A discourse approach to Korean politeness:towards a culture-specific Confucian framework
This thesis examines the inter-relationship between face, face work, and cultural values, as they apply to strategic politeness in Korean institutional settings, specifically university contexts. This study also seeks to explore issues of methodology for culture-specific politeness research, given that previous researchers either neglected cultural values, which operate sometimes outside of linguistic presentations, or used methods that prevented them from noticing the role of cultural values, which can function as another means of face redress in the construction of culture-specific politeness. The interactional aspects of language use demonstrate that the socio-pragmatics of cultural values/norms are essential elements in the construction of strategic politeness. However, previous researchers on politeness have never really looked into how culture-specific frameworks can function as both methodological and theoretical tools in the investigation of culture-specific politeness. Most politeness researchers have been mainly concerned with linguistic systems, and have paid less attention to cultural values that directly influence polite linguistic behavior. In this study, a Confucian framework was employed to explore both the linguistic forms and cultural values that are the core elements of Korean linguistic politeness. Korean politeness shows that a Confucian frame is needed as an interactional supplement to politeness research, because the cultural frame that Korean speakers use plays a decisive role in their choice of politeness forms. A Confucian framework allows analysis of how socio-cultural values interact with culture-specific cognitive dimensions. The intent in using a Confucian framework is to analyze how Confucian values can be realized through culture-specific discursive modes.
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