Cover not available

Article published In: Pragmatics
Vol. 28:4 (2018) ► pp.547–572

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

Face as an interactional construct in the context of connectedness and separateness

An empirical approach to culture-specific interpretations of face

 | Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 23 October 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.17037.sch
Abstract
In recent work, Arundale proposed a Face Constituting Theory based on the Conjoint Co-Constituting Model of Communication. His main concern is directed towards a shift from the individualistic conception of face and (im)politeness to a non-summative view on communication based on fundamental insights from conversation analysis. Based on two film shootings between German and Brazilian exchange students, which are part of the larger corpus NUCOI, we will take a closer look at moments in which face comes to the fore in the light of (dis)alignment and (dis)affiliation. While in the German example facework is negotiated metacommunicatively, in the Brazilian example facework is calibrated in more subtle ways represented by prosodic and visual cues, which are either given or held back by the co-participants. We will show that these two different patterns may be related to culture-specific construals of face.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The current debate on the locus of face and its cultural impact
  • 3.Methodological background
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Brazilian example
    • 4.2German example
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Transcription conventions
  • References
References (84)
References
2008. “Relating Japanese Emic Face Concepts and Face Constituting Theory.” University of Alaska Fairbanks, unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2009. “Face as Emergent in Interpersonal Communication: An Alternative to Goffman.” In Face, Communication, and Social Interaction, ed. by Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini, and Michael Haugh, 33–54. London: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2010. “Constituting Face in Conversation: Face, Facework, and Interactional Achievement.” Journal of Pragmatics 421: 2078–2105. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2013a. “Face as a Research Focus in Interpersonal Pragmatics: Relational and Emic Perspectives.” Journal of Pragmatics 581: 108–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2013b. “Is Face the Best Metaphor? / ¿Es imagen social la mejor metáfora?” Pragmática Sociocultural / Sociocultural Pragmatics. Revista Internacional sobre Lingüística del Español / An International Journal of Spanish Linguistics 1(2): 282–297. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Atkinson, Maxwell, and John Heritage. 1984. “Preference Organization.” In Strutures of Social Action. Studies in Conversation Analysis, ed. by Maxwell Atkinson, and John Heritage, 53–56. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barbosa de Lima, Fábio. 2012. “Parecer bom x parecer justo – o pedido de desculpas na gestão da imagem nas interações mediáticas.” Dissertação de Mestrado. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barbora, Livia. 2006. O jeitinho brasileiro. A arte de ser mais igual do que os outros. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier; Editora Campus.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bargiela-Chiappini, Francesca. 2003. “Face and Politeness: New (Insights) for Old (Concepts).” Journal of Pragmatics 351: 1453–1469. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bastide, Roger. 1971. Brasil – Terra de Contrastes. São Paulo: Difusão Européia do Livro.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baxter, Leslie A., and Barbara M. Montgomery. 1996. Relating: Dialogues and Dialectics. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bousfeld, Derek. 2008. Impoliteness in Interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, Penelope, and Stephen Levinson. 1987[1978]. Politeness Some Universals in Language Usage. x> Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buarque de Holanda, Sérgio. 1995 [1936]. “O Homem Cordial.” In: Vanguardas Latino-Americanas. Polêmicas, Manifestos e Textos Críticos, ed. by Jorge Schwartz, 553–556. São Paulo: Editora da Universidade de São Paulo.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bühler, Karl. 1982 [1934]. Sprachtheorie: die Darstellungsfunktion der Sprache. Stuttgart: Fischer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, Wei-Lin Melody. 2016. Face and Face Practices in Chinese Talk-in-Interaction. London: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Covarrubias, Patricia O. 2002. Culture, Communication and Cooperation: Interpersonal Relations and Pronominal Address in a Mexican Organization. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Culpeper, Jonathan, 1996. “Towards an Anatomy of Impoliteness.” Journal of Pragmatics 251: 349–367. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. “Impoliteness and the Weakest Link.” Journal of Politeness Research 1 (1): 35–72. