Chapter 2. Nice as a cultural keyword
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Sophia Waters
Abstract
This chapter investigates the English word nice as a cultural keyword, around which sociality discourses revolve. Focusing on its semantic scope in Australian discourse, the keyword nice has an important story to tell about socially accepted and approved ways of thinking, communicating and behaving. Oftentimes nice has been trivialised, or even ridiculed as an “empty word”, but closer scrutiny reveals that nice has all the characteristics of a cultural keyword. It is frequent and foundational in Australian discourse, and it reflects cultural logics, values and orientations. Also, as is common with cultural keywords, nice lacks translational equivalents, even in closely related languages. A comparison with French gentil demonstrates how nice is distinctive in the way it organises and maintains specific discursive orders.
Abstract
This chapter investigates the English word nice as a cultural keyword, around which sociality discourses revolve. Focusing on its semantic scope in Australian discourse, the keyword nice has an important story to tell about socially accepted and approved ways of thinking, communicating and behaving. Oftentimes nice has been trivialised, or even ridiculed as an “empty word”, but closer scrutiny reveals that nice has all the characteristics of a cultural keyword. It is frequent and foundational in Australian discourse, and it reflects cultural logics, values and orientations. Also, as is common with cultural keywords, nice lacks translational equivalents, even in closely related languages. A comparison with French gentil demonstrates how nice is distinctive in the way it organises and maintains specific discursive orders.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Typographical conventions and symbols ix
- Chapter 1. How words do things with people 1
- Chapter 2. Nice as a cultural keyword 25
- Chapter 3. Bogan as a keyword of contemporary Australia 55
- Chapter 4. Social keywords in postcolonial Melanesian discourse 83
- Chapter 5. Talking about Livet ‘life’ in Golden Age Danish 107
- Chapter 6. Visuality, identity and emotion 131
- Chapter 7. Subúrbio and suburbanos 157
- Chapter 8. Cantonese ‘ mong4 ’ 183
- Chapter 9. Kawaii discourse 211
- Chapter 10. An invitation to keyword studies 235
- Index 243
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Typographical conventions and symbols ix
- Chapter 1. How words do things with people 1
- Chapter 2. Nice as a cultural keyword 25
- Chapter 3. Bogan as a keyword of contemporary Australia 55
- Chapter 4. Social keywords in postcolonial Melanesian discourse 83
- Chapter 5. Talking about Livet ‘life’ in Golden Age Danish 107
- Chapter 6. Visuality, identity and emotion 131
- Chapter 7. Subúrbio and suburbanos 157
- Chapter 8. Cantonese ‘ mong4 ’ 183
- Chapter 9. Kawaii discourse 211
- Chapter 10. An invitation to keyword studies 235
- Index 243
