Politeness Strategies

Politeness Strategies

Founded by Brown and Levinson. Based on their book on Politeness Strategy. Sources also include Yul's book, but the explanation here is primarily from Brown and Levinson.

General Assumption

Adult competent people in society possess social properties or social capital, which they use for interaction.

Face

All members of adult society have "face," which is not a literal face, but a concept.

Definition of Face

Face is a public self-image, the desired self-image that every member wants to claim for themselves. There are two types of face:

  1. Negative Face: The desire for independence, to not be imposed upon, and to be free to do anything. It is a basic claim of territory, personal space, and the right to non-distraction, representing freedom from imposition.

  2. Positive Face: The desire to be appreciated, respected, and feel comfortable. It is the consistent self-image or personality claimed by interactants.

Key Points About Face

  • All adult members have face, which consists of negative and positive aspects.

  • All adult society members have the capacity to make choices to achieve their goals.

  • Rational capacity involves consistent reasoning from the determined goal in communication and ways to achieve it.

Dynamics of Face

Face is dynamic, emotionally invested, and must be constantly attended to in interaction.

  • Face can be lost.

  • Face can be maintained.

  • Face can be enhanced.

  • Face must be constantly attended to, whether it is the speaker's or hearer's face.

Basic Wants

Every member of society has an interest in protecting face. Therefore, everyone naturally wants to satisfy face, at least partially, in interactions.

Cooperation in Maintaining Face

Most people generally want to cooperate in maintaining face. Participants in normal interactions try not to threaten face because if someone does not maintain the face of others, their own face will also be threatened.

Thus, everyone tries to avoid harming others in communication, which is known as cooperation in face maintenance.

Ignoring Face

Face can be ignored not only in situations of social breakdown (e.g., arguments) but also when urgency or efficiency is prioritized over maintaining face.

Face-Threatening Acts (FTAs)

Almost every utterance has the potential to threaten face. Actions, specifically communicative acts, that threaten the speaker's or hearer's face are called Face-Threatening Acts (FTAs).

Since there are two kinds of face, utterances can threaten either the positive face or the negative face. Act that intrinsically harm the negative face:

Acts Threatening Negative Face

These acts threaten the desire to be free from imposition.

  1. Acts that Pressure the Hearer: Actions that compel the hearer to commit to the speaker's intended action, such as:

    • Ordering

    • Requesting

    • Suggestions

    • Advice

    • Reminders

    • Threats

    • Warnings

    Almost all Directive Speech Acts have the potential to threaten the negative face.

  2. Acts Establishing Future Positive Acts of the Speaker: Actions that benefit the speaker but impinge on the hearer's freedom, such as:

    • Offering

    • Promising

    These acts force the hearer to accept or reject, thus threatening their freedom.

  3. Acts Establishing Speaker's Wants at Hearer's Expense: Actions like compliments, which may require the hearer to act in a way that fulfills the speaker's expectations.

Acts Threatening Positive Face

These acts threaten the desire to be respected and appreciated.

  1. Acts Indicating Negative Opinion: Actions where the speaker has a negative opinion of the hearer's face, such as:

    • Expressions of disapproval

    • Criticism

    • Contempt

    • Complaints

    • Abusing

    • Insulting

    • Disagreement

    • Challenges

    These actions make the hearer uncomfortable.

  2. Acts Showing Disregard for Hearer's Positive Face: Actions where the speaker does not care about the hearer's positive face, such as:

    • Expressions of violent emotion

    • Using taboo words

    • Bringing bad news

Mixed FTAs

Some speech acts can threaten both positive and negative faces:

  • Complaints: Threaten the hearer's positive face (embarrassment) and negative face (pressure to act).

  • Interruptions

  • Threats

  • Requests for personal information

  • Strong expressions

Offending Speaker's Positive Face

Certain actions can threaten the speaker's own positive face. For example:

  • Apologies: Can diminish the speaker's positive self-image.

  • Acceptance of thanks or apologies from others.

