Cover not available

In:Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Im/politeness
Edited by Marina Terkourafi
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 14] 2015
► pp. 121–148

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Goading as a social action

Non-impolite evaluations in targeted banter

Published online: 28 May 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.14.07mit
This paper addresses particular social actions present in a data set of short message emails where interactants use potentially impolite strategies frequently. The particular social action under analysis here is that of goading, a term coined to describe targeted banter (banter directed toward a ratified participant in interaction). However, evaluations of impoliteness are not always shared across participants in these goading sequences, as follow-up interviews show some disaffiliation between individual participants’ understanding of the prior turns. It is more common in this data set to find tokens of goading being evaluated as non-impolite rather than impolite, suggesting that participants perceive the humorous nature of goading. Yet, among a tiny community of practice of only four individuals, even these non-impolite evaluations are not always shared. This paper attempts to add to the empirical study of im/politeness to account for goading as a type of banter or jocular mockery and situate it in the ever-increasing set of actions which cannot be straightforwardly categorized as second-order politeness or as impoliteness.
References (55)
References
Armstrong, S.A. 1992. Teasables, Teases, and Responses in Conversational Teasing Sequences. Ph.D. dissertation, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Atkinson, J.M. 1985. Pursuing a Response: Structures of Social Action. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bousfield, D. 2008. Impoliteness in the struggle for power. In Impoliteness in Language: Studies on its Interplay with Power in Theory and Practice, D. Bousfield & M.A. Locher (eds), 127–153. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, P. & Levinson, S.C. 1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Use. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Culpeper, J. 1996. Towards and anatomy of impoliteness. Journal of Pragmatics 25: 349–367. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. Impoliteness and entertainment in the television quiz show: The Weakest Link. Journal of Politeness Research 1(1): 35–72. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. Reflections on impoliteness, relational work and power. In Impoliteness in Language: Studies on its Interplay with Power in Theory and Practice, D. Bousfield & M.A. Locher (eds), 17–44. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Conventionalised impoliteness formulae. Journal of Pragmatics 42: 3232–3245. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. Impoliteness: Using Language to Cause Offence. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. (Im)politeness: Three issues. Journal of Pragmatics 44(9): 1128–1133. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Culpeper, J., Bousfield, D. & Wichmann, A. 2003. Impoliteness revisited: With special reference to dynamic and prosodic aspects. Journal of Pragmatics 35: 1545–1579. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Drew, P. 1987. Po-faced receipts of teases. Linguistics 25(1): 219–253. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dynel, M. 2008. No aggression, only teasing: The pragmatics of teasing and banter. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics 4(2): 241–261. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eelen, G. 2001. A Critique of Politeness Theories. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Egbert, M.M. 1997. Schisming: The collaborative transformation from a single conversation to multiple conversations. Research on Language and Social Interaction 30(1): 1–51. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gardner, R., Fitzgerald, R., & Mushin, I. 2009. The underlying orderliness in turn-taking: Examples from Australian talk. Australian Journal of Communication 36(3): 65–89.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Glenn, P. 2003. Laughter in Interaction. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goddard, C. 2006. “Lift your game Marina!”: Deadpan jocular irony and the ethnopragmatics of Australian English. In Ethnopragmatics: Understanding Discourse in Cultural Context, C. Goddard (ed.), 65–97. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. Not taking yourself too seriously in Australian English: Semantic explications, cultural scripts, corpus evidence. Intercultural Pragmatics 6(1): 29–53. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. ‘Early interactions’ in Australian English, American English, and English English: Cultural differences and cultural scripts. Journal of Pragmatics 44(9): 1038–1050. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goffman, E. 1979. Footing. Semiotica 25(1/2): 1–29. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1981. Forms of Talk. Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goodwin, C. 1987. Forgetfulness as an interactive resource. Social Psychology Quarterly 50(2): 115–130. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haugh, M. 2007. The discursive challenge to politeness research: An interactional alternative. Journal of Politeness Research 3: 295–317. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Jocular mockery, (dis)affilitation, and face. Journal of Pragmatics 42(8): 2106–2119. