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3rd YEAR PRAGMATICS - POLITENESS THEORIES

Politeness can be defined as a means of minimizing confrontation indiscourse both the possibility of confrontation occurring at all, andthe possibility that a confrontation will be perceived as threatening

(Lakoff 1989: 102).

The face-saving view (Brown & Levinson 1987) revolves aroundGoffmans (1967) notion of face:

Face is an image of the self delineated in terms of approvedsocial attributes (1967:5).

Face= the public self-image that every member [of society] wantsto claim for himself. (Brown & Levinson 1987).

A persons concern for their positive face includes the desire to beratified, understood, approved of, liked or admired (1987:62)

e.g. you want me to acknowledge your existence (greet you), approveof your opinions (Youre right about fast foods) or express admiration( You did a terrific job).

A persons concern for their negative face revolve around the wantof every competent adult member that his actions be unimpeded byothers (1987:62)(i.e. you want me to let you say and do what you want.

Facework = the actions taken by a person to preserve/save their face.(also called remedial work)

Facework relies on the interactants mutual interest in cooperating tomaintain their respective faces. Since a threat is likely to lead to acounterthreat or even to escalate and turn into physical violence, the

S has a vested interest in maintaining the Hs face reciprocalconcern for the face

The positive evaluation of reputation, prestige, (self)-esteem, involvespreventing ones public image from suffering damage, i.e. from losingface. Potential damage to ones face simultaneously engenders faceprotection or facework / remedial work, destined to restore ones

allegedly damaged face.

Potential face threat involves 3 sociological variables :1) social distance2) relative power3) size of imposition,affect : more politeness is associated with greater liking (Brown &Gilman);

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presence of a third partymood (anger == decrease in politeness; joy == increase in politeness)

Any act that impinges upon a persons face to some extent (typicallyinsults, criticisms, insults) is a Face-threatening act (FTA).

- potential threats to the positive face : criticism, disagreement,apology, confession- potential threats to negative face : orders, requests, threats/

thanks, unwilling promises or offers.

Brown & Levinson propose 5 superstrategies that are systematicallyrelated to the degree of face threat :

1) Bald on record : The FTA is performed in the most direct, clear,unambiguous and concise way possible (B&L 1987: 69), in otherwords in compliance with Grices maxims.

Emergencies:HELP!!

Task- oriented commands:Give me that!

Requests:Put your coat away.

Alerting:Turn your headlights on! (When alerting someone to somethingthey should be doing)

2) Positive politeness : the use of strategies designed to redress theHs positive face wants Attend to the hearer: "You must be hungry,it's a long time since breakfast. How about some lunch?"

Avoid disagreement:

A: " What is she, small?"B: "Yes, yes, she's small, smallish, um, not really small butcertainly not very big."

Assume agreement: "So when are you coming to see us?"

Hedge opinion: "You really should sort of try harder."

Typical Positive Politeness Output Strategies :Notice, attend to H : Youve had your hair cut.Exaggerate (interest, approval, sympathy for H): That was so awful,my heart bled for youUse in-group identity markers : Joey, pal, come over hereSeek agreement (select a safe topic on which agreement is expected) :Nice weather today

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Avoid disagreement (white lies, hedging opinions): Yes, its kind ofnice.Joke (meant to put H at ease): So youre free to do me a favourtomorrow.Assert knowledge of Hs wants : I know you re looking for a good

dentist, heres his address.Offer, promise : Come over for a cup of coffee.Include S and H in the activity : Lets have a drink

3) Negative politeness : the use of strategies designed to redress theHs negative face wants (not interfering with the Hs freedom ofaction,compensating for potential interfering or transgressing theHs personal space)

Be indirect: "I'm looking for a comb."In this situation you are hoping that you will not have to ask

directly, so as not to impose and take up the hearer's time.Therefore, by using this indirect strategy, you hope they will offerto go find one for you.

Forgiveness: "You must forgive me but...."

Minimize imposition: "I just want to ask you if I could use yourcomputer?"

Pluralize the person responsible: "We forgot to tell you that you neededto by your plane ticket by yesterday."

Typical Negative Politeness Output StrategiesBe conventionally indirect: Do you mind opening the window?Q, hedge: I was wondering, could you help?Be pessimistic (use subjunctive, negative and remote possibilitymarkers): I dont suppose there would be any remote chance for anice quiet date?Minimize the imposition: Could I borrow your pen for only onesecond?Apologize: I dont want to trouble you, but...Impersonalize S and H: It would be great if this job were done.Go on-record as incurring a debt: Id be forever grateful if you helpedme with my exam.

4) Off-record : The FTA is performed in such a way that there is morethan one unambiguously attributable intention so that the actorcannot be held to have committed himself to one particular intent

performed by means of an implicature

Give hints:"It's cold in here."

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Be vague:"Perhaps someone should have been moreresponsible."

Be sarcastic, or joking:"Yeah, he's a real rocket scientist!"5) Withhold the FTA : An option any communicator has is not to talk

(Craig 1986)

Impoliteness

The notion of inherent impoliteness irrespective of context only holdsgood for a minority of acts, ore specifically those when H is engaged insome anti-social activity (picking nose or ears, belching,). No change ofcontext can remove the impoliteness from an U such as Do you thinkyou could possibly not pick your nose? (the offence is not amenable topoliteness work)

If politeness pursues the preservation of social harmony, impolitenessdeals with the use of strategies meant to create social disruption. Suchstrategies are oriented towards attacking/damaging face.

Mock impoliteness / banter = surface impoliteness, not intended tocause offence but to reinforce in-group solidarity.e.g. Eat beef you bastards (ad slogan of an Australian meat retailer) Howre you doing, motherfuckers? ( Metallica on opening theirconcert)

Impoliteness strategies (Culpeper 1996, 2003)

1. Bald on record impoliteness : the FTA is performed in a direct, clear,unambiguous and concise way in circumstances where face is notirrelevant or minimized.

2. Positive Politeness : the use of strategies designed to damage theHs + face wants

e.g. ignore the otherexclude the other from activity; be unsympathetic, unconcerned;useinappropriate identity markers;use obscene or secretive L, taboowords;seek disagreement;call names3. Negative impoliteness ; the use of strategies designed to damage

the Hs negative face wantse.g. frighten, condescend, scorn or ridicule; not treat the otherseriously; condescend, belittle the other (use diminutives); curse (wishfor action detrimental to other); invade the others space (physically ormetaphorically); put the others indebtedness on record

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4. Sarcasm or mock politeness : the FTA is performed with the use ofpoliteness strategies that are obviously insincere, and thus remainsurface realisations

5. Withhold politeness : the absence of politeness work whereexpected.

Criticisms of B&L :

1. B&Ls approach to politeness underestimates the impact of context,since both positive and negative face wants and face threats cannotbe assumed to apply in the same way across, individuals, cultures,situations.

2. B&L assume that the autonomy of negative face is always thedesired option, leaving out of the picture people who would ratherbe told what to do, and who do not always enjoy being independent.

3. Face does not involve all aspects of the self equally . The self

consists of layers of components with the most face-laden closestto the ego (Liu 1999). For instance, an insult directed at the colourof my carpet will hurt less than a derogative remark about mylecture in pragmatics. With a compulsive cleaner, the same remarkmay sound outrageously offensive.

4. Many acts that potentially threaten the Hs face can haveramifications for the Ss face. Orders, threats or criticisms reveal apotentially unfavourable, hence face-threatening image of the S.

5. Cooperative and polite behaviour does not solely arise out of theneed for reciprocity and exemption of mutual vulnerability. Politebehaviour promotes an image of kindness and friendliness which

may be an important identity claim of the self.