Por um entendimento retórico-funcional da categoria modalidade em função argumentativa

Abstract

The aim of this article is to propose a dialogue between the postulates of two theoretical-methodological perspectives – the New Rhetoric, from the perspective of studies done by Perelman e Olbrechts-Tyteca ([1958], 1996) and the Linguistics of functional base from the perspective of studies done by Hengeveld & Mackenzie (2008) – which point to the understanding of the modality category in the argumentative function. We support that this dialogue makes possible the understanding of the ways modal linguistic expressions act in the construction of the argumentative speech, which in rhetorical terms is characterized as a piece of linguistic construct that has as the starting point the audience´s agreement regarding the premise in which the one who makes his/her argument bases and conducts his/her speech on conclusions authorized by justification – argumentative techniques.