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Chapter 2. “Western” Grice?

Lying in a cross-cultural dimension
  • Jörg Meibauer

Abstract

Lying is a cognitive ability serving the deception of interlocutors. Following Grice (1989), we can say that lying violates the first maxim of Quality. Yet there are scholars who argue that the “Western” (rationalist, individualistic) view of Grice cannot account for the social and cultural variation we find in non-Western cultures (e.g., Danziger 2010). This article discusses a number of arguments for and against “Western” Grice and argues that the universalist view of the first maxim of Quality is compatible with social and cultural variation.

Abstract

Lying is a cognitive ability serving the deception of interlocutors. Following Grice (1989), we can say that lying violates the first maxim of Quality. Yet there are scholars who argue that the “Western” (rationalist, individualistic) view of Grice cannot account for the social and cultural variation we find in non-Western cultures (e.g., Danziger 2010). This article discusses a number of arguments for and against “Western” Grice and argues that the universalist view of the first maxim of Quality is compatible with social and cultural variation.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. The socio-cultural turn in pragmatics
  5. Chapter 1. Determinacy, distance and intensity in intercultural communication 9
  6. Chapter 2. “Western” Grice? 33
  7. Part II. Lingua franca communication
  8. Chapter 3. Why is miscommunication more common in everyday life than in lingua franca conversation? 55
  9. Chapter 4. “Burn the antifa traitors at the stake…” 75
  10. Part III. Business communication
  11. Chapter 5. The interpersonal pragmatics of intercultural financial discourse 105
  12. Chapter 6. Face-threatening e-mail complaint negotiation in a multilingual business environment 129
  13. Part IV. Cultural perceptions
  14. Chapter 7. Auto- and hetero-stereotypes in the mutual perception of Germans and Spaniards 159
  15. Chapter 8. The interactive (self-)reflexive construction of culture-related key words 181
  16. Chapter 9. “It’s really insulting to say something like that to anyone” 207
  17. Part V. Translation
  18. Chapter 10. Identities and impoliteness in translated Harry Potter novels 231
  19. Chapter 11. Presuppositions, paralanguage, visual kinesics 255
  20. Part VI. Pragmatic development
  21. Chapter 12. Development of pragmatic routines by Japanese learners in a study abroad context 275
  22. Chapter 13. A cross­sectional study of Syrian EFL learners’ pragmatic development 297
  23. Chapter 14. The pragmatic competence of student-teachers of Italian L2 323
  24. Chapter 15. Adaptive management and bilingual education 347
  25. Index 367
Current Issues in Intercultural Pragmatics
This chapter is in the book Current Issues in Intercultural Pragmatics
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.274.03mei

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. The socio-cultural turn in pragmatics
  5. Chapter 1. Determinacy, distance and intensity in intercultural communication 9
  6. Chapter 2. “Western” Grice? 33
  7. Part II. Lingua franca communication
  8. Chapter 3. Why is miscommunication more common in everyday life than in lingua franca conversation? 55
  9. Chapter 4. “Burn the antifa traitors at the stake…” 75
  10. Part III. Business communication
  11. Chapter 5. The interpersonal pragmatics of intercultural financial discourse 105
  12. Chapter 6. Face-threatening e-mail complaint negotiation in a multilingual business environment 129
  13. Part IV. Cultural perceptions
  14. Chapter 7. Auto- and hetero-stereotypes in the mutual perception of Germans and Spaniards 159
  15. Chapter 8. The interactive (self-)reflexive construction of culture-related key words 181
  16. Chapter 9. “It’s really insulting to say something like that to anyone” 207
  17. Part V. Translation
  18. Chapter 10. Identities and impoliteness in translated Harry Potter novels 231
  19. Chapter 11. Presuppositions, paralanguage, visual kinesics 255
  20. Part VI. Pragmatic development
  21. Chapter 12. Development of pragmatic routines by Japanese learners in a study abroad context 275
  22. Chapter 13. A cross­sectional study of Syrian EFL learners’ pragmatic development 297
  23. Chapter 14. The pragmatic competence of student-teachers of Italian L2 323
  24. Chapter 15. Adaptive management and bilingual education 347
  25. Index 367
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