The bases of (im)politeness evaluations

Culture, the moral order and the East–West debate

Authors

  • Helen Spencer-Oatey University of Warwick
  • Dániel Kádár University of Huddersfield

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.v1i1.29084

Keywords:

impoliteness, East-West debate, moral order, cultural values, beliefs, intercultural communication

Abstract

Evaluation is an important aspect of (im)politeness, and this article explores it from an interdisciplinary perspective. It starts by considering the East–West debate in politeness theory and argues that both emic and etic approaches to research can contribute usefully to the deliberations. It then maintains that, if we are to understand the impact of culture on people’s (im)politeness evaluations, we need to unpack the concept more thoroughly. It proposes that useful insights can be obtained from Haidt’s (e.g. Haidt & Kesebir, 2010) work on moral foundations and Schwartz’s (e.g. Schwartz et al., 2012) work on basic values. The article ends by revisiting the East–West debate, discussing the potential impact of other factors such as beliefs and ideologies, and noting the ongoing uncertainties over levels and links between the various concepts explored. It urges pragmaticists and psychologists to engage more fully with each other to help address these challenges.

Author Biographies

  • Helen Spencer-Oatey, University of Warwick

    Helen Spencer-Oatey is Professor and Director of the Centre for Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, UK. Her first degree was in Psychology and her Master’s and PhD degrees lay at the interface between Psychology and Applied Linguistics. She worked at Shanghai Jiaotong University for seven years in the 1980s and since then has maintained strong research and teaching links with China. Her interests in language, culture and (im)politeness evaluations stem from her extensive involvement with students and staff from around the world and especially from East Asia.

  • Dániel Kádár, University of Huddersfield

    Dániel Z. Kádár (D.Litt, FHEA, PhD) is Professor of English Language and Linguistics and Director of the Centre for Intercultural Politeness Research (www.hud.ac.uk/cipr) at the University of Huddersfield. He is also Research Professor of Pragmatics at the Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Yunshan Chair Professor at the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China. His recent works include Politeness, Impoliteness and Ritual (Cambridge University Press, in press), Understanding Politeness (with Michael Haugh, Cambridge University Press), and the Palgrave Handbook of Linguistic Politeness (with Jonathan Culpeper and Michael Haugh, Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming).

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2016-04-13

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How to Cite

Spencer-Oatey, H., & Kádár, D. (2016). The bases of (im)politeness evaluations: Culture, the moral order and the East–West debate. East Asian Pragmatics, 1(1), 73-106. https://doi.org/10.1558/eap.v1i1.29084