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. Humour, face and im/politeness in getting acquainted. In Situated Politeness, B.L. Davies, M. Haugh & A.J. Merrison (eds). London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. Im/politeness, social practice and the participation order. Journal of Pragmatics 58: 52–72 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haugh, M. & Bousfield, D. 2012. Mock impoliteness, jocular mockery and jocular abuse in Australian and British English. Journal of Pragmatics 44(9): 1099–1114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hepburn, A. & Potter, J. 2011. Threats: Power, family mealtimes, and social influence. British Journal of Social Psychology 50(1): 99–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heritage, J. 1998. Conversational analysis and institutional talk: Analyzing distinctive turn-taking systems. In Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of IADA (International Association for Dialogue Analysis), S. Cmejrková, J. Hoffmannová, O. Mülllerová & J. Svetlá (eds), 3–17. Tübingen: Niemeyer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kádár, D.Z., & Haugh, M. 2013. Understanding Politeness. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kádár, D.Z., & Mills, S. 2013. Rethinking discernment. Journal of Politeness Research 9(2): 133–158. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kotthoff, H. 1996. Impoliteness and conversational joking: On relational politics. Folia Linguistica 30: 299–325. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leech, G.N. 1983. Principles of Pragmatics. New York NY: Longman. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Locher, M.A. 2010. Introduction: Politeness and impoliteness in computer-mediated communication. Journal of Politeness Research 6: 1–5. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Locher, M.A. & Bousfield, D. 2008. Introduction: Impoliteness and power in language. In Impoliteness in Language: Studies on its Interplay with Power in Theory and Practice, M.A. Locher & D. Bousfield (eds),. 1–16. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Locher, M.A., & Watts, R.J. 2005. Politeness theory and relational work. Journal of Politeness Research, 1(1): 9–33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Locher, M.A. & Watts, R.J. 2008. Relational work and impoliteness: Negotiating norms of linguisitic behaviour. In Impoliteness in Language: Studies on its Interplay with Power in Theory and Practice, D. Bousfield & M.A. Locher (eds.), 77–100. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mills, S. 2003. Gender and Politeness. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norrick, N.R. 1984. Stock conversational witticisms. Journal of Pragmatics 8(2): 195–209. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1993. Conversational Joking: Humor in Everyday Talk. Bloomington MI: Indiana University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1994. Involvement and joking in conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 22(3–4): 409–430. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norrick, N.R. & Chiaro, D. (eds.). 2009. Humor in Interaction [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 182]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pomerantz, A. 2005. Using participants’ video stimulated comments to complement analyses of interactional practices. In Conversation and Cognition Discourse, Mind and Social Interaction, H. te Molder & J. Potter (eds), 93–113. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. Do participants’ reports enhance conversation analytic claims? Explanations of one sort or another. Discourse Studies 14(4): 499–505. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Radcliffe-Brown, A.R. 1952. Structure and Function in Primitive Society: Essays and Addresses by AR Radcliffe-Brown. London: Taylor & Francis. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E.A., & Jefferson, G. 1974. A simplest systematics for the organisation of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50(4): 696–735. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Searle, J.R. 1969. Speech acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stivers, T. 2008. Stance, alignment, and affiliation during storytelling: When nodding is a token of affiliation. Research on Language and Social Interaction 41(1): 31–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stivers, T. & Rossano, F. 2010. Mobilizing response. Research on Language and Social Interaction 43(1): 3–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Terkourafi, M. 2008. Toward a unified theory of politeness, impoliteness and rudeness. In Impoliteness in Language, D. Bousfield & M.A. Locher (eds.), 45–74. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Theobald, M. 2012. Video-stimulated accounts: Young children accounting for interactional matters in front of peers. Journal of Early Childhood Research 10: 32–50. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Watts, R.J. 2003. Politeness. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Watts, R.J., Ide, S. & Ehlich, K. 1992. Introduction. In Politeness in Language: Studies in its History, Theory and Practice, R.J. Watts, S. Ide & K. Ehlich (eds), 1–17. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Mısır, Hülya & Gülay Akın
2024. Navigating power and impoliteness in criminal court discourse. International Journal of Legal Discourse 9:2 ► pp. 289 ff. DOI logo
Mitchell, Nathaniel
2022. Duelling contexts: how action misalignment leads to impoliteness in a courtroom. Journal of Politeness Research 18:1 ► pp. 93 ff. DOI logo
Li, Chuntao
2020. Teasing as a practice of managing delicate issues in institutional talk. East Asian Pragmatics 5:3 ► pp. 323 ff. DOI logo
Zawiszová, Halina
2018. On ´doing friendship´ in and through talk: Exploring conversational interactions of Japanese young people, DOI logo
Walkinshaw, Ian
2016. Teasing in informal contexts in English as an Asian lingua franca. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 5:2 ► pp. 249 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 march 2026. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue