NEW in Fall '08:
Seminar on (Im)politeness
(LING 591 B)

What is (im)politeness? 

Traditional grammars have for a long time found it necessary to refer to politeness when discussing such 'illogical' grammatical structures as neg-raising ('I don't think she's coming' used to convey 'I think she's not coming') and the Tu/Vous alternation is Romance and other languages. However, it wasn't until the early 1970's that politeness studies emerged as a field in their own right out of an interest in indirect uses of language. In the past 35 years, (im)politeness has developed into a booming research area with links to anthropology, social psychology, conflict resolution, conversation analysis, SLA, computational and cognitive linguistics, witness the 51-page 'Bibliography on linguistic politeness' by DuFon et al. (Journal of Pragmatics 21 (1994), pp. 527-578), and the recent launch of a dedicated Journal of Politeness Research (Mouton de Gruyter, 2005- ).

            These developments will lead us to challenge received views about the marginality of affective language use, and to move beyond the identification of politeness with a range of lexicalized expressions toward an explanatory account that puts interpersonal dimensions of communication at the heart of current linguistic concerns, also investigating the implications of this view for the organization of grammar.

            This seminar is designed to bring participants up to date with the latest developments in the field of (im)politeness by means of in-class presentations and discussion of selected readings and short response papers. The requisite knowledge is thus built up gradually throughout the semester. No prior knowledge of pragmatics or politeness theories is necessary.Students interested in a particular phenomenon/language are encouraged to contact me in advance, so that relevant readings can be incorporated in the syllabus. In-class participation & presentations, response papers, and a final project will count toward assessment.

This seminar will provide you with:

• A hands-on introduction to core notions of pragmatic theory (implicatures, speech acts, cooperativity, conventionality, indirectness) as they apply to one particular area of investigation, (im)politeness phenomena
• An overview of the main findings of cross-cultural (including cross-dialectal) and cross-situational (im)politeness research, including L2 (im)politeness and political correctness
• An overview of research methodologies (observation, experimentation, interviews, questionnaires, role-play) used in (im)politeness research with critical discussion of their pros and cons
• The necessary background and a chance to develop independent research projects on particular aspects of (im)politeness in different languages/cultures
• An interdisciplinary outlook on the analysis of linguistic phenomena, including the  interface of language use with anthropological, socio-historical, and developmental aspects.

Pre-requisites: consent of instructor (LING 551 desirable but not required)

Questions?  Suggestions?  email: mt217@uiuc.edu