Literature Review

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word ‘politeness’ as “behaviour that is respectful
and considerate of other people” [2018 Oxford University Press]. But politeness has, with the
development of a multitude of cultures and communities globally, exceeded this lexical
definition. What is polite with a certain set of people under a particular situation might be
considered disrespectful and hurtful in another context. Sometimes, if the speaker is not from
a particular group of people, he does not have the right to culturally appropriate words that are
used for informal small talk in that community. We can take the example of the word “negro”
or “nigger” in the African American community. The people belonging to that race can use it
liberally without consequences but it is rightly considered extremely offensive and
disrespectful if a person of any other race, especially a white man, uses it. But if the speaker is
a person of colour – Native American or Hispanic for example - he or she may be given
consideration. Thus, politeness is something that each language learner and teacher should be
concerned with [Lee, 2011] even while learning a global language like English, which has
many variations around the world.

Politeness for the sake of saving face is prevalent in the world. Sometimes one does not say
what one has in mind, just because speaking up may breach the code of conduct in that
situation. Adopting politeness that is considered acceptable in that situation might also avoid
unpleasant consequences. Politeness could, therefore, be a facade subconsciously put on. The
idea of negative and positive face – what the individual wants to appear to be and what he does
not want to be perceived as has been discussed by Brown and Levinson [1978]. Since politeness
is a social requirement, people adopt what Lakoff [1984, 1990] has called different strategies
of politeness – distance politeness [which is usually correlated with rigid etiquette, assumptions
of equality between those involved and courtesy], deferential politeness [characterized by
ambiguity, the freedom to decide what the speaker means along with euphemisms and
metaphors] and camaraderie – where the hearer encourages the speaker with apparent warmth
and small acknowledgments of their alert understanding [Valentine, 1996].

Politeness also varies with nationalities and culture. Indirectness and obscure language is
considered impolite in some countries, while it may be considered to be courtesy in others.
Even within the same geographical boundary, slangs and intonations differ in the same
language. In south Asia, especially India, there are hundreds of languages with each dialect
having many variants in slang, words usage and code of conduct. The multiple layers of social
division that exist in India also has an impact on the politeness. Politeness also has a strong
root in judgment. To an extent, you can even say that the appearance of the addressee has an
influence on the speaker’s choice of words. The question is whether it is possible to say that
despite the differences in language and culture, there is an unwritten code of politeness and
conduct that governs people of a particular geographical area and if there is something that
plays an important role in forming first impressions so that a smooth interaction ensues. How
this is possible in a country like India where communities grow and clash on a regular basis is
also an interesting idea to consider.

WORKS CITED

“Politeness.” Def.1. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/. Oxford University Press, 2018. Web.

July 1. 2018

Lee, Yu-Cheng. 2011. Cultural Expectations and Perceptions of Politeness: The “Rude
Chinese” Asian Social Science. Vol. 7, No. 10. pp 11.

Brown, Penelope and Stephen C. Levinson. 1978. Politeness: Some Universals in Language

Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lakoff, Robin. 1990. Talking Power. Basic Books.

Lakoff, Robin. 1984. "The Pragmatics of Subordination." Proceedings of the Tenth Annual

Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistic Society, pp. 481-492.

Valentine, Tamara. 1996. “Politeness Models in Indian English”. Revista de Lenguas para Fines
Específicos N- 3. pp. 283-284