‘A Critique of Politeness Theories Gino Eelen Prd Research Center University of Anowerp (UIA) de eS‘Sticone atatng 2 Map Rng West Bootie Manchest MZ>SHH Une Kings ‘Rlopone st (1619739855 Fae 444(0161 9053938 secede ISBN | sos0-41 8) ISBN 1060-01 (a ISSN 14710977 Encounter) 190 Eten 2001 Alig sere nlsting os of esting lansing. No cd my flo ery any are coro methane, peony ‘beers snc ting reste copia by we Capit Tense Agency (CLA), 90 atcha Cou Roa, London, W1P SHE la ‘No Ames pte nr may couse Copyright lease Center (GE) 222 Reiewood De, Dame MA 01923, USK ‘Ty tmeraonal LAs, Coenal, UK Sve Pelee, ld, UK (+4 161 620263) Rypestby ‘Dele tyesstes, Chi. aye En repartee ‘atogus nied of sok sais om te BosinLhay ray of Congres Coalinga Pableton Data m= Cems ISSN 161-027) SBN 1900 41% Quack appr — ISBN 19068040. (hk y Gounesy 2 Saciingisis. 1 Tide LL Encounters (oer Bala misses am mo1ons 53 1533 o Encounters eat ‘new sre cn anguage an vey Eta In Blommae Ces Bulcaca maa Divers ba comet be ecopnied aon of be cet éoncems nour thinking shoei cara poe. Ath samen thas proved ‘ne of tema cl fe 0 del with on te basi etbished theories nd tod, parilly n he soll iene Studying diver sip netonlycallenges wired views who we a nd what we Jo “socialite henge the here, model and meds yes ‘St wtich we posed in eying divert, Diversity exgses the bow ‘Fesand ius of our toe mde, athe same way expss ‘srsoil apical ganization. recur est exploe very in langage, ders rough languge an versity tou language. Dvr range cos op ‘exsuchat inet, godess or ge tae vasatons a ngage tnd gst ravi Dvesy hough engage ete) So ‘tie angus ndings bbuvou an conte he cons: Thon o negtitin f such scucslualand politcal ferences, An ‘vey ant guage hast do ith he vais ys which [sme ind Geray ae beng perceived, conceptual nd woe. in eter aswell asl ny Knowedpe — thes cling the eefleive En eras of seni approaches alongside he stay engage poliirand bapvge ology nll his, mixes, eek xn cose ‘vegan sandheteroenety re peveped ues of soy Theses ‘ie, Bacay, ened fo encore = lively nel Bt ne feed ste oaks diversi, moving sway frm the ll to obvious oltre oi” perpectve hat dominant wai te scl sees ‘The wget public of Encaners lees Saas and van st eno gis commaaton tafe aol, atu Sues ‘cela, as wal a sidest d scolary amigo dscplites Posesbria wien Jan Blomus forme Resch Detor of be eA Reser Cee tthe Univey of Antwerp and cmey Professor of Nea ing ‘esti User of est His pulestone inde Debating Divert {co sath, 198), te Handbook of Progmaics c>-edi, 19952003) The Pragnate of Interne! ond Iterational Conmuniation (co or 1991) ad Language leslie! Debuts (7 199).‘Ghest) and Cull Spies (Unverniy of Lares das worked trapic and dcourseaa serch nthe el of socal ode and Inmigrate, He ceendy wos fr the Deparment of English at te Uniresiy of Ghent and s-ditor of he Hondbok of Pragmatics 1958-2000), Contents mviRopucTION ‘CHAPTER 1; THEORIES OF POLITENESS LLL Robin ako 112 Penelpe Brown and Spon Levinson 113 Geatrey Leech 118 Yer Ga 115 Suto de 1.18 Horst Arm and Richard Janney 119 Richard Wa (CHAPTER 2 FIRST- AND SECOND-ORDER POLITENESS 'EPISTEMOLOGICAL CONCERNS valu ‘gumentatnty ‘Polte-sese 221 latelf 224 tde 237 Frater & Nolen 228 Amdt Jamey lke229 Weer 23 Ducosso~ mic ve te ‘Aig In oles hares (CHAPTER 3: CONCEPTUAL BIAS revs rar 33 Tee rocuson mooie 3! The mtr of mpoltense 5342 The sive hearer 3A Preisivenese 35 Sotonulner (CHAPTER 4: NORMATIVITY 421 Appropriateness 922 Shardnes 123 Normal 424 Senmary 43 Ewen amas 431 Seiica anasto 422 Sytem variably and vrabe atone 43:3 Dawrmiing who now bot, 434 Competence Sampled care Poe eatue £42 Cal in rote 443 Calne in ieiy * %% u3. 