Pragmatic Failure of Politeness in Cross-cultural Communication.docVIP

Pragmatic Failure of Politeness in Cross-cultural Communication 　　Abstract: Abstract: Politeness, as an observable social phenomenon, is a reflection of specific cultural values in the language. This paper focuses on the pragmatic failure of politeness due to its improper use in the cross-cultural interactions in the hope to raise our awareness of cultural differences in politeness and to promote the cross-cultural communication. 　　Key Words: politeness; pragmatic failure; cultural differences; cross-cultural communication 　　I Introduction 　　Politeness is an observable universal social phenomenon and plays a significant role in human communication: it contributes to establish, maintain or consolidate harmonious interpersonal relationships and facilitate social interactions. Meanwhile, politeness is a reflection of specific cultural values in the language. Thus, while admitting the universality of politeness, we must realize its cultural characteristics. Otherwise, we may well suffer miscommunication and great trouble in cross-cultural communication. In its broad sense, cross-cultural communication occurs whenever people of different cultural backgrounds come into contact with each other. 　　Because of cultural differences, misunderstandings may arise, although the language used in communication may be faultless. The same words or expressions may not mean the same thing to different peoples. “Because of cultural differences, a serious question may cause amusement or laughter; a harmless statement may cause displeasure or anger” (Deng Liu 2003:2). As far as linguistic politeness is concerned, it varies greatly with respect to its pragmatic use, realizations and judging standards across cultures. And unawareness of these differences and consequently the improper use of politeness in cross-cultural communication often cause pragmatic failure, an area of communication problems. It may also occur in intra-cultural settings, but is often exacerbated by cultural di