Positive politeness strategies are based on Brown and Levinson’s theory about politeness in general. They distinguish between two kinds of politeness – positive and negative politeness. Even though their theory about speech acts has been developed in 1978, it does not seem to be outdated. Brown and Levinson are still the leading linguists in the field of politeness who explain which positive politeness strategies people follow during speech acts.
The strategies of positive politeness not only apply to speech, to spoken language and recorded speech; but also to written texts. There seems to be a difference in use of positive politeness strategies in written texts and speech act. Various problems occurred while working on the paper. First, it was very difficult to find an interview, which could be downloaded from the internet. Secondly, this interview had to be interesting enough to make it pleasurable to work on. And lastly, it was necessary to find an interview which can be used throughout this paper as an example to illustrate all 15 strategies of positive politeness. This seemed to be the most substantial problem. It is almost impossible to find an interview, which follows all 15 strategies. I assume that not all 15 strategies of positive politeness had been used during the interview.
This paper will deal with documentary of the British rock band Coldplay. It was recorded from the BBC homepage, where you find links to British radio stations, and I edited the interview by cutting out musical interludes. The talk was broadcasted on Radio 1 in the Steve Lamacq’s show “Bigger, Stronger - Coldplay's early days”1. Even though I contacted Radio 1, I was not able to find out the exact date when the interview was broadcasted.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Politeness in General
3. Positive Politeness on the Example of a Radio Documentary
3.1 Claim Common Ground
3.2 Convey that Speaker and Hearer are Cooperators
3.3 Fulfil Hearer’s Wants
4. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Core Topics
This paper examines the application of Brown and Levinson’s linguistic politeness theory, specifically focusing on positive politeness strategies within a radio documentary about the rock band Coldplay. The primary objective is to analyze how band members use specific linguistic markers to establish rapport and maintain a positive face during their narrative.
- Analysis of Brown and Levinson’s positive politeness framework.
- Investigation of linguistic strategies like exaggeration and in-group markers.
- Application of politeness theory to unscripted, spontaneous speech.
- Comparison of social context between interviews and narratives.
- Evaluation of how band members project a friendly, accessible image.
Excerpt from the Book
Use In-Group-Identity Markers
The following examples show the use of in-group identity markers in the sense of slang and jargon.
(25) I wanna […].
(26) yeah
(27) stuff like that
(28) I don’t give a shit.
(29) gonna
(30) wicked
(31) I don’t give a shit.
(32) didn’t have a clue
(33) Fucking Micky […]
(34) 100 quid
There is also the possibility of classing some slang words as in-group identity markers in the sense of contraction and ellipsis.
(35) ‘cause
(36) wanna
(37) gonna
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the theoretical foundation of the paper based on Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory and outlines the methodology for analyzing the chosen documentary.
2. Politeness in General: This section defines core concepts of politeness, specifically the distinction between positive and negative face and their role in maintaining social order.
3. Positive Politeness on the Example of a Radio Documentary: This chapter provides the empirical analysis, categorized into strategies for claiming common ground, conveying cooperation, and fulfilling hearer wants.
4. Conclusion: The summary evaluates the frequency of the identified strategies and discusses how the medium of a documentary influences the usage of linguistic politeness by the band members.
Keywords
Positive Politeness, Brown and Levinson, Linguistic Strategies, In-Group Identity, Radio Documentary, Speech Acts, Slang, Jargon, Social Rapport, Face-Saving, Narrative, Coldplay, Pragmatics, Conversational Analysis, Polite Utterances
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this academic paper?
The work examines the implementation of positive politeness strategies in spoken language, using a BBC radio documentary about the British rock band Coldplay as the primary data source.
What are the primary themes analyzed in the study?
Key themes include the use of exaggeration, in-group identity markers like slang and jargon, the seeking of agreement, and the overall construction of a "friendly" public persona.
What is the central research question?
The paper asks how members of a music band utilize specific linguistic strategies—proposed by Brown and Levinson—to mitigate potential face-threatening acts and build rapport with their audience.
Which linguistic methodology is applied?
The research applies the pragmatic framework established by Penelope Brown and Stephen C. Levinson (2000), particularly their taxonomy of positive politeness strategies.
What content is covered in the main body?
The main body breaks down the analysis into specific categories: claiming common ground, conveying that speaker and hearer are cooperators, and fulfilling the hearer's wants.
What characteristics define the keywords of this work?
Keywords reflect the intersection of pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and discourse analysis, focusing on identity construction and politeness phenomena in media texts.
Why was the "Claim Common Ground" category the most prevalent?
The author notes that this category is the most expansive in the theoretical framework, allowing for a higher frequency of classification compared to the other two categories.
How does the documentary format affect the politeness strategies used?
Since the documentary is largely a monologue, the band members focus heavily on audience-building strategies rather than direct, interactive cooperation with an interviewer.
- Quote paper
- Anett Senftleben (Author), 2005, The use of Positive Politeness Strategies considering a Specific Speech Act., Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/41810
