Speech Act Theory

Speech act theory is a linguistic theory that evolved in the 1970s.

The theory

What has come to be known as Speech Act Theory is an approach to human communication that studies the way in which words are used, not only to present information, but also to carry out actions and was probably inspired by the writings of Wittgenstein, but introduced in their 20th century incarnation by Oxford philosopher J.L. Austin in "How to Do Things With Words" and further developed by American philosopher John Searle. It considers the degree to which utterances are said to perform locutionary acts, illocutionary acts, and/or perlocutionary acts.

Though there has been some criticism of the theory, many philosophers and linguists, study speech act theory as a way to better understand human communication and has had an influence on the general theory and practice literary and performance criticism.

For very obvious reasons this theory and the very notion of speech acts (called taalhandelinge in Afrikaans) have been influential in the evolution of 20th century dramatic theory and performance analysis as well, as writers like Eli Rozik have well demonstrated.[1]

A South African publications on the theory have been published by writers like H.P. van Coller, Charles Malan,