Speech acts

Speech act theory studies the way in which words are used, not only to present information, but also to carry out actions.

The speech act theory was introduced 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.

Many philosophers and linguists, such as Andreas Kemmerling, study speech act theory as a way to better understand human communication.

For very obvious reasons this theory has been influential in dramatic theory and performance analysis as well, as writers like Eli Rozik have demonstrated.[1]

Sources

https://www.thoughtco.com/speech-act-theory-1691986

Eli Rozik. 1993. Categorization of Speech Acts in Play and Performance Analysis In: Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism (Fall 1993) [2]