A Study On Mock Politeness From Rapport Management Perspective

This thesis holds that mock politeness is relatively polite and it is a linguistic phenomenon independent of politeness and impoliteness.This thesis takes mock politeness as the research subject and rapport management theory proposed by Helen Spencer-Oatey(2008)as the theoretical framework,aiming to use language to maintain or threaten interpersonal and social relationships.Selecting mock politeness utterances from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as the data,the thesis adopts qualitative research methods to make a detailed discourse analysis of mock politeness in specific contexts.In the thesis,these two research questions are explored:(1)What are the representation patterns of mock politeness in different contexts?(2)What are the interpersonal pragmatic functions of applying mock politeness forinteractants from rapport management perspective?In a word,this study exemplifies three representation patterns of mock politeness in different contexts,which are iron fist in a velvet,token empathy and allusion.In addition,the thesis finds there are four interpersonal pragmatic functions of mock politeness for interactants,including maintaining interpersonal rapport,constructing self-identity,indirect coercive function and sarcasm.Also,in a specific context,mock politeness can have more than one interpersonal pragmatic function at the same time.In conclusion,this study is of practical significance for interpreting interpersonal pragmatic functions of mock politeness in literary works.Meanwhile,it has implications for using mock politeness to maintain interpersonal rapport and construct self-identity.