Power and Politeness in Action: Disagreements in Oral Communication

Miriam A. Locher

Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2004

Power and Politeness in Action

Disagreements in Oral Communication

Miriam A. Locher

Volume 12 in the series Language, Power and Social Process [LPSP]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110926552

Overview
Contents

About this book

This study investigates the interface of power and politeness in the realization of disagreements in naturalistic language data. Power and politeness are important phenomena in face-to-face interaction. Disagreement is an arena in which these two key concepts are likely to be observed together: both disagreement and the exercise of power entail a conflict, and, at the same time, conflict will often be softened by the display of politeness (defined as marked relational work).

The concept of power is of special interest to the field of linguistics in that language is one of the primary means to exercise power. Often correlated with status and regarded as an influential aspect of situated speech, the workings of the exercise of power, however, have rarely been formally articulated. This study provides a theoretical framework within which to analyze the observed instances of disagreement and their co-occurrence with the exercise of power and display of politeness. In this framework, a checklist of propositions that allow us to operationalize the concept of power and identify its exercise in naturalistic linguistic data is combined with a view of language as socially constructed.

A qualitative approach is used to analyze the concepts of power and politeness. The material for analysis comes from three different contexts: (1) a sociable argument in an informal, supportive and interactive family setting, (2) a business meeting among colleagues within a research institution, and (3) examples from public discourse collected during the US Election 2000.

Author / Editor information

Miriam A. Locher is Senior Assistant at the University of Berne, Switzerland.

Topics

I-XVI Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	I
Chapter 1 Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I Theory I
Chapter 2 Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
Chapter 3 Communication and relational work Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Chapter 4 Politeness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
Part II Theory II
Chapter 5 Disagreement Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
Part III The interface of power and politeness in disagreements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
Chapter 6 A sociable argument during a dinner among family and friends Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
Chapter 7 Managing disagreement during a business meeting at a research institution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
Chapter 8 Examples of the exercise of power during the US Presidential Election 2000 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	283
Chapter 9 Summary and conclusion: The checklist reviewed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341
Appendices Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	357
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	361

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Pages
- Front matter: 16
- Main content: 365
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 18
- Tables: 29
Keywords: Diskursanalyse; Pragmatik; Sprache; Sprachsoziologie; Soziolinguistik

eBook

Published: September 3, 2010
ISBN: 9783110926552

Hardcover

Published: January 26, 2004
ISBN: 9783110180060