Why say it that way?: evasive answers and politeness theory
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Jessica Marsh
Jessica Marsh has a Master of Studies degree in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology from the University of Oxford. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Surrey, where her research focuses on some of the interpersonal functions of the German particle
mal and its relationship to politeness and face management.
Abstract
Examples of evasive answers frequently appear in discussions of non-literal meaning comprehension. A considerable amount of work on this topic has focused on how this kind of non-literal meaning is generated. Of the researchers who have dealt with speakers’ motives for using evasive answers, and how hearers’ awareness of these motives affects their interpretations, the majority have focused on evasive answers that are not intended to be recognized as such – in Gricean terms, those that violate the Maxim of Relation. Comparatively little research has dealt with answers that are blatant in their failure to answer the question – that is, those that flout Relation.
This paper proposes that the majority of answers in the latter category can be understood using Brown and Levinson’s (1978, 1987) model of politeness – in particular, that evasive answers are motivated by considerations for both speaker and hearer’s positive face-wants. Evasive answers are defined according to Roberts’ (2012) model of “the question under discussion” and characterized in terms of violating, infringing, or flouting Grice’s (1975) Maxim of Relation. Various contexts in which the latter category of evasive answers occur are identified and discussed with reference to their role in avoiding face-threatening acts. Potential exceptions to the proposition that blatantly evasive answers can be explained using Brown and Levinson’s (1978, 1987) model of politeness are identified, and problems with treating violating, infringing, and flouting as clearly distinct categories are discussed.
About the author
Jessica Marsh has a Master of Studies degree in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology from the University of Oxford. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Surrey, where her research focuses on some of the interpersonal functions of the German particle mal and its relationship to politeness and face management.
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© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- ‘You dribble faster than Messi and jump higher than Jordan’: The art of complimenting and praising in political discourse
- Multimodal indexicality in Korean: “doing deference” and “performing intimacy” through nonverbal behavior
- Why say it that way?: evasive answers and politeness theory
- Routine politeness in American and British English requests: use and non-use of please
- 10.1515/pr-2014-0008
- International teaching assistants’ identity as instructors and rapport with American students
- Book Reviews
- Felix-Brasdefer, J. César and Dale April Koike (eds.). 2012. Pragmatic variation in first and second language contexts: methodological issues. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, Hardback ISBN 978-90-272-1872-8. E-Book ISBN ISBN 9789027273277. 338 pp. Price Hb € 99 / $ 149.
- Economidou-Kogetsidis, Maria and Helen Woodfield (eds.). 2012. Interlanguage request modification. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, Hardback ISBN 978-90-272-5622-5. 318 pp. Price Hb €95.
- Kidd, Joshua Alexander. 2016. Face and Enactment of Identities in the L2 Classroom, Bristol: Multilingual Matters. ISBN-13: 978-1-78309-499-8; 333 pp. Price Hb £109.95
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- ‘You dribble faster than Messi and jump higher than Jordan’: The art of complimenting and praising in political discourse
- Multimodal indexicality in Korean: “doing deference” and “performing intimacy” through nonverbal behavior
- Why say it that way?: evasive answers and politeness theory
- Routine politeness in American and British English requests: use and non-use of please
- 10.1515/pr-2014-0008
- International teaching assistants’ identity as instructors and rapport with American students
- Book Reviews
- Felix-Brasdefer, J. César and Dale April Koike (eds.). 2012. Pragmatic variation in first and second language contexts: methodological issues. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, Hardback ISBN 978-90-272-1872-8. E-Book ISBN ISBN 9789027273277. 338 pp. Price Hb € 99 / $ 149.
- Economidou-Kogetsidis, Maria and Helen Woodfield (eds.). 2012. Interlanguage request modification. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, Hardback ISBN 978-90-272-5622-5. 318 pp. Price Hb €95.
- Kidd, Joshua Alexander. 2016. Face and Enactment of Identities in the L2 Classroom, Bristol: Multilingual Matters. ISBN-13: 978-1-78309-499-8; 333 pp. Price Hb £109.95
