East Asian Linguistics Workshop: "The sociopragmatics of relating in Japanese," Michael Haugh

Abstract:

The ways in which we establish, maintain and contest relationships through language is a central concern in sociopragmatics research. Much of the work to date on relational or interpersonal aspects of language use in Japanese has been driven by an interest in politeness. However, there is, as we all know, more to relationships than just (im)politeness (no matter how one defines it). In this talk, I consider the implications of broadening our lens to encompass the study of relating and relationships in Japanese, and where (im)politeness might fit within that broader landscape. I discuss some of the theoretical and methodological issues such a move raises through exploring two seemingly distinct relational practices in Japanese, off-record requests and jocular self-deprecations.

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Michael Haugh is Professor of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics in the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Queensland. His research interests lie primarily in the field of pragmatics, with a particular focus on the role of language in social interaction. He is a former co-editor in chief of the Journal of Pragmatics (2015-2020), and is the founding co-editor in chief of Cambridge Elements in Pragmatics. He has published more than 120 books and articles, including the Cambridge Handbook of Sociopragmatics (2021, Cambridge University Press, with D. Kádár and M. Terkourafi), and the Sociopragmatics of Japanese (in press, Routledge, with Y. Obana).