Brown And Levinson's Politeness Theory

Brown and Levinson created politeness theory, which is situated in the interpretivist paradigm (Goldsmith & Normand, 2015, p. 267). This theory is intended to explore the various ways language is used in certain social contexts, as well as how communication is affected by those word choices. The creators were curious why in some situations and relationships, people tend to be very blunt, while in others people tend to take a less direct approach. Politeness theory is based on Goffman’s concept of face. Face, in relation to this theory, is defined as “the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself [or herself] (Goldsmith & Normand, 2015, p. 268).” There are many features of face, the first being that it is public because it is observed in everyday actions. It is it is social because it depends on others’ ability to interpret your behaviors the way you want them to. Face is claimed because it can be lost, saved, or sustained in a person’s actions. Finally, face is wanted (Goldsmith & Normand, 2015, p. 268). Others can also …show more content…
It is also important to understand people have to change their level of politeness in certain relationships when there are low levels of closeness, knowledge of cultural importance, or large power gaps. Politeness theory also does an adequate job of taking context into consideration when helping people decide how to commit face threatening acts, if they chose to.
Politeness theory falls short because it is impersonal. It tells people how to act when conditions are a certain way, but each unique person should require unique communication strategies. Brown and Levinson’s theory break politeness levels down into a spectrum of five actions, but by limiting the number of strategies, each person’s communication would not be considered