Pragmatics, discourse, politeness, persuasion, speech act theories

TEMPORARY CENSUS / RITUAL EQUILIBRIUM:

Called so because every social exchange is a ritual with predetermined roles.

To maintain this equilibrium participants have to respect 2 principles:

• principle of respect: once the locutor has chosen a face, he has to maintain it (unless there are external

conditions i.e. (in italian) the interlocutor wants to be addressed with 2°person instead of 3°)

• principle of considerateness: it accounts for the fact that a person is always expected to recognize and respect

the face of his interlocutor

FTA:

If we don't respect either the principle of respect or the principle of considerateness, we wear a face threatening act,

which produces embarrassment threatening either the interlocutor's or the locutor's face and jeopardizing (mettere a

repentaglio) the conversation .

It is better to avoid FTA, but sometimes it is impossible, so we have to use politeness strategies to mitigate the threat.

Politeness strategies:

• off-record strategies: without addressing directly the hearer, but letting him know what we need, without

using the 2°person.

These strategies are very effective when we don't know people around us.

“I forgot my pen!”

• on-record strategies: directly addressing the hearer

◦ negative politeness strategies: used to threaten the negative face in a politeness way, giving the

interlocutor the possibility to answer “no”

“Please, would you be so kind to give me your pen?”

◦ positive politeness strategies: used to reduce the distance between people using friendly expressions and

taking for granted the acceptance of the interlocutor

“I'm taking your pen, ok?”

• baldly on record strategies: the most direct way. They don't imply any effort to mitigate the threat. It sound

very threatening unless the context or the friendliness with the interlocutor tempers it.

“Give me your pen!”

THEORY OF POLITENESS (SCHEME)

GOFFMAN:

 linguistic choices used to convey a specific “idea of themself” that they try to maintain: the “face” is

the public self-image which every adult tries to protect; there are: 11

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◦ positive face (L=I)

◦ negative face (2 levels: L>I; L<I)

 the choice of the face depends on:

◦ personal character

◦ role played

 a felicitous conversation is based on:

◦ principle of respect

◦ principle of considerateness

if we don't respect them: FTA; we should avoid it

 politeness strategies are used to mitigate the fta; they are:

◦ off-record

◦ on-record negative

◦ on-record positive

◦ baldly on-record 12

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POLITENESS MAXIMS / PRINCIPLE OF POLITENESS:

Leech tried to combine the idea of face (Goffman) and the principle of cooperation (Grice).

He determined the politeness maxims, which are 3 groups of criteria each of them subdivided into 2 groups according to

their focus, either on the hearer or on the speaker.

Maxim of tact and generosity: emphasis on costs/benefits. The one is the flip-side (altra faccia della moneta) of the

other

• Maxim of tact, focused on the hearer. It's used to minimize costs/maximize benefits to others.

Very similar to the negative politeness strategies. “Please..”

• Maxim of generosity: focused on the speaker. It's used to minimize benefits/maximize costs to self.

“let me explain this to you” “Can Can you lend)”

To be perceived as generous I borrow you pen?(≠

Maxim of approbation and modesty: emphasis on praise/dispraise. The one is the flip-side of the other.

• Maxim of approbation: focus on the hearer. Used to minimize dispraise/maximize praise to others.

Used when we disapprove something but we don't want to admit it.

“I heard you singing at the karaoke. It sounds you were really enjoying yourself!”

• Maxim of modesty: focused on the speaker. Used to minimize praise/maximize dispraise to self.

“Can I ask a silly question?”

Very used in conferences.

Maxim of agreement and sympathy: one is not the flip-side of the other.

• Maxim of agreement: used to minimize disagreement/maximize agreement between self&others

Used when we disagree with someone, but we don't want to admit it.

Similar to positive politeness strategies.

“What you're saying is correct, but there are other factors to consider..”

• Maxim of sympathy: used to minimize antipathy/maximize sympathy between self&others

It includes a small group of speech acts such as congratulations, commiserations, which don't correspond to our real

feeling but are social conventions to show closeness

“I'm glad for you”

Cruse synthesizes these maxims in the maxim of consideration:

• minimize discomfort/displeasure to others

• maximize comfort/pleasure to others 13

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PRINCIPLE OF POLITENESS (SCHEME)

LEECH:  combination of the idea of face and the principle of cooperation: determination of the maxims; they

are: ◦ tact-generosity (costs/benefits)

◦ approbation-modesty (praise/dispraise)

◦ agreement (disagreement/agreement)-sympathy (antipathy/sympathy)

CRUSE:  the synthesis of all those maxims is the maxim of consideration (discomfort or displeasure/ comfort or

pleasure) 14

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PART 2

Recognizable behaviours:

Social and linguistic behaviours are based on routines, regularities and are shared, accepted and recognizable by

members of a given community.

