Home “I look with deep gratitude and admiration…” – praising and complimenting in papal speeches
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

I look with deep gratitude and admiration…” – praising and complimenting in papal speeches

  • Marzena Makuchowska

    Marzena Makuchowska holds the post of a professor of the University of Opole, Poland. Her main area of scholarly interest is linguistic analysis of discourse, including primarily religious discourse. She is the author of monographs, among others, Modlitwa jako gatunek języka religijnego [Prayer as a genre of a religious language] (1998), Od wrogów do braci. Posoborowe zmiany w dyskursie Kościoła katolickiego [From enemies to brethren. Post-Vatican-Council changes in the discourse of the Catholic Church] (2011), as well as more than 60 chapters and articles in books and journals dealing with linguistics.

    ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 18, 2022

Abstract

Recently, communicating admiration and appreciation in public discourse has become a subject of study since these acts play a very important role in shaping positive social relations not only on a micro scale, but also on a macro one. My goal in this study is to understand how public officials implement their intention to please addressees in an international arena, in contacts between different religious and national communities. In order to do this, 120 papal speeches delivered to representatives of different churches, religions and societies were analysed, identifying individual topics, functions and patterns of these speech acts, as well as their dependence on such parameters as the specifics of the sender, the addressee, the situation, and the discourse. The work demonstrates that the perlocutionary potential of praising and complimenting contained in papal speeches is strengthened by the linguistic exhibiting by the sender of his knowledge about the addressees and focussing attention on them. Furthermore, it becomes more powerful because of the use of lexical and stylistic measures to intensify positive evaluative expressions. The paper is concluded with the postulate of opening linguistic studies on politeness to other public discourses.


Corresponding author: Marzena Makuchowska, Institute of Linguistics, University of Opole, Opole, Poland, E-mail:

About the author

Marzena Makuchowska

Marzena Makuchowska holds the post of a professor of the University of Opole, Poland. Her main area of scholarly interest is linguistic analysis of discourse, including primarily religious discourse. She is the author of monographs, among others, Modlitwa jako gatunek języka religijnego [Prayer as a genre of a religious language] (1998), Od wrogów do braci. Posoborowe zmiany w dyskursie Kościoła katolickiego [From enemies to brethren. Post-Vatican-Council changes in the discourse of the Catholic Church] (2011), as well as more than 60 chapters and articles in books and journals dealing with linguistics.

References

Accattoli, Luigi. 1997. Quando il Papa chiede perdono. Milan: Mondadori.Search in Google Scholar

Alfonzetti, Giovanna. 2013. Compliments. In Ken Turner & Marina Sbisà (eds.), Pragmatics of speech actions, 555–586. Berlin & New York: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9783110214383.555Search in Google Scholar

Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.Search in Google Scholar

Bargiela-Chiappini, Francesca & Dániel Z. Kádár (eds.). 2011. Politeness across cultures. London: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780230305939Search in Google Scholar

Bayraktaroğlu, Arın & Maria Sifianou (eds.). 2001. Linguistic politeness across boundaries: The case of Greek and Turkish, 391–430. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/pbns.88Search in Google Scholar

Bell, Allan. 1984. Language style as audience design. Language in Society 13. 145–204. https://doi.org/10.1017/s004740450001037x.Search in Google Scholar

Bell, Allan. 1991. The language of news media. Oxford: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar

Bobrownicka, Maria. 2006. Patologie tożsamości narodowej w postkomunistycznych krajach słowiańskich [Pathologies of national identity in post-communist Slavic countries]. Kraków: Univeristas.Search in Google Scholar

Bowers, John W. 1963. Language intensity, social introversion, and attitude change. Speech Monographs 30. 345–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637756309375380.Search in Google Scholar

Brown, Penelope & Stephen C. Levinson. 1987. Politeness. Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511813085Search in Google Scholar

Burgers, Christian & Anneke De Graaf. 2013. Language intensity as a sensationalistic new feature: The influence of style on sensationalism perceptions and effects. Communications 38(2). 167–188. https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2013-0010.Search in Google Scholar

Chen, Rong. 2010. Compliment and compliment response research: A cross-cultural survey. In Trossborg Anna (ed.), Pragmatics across languages and cultures, 79–101. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110214444.1.79Search in Google Scholar

Chilton, Paul. 1990. Politeness, politics and diplomacy. Discourse & Society 1. 201–224. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926590001002005.Search in Google Scholar

Chilton, Paul. 2004. Analyzing political discourse: Theory and practice. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203561218Search in Google Scholar

Chilton, Paul & Monika Kopytowska (eds.). 2018. Religion, language, and the human mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780190636647.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Cohen, Raymond. 1987. Theatre of power: The art of diplomatic signalling. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley Longman.Search in Google Scholar

