A Pragmatic Study of Impoliteness Functions in Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming”

Abstract

Language is one of the most important things in human communication and social interaction. It is the principal vehicle for the transmission of culture knowledge, and the primary source by which people attain access to the contents of other’s mind. People present a language for communication into several shapes such as requesting, blaming, asking questions, and thanking. Each language that is given by someone has its function. Thus, the function of language is used to express personal attitudes and social relations is called interactional. The study aims at investigating the uses of impoliteness functions by employing Culpeper’s impoliteness theory. It identifies impoliteness functions within the literary discourse of character. Also, the study discusses that pragmatic tool such as the impoliteness theory can be applied to literary discourse to explain different dynamics in the conversation of dramatic characters in the literary text. This study involves two parts: a theoretical background and a practical part. The theoretical background consists of a number of sections illustrating the definition of impoliteness with reference to the development from politeness and impoliteness theory simultaneously. It extends to discuss the model of analysis which is Jonathan Culpeper’s (2011), clarifying his functions. It also illustrates the role of impoliteness in drama, by mentioning how the dramatic text and context can effect impoliteness theory. The practical part involves the analysis of impoliteness found in Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming” and a discussion of the data analysis.