The twilight of passion, in “Some Prefer Nettles” by Junichirô Tanizaki

Abstract

This article analyzes colonial legal discourse through the study of a text from the Legal Papers of the Royal Audience of Nueva Galicia, focusing on the argumentative structure and discursive strategies used to construct the “truth” about the facts under judgment. From a pragmatic and socio-discursive perspective, the author argues that facts do not exist as objective entities prior to discourse, but rather acquire materiality and legal status through institutionalized linguistic practices. The analysis draws on speech act theory (Austin, Searle) and discourse analysis approaches (Van Dijk, Potter), understanding legal language as a form of action aimed at producing real effects on its recipients. The study examines a plea submitted by the fiscal protector of indigenous people against a death sentence, showing how the discourse seeks to influence the tribunal’s decision through the discrediting of testimonies, the narrative reconstruction of events, and the invocation of legal norms and authoritative sources. Resources such as exteriority, testimonial consensus, narrative detail, and the manipulation of legal categories are analyzed. The article concludes that legal discourse operates as a device of power that intertwines argumentation, ideology, and social practice, revealing the rhetorical and performative dimensions of justice in the colonial context.