45st aw scmarver 451 Neural Seorer bil wc tecnica ponies Dexsito vs preston ‘Therion of poets 1533 Vier wong wih normaity” seSnoure ‘CHAPTER 5 SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES. ‘SU Tmt SIT The Paonia nara order The operetc Mera at and sity Soci stare Sona _votion and change 512 Me pote oie Sil nome Socal consene Fetiona ination Socal chan s2Dencwou 52.3Theextural nda S30 Cale ve eri $22 Consenns ‘rguneotiiy 5.4 Svan ad change " Pre, elution ad noms Matic norms i” 10 3 Po(CHAPTER 6; CONCLUSION: POLITENESS REVISED {62 Tre wore or rues 3 Fuenensuinscn REFERENCES. = a Acknowledgements ‘Any seat wrk away thera of ong cess of comer ‘on, oaneation aod Gsession, and syntheses dea fred and sd ep conan pre bist se es So the lat of people wo hve rey or iret the Vcr etine ne peenton every oe. oly few canbe et Swede With thiamin woud extend mys hanks to [et Neschueea wwe supat hs ade possible mos of he esearch tm wach tis book ed and to Jan Blac fr i ivauale [Redbck and moch appene encouragement ooo all sages of fu comepton Also many thaaks to Manfed Kiopininer,Sigeko ‘Okamoto tn Rober Arndale fortnight ema and ying gues ‘Sow nd Chis uleen foretping to ive he books nal sce The Been Nato Selene Foundation WO) andthe Universi of ‘Anwar provid finan acing for mos of te analy enaearos, ly wife Kai pone te necesary orl emionalSpporIntroduction Politeness Polneness i ammonteae em witha considerable sory, ing tsk toa Tees the sttonh entry (for example Burke 1993 Eich 1992; Bias 1979999), AMboups i ealy and seemingly ean ay glowed w he “gua of Being polit, wbich nt ree aning ov showing that one has 500d manners and consideration fr her people" (Oxford Advanced Lea Dictonary) soc ts Stes ili courtesy, goodmanser oration socks Feneh curate, Geman Hoch, Klin cons and arb ee Duh betcha, eledbeld a hfe, pln wp vanous as fe conectoat chlsce’“llzation ie scour an inthe fio the gen gulty of ving ‘he-experene’ (Dutch bela ty Ths isc anomber of fleet ators sem oe inva in doermiing tenes apt of cil rary (he cour) ans al sons (ile he iy) ot o's more gener motion of “oper tenuviourl corde eetningeteeore ota taghfrvad) Shear ad sips may seen afi ght as rng its long isos fife itas pated comple ol nterconnestingasocaive meats. Bt gles i aoa wellesablobed scblry concep, bas © ‘pliers thy oe ofthe more popular ranches of contempt gratis anda widely wed on tates of neratrl commie fee, Dflon eta (1998) ilogaphy of poienescaed bias ‘Compe 31 pee natal pon — wih a exp el of ny lim for euusiveress and get may have appeed sinc is pin thon Bu the play pltaes has enjoyed ara eserch oi th Tat quarter of cemry nat vay mahed By orto nee tan lay. The an ha recived myriad of eft eins an interpretations aging tom a genera pipe of language we goer ing imereroea spect of iterscto,oth use of pei inguisti fers and Forme. AB eal a0 avays easy determi te ‘tts fay ew pce sears ners of precip wtin the fe ornte othe elas ofr empiri dt alms i ‘ise of over reserchers,Obvosy empires sales tase on “leprae ered appraches ce ot attomatalyoreven ees ‘cpl Inoeert compare serch ess eng, wl as {ona best iw of te lone eed east hea mh it thereative postions ofthe rel of lle se,Although number fesclet overviews ofthe ld hve ben pub sed sch a Fag (190), Kasper (1990 1996, othe intron, ‘hater tothe nan Epca ise of ura other ted volumes oe ‘he jest (for example Wate al 1982), hey contain ence ‘opogrphicl eons to cur the eri, Gling the base ene ‘erent heorecel approche, they are wsaly more focused on the ‘Sistine fenue fon hry veri another rater ha 08 mul Siulies, What eons be mising san examination of how he it ‘eet peepctives ace mata elie by theoretic slain snd points over, well ok beet he eras ping Beyond he eres of ther nok he ender empione rom mich ‘hese ogra ete rie. The presen alee tempo