Persuading disputants toward reconciliation: Discursive legitimation in Chinese mediation

Chinese mediation is a vital social practice for settling disputes and maintaining social harmony. However, little research has examined the linguistic maneuvering through which mediators promote reconciliation within the Chinese socio-cultural context. Drawing on authentic data collected from Chinese mediation sessions and applying the models of legitimation strategies and the Attitude system, this study explores the discursive legitimation patterns deployed by mediators and the socio-cultural underpinnings of their discourse. The study finds that mediators use four discursive legitimation patterns to legitimize their discourse of persuading disputants toward reconciliation: invoking authorities to assign blame to disputants engaged in misconduct (authority legitimation); appealing to moral expectations to represent making concessions as morally appreciated (morality legitimation); framing reconciliation as a rational and sensible choice (rationality legitimation); displaying and eliciting emotions to foster reciprocal understanding between disputants (emotion legitimation). The findings further uncover that Chinese mediators’ discourse is shaped by modern institutional authorities and traditional cultural values (such as guanxi , renqing , and mianzi ). • Chinese mediators construct discursive legitimation to advance reconciliation. • Chinese mediators deploy four legitimation patterns to legitimize their discourse. • Attitudinal resources are pivotal linguistic realizations of discursive legitimation. • Chinese mediators' discourse is shaped by specific socio-cultural factors.