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Definition ( Merriam-Webster)
Having or showing good manners or respect for other
Socially correct or proper
Purpose
Demonstrate awareness of acceptable social practices
Obtain what we think we are owed in an equal world ( Wardhaugh 2010,p.291)
There are two kinds of politeness:
• POSITIVE: we try to achieve solidarity and treat others as friends. We do
not impose and never threaten their face
• NEGATIVE: it leads to deference, indirectness and formality in language
use.
Face
• Goffman (1955) states that when communicating “we present a FACE to
others and to others’ faces.” .In every social interaction we are obliged to
protect both our own face and the face of others. .We play out a kind of
ritual in which each party is required to recognize the identity the other
presents or claims. There is no faceless communication.
Brown and Levinson (1987) provide the definition of FACE “[it is] the public
self-image that every member wants to claim for himself ” They make a
distinction between:
• POSITIVE FACE: it is the desire to gain the approval of others, the positive
consistent self- image or personality. It looks to SOLIDARITY
• NEGATIVE FACE: it is the desire to be unimpeded by others’ actions; a
claim for freedom of action and from imposition.
Pinker (2007) argues that “politeness theory is a good start, but not enough
[because] it assumes that the speaker and the hearer are working in perfect
harmony, each trying to save each other’s face”
Each interaction is a FACE WORK and the goal is the maintenance of as
much of each individual’s positive face as possible.
THANK YOU