Never mind the text types, here's textual force: Towards a pragmatic reconceptualization of text type

This paper discusses aspects of the theoretical and methodological confusion around the notions of language function, text type and genre, and proposes a restructuring of the purported relationship among them. Taxonomical biases regarding genre have led to the postulation of superordinate classes, variously labeled prototypical text categories, text prototypes, deep structure genres, or text types, which are typically defined on the basis of linguistic criteria; however, in practice, classifications of text types involve a strong functional component. The result of such mixing is a disparate set of analytical categories labeling text types. Rather than doing away with the problematic construct of text type, we propose a different approach whereby text type is reconceptualized as what we term the overall force of a text. Borrowing insights from speech act theory and Relevance theory we define force as an overarching textual function and argue that force is arrived at by processes of inference deploying contextual knowledge. Such an inferential approach allows for preserving the dynamism of this intuitively necessary superordinate construct.

► We explore theoretical approaches to genre and text type from different traditions. ► We show that there is theoretical uncertainty regarding the construct of text type. ► We deploy insights from Relevance theory and speech act theory. ► We recast the notion of text type as textual force, akin to illocutionary force. ► We argue that force is inferred pragmatically, with genre acting as context.