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Shuoshihua, …”: Chinese celebrities’ metapragmatic management of rapport and impression in an interview setting

  • Xinren Chen and Yingzhe Jin

    Yingzhe Jin is a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages at Tongling University in China. She obtained her PhD program at Nanjing University in 2021. Her field of work is pragmatics, specifically politeness in Chinese culture.

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Published/Copyright: March 18, 2022

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate Chinese celebrities’ metapragmatic management of rapport and impression, as indicated by their use of honesty markers such as shuoshihua (literally, ‘to tell the truth’) in their candid utterances in an interview setting. Based on naturally occurring data, it is found that Chinese celebrities tend to use honesty markers across various interactional contexts when they perform a number of situationally unexpected relational acts such as disclosing a bias, disagreeing with co-participants, complimenting another celebrity, conveying gratitude to one’s critic, and self-praising. As these acts of the celebrities’ risk threatening the rapport they have with others involved in or outside of the interaction, and triggering some negative impressions of themselves, this article suggests that their use of the honesty markers might reflect their metapragmatic awareness of the risks involved and hence their efforts to manage rapport and impression, by placing significant emphasis on their sincerity.


Corresponding author: Yingzhe Jin, English Department, School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; and Department of Foreign Languages, Tongling University, Tongling, Anhui, China, E-mail:

Funding source: National Social Science Fund of China; Philosophy and Social Science Research in Anhui Province

Award Identifier / Grant number: 20&ZD299

Award Identifier / Grant number: AHSKQ2020D201

About the author

Yingzhe Jin

Yingzhe Jin is a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages at Tongling University in China. She obtained her PhD program at Nanjing University in 2021. Her field of work is pragmatics, specifically politeness in Chinese culture.

Acknowledgements

This study is supported by a major project titled “Language Issues in the Social Management of Cyberspace” funded by National Social Science Fund of China (20&ZD299) and a youth project on Philosophy and Social Science Research in Anhui Province, entitled “Discursive Construction of Self Image in the Practice of Public Civilization” (AHSKQ2020D201).

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Received: 2019-08-13
Accepted: 2020-07-24
Published Online: 2022-03-18
Published in Print: 2022-07-26

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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