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TUDOR MIHAI
MASTER TRADUCTOLOGIE
ANUL II

Analyse (in one page) the following text using the concepts of
negative and positive politeness
maxims of politeness
Text
Imperialism
This excerpt comes from the British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus (see
References). This excerpt features a lecture on European imperialism delivered by Dr Iain
Smith.
Many of you here today are not from Africa but you are, many of you, from parts of the
world that have been affected by one of the great global forces at work in world history - what
we loosely call imperialism. And that is why I thought what I should try to talk to you about
today is this phenomenon of imperialism, not just in terms of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, and as you will see, not just in terms of the impact of Europe on the non-European
world.
Because what we are grappling with in the phenomenon of imperialism is a phenomenon
that in various forms is as old as the formation of state systems by human beings. So Im going
to, er, at considerable risk er to myself, try to set this phenomenon in a much wider, er, more
global perspective. I hope that might be of interest to many of you who have either been
subjected to what you consider imperialism, or indeed have been part of states and societies that
have themselves been imperialistic or are still being so. //
I think we have to begin by facing up to the fact that today we live in anage of anti-
imperialism. All over the world there is a reaction against the things which we associate with the
phenomenon of imperialism: the domination of the weak countries or societies by the strong; the
economic exploitation of the natural resources of often poorer countries er in the world, by the
rich industrialised parts of the world; the gross, and in many parts of the world, the widening gap
in terms of political, military and economic power and standards of the living between the rich
and the poor countries; the belief, in one society, of the absolute superiority of its culture, its
values and its beliefs and the attempt to impose these upon the people of other cultures and often
of different races.
Today in Europe and America, in the countries of the ex-Soviet Union and in Asia, as
well as in all those areas of what used to be called, the Third World which were until so recently
under European influence or indeed colonial rule, imperialism is regarded as a bad thing. To call
someone an imperialist is a term of abuse, like calling him a racist or a fascist.
The very word imperialism, I think youll agree, is loaded with emotional and
ideological overtones. If I say, for instance, that recently I have been studying and contributing to
a new Oxford History of the British Empire,which I have, that is a clear, concrete and perfectly
respectable historical subject to study. It was indeed the most powerful and extensive empire in
world history. But if I say Im studying and writing about the history of British Imperialism,
thats already a somewhat different thing. The kind of books that are written about it are
different too.


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In what concerns the above text one should be very careful when reading it as there are
plenty of pragmatic concepts present, concepts which need attention as to fully understand the
meaning of the text.
Even from the beginning I could notice the writer uses positive politeness strategies in the
structure having the aim to demonstrate closeness and solidarity, appealing to friendship, making
other people feel good: Many of you here today are not from Africa but you are, many of you,
from parts of the world that have been affected by one of the great global forces at work in world
history This example contains many solidarity strategies as it is the knowledge of personal
information, the author including himself in their category.
A second instrument used in the text would be the use of politeness maxims, particularly
tact which the author uses to focus on the hearer trying to minimize imposition and to attend to
the hearers interests, wants and needsAnd that is why I thought what I should try to talk to you
about today is this phenomenon of imperialism, not just in terms of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, and as you will see, not just in terms of the impact of Europe on the non-European
world. Another example in this case would be the use of the following phrase: I think we have
to begin by facing up to the fact that today we live in an age of anti-imperialism.
Because what we are grappling with in the phenomenon of imperialism is a
phenomenon that in various forms is as old as the formation of state systems by human beings
in the above structure it is clear that cultural context is used as there is always a strong bond
between politeness and language. The choice of the politeness formulation depends on the social
distance and the power relation between speakers. When there is social distance, politeness is
encoded and there is more indirectness; where there is less social distance, there is less negative
politeness and indirectness. The variables that determine social distance are degree of familiarity,
and differences of status, roles, age, gender, education, class, occupation and ethnicity.
Next it is modesty that we are to see in the text: So Im going to, er, at considerable risk
er to myself, try to set this phenomenon in a much wider, er, more global perspective. Modesty
is possibly a more complex maxim than the others, since the maxim of quality can sometimes be
violated in observing it. Cutting found that in conferences, members of the audience preface their
questions to the speaker with self-deprecating expressions.
Positive politeness strategies aim to save positive face, by demonstrating closeness
and solidarity, appealing to friendship, making other people feel good, and emphasizing that
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both speakers have a common goal and the following would be a good example for this situation:
I hope that might be of interest to many of you who have either been subjected to what you
consider imperialism, or indeed have been part of states and societies that have themselves been
imperialistic or are still being so.This example also shows us a good knowledge of personal
information background and political issues in what concerns the speakers knowledge and
position.
Negative politeness is also present in the text and it is used to render a negative idea
under a positive expression: Today in Europe and America, in the countries of the ex-Soviet
Union and in Asia, as well as in all those areas of what used to be called, the Third World which
were until so recently under European influence or indeed colonial rule, imperialism is regarded
as a bad thing.
The very word imperialism, I think youll agree, is loaded with emotional and
ideological overtones is a sympathy maxims used to minimize antipathy between self and the
others.