Politeness in Language: Studies in Its History, Theory and Practice (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs)

This collection of 13 original papers focuses on the phenomenon of politeness in language. It presents the most important problems in developing a theory of linguistic politeness, which must deal with the crucial differences between lay notions of politeness in different cultures and the term 'politeness' as a concept within a theory of linguistic politeness. The universal validity of the term itself is called into question, as are models such as those developed by Brown and Levinson, Lakoff, and Leech. New approaches are suggested. In addition to this theoretical discussion, an empirical section presents a number of case studies and research projects in linguistic politeness. These show what has been achieved within current models and what still remains to be done, in particular with reference to cross-cultural studies in politeness and differences between a Western and a non-Western approach to the subject. Preface 5 Contents 7 List of Contributors 9 Introduction 11 Part 1: The Theory and History of Linguistic Politeness 31 1. Intracultural tact versus intercultural tact 31 2. Linguistic politeness and politic verbal behaviour: Reconsidering claims for universality 53 3. On the historicity of politeness 81 4. Literary texts and diachronic aspects of politeness 119 5. Politeness in linguistic research 141 6. Traditional and modern views: the social constitution and the power of politeness 165 Part 2: Empirical Studies in Politeness 213 7. Secondhand politeness 213 8. Between matter-of-factness and politeness 229 9. Children’s understanding of white lies 241 Part 3: Politeness in a Non-Western Cultural Setting 265 10. The metapragmatics of politeness in Israeli society 265 11. The concept of politeness: An empirical study of American English and Japanese 291 12. Linguistic etiquette in Japanese society 309 13. Politeness in Thai 335 References 347 Author and subject index 379 Edited By Richard J. Watts, Sachiko Ide, Konrad Ehlich. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.