The applicability of Brown and Levinson's theory of politeness to Japanese : a review of the English literature

要旨

Brown and Levinsons theory of politeness (1978 1987 is a detailed and large scale work that endeavors to explain and predict polite language behavior in all languages and cultures. It is therefore a theory with great importance not only for pragmatics but also for other areas of language study such as cross‑cultural understanding communication and language education. It has inevitably been the subject of considerable controversy amongst international scholars. A significant part of this debate has been concerned with the theorys capacity to explain politeness in Japanese. Its notions of face negative politeness and deference have been particularly problematic for several scholars. Themeta‑pragmaticsof the academic discourse has even received attention with regard to socio‑historical assumptions about communication and biased terminology. This paper reviews some key examples of the relevant literature that has been published in English and attempts to identify and summarize the most salient issues proposed solutions and alternative frameworks.

主題