ImPoliteness basic notions + overview models Flashcards
What are Watts 2 politeness distinctions
Folk interpretations of politeness = lay people’s opinions → first-order (im)politeness1
Socio-linguistic assessments of politeness → second-order (im)politeness2
how to define politeness
matter of language vs / & behaviour, but lots of disagreeing notions:
showing respect? being helpful? opening doors?
some may consider polite behaviour as insincere
What is polite language? - indirect language? Respectful/formal terminology? Address forms (sir, madam), formulaic utterances (please, thank you, excuse me)
Again: could be considered by some as hypocritical, dishonest, distant
Watts attitude towards politeness theories so far? and which direction does he see proper?
“A theory of politeness should concern itself with the discursive struggle over politeness1, i.e. over the ways in which (im)polite behaviour is evaluated and commented on by lay members and not with ways in which social scientists lift the term ‘(im)politeness’ out of the real of everyday discourse and elevate it to the status of a theoretical concept in what is frequently called Politeness Theory”
Watt’s main gripe with Br / Lev?
Br/Lev: made the claim of politeness2 being a universal feature of language use → all word’s languages possess means of polite expression;
However: they also idealise the concept of politeness2; their reference point is their own understanding of politeness2, not the interactant’s understanding (as could be seen in their commentary during interaction
Watt’s main arguments for focussing on politeness1 (why is “im/politeness” as English word problematic)
On the one hand, he agrees: we can assume all cultures have mutually considered behaviour → cooperative social interaction seems to be universal
Also: all cultures will have inappropriate behaviour
But on the other: impoliteness is a lexeme of the English language, but notions of “polite/politeness” in English will not necessary exactly overlap with the existing equivalent word
E.g. Greek: expression of consideration, intimacy, warmth, friendliness
E.g. English: broader: not only consideration but also formality, adherence to distance, altruism, generosity, morality,
E.g. Russian: also stress intimacy, friendliness
and even: Historical change: politeness has not always meant the same (so even within one nation or group, the understanding can change, be even in flux right now)
What is Watt’s salient behaviour
He says, impoliteness is more likely to stand out to interactants than politeness. It is salient.
e.g. bodily noise, interruptions
What is politic?
Politic behaviour
= “Linguistic behaviour which is perceived to be appropriate to the social constraints of the on-going interaction, i.e. non-salient”
E.g. Within certain discourse types: certain verbal behaviour is expected, has become institutionalised → a phone-in radio programme: “I would like to ask please…” and “thank you for calling” are not salient behaviour → they are politic
However: asking “Can I come back in now?” “Can I just say…?” → salient behaviour to re-enter interactive floor, and request to change topic → not politic, but could be seen as polite
“Most forms of social interaction have become institutionalised and that the appropriate discursive practices are known to us.”
“Politic behaviour is (…) [which] the participants construct as being appropriate to the on-going social interaction.” → construction can happen before or during the interaction
21 polite behaviour goes beyond what is politic
Four problems when trying to “spot” instances of linguistic politeness:
1 lots of context / linguistic context is needed
2 speakers may constantly re-negotiate their boundaries thus their perception of what is polite / appropriate may constantly change
3 therefore, politeness theory cannot and shouldnt be predictive
4 no theory of politeness can be universal for all societies
what are the theoretical core notions / starting ideas of politeness research
Prepragmatic approaches to Linguistic politeness
Appeared in late 60s/early 70s in research
Core base of research are:
Speech act theory: Austin and Searle
Goffman’s notion of face
= public self-image, notion of human individual as a sacred object
Conversational implicatures by Grice
Cooperative principle and maxims
Grice’s cooperative principles:
= set of conversational maxims which interactions should adhere to
When maxim is violated, hearer has to make an implicature or inference to understand the intention behind the violation
Maxim of Quantity: utterance should be as informative as necessary, not more or less
Quality: speak the truth
Relation: utterance should be relevant to before
Manner: avoidance of obscurity, ambiguity
Grice himself suggested that a fifth manner of politeness might be necessary, Lakoff and Leech tried to formulate it
Lakoff’s politeness theory?
based on Grice’s needed 5th politeness maxim:
Model has two directions: one side: BE CLEAR (= GRICE’S maxims)
Other side: her own three maxims
Don’t Impose, Give Options, Make hearer feel good
Assumptions: Lakoff states that women speak more politely than men, it is rooted in insecurity
Politeness is marked → typically female, male speak in “dominant” unmarked forms
Women language: deference & camaraderie; Male: clarity & distance
Problems with Lakoff’s theory
Problem: if following be polite, the speaker is bound to violate one of the Gricean maxims at some point
(Lakoff says, if clarity conflicts with politeness, then politeness wins)
Assumes the inherent im/politeness of certain utterances / phrases
Leech’s politeness theory
Next to Grice’s Cooperative Principle; Leech’s own Politeness principle (6 maxims)
Central concept: Cost-benefit scale of politeness = politeness involves minimising the cost and maximising the benefit to both speaker and hearer.
E.g. modesty maxim: minimise praise of self, maximise praise of others
Well done! I wish I could sing that well
Problems with Leech’s theory
How is cost or benefit really defined? Are they always they universal, do they differ in individuals?
And: How can all of these 6 maxims of the Politeness Priciple plus Grice’s Cooperative Principle plus the Irony Principle be followed at the same time when speaking?
Leech approaches politeness from the direction of speech acts: also means he deems certain speech acts as inherently polite or impolite (e.g. the cost of advising has to be reduced because it is impolite)
Name cultural constructivist theories of politeness
Blum-Kulka, House, Kasper (apology and request in different languages)