Danziger, Roni. 2018. Compliments and compliment responses in Israeli Hebrew: Hebrew university in Jerusalem students in interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 124. 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.12.004.Search in Google Scholar

Drabik, Beata. 2001. Komplement i komplementowanie jako akt mowy i komunikacyjna strategia [Compliment and complimenting as a speech act and communication strategy]. Kraków: Univeristas.Search in Google Scholar

Dynel, Marta & Jan Chovanec (eds.). 2015. Participation in public and social media interactions. (Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 256). Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/pbns.256Search in Google Scholar

Gavriely-Nuri, Dalia. 2015. Israeli peace discourse: A cultural approach to CDA. Amsterdam: John Benjamin.10.1075/dapsac.59Search in Google Scholar

Genovese, Frederica. 2015. Politics ex cathedra: Religious authority and the Pope in modern international relations. Research and Politics 2(4). 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168015612808.Search in Google Scholar

Gleaser, Zygfryd. 2017. Ekumenizm w nauczaniu papieży po Soborze Watykańskim II [Ecumenism in teachings of the Popes after II Vatican Council]. Opole: University of Opole.Search in Google Scholar

Goffman, Erving. 1967. Interaction ritual: Essays on face-to-face behavior. New York: Pantheon.Search in Google Scholar

Goffman, Erving. 1979. Footing. Semiotica 25(1). 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1979.25.1-2.1.Search in Google Scholar

Goffman, Erving. 1981. Forms of talk. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Press.Search in Google Scholar

Herbert, Robert K. 1990. Sex-based differences in compliment behavior. Language in Society 19(2). 201–224. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500014378.Search in Google Scholar

Hodges, Adam. 2013. Discourses of war and peace. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199937271.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Holmes, Janet. 1986. Compliments and compliment responses in New Zealand English. Anthropological Linguistics 28(4). 485–508.Search in Google Scholar

Holmes, Janet. 1988. Paying compliments: A sex preferential positive politeness strategy. Journal of Pragmatics 12(3). 445–465. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(88)90005-7.Search in Google Scholar

Holmes, Janet. 1995. Women, men and politeness. London: Longman.Search in Google Scholar

Howarth, David. 2000. Discourse. Concepts in the social sciences. Buckingham-Philadelphia: Open University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Jenkins, Philip. 2011. The next Christendom: The coming of global Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Jucker, Andreas H. 2009. Speech act research between armchair, field and laboratory. Journal of Pragmatics 41(8). 1611–1635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.02.004.Search in Google Scholar

Jucker, Andreas H. & Irma Taavitsainen. 2014. Complimenting in the history of American English: A metacommunicative expression analysis. In Irma Taavitsainen, Andreas H. Jucker & Jukka Tuominen (eds.), Diachronic corpus pragmatics. (Pragmatics and Beyond) New Series 243, 257–276. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/pbns.243.16jucSearch in Google Scholar

Kampf, Zohar. 2015. Political discourse analysis. In Karen Tracy, Todd Sandel & Cornelia Ilie (eds.), International encyclopedia of language and social interaction, 1160–1175. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.10.1002/9781118611463.wbielsi096Search in Google Scholar

Kampf, Zohar. 2016. All the best! Performing solidarity in political discourse. Journal of Pragmatics 93(3). 47–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.12.006.Search in Google Scholar

Kampf, Zohar, Lee Aldar, Roni Danziger & Mia Schreiber. 2019. The pragmatics of amicable interstate communication. Intercultural Pragmatics 16(2). 123–151. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2019-0007.Search in Google Scholar

Kampf, Zohar & Roni Danziger. 2019. ‘You dribble faster than Messi and jump higher than Jordan’: The art of complimenting and praising in political discourse. Journal of Politeness Research 15(1). 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2016-0044.Search in Google Scholar

King, Matt & Mark van Roojen. 2013. Praising and blaming. In Marina Sbisà & Ken Turner (eds.), Pragmatics of speech actions, 467–500. Berlin and New York: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9783110214383.467Search in Google Scholar

Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Search in Google Scholar

Leech, Geoffrey N. 1983. Principles of pragmatics. London and New York: Longman.Search in Google Scholar

Liebrecht, Christine, Lettica Huxtinz & Margot van Mulken. 2019. The relative power of negativity: The influence of language intensity on perceived strength. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 38(2). 170–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X18808562.Search in Google Scholar

Locher, Miriam & Richard J. Watts. 2005. Politeness theory and relational work. Journal of Politeness Research 1(1). 9–33. https://doi.org/10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.9.Search in Google Scholar

