(Im)Politeness Implicatures

The originality of this volume lies on the fact that the author does not apply or test existing theories of politeness but attempts his own exploration by bringing together two highly researched but also highly controversial concepts, those of politeness and implicature, and by investigating their relationship. Recent research into politeness phenomena, discontent with more traditional pragmatic (speech act theory and maxim-based) approaches, has turned into social theory to account for politeness phenomena, thus relegating pragmatics into a secondary position. This book is a welcome attempt to redress the balance and bridge the gap between the two, constituting a fresh look at the issues involved.