THE VOLITIVE MODALITY IN QUARANTINE REPORTS

VOLITION AS A DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION

Abstract

This research aims to describe and analyze the behavior of the volitive modality as a discursive resource and argumentative strategy in the personal narrative genre. For this, 87 reports, in Spanish, of people in home confinement (quarantine) were selected. In this sense, we resort to studies related to discursive modalization and definitions of volitive modality, which is a modal subtype related to what is (un)desirable. After analyzing the reports that made up the universe of this research, it was found that necessity is the most used logical-semantic operator, whose polarity of the volitive modality is mostly positive (volition), although there could be cases of negative polarity (nolition). Regarding modal values, it was found that intention and will are the most established values, followed by hope, desire and exhortation. In relation to the modal domain, the greater tendency of subjectivation of volitional modal contents, being expressed, for the most part, through modal auxiliaries and verbs of full meaning.