Maíz-Arévalo, Carmen. 2012. “Was that a compliment?” Implicit compliments in English and Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics 44(8). 980–996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.04.004.Search in Google Scholar

Makuchowska, Marzena. 2011. Od wrogów do braci. Posoborowe zmiany w dyskursie Kościoła katolickiego [From enemies to brethren Post-Vatican-Council changes in the discourse of the Catholic Church]. Opole: Uniwersytet Opolski.Search in Google Scholar

Makuchowska, Marzena. 2013. Styl religijny [The religious style]. In Ewa Malinowska, Jolanta Nocoń & Urszula Żydek-Bednarczuk (eds.), Style współczesnej polszczyzny [Styles of the contemporary Polish language], 487–528. Kraków: Univeristas.Search in Google Scholar

Marrus, Michael R. 2008. Papal apologies of Pope John Paul II. In Mark Gibney, Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, Jean-Marc Coicaud & Niklaus Steiner (eds.), The age of apology: Facing up to the past, 259–286. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Search in Google Scholar

Messerli, Thomas, C. 2017. Participation structure in fictional discourse: Authors, scpritwriters, audiences and characters. In Miriam A. Locher & Andreas H. Jucker (eds.), Pragmatics of fiction, 25–54. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9783110431094-002Search in Google Scholar

Morady Moghaddam, Mostafa. 2017. Politeness at the extremes: Iranian women’s insincere responses to compliments. Languages and Dialogues 7(3). 414–431. https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.7.3.05mog.Search in Google Scholar

Morady Moghaddam, Mostafa. 2019. Appraising and reappraising of compliments and the provision of responses. Automatic and non-automatic reactions. Pragmatics 29(3). 410–435. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.18016.mor.Search in Google Scholar

Neff-Van Aertselaer, Joanne, Teun A. Van Dijk, Ulrich Ammon, Rene Dirven & Martin Putz (eds.). 2004. Communicating ideologies: Multidisciplinary perspectives on language, discourse, and social practice (Duisburg Papers on Research in Language and Culture). New York: Peter Lang.Search in Google Scholar

Reisigl, Martin. 2008. Rhetoric of political speeches. In Wodak Ruth & Veronika Coller (eds.), Handbook of communication in the public sphere, 243–269. Berlin & New York: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9783110198980.3.243Search in Google Scholar

Ress-Miller, Janie. 2011. Compliments revisited: Contemporary compliments and gender. Journal of Pragmatics 43(11). 2673–2688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2011.04.014.Search in Google Scholar

Scannell, Paddy. 1991. Introduction: The relevance of talk. In Paddy Scannell (ed.), Broadcast, talk, 1–13. London: Sage.Search in Google Scholar

Schäffner, Christina & Anita L. Wenden (eds.). 2005. Language and peace. New York and London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203984994Search in Google Scholar

Schreurs, Leanne. 2020. Measuring language usage in hospitality situations. Research in Hospitality Management 10(1). 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/22243534.2020.1790203.Search in Google Scholar

Thompson, Geoff & Susan Hunston. 2000. Evaluation: An introduction. In Susan Hunston & Geoff Thompson (eds.), Evaluation in text. Authorial stance and the construction of discourse, 1–27. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780198238546.003.0001Search in Google Scholar

Van Dijk, Teun. 1998. Discourse as structure and process. London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi: Sage.Search in Google Scholar

Watts, Richard J. 2003. Politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511615184Search in Google Scholar

Werthwein, Daniela Christina. 2009. Already got a compliment today? Wie Australier und Deutsche verbal auf Komplimente reagieren. Asgard: Sankt Augustin.Search in Google Scholar

Wolfson, Nessa. 1983. An empirically based study of complimenting in American English. In Nessa Wolfson & Elliot Judd (eds.), Sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, 82–95. Rowley: Newbury House.Search in Google Scholar

Ицкович, Татьяна. 2019. Система жанров религиозного стиля в коммуникативно-прагматическом аспекте [Itskovich, Tat’yana. 2019. The system of genres of religious style in the communication-pragmatic aspect]. Studia Rossica Posnaniensia XLIV/2. 231–242. https://doi.org/10.14746/strp.2019.44.2.21.Search in Google Scholar

Церьковь. 2007. Церьковь и проблемы современной коммуникации. Сборник статей по матерялам Международиой научно-практической конференции. Нижный Новгород: Нижегорадская Духовная Семинария. [The Church and problems of contemporary communication. A collection of proceedings of a scientific-didactic conference]. Nizhnyy Novgorod: Nizhegoradskaya Dukhovnaya Seminariya.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2020-11-04
Accepted: 2021-12-24
Published Online: 2022-11-18
Published in Print: 2023-02-23

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 24.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/pr-2020-0048/html
Scroll to top button