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DaMatta, Roberto. 1997 [1979]. Carnavais, malandros e heróis. Para uma sociologia do Dilema Brasileiro. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Drew, Paul, and Traci Walker. 2009. “Going too Far: Complaining, Escalating and Disaffiliation.” Journal of Pragmatics 411: 2400–2414. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duranti, Alessandro. 1997. Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elias, Norbert. 1997a. Über den Prozeß der Zivilisation. Soziogenetische und psychogenetische Untersuchungen. Erster Band. Wandlungen des Verhaltens in den weltlichen Oberschichten des Abendlandes. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1997b. Über den Prozeß der Zivilisation. Soziogenetische und psychogenetische Untersuchungen. Zweiter Band. Wandlungen der Gesellschaft – Entwurf zu einer Theorie der Zivilisation. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fant, Lars. 2006. “National Cultural Norms or Activity Type Conventions? Negotiation Talk and Informal Conversation Among Swedes and Spaniards.” SYNAPS 191: 1–22.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ferreira, Maria C. et al. 2012. “Unraveling the Mystery of Brazilian Jeitinho: A Cultural Exploration of Social Norms.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38(3): 331–344. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flusser, Vilém. 1998. Fenomenologia do Brasileiro: Em Busca de um Novo Homem. Rio de Janeiro: Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving. 1967 [1955]. “On Face-Work: An Analysis of Ritual Elements in Social Interaction.” In Interaction Ritual. Essays on Face-to-Face Behavior, ed. by Erving Goffman, 5–45. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1981. Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goodwin, Marjorie Harness. 1980. “Processes of Mutual Monitoring Implicated in the Production of Description Sequences.” Sociological Inquiry 501: 303–317. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Günthner, Susanne. 1999. “Thematisierung moralischer Normen in der interkulturellen Kommunikation.” In Kommunikative Konstruktion von Moral, ed. by Jörg Bergmann, and Thomas Luckmann, 325–351. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haugh, Michael. 2005. “The Importance of ‘Place’ in Japanese Politeness: Implications for Cross-Cultural and Intercultural Analyses.” Intercultural Pragmatics 21: 41–68. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. “Emic Conceptualisations of (Im)politeness and Face in Japanese: Implications for the Discursive Negotiation of Second Language Learner Identities.” Journal of Pragmatics 39 (4): 657–680. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. “Jocular Mockery, (Dis)affiliation, and Face.” Journal of Pragmatics 421: 2106–2119. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2017. “Jocular Language Play, Social Action and (Dis)affiliation in Conversational Interaction.” In Multiple perspectives on language play, ed. by Nancy Bell, 143–168. Boston, MA: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hayashi, Makoto. 2013. “Turn Allocation and Turn Sharing.” In The Handbook of Conversation Analysis, ed. by Jack Sidnell, and Tanya Stivers, 167–190. Malden, Oxford, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Henne, Helmut, and Helmut Rehbock. 2001. Einführung in die Gesprächsanalyse. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hofstede, Geert. 1983. “National Culture in Four Dimensions. A Research Based Theory of Cultural Differences among Nations.” International Studies of Management and Organization 131: 46–74. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Höhle, Tilmann N. 1992. “Über Verum-Fokus im Deutschen.” In Informationsstruktur und Grammatik, ed. by Joachim Jacobs, 112–141. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
House, Juliane. 2010. “Impoliteness in Germany: Intercultural Encounters in Everyday and Instutional Talk.” Intercultural Pragmatics 7(4): 561–595. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ianni, Octavio. 1993. O Labirinto Latino-Americano. Petrópolis: Vozes.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kasper, Gabriele. 2008. “Data Collection in Pragmatics Research.” In Culturally Speaking. Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory, ed. by Helen Spencer-Oatey, 279–303. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kecskes, Istvan. 2014. Intercultural Pragmatics. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Catherine. 2017. “Abordagem intercultural da polidez linguística: problemas teóricas e estudo de caso.” In Descortesia e Cortesia: Expressões de Culturas, ed. by Ana Lúcia Tinoco Cabral, Isabel Roboredo Seara, and Manoel Francisco Guaranha, 17–55. São Paulo: Cortez.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Labov, William. 1972. Sociolinguistic Patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lerner, Gene H. 1992. “Assisted Storytelling: Deploying Shared Knowledge as a Practical Matter.” Qualitative Sociology 15(3): 247–271. