Tuesday, May 31, 2005
On Language 5/31: Debut of Journal of Politeness Research
New journal accompanies changing view of politeness
Chicago Tribune, May 31, 2005
By Nathan Bierma
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Politeness can play a crucial role in professional and personal relationships, says Chris Christie, linguist at Loughborough University and founding member of the Linguistic Politeness Research Group, an organization of academic researchers who study polite speech and behavior. Christie and her colleagues have just launched the Journal of Politeness Research, which will publish two issues per year, with Christie as editor.
“Understanding the wide range of politeness behavior that is expected in a culture, and the way this is influenced by the context of an institution or the social relationship between speakers, is very complex, and far from self-evident,” Christie writes by e-mail. “Misjudging the effect of what you say can be extremely important—for communicating ideas and for fostering personal relationships.”
The journal can be read for free online until July 15.
Chris Christie agreed to have her full written responses to my questions posted here. I greatly appreciate the time she took to provide such thorough responses.