Conversational strategy overlap has been negatively characterized in bon-ton codex of the diplomats and political assembly members, as well as in a spontaneous everyday conversation (Savic 1993; Basaragin 2016, 2017), referring to the rule ‘when one speaks, the others listen’. This conversational strategy is well described in discourse analysis in various cultures and in various conversational situations (Hummel 1992; Tromez-Plotz, 1991; Zumbuhl 1992), with the exception of the analysis in public TV political duels in Serbia.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the urge of the politicians for extensive usage of overlapping in TV duels in Serbia today (in the Serbian language) and to propose measures to change this existing state of affairs. Empirical material consists of the transcripts of four TV duels shows aired at the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 (“360 degrees” on channel N1, “Yes, maybe No” on RTS and two shows of the “Insider Debate”). Duels are conducted by male facilitator (1) and a female facilitator (2) with the participation of two, three politicians (female and male) from various political stands – government and opposition – who view the same topic from different angles.

The results showed that this form of strategic communication of the politicians has been used on a regular basis as a form of humiliation and incapability of the interlocutor to express their own views, which is specifically reflected in a different treatment when it comes to a female individual.

This doesn’t give a good image about the political culture, the culture of work, the culture of dialogues in a public domain in general, which journalist associations, current laws enforce, so that politicians take advantage of the analyzed phenomena, but at the same time they condemn them.

Hence there is a huge gap between the established language codex and immediate practice in public political discourse of the politicians in Serbia today.

Key words: political discourse, overlapping, conversational status, gender, TV duel

Bašaragin, Margareta; Savić, Svenka (2019). „Funkcije diskursne strategije 'govorenje uglas' u TV duelu političara u Srbiji“, u: Gruhonjić, Dinko (ur.); Drašković, Brankica (ur.) Zbornik radova sa Međunarodne naučne konferencije Mediji i javne poltike – uzmeđu proklamovanog i prakse, Odsek za medijske studije, Filozofski fakultet, Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, 91-107.

Ph.D. Margareta Bašaragin