Spiegare per farsi capire: aspetti linguistici e gestuali di un esercizio di potere

Different studies in scientific popularization in Italian have generally favored aspects of sociolinguistic variation rather than pragmatic-communicative aspects: diaphasic aspects (correlation of popularization with specific textual types compared with those at the high level of specialized communication; formulation of a scientific content adequate to the recipient’s understanding), diamesic aspects (impact of the communication channel on the modalities for realizing popularization), and diglottic aspects (English functional to specialized communication, Italian functional to popular communication). This paper constitutes a contribution to the study of popularized scientific discourse on a pragmatic level. More specifically, the article proposes a categorical model useful for analyzing the production and demonstration of truth as a multimodal action of power performed by the expert invited to television broadcasts dedicated to the popularization of medicine. Two categories are discussed in particular (on the one hand the evidence and the concreteness, on the other the reproduction of medical technique). Finally, the different gesture types (the adaptors and the illustrators) performed by the expert in support of the speech are analyzed.