ow ‘ow bth ebjeties cn be saaed simulate By uneaing he pistol andentdogil foundations on whch politeness they isa geologic insead of «topographical eff reveal single Tereicalsubsatum wadeying all of the thoretca perspectives ‘omen eso hat us ve he mot spare conceptions "The eerie wndertitesbereflloms Figen’ (109) metathen ‘scl inenigaton fsoainguitis, where se examines tee eating farsigm(iymes Labor and Gumpert) intra of tei unde > Iapponcens raring fe anus of langage He eatog quinn — ‘nt sof lingusics oioungisice~is ence by loon athe tone of angegs Arough it oe ae within er ss scope Figeon rear tht a sar sai col be mae rearing the tureofsciy ancl The ning qouton would then belo tf antopology cology is roilinsiies, andi antwer woul ‘oe base das nd presppnton abst he actu Scie, bow tomes ino Being ow tanned, ow este torial ho ‘aan beings, The preset aml of plieness wl some extent ‘Gt poles eet soil and linguisteprosopoeon. The ‘ops wil arely eon te saci, Noweve and Unite aspects il be cmudered ofr thle coataboton othe ol wow Butte present aaa irene ig’, Baie oe Sonratot nngange dso a explores haw he elaonsip icy cmeopuned will eterqutines wilconcen het fh fc tht he analyte dos nti be extaoutve bot any of test sues. The earch for rerippoons i sty elves omuien often’ at cig wil hn be ed se ta tng got rhe development en ara proach 1 the lof Peo hough definitly en vestgatin of polees ther he comepetons of pottencs theese wil bef eer tera here {tanh cringe pesuposton on which ey bl The {crib rane lokng stb impos fps ocea “Soles contac fo be conepalaton of langage ‘Siig ras ent of penppettons ken nen meh Shenas o oly vas he esucher expll horeos as Shi cresucon, bt ny ipl infront canbe ceed ‘enh na wel othe “ru anguge ted ye schersinnbe rien pases pases boo Cfinon ams ‘Sccondsions, at were for example nina comet a made ‘ramps are dover mutes a expe though ewe net plo tv sons ooncengge. Te sly il ns ‘rami thew tesa whe ool top ating Imexpleterezng. nor ve ny hse hat ae cncred wi plie= tse Motor te oar te snl wl bone estes ar tera dace on lngvege sd scien hs es, eal ‘ora polires xampp aa fort vesigation eho Ssetficters therein wc lb crnind for hg ces ‘ey.annin eating he ater fil ay. ‘Scope and motivation _Aoogh politeness has rceved various amounts of teson om all ‘sear of ngisicr trophont he tenth century (HE 1932. he ‘eset wl ony coverolteness esearch stared oe wichih ‘eft canenpuay lng ad inp gman nore, fe pacclreases, the vestigation wl be rere the FagloSaxon esearch ation, Toete hee ection ental hate ‘Sour Degining with Lato (1973) custo of politeness interns f Gra’ thecyofingitic cooperation, Although this impos seme eae, Ang, a wl be argued ne Chap 1, at leas tunbe of tango Sinon works ae based on theories incorpo ee 50» A Cohn of Polen Tres, thr approschs ar uly elvan fhe concusos ofthe preset "The commonsense definion of politeness ia ems of proper tea toupee at flees i 0 oie to language, but ean aso Ins ron setbel soingust behaviour Mest pope wl be a [arwthexampe of ples cha olig ibe dor ope for someone. ot someone wa wave the bind or sod and soo. Politeness iy manifest ul in any orm of ehaior and eve ne aber of vow en ay sca aca ot rearing gringo sia ‘Sruning set maybe nerpced spans, wheres rary chr aking lod may be regarded a impaite and piers. ‘ives teeing om speceh, Other nor-tingusi eral options {heh a Bodily proxi, gig blair and vo on may al be inte feted in erme of Gpolenes. Sting a» sage 0 0 long, oF Freng exenivey into seine elie’ bone trough a windom, may {icky cic ost ection. So be scope of patents tthe well ‘yond purely ver choles andnclaes th whole pect of bb Sa ais clay sted by anata tock example of politeness tle mers, wich aloe gates for vera as wll ab