Analyzing (Im) Politeness in Political Discourse (With Reference to Lebanese Remarks on Russian and Ukrainian Women)

Document Type : Original Article

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Department of English Language, Literature and Simultaneous Interpretation, Faculty of Humanities- Al-Azhar University-Cairo-Egyp

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to examine the impact of employing politeness strategies in political discourse. It analyzes behaviors from real situations of communication. A Lebanese politician commented on Russian and Ukrainian women in relation to the disgraceful act of “prostitution” in a televised interview. The incident sparked a reaction from him, his political party, and the Russian embassy in Lebanon. The study intends to figure out im/politeness strategies employed in the discourse of all parties to show to what degree these strategies can reveal real intentions and implied speech acts. The study also questions the validity of employing politeness strategies in such a discourse. The term impoliteness is not employed as equivalent to rudeness. The study reveals that the discourse of all parties underlies implicit indirect speech acts. Despite attempts of saving face wants, attacks on social media platforms continued; a fact which proves the ineffectiveness of politeness strategies in such discourse.

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