Politeness and the Art Criticism Discourse

Art criticism usually manifests itself in such written genre-texts as art reviews. When producing such a text, the critic finds himself/herself in a position of the interface between the general public and the artist, and, consequently, between the general public and the work of art. While, on the one hand, the critic has to remain true to his/her role as a guide to mediating understanding and appreciation of the works of art by the audiences, meanwhile bringing efficient/effective suggestions for the artists, on the other, the critic also needs to be a master of good writing in the use of the most effective discourse strategies. These include the application of the most relevant politeness principles for the sake of perpetuating good communication throughout the art world. The present study aims to discern the mechanisms of utilizing those principles in art criticism, in direct relationship to how works of art are (negatively) evaluated by the critics, who may balance between remaining polite and becoming utterly/straightly impolite, for the sake of truth