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2002. “Turn-Sharing: The Choral Co-Production of Talk-in-Interaction.” In The Language of Turn and Sequence, Cecilia Ford, Barbara A. Fox, and Sandra A. Thompson, 225–256. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luhmann, Niklas. 1989. “Gesellschaftsstruktur und Semantik. Studien zur Wissenssoziologie der modernen Gesellschaft. Band 3.” Franfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marcuschi, Luiz A. 2006. “Atividades de compreensão na interação verbal.” In Estudos de Língua Falada. Variações e Confrontos, ed. by Dino Preti, 15–45. São Paulo: Associação Editorial Humanitas.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marlangeon, Silvia Kaul de. 2017. “Contribuições para o estudo da descortesia verbal.” In Descortesia e Cortesia: Expressões de Cultura, ed. by Ana Lúcia Tinoco Cabral, Isabel Roboredo Seara, and Manoel Francisco Guaranha, 93–108. São Paulo: Cortez.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mead, George H. 1967 [1932]. Mind, Self, & Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist. Works of George Herbert Mead. Volume 1, ed. by Charles W. Morris. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meireles, Selma Martins. 2001. “A negação sintática em diálogos do alemão e do português do Brasil.“ Pandaemonium Germanicum 51: 139–168. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meireles, Selma M. 2016. “Uso de verbos com valor epistêmico no Trabalho da Face por falantes alemães e brasileiros.” InAnais do I Congresso da ABEG, ed. by Helmut P. E. Galle, and S. Valéria, 395–401. São Paulo: ABEG Editora Associação Brasileira de Estudos Germanísticos (ABEG).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Philburn, Rob. 2011. “Aspects of English and German Sociable Selfhood.” In Intercultural competence: concepts, challenges, evaluations, ed. by Arnd Witte, and Theo Harden, 411–435. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pomerantz, Anita. 1984. “Agreeing and Disagreeing with Assessments: Some Features of Preferred/Dispreferred Turn Shapes.” In Structures of Social Action. Studies in Conversation Analysis, ed. by Maxwell Atkinson, and John Heritage, 57–101. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sacks, Harvey, Emanuel A. Schegloff, and Gail Jefferson. 1974. “A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation.” Language 501: 696–735. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schegloff, Emanuel. 1982. “Discourse as an Interactional Achievement: Some Uses of ‘uh huh’ and Other Things that Come Between Sentences.” In Analyzing Discourse: Taxt and Talk, ed. by Deborah Tannen, 71–93. Washington: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schröder, Ulrike. 2003. Brasilianische und deutsche Wirklichkeiten . Eine vergleichende Fallstudie zu kommunikativ erzeugten Sinnwelten. Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universitätsverlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. “Speech Styles and Functions of Speech From a Cross-Cultural Perspective.” Journal of Pragmatics 421: 466–476. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014a. “The Interplay of Politeness, Conflict Styles, Rapport Management and Metacommunication in Brazilian-German Interaction”. Intercultural Pragmatics 111: 57–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014b. “Interkulturelle Kommunikation zwischen Deutschen und Brasilianern im Lichte von Strategien der (Un-)höflichkeit, divergierenden Konfliktstilen und Formen des Beziehungsmanagements.” In Interkulturalität unter dem Blickwinkel von Semantik und Pragmatik, ed. by Csaba Földes, 207–224. Tübingen: Narr, Francke Attempto.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2017. “The Interactive (Self-)reflexive Construction of Culture-Related Key Words.” In Current Issues in Intercultural Pragmatics, ed. by Istvan Kecskes, and Stavros Assimakopoulos, 182–205. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schröder, Ulrike, and Carolina de Viterbo Lage. 2014. “Estratégias de polidez em momentos de dissensão: análise de uma interação entre estudantes brasileiros e alemães.” Revista de Estudos da Linguagem 22 (1): 153–179. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schwitalla, Joachim. 2001. “Lächelndes Sprechen und Lachen als Kontextualisierungsverfahren.” In Sprachkontakt, -vergleich, -variation, ed. by Adamzik Kirsten, and Helen Christen, 325–344. Tübingen: Niemeyer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Selting, Margret. 1994. “Emphatic Speech Style: With Special Focus on the Prosodic Signaling of Heightened Emotive Involvement in Conversation.” Journal of Pragmatics 221: 375–408. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Selting, Margret et al. 2011. “A System for Transcribing Talk-in-Interaction: GAT 2; translated and adapted for English by Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen and Dagmar Barth-Weingarten.” Gesprächsforschung – Online-Zeitschrift zur verbalen Interaktion 121: 1–51; [URL]; last accessed on September 30, 2017.
