Politeness strategies

要旨

This chapter examines the politeness strategies in Japanese to see what pragmatic features they involve, and what conditions distinguish direct from indirect politeness strategies. However, while the distinction between direct and indirect politeness strategies is arguably well established in politeness research, what underpins choices by speakers between them across different languages remains somewhat more controversial. Praising is interpreted in Brown and Levinson’s model as the speaker showing attentiveness to the positive face wants of the hearer. Praising others seems to be appreciated without reserve in many cultures as it is one of the most effective approaches to achieve solidarity, empathy and support. The non-honorific world refers to contexts where members of families, extended families, close friends in the same age group, and colleagues/associates are on an equal footing. In Japanese, initial invitations or benefit requests are usually made through indirect strategies, even between close friends, for instance, by using negation and interrogative forms.

主題