“Mind your own esteemed business”: Sarcastic honorifics use and impoliteness in Korean TV dramas
Honorifics have traditionally been analyzed as markers of “deference” and have been connected with positive values such as “respect”, “dignity” and “elegance”. However, in this paper, I demonstrate that these readings only apply to normative and stereotypical patterns of honorifics use. When applied...
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Published in | Journal of politeness research : language, behaviour, culture Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 159 - 186 |
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Main Author | |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Berlin
De Gruyter Mouton
01.06.2013
Walter de Gruyter GmbH |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Honorifics have traditionally been analyzed as markers of “deference”
and have been connected with positive values such as “respect”, “dignity” and
“elegance”. However, in this paper, I demonstrate that these readings only
apply to normative and stereotypical patterns of honorifics use. When applied
in other contexts, where their use is not normally expected, honorifics take on
different social meanings, including sarcasm. Through the analysis of Korean
television dramas, I show that sarcastic applications of honorifics may be
applied both for “mock” impoliteness and “genuine” face-threatening impoliteness.
Although these sarcastic usages occur most frequently between intimates
(i.e., where the use of honorifics is marked), there also exist devices for being
sarcastic towards adult strangers (even though in such contexts honorifics may
be considered unmarked and normative). Crucially, my examples demonstrate
that honorifics may communicate sarcasm in and of themselves. This sarcastic
meaning is strongest when honorifics are applied in ways that remains “relevant”;
in other words, when they make reference to knowledge or social norms
shared by the community of practice. The findings confirm once and for all that
honorifics are not “deferential” in an absolute sense. More broadly, the paper
clarifies the position of sarcasm and irony within impoliteness theory. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1612-5681 1613-4877 |
DOI: | 10.1515/pr-2013-0008 |