Abstract

Impoliteness in Online Comments Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
A Pragmatic Analysis

This study aims to analyze linguistic impoliteness in online comments concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a pragmatic perspective, starting from Culpeper’s recent model (2011, 2016). This research includes both a brief quantitative analysis to identify the general trends of online commentators in the use of impolite formulae, and a qualitative analysis to describe in detail the impolite formulae and the linguistic means used in them. This contribution begins with an introduction in which the purpose, importance and research questions are discussed. Then, in an introductory paragraph, the concept of impoliteness, definitions as well as the models of impoliteness elaborated by Culpeper (2006, 2011, 2016) are briefly reviewed. For the analysis of the data, after extracting the data, they were classified, according to the recent model of impoliteness proposed by Culpeper (2011, 2016), into two main groups: conventionalized impoliteness formulae and implicational impoliteness; they were then analysed from a formally highlighting the mechanisms used in certain situations to intensify the offence. The results revealed that almost all Culpeper’s forms of impoliteness were used with the prevalence of the conventionalized formulas of impoliteness, which highlights that commentators tend to use the explicit forms to damage the addressees’ face. In addition, data analysis shows that there are characteristics that distinguish Italian impoliteness discourse such as the use of colloquialisms, proverbs and idioms, swear words and vulgar language, religious expressions and historical references.

Alfonzetti, Giovanna Marina. 2020. "Fuck Prof Ke lezione di merda". Quaderns d'Italià 25: 103-134.

https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/qdi.475

Bousfield, Derek. 2008. Impoliteness in Interaction. Amsterdam - Philadelphia (PA): John Benjamins.

https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.167

Bousfield, Derek, and Miriam A. Locher. 2008. Impoliteness in Language: Studies on Its Interplay with Power in Theory and Practice. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110208344

Brown, Penelope, and Stephen C. Levinson. 1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813085

Caffi, Claudia. 1990. "Modulazione, mitigazione, litote". In Dimensioni della linguistica, a cura di Maria-Elisabeth Conte, Anna Giacalone Ramat, e Paolo Ramat, 169-200. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Calvetti, Paolo. 2014. "Il linguaggio della scortesia. Meccanismi e strategie della 'lingua più difficile del mondo'". In Variazioni su temi di Fosco Maraini, a cura di Andrea Maurizi e Bonaventura Ruperti, 243-264. Roma: Aracne.

Culpeper, Jonathan. 1996. "Towards an Anatomy of Impoliteness". Journal of Pragmatics 25 (3): 349-367.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(95)00014-3

Culpeper, Jonathan. 2005. "Impoliteness and Entertainment in the Television Quiz Show: The Weakest Link". Journal of Politeness Research: Language, Behaviour, Culture 1 (1): 35-72.

https://doi.org/10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.35

Culpeper, Jonathan. 2008. "Reflections on Impoliteness, Relational Work and Power". In Impoliteness in Language: Studies on Its Interplay with Power in Theory and Practice, edited by Derek Bousfield and Miriam A. Locher, 17-44. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110208344.1.17

Culpeper, Jonathan. 2010. "Conventionalised Impoliteness Formulae". Journal of Pragmatics 12 (42): 3232-3245.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.05.007

Culpeper, Jonathan. 2011a. Impoliteness: Using Language to Cause Offence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511975752

Culpeper, Jonathan. 2011b. "Politeness and Impoliteness". In Pragmatics of Society, edited by Gisle Andersen and Karin Aijmer, 391-436. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Culpeper, Jonathan. 2012. "(Im)politeness: Three Issues". Journal of Pragmatics 44 (9): 1128-1133.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.05.011

Culpeper, Jonathan. 2016. "Impoliteness Strategies". In Interdisciplinary Studies in Pragmatics, Culture and Society, edited by Alessandro Capone and Jacob L. Mey, 421-445. New York: Springer.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12616-6_16

Culpeper, Jonathan. 2013. "Impoliteness: Questions and Answers". In Aspects of Linguistic Impoliteness, edited by Denis Jamet and Manuel Jobert, 2-15. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Culpeper, Jonathan, Derek Bousfield, and Anne Wichmann. 2003. "Impoliteness Revisited: With Special Reference to Dynamic and Prosodic Aspects". Journal of Pragmatics 35 (10-11): 1545-1579.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00118-2

Culpeper, Jonathan, and Claire Hardaker. 2017. "Impoliteness". In The Palgrave Handbook of Linguistic (Im)politeness, edited by Jonathan Culpeper, Michael Haugh, and Dániel Z. Kádár, 199-225. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-37508-7_9

De Mauro, Tullio. 2000. Il dizionario della lingua italiana. Torino: Paravia.

Domaneschi, Filippo. 2020. Insultare gli altri. Torino: Einaudi.

Fava, Elisabetta. 1995. "Il tipo interrogativo". In Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione, vol. 3: Tipi di frase, deissi, formazione delle parole, a cura di Lorenzo Renzi, Giampaolo Salvi, e Anna Cardinaletti, 70-127. Bologna: il Mulino.