non-verbal ‘vou Ts rod scope le eid inte pete aa which satveteto ame veal as wells 200 vertalbehavoar Mos of etoile Roweve, il be frused on igus eto ‘Tiss nny reco sar preoccopation in the ai of iting tenn nd shold nt Be ered a resicion in scope ‘ins shout ngs pte can easly be extrapolated ote non Ting domain a te para hing fo pens soto much the ‘aor oy veal nat the bebaourn question, Dt rather it [Penal These vlan cn be spied to Boh frms witout in [Hing ty rj changes ine ndeyng soon of pliers. th ams of te analyse loach beyond the ed of politeness poner One of te inerentng ept of pens isthe fat tat Tamed ate tsecton of anguage an ocala. The common ‘Sot ein of pollenes recs ngunge o spec of oll rcture (Ge ate cour a Inthe iy) a wells behavior codes nd ees (proper bot) Assoc, esd canbe of wle for ndersandg lr ony andes are coocte olnguage ad 0 behav tn [orl and pov a deeper night ito how socey exalted a finned trough serine. Ti iota postion of ples a & Tk betwece gate nd roi rea alo fund in euen thers- lng. nee pobieacs a form of language snarl coupled with ‘tal elas ad soil ols snd dough hese othe args soci phesomt of ole dct. So bese politeness ite the presenta anata cond our uadetsupding of riley Thuitsconnetono langage to ern “Trot fs metatecreti peeve, a secon, boner sm othe nhs toate cotton her formation prapatis. AS ige of poenes teary, mst conse othe ation fit (teciesivenetathortiresench within be social sence. Bees Fgcssresench be ele wllaleo refer work by Winans (9D. Bot wrer fron the cet undtion of oclngsics, examin ing tsunryigfundaentlpewsppostions boat anonge asi reapect ely. her example of eal reflexive research coe Toe {Ecamern (187), who cis what hy el the "ls and ut ap rose inthe may of wk on the ana of convertion here rari fred nthe entiation fal kinds of tatractonal (tick we thn explained by efecto interac als Met ‘ay ao te ores of Bloat (197), who examines the once of "Eee" ingrapatics~ whats ken cost ay‘ the price song! popes sami the eractonal contest of Nork Shop. noe arash ptm of neoaity has been the fons of Inowh wet, scrigence! yor example Dy Bois (987), Duan (G988) or Ron (1942), wl the Griean notion of cope bas been gestion, for enample Suan & Slenbrock (1982) Siting the pret any win ellie ete aon ips tt is ‘nw ntsc och be oven be socal ety of potitenes ai tecorand lve sing ordinary speaks, but alo an pray te trite social ay of potenes the way siete hve handled the conn hither endeavor, ar wll a how seated outer tea acetie ikns, ‘Besides te nepatve pets of equ, te ans also ais 0 mmaket mote ote contrbton other formato, byte propa of th lemme remework tht provides a set the S05 abe By thectlqueTisaeratve speach fonamentaly fle fom ans be existing enpesves becuse teased on a difleret soca tic eology hich lows is expos hort avenues a have ow been ftnetploved. rele co an alertv iw fhe ngage Sua ely mere that ncrprstes an ment tgely Sacred By ‘Seren ering te nial ste of ose laos wih Tanguge on cvs nd vocal reaiy onthe ber, argues fo aie tinction. whee lingua frcoas s be medining factor between Sov and ini rent, ihe als aks tec for ‘inept view of sx ray whee aspect of Ingusics, ial= A crag orate Theis ‘eay and ppcology omits into on ohret whole ‘om the wert hat plop rs commence aswell 83 scene ncn, th analyse set ou expr th elnshp Between thse wo notion, bth on & general hort level ax well 509 te fee concet ve of how etngfamework inept ii heir Conceptions rs how bow th a a cs epsteolops ‘Gsineton isnt accosted fr by he hoses Tis sega fend o a numberf smnonconcepial characte each of Which Jntdicesceain problemi eens into te tere model nd ‘et whch cooper to frm coer took on sec and Lngisic realy, Tis worview an ated potlmatc specs ae thea teecat