Download (23MB) - University of Salford Institutional Repository

degree of reconsideration and reconceptualisation. In particular I shall
point to the analytical import provided by the concept of the self as 'self-
construal'. I shall then move on to focus on evidence pointing to cross-
cultural variation in communicative norms and practices, which seem to
undermine conventional understanding of politeness and facework,
particularly those, which equate facework with indirectness of expression.
In concluding the chapter I shall suggest that how participants in various
cultures achieve and sustainritual equilibrium' (Goffman 1967) by
engaging in quite different, and often prima facie contradictory - facework
practices. The aim of this chapter will be, in essence, to ground the
concepts and notions of facework in a cross-cultural context.
I shall begin Chapter 2 by inserting something of myself into the
thesis, that is, I shall speak briefly of my own observations, feelings, and
initial problems of participating in sociable gatherings within the German
milieu. This personal grounding is a necessary one, as it is out of personal
experience that my interest in the basis for English - German differences
in communicative style originally emerged. Following this, I shall identity
salient characteristics of German and English communicative style, a term
I shall use as a generic one to encompass a range of discourse practices.
Here I shall draw on literature that has addressed a range of discourse
phenomena, from single speech acts to more general orientations to
ongoing conversational interaction. The emphasis here will be to highlight
essential differences between the two speech communities, ones which
will effectively corroborate my own personal experiences, and which in a
more general sense may point to issues such as cross-cultural
(mis)perception. In an attempt to consolidate this range of observations
and findings, I shall move on to identify salient cultural parameters along
which German and English communicative style differs. Following this, I
shall pose the question of how far the conceptualisations of face and
frameworks for the interpretation of facework introduced in Chapter 1 can
help illuminate the cultural basis for such salient differences in
communicative style. It will be argued that, although current frameworks
for understanding facework across cultures allows some insight into the
bases for German - English differences, fundamental concepts such as
6