rhetoric as a Tool of Action in Public Debate on the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and Marriage

Authors

• Taina Järvenpää Jyväskylän yliopisto
• Esa Lehtinen Jyväskylän yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0218-6075

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62442/ta.177346

Keywords:

public debate, discursive psychology, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

Abstract

This study examines public debate on the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and marriage from the perspective of emotional speech. Drawing on discursive psychology, we approach linguistically performed emotions as resources for social action. We scrutinize how participants use emotional rhetoric to argue, negotiate, and pursue their goals. Furthermore, we observe the interaction order of the marriage debate by focusing on its emotional and epistemic order. Our analysis shows that religious discourse is built upon an epistemic order, whereas equality discourse also relies on an emotional order. The findings indicate that religious discourse and equality discourse have discursive patterns that cannot be explained solely by the affectivity typical of social media discourse. The article provides a lens for exploring emotions as part of interaction and social action.