Senft, Gunter. 1995. “Elicitation.” In Handbook of Pragmatics: Manual, ed. by Jef Verschueren, Jan-Ola Östman, and Jan Blommaert, 577–581. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sidnell, Jack. 2010. Conversation Analysis: An Introduction. Malden, Oxford, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sharifian, Farzad. 2011. Cultural Conceptualisations and Language. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2015. “Cultural Linguistics.” In The Routledge Handbook of Language and Culture, ed. by Farzad Sharifian, 473–492. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sorj, Bernardo. 2000. A Nova Sociedade Brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar Editor Ltda.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 2008. “Introduction.” In Culturally Speaking: Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory, ed. by Helen Spencer-Oatey, 1–8. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stivers, Tanya. 2008. “When Nodding is a Token of Affiliation.” Research on Language & Social Interaction 41(1): 31–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. “Sequence Organization.” In The Handbook of Conversation Analysis, ed. by Jack Sidnell, and Tanya Stivers, 191–209. Malden, Oxford, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ting-Toomey, Stella, and John Oetzel. 2007. “Intercultural Conflict: A Culture-Based Situational Model.” In Intercultural Communication. A Text with Readings, ed. by Pamela J. Cooper, Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, and Cheri J. Simonds, 121–130. Boston: Pearson Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Triandis, Harry C. 1984. “A Theoretical Framework for the More Efficient Construction of Culture Assimilators.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 81: 301–330. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ungeheuer, Gerold. 2010 [1983]. Einführung in die Kommunikationstheorie, ed. by Karin Kolb, Jens Loenhoff, and H. Walter Schmitz. Münster: Nodus Publikationen.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1987. “Vor-Urteile über Sprechen, Mitteilen, Verstehen.” In Kommunikationstheoretische Schriften I: Sprechen, Mitteilen, Verstehen, ed. by Johann G. Juchem, 290–338. Aachen: Rader Publikationen.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Viterbo Lage, Caroline de. 2013. Comunicação Interpessoal e Intercultural entre Brasileiros e Alemães: Análise dos Momentos de Conflito. Belo Horizonte: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Dissertação de Mestrado.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weber, Max. 1991 [1904]. Die protestantische Ethik I. Eine Aufsatzsammlung, ed. by Johannes Winckelmann. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wegener, Philipp. 1991 [1885]. Untersuchungen über die Grundfragen des Sprachlebens, ed. by Konrad Koerner. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Hugman, Nicholas
2025. The dialectics of interpersonal relating in a sports team. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) DOI logo
Landone, Elena
2022. Recording and Transcription. In Methodology in Politeness Research [Advances in (Im)politeness Studies, ], ► pp. 181 ff. DOI logo
Schröder, Ulrike, Milene Mendes de Oliveira & Hans-Georg Wolf
2020. Intercultural Pragmatics and Cultural Linguistics. International Journal of Language and Culture 7:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 november 2025. 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