Indirectness in the Age of Globalization: A Social Network Analysis
Journal: Russian Journal of Linguistics (Vol.23, No. 4)Publication Date: 2019-12-25
Authors : Marina Terkourafi;
Page : 930-949
Keywords : default indirectness; weak network ties; African American women; compliment responses; Chinese; English historical (im)politeness;
Abstract
Indirectness has traditionally been viewed as commensurate with politeness and attributed to the speaker’s wish to avoid imposition and/or otherwise strategically manipulate the addressee. Despite these theoretical predictions, a number of studies have documented the solidarity-building and identity-constituting functions of indirectness. Bringing these studies together, Terkourafi 2014 proposed an expanded view of the functions of indirect speech, which crucially emphasizes the role of the addressee and the importance of network ties. This article focuses on what happens when such network ties become loosened, as a result of processes of urbanization and globalization. Drawing on examples from African American English and Chinese, it is argued that these processes produce a need for increased explicitness, which drives speakers (and listeners) away from indirectness. This claim is further supported diachronically, by changes in British English politeness that coincide with the rise of the individual Self. These empirical findings have implications for im/politeness theorizing and theory-building more generally, calling attention to how the socio-historical context of our research necessarily influences the theories we end up building.
Other Latest Articles
- Indexical and Sequential Properties of Criticisms in Initial Interactions: Implications for Examining (Im) Politeness across Cultures
- Introduction to Politeness and Impoliteness Research in Global Contexts
- K yubileyu L.A. Kozlovoy
- K yubileyu V.I. Shakhovskogo
- Review of Rakhimov G.H. 2017. Ingliz tili O’zbekistonda: sociolingvistik va pragmatik kursatkichlar (The English language in Uzbekistan: sociolinguistic and pragmatic aspects). Tashkent: TAMADDUN
Last modified: 2020-08-04 06:52:51