Fraser, Bruce. 1998. "Threatening Revisited". Forensic Linguistics 5 (2): 159-173.

https://doi.org/10.1558/sll.1998.5.2.159

Goffman, Erving. 1988. Il rituale dell'interazione. Bologna: il Mulino. Ed. orig. Interaction Ritual. Garden City: Doubleday, 1967.

Grice, Herbert Paul. 1978. "Logica e conversazione". In Gli atti linguistici. Aspetti e problemi di filosofia del linguaggio, a cura di Marina Sbisà, 199-219. Milano: Feltrinelli. Ed. orig. "Logic and Conversation". In Syntax and Semantics- Specch Acts, edited by Peter Cole and Jerry L. Morgan, 41-58. New York: Academic Press, 1975.

Held, Gudrun. 2005. "Politeness in Italy: The Art of Self-Representation in Requests". In Politeness in Europe, edited by Leo Hickey and Miranda Stewart, 292-305. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853597398-022

Henrich, Natalie, and Bev Holmes. 2013. "Web News Readers' Comments: Towards Developing a Methodology for Using On-line Comments in Social Inquiry". Journal of Media and Communication Studies 5 (1): 1-4.

Holmes, Janet, Meredith Marra, and Stephanie Schnurr. 2008. "Impoliteness and Ethnicity: Māori and Pākehā Discourse in New Zealand Workplaces". Journal of Politeness Research: Language, Behaviour, Culture 4 (2): 193-219.

https://doi.org/10.1515/JPLR.2008.010

Infantino, Maria Giaele. 2000. L'ironia: l'arte di comunicare con astuzia. Milano: Xenia.

Iurescia, Federica. 2019. Credo iam ut solet iurgabit. Pragmatica della lite a Roma. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

https://doi.org/10.13109/9783946317401

Kasper, Gabriele. 1990. "Linguistic Politeness: Current Research Issues". Journal of Pragmatics 14 (2): 193-218.

https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(90)90080-W

Lachenicht, Lance G. 1980. "Aggravating Language a Study of Abusive and Insulting Language". Research on Language & Social Interaction 13 (4): 607-687.

https://doi.org/10.1080/08351818009370513

Lakoff, Robin. 1989. "The Limits of Politeness". Multilingua 8 (2-3): 101-129.

https://doi.org/10.1515/mult.1989.8.2-3.101

Leech, Geoffrey N. 1983. Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman.

Miłkowska-Samul, Kamila. 2019. (S)cortesia e social network. Opportunità e rischi del dibattito pubblico su Facebook. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu SWPS.

Morsy Tawfik, Mai. 2022. "L''Insulto implicito' nel dibattito pubblico delle pagine Facebook. Uno studio pragmatico". Studi Italiani di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata - SILTA LI (3): 513-533.

Pettazzoni. Raffaele. 1934. "Maledizione". In Enciclopedia italiana. [15/08/2024].

https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/maledizione_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/

Rabab'ah, Ghaleb, and Nusiebah Alali. 2020. "Impoliteness in Reader Comments on the Al-Jazeera Channel News Website". Journal of Politeness Research 16 (1): 1-43.

https://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2017-0028

Razzetti, Michele. 2015. Modera i toni. Quando la comunicazione digitale è inappropriata. Torino: Il leone verde.

Reich, Zvi. 2011. "User Comments: The Transformation of Participatory Space". In Participatory Journalism: Guarding Open Gates at Online Newspapers, edited by Jane B. Singer et al., 96-117. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444340747.ch6

Santana, Arthur. 2014. "Virtuous or Vitriolic: The Effect of Anonymity on Civility in Online Newspaper Reader Comment Boards". Journalism Practice 8 (1): 18-33.

https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2013.813194

Tartamella, Vito. 2019. "Ditelo con i fiori, ovvero, come insultare con stile". Parolacce. Blog, 6 Agosto. [19/08/2024].

https:// www.parolacce.org/2019/08/06/insulti-eleganti-intellettuali-forbiti/

Terkourafi, Mariana. 2001. Politeness in Cypriot Greek: A Frame-Based Approach. PhD Diss., University of Cambridge.

Terkourafi, Mariana. 2002. "Politeness and Formulaicity: Evidence from Cypriot Greek". Journal of Greek Linguistics 3 (1): 179-201.

https://doi.org/10.1075/jgl.3.08ter

Terkourafi, Mariana. 2005. "Beyond the Micro-Level in Politeness Research". Journal of Politeness Research: Language, Behaviour, Culture 1 (2): 237-262.

https://doi.org/10.1515/jplr.2005.1.2.237

Terkourafi, Mariana. 2015. "Conventionalization: A New Agenda for Im/politeness Research". Journal of Pragmatics 86: 11-18.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.06.004

Zamborlin, Chiara. 2004. "Dissonanze di atti linguistici: richieste dirette, ringraziamenti e scuse in italiano, giapponese e inglese. Un confronto pragmatico trans-culturale alla ricerca dei presupposti della scortesia verbale involontaria". Studi Linguistici e Filologici Online 2 (1): 171-223.