Chapter 5. Superiors’ directives in the Japanese workplace
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Haruko Minegishi Cook
Abstract
One of the criticisms against Brown and Levinson’s universal theory of politeness (1987) is the assertion that discernment politeness is more important than volitional politeness in Japanese society (e.g., Ide 1989; Hill et al. 1986). Contrary to this claim, studies that have analyzed actual discourse in the Japanese workplace report abundant volitional politeness strategies. These opposing views raise a question as to where and to what extent Japanese speakers use volitional strategies or observe discernment in the workplace. To answer this question, this chapter investigates superiors’ directives in new employee orientation sessions in a Japanese company. It finds a tendency among superiors to observe discernment when issuing procedural directives and to use negative and positive politeness strategies when issuing non-procedural directives.
Abstract
One of the criticisms against Brown and Levinson’s universal theory of politeness (1987) is the assertion that discernment politeness is more important than volitional politeness in Japanese society (e.g., Ide 1989; Hill et al. 1986). Contrary to this claim, studies that have analyzed actual discourse in the Japanese workplace report abundant volitional politeness strategies. These opposing views raise a question as to where and to what extent Japanese speakers use volitional strategies or observe discernment in the workplace. To answer this question, this chapter investigates superiors’ directives in new employee orientation sessions in a Japanese company. It finds a tendency among superiors to observe discernment when issuing procedural directives and to use negative and positive politeness strategies when issuing non-procedural directives.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Dedication vii
- Foreword xi
- Acknowledgement xv
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Grammar
- Chapter 1. Reason-coding in Japanese 17
- Chapter 2. Amari/anmari/anma and totemo/tottemo in history and discourse 49
- Chapter 3. The form and meaning of the dangling mitaina construction in a network of constructions 75
- Chapter 4. “Late projectability” of Japanese turns revisited 99
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Part II. Interaction
- Chapter 5. Superiors’ directives in the Japanese workplace 125
- Chapter 6. Negotiating entitlement in Japanese 149
- Chapter 7. From subjectivity to intersubjectivity 173
- Chapter 8. Ne as an “impoliteness” (“detachment”) marker? 197
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Part III. Culture
- Chapter 9. Genre and the cultural realms of taste in Japanese, Korean, and U.S. online recipes 219
- Chapter 10. Metapragmatic discourse in self-help books on Japanese women’s speech 245
- Chapter 11. Linguistic nationalism and fictional deception 267
- Chapter 12. How does a non-native Japanese literary writer dissimulate and diversify the Japanese language? 289
- Subject index 309
- Name index 311
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Dedication vii
- Foreword xi
- Acknowledgement xv
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Grammar
- Chapter 1. Reason-coding in Japanese 17
- Chapter 2. Amari/anmari/anma and totemo/tottemo in history and discourse 49
- Chapter 3. The form and meaning of the dangling mitaina construction in a network of constructions 75
- Chapter 4. “Late projectability” of Japanese turns revisited 99
-
Part II. Interaction
- Chapter 5. Superiors’ directives in the Japanese workplace 125
- Chapter 6. Negotiating entitlement in Japanese 149
- Chapter 7. From subjectivity to intersubjectivity 173
- Chapter 8. Ne as an “impoliteness” (“detachment”) marker? 197
-
Part III. Culture
- Chapter 9. Genre and the cultural realms of taste in Japanese, Korean, and U.S. online recipes 219
- Chapter 10. Metapragmatic discourse in self-help books on Japanese women’s speech 245
- Chapter 11. Linguistic nationalism and fictional deception 267
- Chapter 12. How does a non-native Japanese literary writer dissimulate and diversify the Japanese language? 289
- Subject index 309
- Name index 311
