2.3: Pragmatics, Power, and Politeness

• Fairclough – Language and Power 

  Power behind discourse: Someone’s position/status/social aspects that give them power 

  Power in discourse: How power is exerted through language 

  Unequal encounter: An encounter with a power inbalance 

  Asymmetrical relationship: A difference in power between people in a conversation 

  Symmetrical relationship: When people in a conversation have equal power 

  Action: Subject – verb – object 

  Event: Passive: subject – verb 

  Attribution: Subject – verb – complement 

  Relational modality: Modality used to exert power to a specific audience 

  Expressive modality: Modality making a general statement 

  Inclusive pronouns: Pronouns including audience and TP 

  Exclusive pronouns: Pronouns distinguishing audience and TP as separate 
• Austin and Searle – Speech Act Theory 

  SAT: Idea that we use language to do things 

  Speech act: Words doing something 

  Locution: What is said/ the Expression 

  Illocution: What is intended/ subtext 

  Perlocution: What action happens as a result of locution 
• Wareing and Types of Power 

  Influential power: using persuasion 

  Instrumental power: Using authority 

  Political power: Power that comes from belonging to a group 

  Social power: Power derived from social, CAGE aspects 

  Personal power: Power from profession/ role 
• Grice and Co-operative Principle 

  Cooperative principle: Idea that we use language to achieve conversational goals 

  Conversational maxim: An unspoken rule of conversation 

  Maxim of quantity: Giving the right amount of information 

  Maxim of quality: Telling the truth, to your knowledge 

  Maxim of relation: Staying relevant/ on-topic in a conversation 

  Maxim of manner: Staying clear and concise 

  Implicatures: A maxim being flouted, creating another meaning 

  Flouting a maxim: Not following a maxim, to knowledge of audience, creating an implicature 

  Observing a maxim: Following a maxim 

  Violating a maxim: Not following a maxim, without the audience knowing 
• Politeness 

  Positive face: Desire to feel valued/ appreciated 

  Negative face: Desire not to be imposed upon 

  FTA: An act that could threaten face 

  Bald-on record: No effort to minimise FTA 

  Positive Politeness: Using language to preserve someone’s positive face 

  Negative politeness: Using language to preserve someone’s negative face 

  Off-record: Indirect language being used to minimise threat to negative face