Zertum and Dubium in Persuasion or the Othello Reaction

This paper introduces and explains the double-z model of persuasion, which applies to the mental instances of certainty and doubt, modeled here as theoretical constructs. They stand in a dialectical relationship with each other in rhetorical events. The category of zertum is of particular importance in the core process of persuasion, which is associated with the term dogma here. A dense structural and functional analysis of a short scene from Shakespeare's Othello is followed by a theoretical discussion in which the double-z model is formalized and explained in detail. The final section concentrates on theoretical questions of pragmatics. The role of framings and communicative embeddings of the double-z structure is treated, as well as the evaluation consequences of assignments to certain types of communication (to rhetoric or manipulation).