A Contrastive Study Of Impoliteness Response Strategies Between Addressees And Auditors In Polylogues

Impoliteness is a common phenomenon in interaction which triggered by a speaker to cause a loss of the listener's face.The study of impoliteness has been ignored for a long time until some of the western scholars started to shift their attention in 1970 s.As a response to this shift,more and more researchers conduct studies on impoliteness from different perspectives.The third party in interactions where impoliteness occurs consequently is a marginal field in impoliteness research.However,a conversation more often than not,consists of more than two parties.Therefore,this thesis attempts to focus on the third party in a conversation where impoliteness is involved.To be specific,the objective of this study is to analyze how the auditors in polylogues respond to impoliteness and how they respond differently from the addressees.The data used in this study are collected from 15 realistic Chinese dramas,which I believe can be taken as equally reliable examples to analyze human communications.On the basis of Bousfield's framework of impoliteness(2008),the thesis explores the main options the auditors could pick in face-threatening acts(FTAs)and the output strategies of each option available to them.After analysis,we discover that when encountered with impoliteness,three general positions are applicable,namely,supporting the attacker,supporting the addressee and staying neutral.The relationship between the auditor and addressee and whether any common interests involved are the main factors which account for the auditor's choices.Besides,when no interest is involved,the auditor tends to stay neutral,resolving the event as a middleman or show no response.In addition,by adopting both qualitative and quantitative analysis,we distinguish six response patterns in on-record impoliteness and four patterns in off-record impoliteness.All in all,the addressees tend to stay in a defensive position,refusing to counterattack no matter when they are faced with on-record or off-record impoliteness.For auditors,both neutral and offensive attitudes are frequent choices in on-record impoliteness situations,while in off-record impoliteness situations,only neutral attitude is frequently applied.The present study contributes to the research of impoliteness both theoretically and practically.With the findings of this study,a new perspective of impoliteness research is established and further studies on this related area can be conducted.