  • Excuses

  • Acceptance of offers

  • Unwilling promises

Offending Speaker's Negative Face

Actions that impinge on the speaker's freedom, such as:

  • Apologies

  • Acceptances

Acts Threatening Both Speaker and Hearer

Due to the potential of Face-Threatening Acts, Brown and Levinson proposed the concept of politeness strategies.

Politeness Strategies

People choose strategies in communication by considering FTAs. There are five strategies, ranging from the least to the greatest risk of threatening face:

  1. Don't do the FTA: Avoid communicating altogether.

  2. Off Record (Indirect): Implying the FTA without directly stating it.

  3. On Record (Without Redressive Action): Directly communicating the FTA without any attempt to soften it; known as "bald on record."

  4. Positive Politeness Strategy (With Redressive Action): Addressing the hearer's positive face wants.

  5. Negative Politeness Strategy (With Redressive Action): Addressing the hearer's negative face wants.

Considerations Influencing Strategy Choice

  • Communicating the FTA content.

  • Aspects of efficiency or urgency.

  • Desire to maintain the hearer's face.

If efficiency or urgency is more important than maintaining the hearer's face, speakers will want to minimize threats from the FTA.

Bald On Record Strategy

Chosen when the communicative intention is clear without mitigation or softening.

Contexts for Choosing Bald On Record

  • Urgency or Crisis: In urgent situations, direct action is necessary.

  • High Familiarity: With close relationships, speakers assume comfort.

  • No Face Redress Required: Situations where face redress is unnecessary.

  • Hearer's Interest: When the FTA primarily benefits the hearer.

Off Record Strategies

A way of performing FTAs indirectly.

Contexts for Choosing Off Record

  • When the utterance threatens the speaker's face, off-record strategies are used to avoid speaker imposing.

  • When it threatens the hearer's face, it allows the speaker to hide their intentions.

Examples of Off Record Strategies

  • Giving hints

  • Giving association clues

  • Using presupposition

  • Using understatement

  • Using overstatement

  • Using tautologies

  • Using contradictions

  • Being ironic

  • Using metaphors

Positive Politeness Strategy

Oriented toward the positive face of the hearer, aiming to minimize threats by focusing on the hearer's wants.

It is used to minimize threats to the hearer's positive face and assure the hearer that their desires are understood and respected.

Negative Politeness Strategy

Oriented toward satisfying the hearer's negative face wants.

The strategy reduces threats to the hearer's negative face by being conventionally indirect, using hedges, minimizing imposition, giving deference, apologizing, and impersonalizing.

Factors Influencing Politeness Strategy

There are two types of factors: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic Factors: Payoff

Payoff refers to the inherent advantage or benefit a speaker anticipates from using a specific politeness strategy.

Types of Payoff

  • Minimizing FTAs: Reduces potential social costs or negative feelings.

  • Maintaining Social Harmony: Preserves positive social dynamics.

  • Establishing Trust: Builds trust and rapport.

Payoffs for Specific Strategies

  • Bald On Record: Can enlist public raisers, gain credit for honesty, avoid misunderstandings, and allow for immediate feedback.

  • Off Record: Gains advantages by being considered polite, avoiding assumptions of forcing, and testing the hearer's feelings.

  • Positive Politeness: Reduces FTAs for the positive face by conveying equality and minimizing gap implications of FTAs.

  • Negative Politeness: Minimizes negative FTAs by showing deference, avoiding judgments, and respecting social distance.

Extrinsic Factors: Sociological Variables

These are social factors influencing politeness, often remembered while payoff are forgotten:

  • Social Distance (D): The symmetric measure of social distance between speaker and hearer.

  • Power Relation (P): The asymmetric power relation between speaker and hearer.

  • Ranking of Imposition (R): The degree of imposition.

Formula for Seriousness of FTA

$W = D + P + R$

Where:

  • $W$ = Seriousness of the FTA

  • $D$ = Social Distance

  • $P$ = Power Relation

  • $R$ = Ranking of Imposition

If $W$ is high, a politeness strategy with redressive action is needed. If $W$ is low, bald on record may suffice.