A Case Study Of Impolite Discourse In Comedy Talk Shows

The politeness model based on the “face theory” proposed by Brown&Levinson does not explain the impolite speech acts in language use.Impolite speech acts have the same long history as polite speech acts and are widely spoken in verbal communication.The study of impolite discourse in comedy talk shows is conducive to enriching the research content of impolite discourse and promoting interpersonal harmony.Roast is unique and has more impolite discourse features than other comedy talk shows.In the framework of the impoliteness research proposed by Culpeper(1996)and Bousfield(2008),this paper systematically studies the impolite discourse in Roast,analyzes the language representation of the impolite discourse in the Roast,and finds out the impoliteness strategies in Roast,summarizes the functions produced by impoliteness strategies in Roast and the factors that influence the function of impolite discourse.Based on Culpeper's impoliteness framework,through the analysis of 196 impolite discourses in the Roast,it is found that in a specific context,impolite discourse presents three characteristics,weak antagonism,discourse power asymmetry,frontality.According to the analysis of impolite discourse in the Roast,four obvious impoliteness strategies were discovered,that is negative impoliteness strategy,positive impoliteness strategy,sarcasm or mock impoliteness strategy,and bold on record impoliteness strategy.By analyzing the speaker' choices about the use of impoliteness strategies and receiver's responses to impolite discourse,it is found that impolite discourse has three positive functions in the comedy talk show: the function of emotion expression,the function of entertaining,and the function of interpersonal harmony.The study found that context,body language,and rhythm are important factors affecting the expression of pragmatic functions.Focusing on the characteristics of impoliteness strategies in the context of comedy talk shows,this study expands the scope of impolite research and enriches the discourse type of impolite research.By studying the pragmatic function and its influencing factors,this paper is helpful to stimulate more scholars to pay attention to the pragmatic effects of impolite discourse in the institutional context.Research can help people to use impoliteness strategies in accordance with different interpersonal relationships in the daily communication process to promote the success of communication purposes.