Linguistic Strategies and Power Negotiation in Spousal Conflicts in ‘The Justice Court

Abstract

This study examined power dynamics in spousal discourse within a Nigerian media

courtroom context, addressing the gap in research on how everyday marital conflicts

function as sites of discursive power negotiation. The specific objectives of the study were

to identify the linguistic strategies used to assert control in spousal conflicts and to analyse

how couples negotiated power relations through language. The study was grounded in

Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis, which provided a framework for

interpreting language as a social practice shaped by power and ideology. A qualitative

methodology was adopted, involving the purposive selection of two episodes of The

Justice Court obtained from YouTube. The episodes were repeatedly viewed and

transcribed verbatim to ensure analytical accuracy. The study found that spouses

employed linguistic strategies such as repetition, modality, possessive pronouns, reported

speech, and rhetorical questions to assert dominance or resist subordination. It also found

that power was not fixed but dynamically negotiated through interaction. Furthermore, the

study revealed that language served as a key resource for constructing gender roles,

authority, and identity in conflict situations. The study concluded that spousal discourse

functioned as a critical site for the enactment and contestation of power. The study

contributed to existing knowledge by demonstrating how media representations of marital

disputes reflect broader socio-cultural ideologies and expand discourse studies within the

Nigerian context.