Alle Publikationen
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2004
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(2004): Power and Politeness in Action. Disagreements in Oral Communication. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter Mouton
Abstract: This study investigates the interface of power and politeness in the realization of disagreements in naturalistic language data. Power and politeness are important phenomena in face-to-face interaction. Disagreement is an arena in which these two key concepts are likely to be observed together: both disagreement and the exercise of power entail a conflict, and, at the same time, conflict will often be softened by the display of politeness (defined as marked relational work). The concept of power is of special interest to the field of linguistics in that language is one of the primary means to exercise power. Often correlated with status and regarded as an influential aspect of situated speech, the workings of the exercise of power, however, have rarely been formally articulated. This study provides a theoretical framework within which to analyze the observed instances of disagreement and their co-occurrence with the exercise of power and display of politeness. In this framework, a checklist of propositions that allow us to operationalize the concept of power and identify its exercise in naturalistic linguistic data is combined with a view of language as socially constructed. A qualitative approach is used to analyze the concepts of power and politeness. The material for analysis comes from three different contexts: (1) a sociable argument in an informal, supportive and interactive family setting, (2) a business meeting among colleagues within a research institution, and (3) examples from public discourse collected during the US Election 2000.
2002
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Felderer, Brigitte; Macho, Thomas (Hg.) (2002): Höflichkeit. Aktualität und Genese von Umgangsformen. München: Fink
Abstract: Höflichkeit ist heute eine Überlebensbedingung kultureller Vielfalt: ein gemeinsames Überleben wird von der Entwicklung, Bewahrung und Kultivierung differenzierter Verständigungstechniken abhängen, die sich auch in konkreten Spannungssituationen bewähren. Die verschiedenen Bereiche, in denen Höflichkeit eine Rolle spielt, werden in diesem Band historisch und vergleichend, aus der Perspektive verschiedener Disziplinen untersucht werden.
1996
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(1996): Dominance, Deference, and Egalitarianism in Organizational Interaction. A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Power and Politeness. In: Organization Science 7 (5), S. 544-556. DOI: 10.1287/orsc.7.5.544
Abstract: Organizational literature has long presumed that power is communicated and enacted through behaviors exchanged at the level of face-to-face interaction. Little research, however, has investigated this aspect of power. The author explores how power is embedded in manners of speech exchanged in everyday interaction among superiors and subordinates. He draws upon the sociolinguistic theory of ''politeness''. Politeness, linguistic behaviors used to demonstrate regard and consideration for others, is hypothesized to be sensitive to the social distribution of power. Low power actors are most likely to use linguistic politeness behaviors because such behaviors minimize the possibility of conflict with superiors. Results of a laboratory study confirm that politeness behaviors are sensitive to the distribution of formal authority in organizations. When superiors use politeness, they are more likely than subordinates to employ a subtype of politeness that demonstrates consideration by intimating social familiarity and camaraderie. The hypothesis that egalitarian values moderate the overall effect of power politeness is not supported, perhaps because of the constraints of the experimental situation. Overall, the study demonstrates how abstractions such as authority and equality can be measured in terms of the manners of comportment that actors bring to bear on one another in face-to-face contexts. Given the possibility that egalitarianism can be operationalized at a linguistic level of analysis, the findings have important ramifications for the study of the presumed status leveling associated with programs of workplace participation. The study broadly shows how sociolinguistic perspectives can contribute to our understanding of organizational phenomena.
1990
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(1990): Linguistic Politeness: Current Research Issues. In: Journal of Pragmatics 14 (2), S. 193-218. DOI: 10.1016/0378-2166(90)90080-W
Abstract: The paper reviews a substantial part of the research on linguistic politeness, with the objective to evaluate current politeness theories and to outline directions for future politeness studies. The topics addressed comprise (1) the distinction of politeness as strategic conflict avoidance and social indexing; (2) the linguistic enactment of politeness; (3) social and psychological factors determining politeness forms and functions; (4) the impact of discourse type on politeness; (5) the counterpart to politeness, i.e. rudeness. Furthermore, the paper provides an introduction to the remaining contributions to this Special Issue.
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