A Pragmatic Study On Self-Focused Lies In Desperate Housewives

Lies are common phenomena in everyday life. Scholars have carried out studies on lies from varied aspects. Although self-focused lies, as the statistics show, are most frequently told in daily life, little emphasis has been put on them. Self-interest, which features lying out of personal needs and reasons, is human nature. People tell self-focused lies for self-protection, face wants, inner intention, and expression of emotions and so on. Self-focused lies are told in various ways with varied pragmatic features. People even use pragmatic strategies in self-focused lies to enhance the reliability thus successfully deceive the hearers. Realizing the necessity of studying self-focused lies, the author will discuss about the cooperative principles self-focused lies violate, why people tell those self-focused lies and how pragmatic strategies are utilized. The whole American TV series Desperate Housewives, which includes eight seasons, will be analyzed to carry out a case study.This thesis mainly explores the cooperative principles self-focused lies violate as well as the pragmatic strategies used when people tell self-focused lies. In chapter one, the author introduces the origin of the study and gives a brief introduction about the American TV series Desperate Housewives; the research significance is presented, including the research questions, source of data and methodology. In chapter two, the delimitation of self-focused lies is defined; relevant studies of lies are discussed from the perspective of psychology and linguistics; theoretical foundation is presented. The following two chapters are the findings of the study of self-focused lies. In chapter three, cooperative principles self-focused lies violate in Desperate Housewives are analyzed: violating the maxim of quality, quantity, relation and manner. All those four patterns are discussed from several aspects in detail with examples in the TV series. Chapter four is involved with pragmatic strategies liars use in self-focused lies in Desperate Housewives to enhance the credibility: linguistic and non-linguistic pragmatic strategies. Linguistic pragmatic strategies include utilizing repeated demonstration, detailed description and enhanced attitude, while non-linguistic pragmatic strategies include utilizing background knowledge, situational knowledge and conversational context.This study discusses self-focused lies from the perspective of pragmatics, focusing on the patterns and strategies. The study results can help people to understand the motives of self-focused lies, to know their pragmatic features, which also enable people to have a better understanding of the individualism in American society. Lying, as a speech act common in everyday life, has pragmatic functions and is an indispensable part in interpersonal communication. Better understanding and appropriate utilizing of self-focused lies can promote interpersonal communication, thus promoting social harmony and human progress.