Through social and linguistic behaviours we can understand from which culture a person comes from, despite the

differences between them.

From this recognizability originates the concept of stereotype.

CULTURE is what allows us to distinguish stereotypical from atypical behaviours of a given community.

The common idea of culture corresponds to High culture, which is something taught and learned, relevant to a

restricted body of language (music, literature, folklore..) and usually related to a specific portion of time.

However, culture can be defined as:

• a shared system / mental map or model for interpreting reality

• “what goes without being said” (religion, taboos, customs, habits..)

• a set of notions which allows us to understand what is good/bad

This definition accounts for 3 factors:

1. ideologies: internal ideas (beliefs, values)

2. practises: external behaviours (language, customs, habits..)

3. products: similar to high culture (music, literature, folklore..); the most noticeable instances of culture

This factors are ranged in a hierarchical order, where ideologies affect external behaviours and both of them affect

products.

Triad of culture:

Hall distinguished 3 types of culture:

1. technical culture: consciously learned, based on the identification and definition of objects related to

objective truths/artifacts (what allows us to distinguish a fruit from a vegetable)

2. formal culture: expression of an accepted way of doing things, acquired through experience but it can also be

analyzed and learned (level of politeness, cooperation in conversation..)

3. informal culture: out-of-awareness expression of desires, needs based on emotions, feelings, instinct

(laughing=happy, crying=sad)

It cannot be taught so it can be problematic for outsiders, coming from other cultures 15

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THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISHNESS: CONVERSATION CODES

According to Fox, there are some unwritten rules used by English people in most occasional situations (at the pub, on

the bus, on the train..) to overcome people's natural reserve (riservatezza) and to avoid embarrassing moments by

moving from a subject to another.

Rules can be grouped into 3 different groups:

Weather speak: It is an introductory strategy used for greetings (all sorts of evaluative comments about the weather),

which signals the intention to interact without being face-threatening. It is an off-record strategy because it gives the

interlocutor the freedom to start the conversation.

Characterized by 2 rules:

1. principle of reciprocity: the perlocutionary level of weather speak is greeting; it starts with a rhetorical

question (nice day, isn't it?) and expects a reply

2. principle of agreement: the interlocutor must provide the least problematic answer, expressing

agreement. Disagreement is face-threatening because from a conventional mode the interlocutor

switches to a more informative mode

Grooming talk: used to signal sociability and availability to talk. Rules:

• introduction rule: introductory rituals. Characterized by:

◦ echoic act: repeating the same expression (A. What's up? B. What's up?/a: How do you do? b. How do

you do?)

◦ crystallized answer:we answer with a conventional answer, without even think about it (How are you?

Fine, thanks) doesn't correspond to our feeling

• awkwardness rule: sociability considered embarrassing. We show that's an awkward moment by using/not

using words.

◦ Shaking hands: too formal

◦ Hugs/kisses: to informal/direct

◦ the general rule is to say Hello which is respectful, informal, detached

• no-name rule: we don't have to say our name by introducing our-self, because it is considered a way of

imposing our persona (face-threatening). We have to start a very superficial conversation in order to let the

name achieved in a casual manner. It's better to wait for the interlocutor to take the initiative. (sorry, I didn't

catch your name/ by the way, I'm X)

• gossiping: talking about celebrities whom you and your interlocutor have heard about to signal bonding. For

British people gossiping produces 2 different reactions:

◦ female's reaction: surprise, enthusiasm

◦ male's reaction: more mitigated, anger in case of a scandal, triumph in case of sport

• guessing game rule: related to the no-name rule. We can't ask direct questions to our interlocutor asking about

personal things, so we have to find an indirect way to inquire about him. It consists of asking general

questions, so he is supposed to fill the informative gaps.

• Reciprocal disclosure: subconscious principle of symmetry, implicit in conversation due to cooperation. You

place a given piece of information about yourself and expect the interlocutor to do the same (A. I never watch

TV! B. Me neither)

Bonding talk: when you already know your interlocutor. Used to create a positive context to facilitate conversation and

to strengthen the bond between you and your interlocutor.

• Female's bond: based on a counter-compliment cerimony. The conversation starts with an opening compliment

(+self deprecation) and the answer can be 1) modesty, non acceptance, which is the preferr