Historical (Im)Politeness Research

 

 

Organisers:

Jonathan Culpeper (Lancaster University)

Dániel Z. Kádár (Research Institute for Linguistics, H.A.S.)

 

Description:

In recent years much research has been undertaken on both linguistic politeness and historical pragmatics. A regrettable fact is, however, that few forums have been created where politeness theorists and experts in historical pragmatics can exchange views on the possible application of politeness ‘theories’ to historical data. Moreover, not only has historical data rarely been the focus of politeness analyses and discussions, but its potential for shaping our understanding of politeness has not been fully appreciated. The merging of politeness research and historical pragmatics can benefit both sides: historical pragmatic research can benefit from moving away from more ‘traditional’ politeness theories when analysing historical data; politeness research can benefit from a diachronic perspective. With this in mind, we are pleased to announce our forthcoming panel Historical (Im)Politeness Research, which will be organised in the frame of the 4th International Symposium on Politeness ‘East Meets West’, Budapest, 2007. This groundbreaking panel will be an open forum where experts can meet, form new acquaintances and interdisciplinary working groups, and raise and discuss both methodological and theoretical issues.

 

Publication:

The organisers will publish a volume containing a selection of papers presented at the panel. This edited collection of papers is going to be published in early 2009 at the Linguistic Insights Series of the Swiss publisher Peter Lang, Bern. It should be emphasised that the volume will not be a proceedings: whilst every panel participant will be invited to submit a paper version of her/his presentation to us, the submitted papers will go through a blind peer-review process and hence will be subject of acceptance/refusal.

 

Papers:

 

Opening presentation (30 min. presentation + 10 min. discussion time):

Jucker, Andreas H. (University of Zurich)                                                                                           

“In curteisie was set ful muchel hir lest”:

Politeness and Impoliteness in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

 

Presentations (in alphabetic order):

Bax, Marcel & Streekstra, Nanne  (University of Groningen)                                                                     

            The Very Model of Epistolary Civility

A Socio-pragmatic Approach to One Bourgeois-gentilhomme’s Distinct Uses of          Politeness Strategies in The Context of Early Modern Dutch Letter-writing

 

Chaemsaithong, KrisdA (University of Houston, Downtown)                                                            

Politeness Strategies in Business Letters in

Late 18th Century England and America            

 

Fitzmaurice, Susan M. (University of Sheffield)                                                               

Politeness, Politic Behaviour and Humiliative Discourse in Eighteenth

Century English

 

Held, Gudrun (University of Salzburg)                                                                               

Supplica la mia parvidade …

Petitions in Medieval Societies – A Matter of Ritualized Politeness?

 

 

Kádár, Dániel Z.                                               

A Situated Model of the Historical Chinese

Deferential Denigration/Elevation Phenomenon

 

King, Jeremy          (Louisiana State University)                                                                                        

Power and Solidarity Revisited:

The Ramifications of Tripartite Address in Golden Age Spanish

 

Krylová, Barbora (Charles University, Prague)                                        

Verbal Duelling in Ancient Roman Comedy

 

Nevala, Minna (Research Unit for Variation, Contacts and Change in English University of Helsinki)         

Keeping up Appearances:

Face Work in Self- and Addressee-oriented Reference

 

Obara, Hiroshi                                                                                   

The Modals as Pragmatic Softening Devices:

Evidence from Late Modern English Grammar and Manner Books

 

Paternoster, Annick (Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, University of Leeds)            

Politeness and Style in The Betrothed (I promessi sposi, 1840):

An Italian Novel by Alessandro Manzoni

 

Sárosi, Zsófia (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)                                      

Hierarchy and Attitude

Using T/V Forms in 16-17th Century Hungarian

 

Shiina, Michi          (Hosei University, Japan)                                                                                   

Creativity in Impolite Linguistic Behaviour:

Observations on Early-Modern English Data

 

Closing talk and discussion:

Culpeper, Jonathan and & Dániel Z. Kádár     

            Conclusions, reflections and the future

 

Booklet of Abstracts:

A booklet of abstracts can be downloaded from here.