pat forthe development ofthe aermave apecch. Apart fom tec ea hs aeraive view imodves mde of ana ‘enc tat fl onside the tees rasp of tata concept avons, A focus on the evaluative aspects of plies leads 1 8 ‘Conemitio ohnotion of aruentatvi hihi bination with ‘Sater empbatson vray resus ina oe dame view of sia ‘Shinada ely, allowing he nirporan of iret) ad soil ‘roto, ily l of thse element togter ed trail einer- reaton ofthe te nd ole of soma. oth in tenes and in Overview of the book “Tis book edie si chp, Chapt zodvsthe ie theo Festa wil te the bjt of iverteton,exglaostheloic eid te {keto oct, a aie forthe ene eesecatenes of he lcced fmmewors forthe ete eld of poiaeessresearh Chapters 210 $e the actual of the anaes ach fcses noe peer aspect if pltenestheoring tt eae te Kentfeson of umber of ‘stl ntereated paradigmatic presopostons that ar ech e28m- Inein del fr thi rg an theoretical consequences. In Chapter 2 Reinga betwen commonsense’ and seni” won of pole eis cicssed, and each of tenn prspeciver is tet ort ‘pitemelogal psiton on teste Chap 3 quest teas! por ‘Stns o thee freritneson:etween ples nd ipolenes ween pake ant hearer and between angungeproscon sd cep tou The anlyssrevenes att sd consistent concep bastoars forse of echo th dnc, cui the ter deo spear fon view ln Chaper 4nrmativiy dented a ars pet of oteess Aer an examination of ts cootivent imesions ab -iew os rious mates in oles hor itis ed att oat handled insanely neg wo. AS st te hua ches, Caper ows how he aon cons cies ‘Grower prion plot ntuenee ho tamenont pik ews ‘Srvoety an env Te dine Parserna Mou fle ‘Seamonil nrviw ttn wih er aga le suo aviary One bss of Bours’ ssocslopel kg, ‘Soma whi fom Scene racholg, apolar avecocetleton poten athe, one ha presets mee (alata! poms of sol exter eyed lt gouty Wah nny etal of eas ad poles raed previns ‘ges aly. te cong cape smmares emai ase {dogs das eu aon net off ete iw ens a explores posible oes fer fue! naaChapter 1: Theories of politeness ‘win be Ang Seton siete lon, polenes esearch cared ‘eqn considered here age hy belong io eer of thee inguic ‘voi, the coerar rv om theft tat pines has 0 With angage and mre speiily langage ae = wich warts is Clsifeaton tun papmati aod hata phenomenon wc com- fect language with te toc word which warn he 000" pe Soalthoughthe raat and oconguisic perspectives can 3 pate: ser degre be dsingsitbed from one aot depending ce thet ‘act fsiton ad eit, forte reset cussion hey unite che ‘el of plens hoy, in ht poles invaihly sen a5 phe tomenon connected with (he eaionsti ecrece) language and oil realy. Beyond this eer vel however agreements much are find scarry te ols bs own (prot) defo of plies. {nec he vast mj of pblesions on poluenes conte 0 some tito ary formation on he ajo. xe ede his mas ‘terete ca and innovations 0 manage poerions, selection uso be male And apes, athe ight of he search for undeying Tpit lov oft eae climax porns. On hs basi, many theo! amends and ioovatos to Exiting hers canbe eclsed eee he changes they propose dO tot toeh helinguitio social repposions of he eis ery ot ‘hic thy sebsed. Likes terest se rod o the sane pre Thpposcns as ober theres te ef ut Ia seh cases ony the oest (ot wie Known feo tied O heheh a theory ‘hr perbapsoel cles a soul apestf poten at oes Sy into ‘icing lene hat ipsa sng Is social wove fom (hut of ete (mre cacompesin) famework ie reaind jn he Sal ‘Seton, Seis sie ox 00N were wed ten the Om ‘inet to mor or les labored evel of olenes Bt is 0 hy ntl bears requ wel-developd, or elo the pe Tbe ed this meio hs lt sloton of nine hedes whieh for the bss of tis sy and wich ae introduce ne flowing ‘ection Tet inobines wil ested and te dsingsshing fens tghihed. No indepth casion povided at thsi a5