ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the notion of misunderstanding in institutionalised discourse. It explores the objects and processes of misunderstandings in political discourse in the media, analyses the ways in which they differ from the discourse of misunderstanding in ordinary conversations and argues for the need for a context-sensitive theory of misunderstanding. The chapter begins by asking whether misunderstandings in broadcast political interviews are inherently different from misunderstandings in ordinary talk. It explains misunderstandings on the pragmatic and discursive levels, excluding cases of linguistic misunderstanding, and in developing the authors' argument will build on the relevant theories in pragmatics and discourse analysis, including authors' former work. The chapter argues that in non-public, interpersonal communication participants tolerate a high degree of non-acknowledged, unresolved potential misunderstanding. Political discourse operates within the same system, but by giving prominence to certain assumptions over others transforms considerably the notion of misunderstanding.
