Politeness Theory and Relational Work

Bibliographic Data

ID5833827
AuthorsMichael A Locher (0000-0002-4630-7388), Richard J Watts
Year2005
Volume1
Issue1
Publication date2005-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Politeness Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1612-5681 • E-ISSN: 1613-4877
PublisherDe Gruyter Mouton (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.9
OpenAlexW2068343953
LanguageEN
Citations received489
References cited30

In this paper we briefly revisit politeness research influenced by Brown and Levinson's (1987) politeness theory. We argue that this research tradition does not deal with politeness but with the mitigation of face-threatening acts (FTAs) in general. In our understanding, politeness cannot just be equated with FTA-mitigation because politeness is a discursive concept. This means that what is polite (or impolite) should not be predicted by analysts. Instead, researchers should focus on the discursive struggle in which interactants engage. This reduces politeness to a much smaller part of facework than was assumed until the present, and it allows for interpretations that consider behavior to be merely appropriate and neither polite nor impolite. We propose that relational work, the "work" individuals invest in negotiating relationships with others, which includes impolite as well as polite or merely appropriate behavior, is a useful concept to help investigate the discursive struggle over politeness. We demonstrate this in close readings of five examples from naturally occurring interactions

Face negotiation theory · Politeness maxims · Politeness Theory · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access