1887
Volume 10, Issue 4
  • ISSN 1018-2101
  • E-ISSN: 2406-4238

Abstract

This article contributes to studies of politeness and talk in the workplace. In particular, it focuses on the ways in which cautiousness is exercised to achieve consensus in American business meetings. This topic is elaborated against the real-world background of the surveillance culture of corporate America and a tradition of consensus-oriented decision-making, in the theoretical context of politeness theory (adding variables related to the ‘political economy’ of the investigated interactions), and with the methodological insights provided by conversation analysis. ‘Reversals’ are identified as specific turn patterns in face-saving strategies aimed at consensus. Two processes are highlighted: Attempts at protecting oneself through a reversal of opinion, and protecting others by helping them articulate a reversal.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/prag.10.4.03was
2000-01-01
2025-01-23
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Agha, Asif
    (1994) Honorification. Annual Review of Anthropology23: 277–302. doi: 10.1146/annurev.an.23.100194.001425
    https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.23.100194.001425 [Google Scholar]
  2. Balholm, Field and Associates
    (1992) High commitment high performance team training.
  3. Boden, Deirdre
    (1994) The business of talk: Organizations in action. Cambridge: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bourdieu, Pierre
    (1990) The scholastic point of view. Cultural Anthropology5.4: 380–391. doi: 10.1525/can.1990.5.4.02a00030
    https://doi.org/10.1525/can.1990.5.4.02a00030 [Google Scholar]
  5. Briggs, Charles L.
    (1997a) Introduction: From the ideal, the ordinary, and the orderly to conflict and violence in pragmatic research. Pragmatics7.4: 451–459.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. (ed.) (1997b) Special issue on conflict and violence in pragmatic research. Pragmatics7.4.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Brown, Penelope , and Stephen C. Levinson
    (1987) Politeness: Some universals in language use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Button, Graham
    (ed.) (1992) Technology in working order: Studies of work, interaction, and technology. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Caldas-Coulthard, Carmen Rosa , and Malcolm Coulthard
    (eds.) (1996) Texts and practices: Readings in critical discourse analysis. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Dalton, Melville
    (1959) Men who manage. New York: Wiley.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Davidson, Judy
    (1984) Subsequent versions of invitations, offers, requests, and proposals dealing with potential or actual rejection. In J.M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds.), Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Drew, Paul , and John Heritage
    (1992a) Analyzing talk at work: An introduction. In P. Drew and J. Heritage (eds.), Talk at work: Interaction in institutional settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. (eds.) (1992b) Talk at work: Interaction in institutional settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Duranti, Alessandro
    (1992) Intentions, self and responsibility: An essay in Samoan ethnopragmatics. In J.H. Hill and J.T. Irvine (eds.), Responsibility and evidence in oral discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Eelen, Gino
    (1999) Politeness and ideology: A critical review. Pragmatics9.1: 163–173.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Ehlich, Konrad , and Johannes Wagner
    (eds.) (1995) The discourse of business negotiation. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110881516
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110881516 [Google Scholar]
  17. Engeström, Yrjö , and David Middleton
    (eds.) (1996) Cognition and communication at work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781139174077
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139174077 [Google Scholar]
  18. Fairclough, Norman
    (1989) Language and power. London: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Firth, Alan
    (1991) Discourse at work: Negotiating by telex, fax, and phone. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Department of Language and Intercultural Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark.
  20. (ed.) (1995) The discourse of negotiation: Studies of language in the workplace. Oxford: Pergamon.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Foucault, Michel
    (1977) Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan . New York: Vintage Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. (1980) Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings 1972–1977. Translated by Colin Gordon , Leo Marshall , John Mepham , Kate Sopher . Edited by C. Gordon . New York: Pantheon Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Francis, David
    (1995) Negotiation, decision-making and formalism: The problem of form and substance in negotiation analysis. In K. Ehlich and J. Wagner (eds.), The discourse of business negotiation. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Gal, Susan
    (1989) Language and political economy. Annual Review of Anthropology18: 345–367. doi: 10.1146/annurev.an.18.100189.002021
    https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.18.100189.002021 [Google Scholar]
  25. Gal, Susan , and Kathryn Woolard
    (eds.) (1995) Special issue on constructing languages and publics. Pragmatics5.2.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Goffman, Erving
    (1959) The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Anchor Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Goodwin, Charles
    (1986) Between and within: Alternative sequential treatments of continuers and assessments. Human Studies9: 205–217. doi: 10.1007/BF00148127
    https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148127 [Google Scholar]
  28. Goodwin, Charles , and Marjorie Harness Goodwin
    (1992) Assessments and the construction of context. In A. Duranti and C. Goodwin (eds.), Rethinking context: Language as an interactive phenomenon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Goodwin, Marjorie Harness
    (1982) Processes of dispute management among urban black children. American Ethnologist9: 76–96. doi: 10.1525/ae.1982.9.1.02a00050
    https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1982.9.1.02a00050 [Google Scholar]
  30. (1983) Aggravated correction and disagreement in children’s conversations. Journal of Pragmatics7: 657–677. doi: 10.1016/0378‑2166(83)90089‑9
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(83)90089-9 [Google Scholar]
  31. (1990) He-said-she-said: Talk as social organization among black children. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Hill, Jane H. , and Judith T. Irvine
    (1992) Introduction. In J.H. Hill and J.T. Irvine (eds.), Responsibility and evidence in oral discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Jackall, Robert
    (1988) Moral mazes: The world of corporate managers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Jefferson, Gail , Harvey Sacks , and Emanuel A. Schegloff
    (1987) Notes on laughter in the pursuit of intimacy. In G. Button and J.R.E. Lee (eds.), Talk and social organisation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Kangasharju, Helena
    (1996) Aligning as a team in multiparty conversation. Journal of Pragmatics26: 291–319. doi: 10.1016/0378‑2166(95)00051‑8
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(95)00051-8 [Google Scholar]
  36. Kanter, Rosabeth Moss
    (1977) Men and women of the corporation. New York: Basic Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Kienpointner, Manfred
    (ed.) (1999) Special issue on ideologies of politeness. Pragmatics9.1.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Kroskrity, Paul , Bambi Schieffelin , and Kathryn Woolard
    (eds.) (1992) Special issue on language ideologies. Pragmatics 2.3.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Kunda, Gideon
    (1992) Engineering culture: Control and commitment in a high-tech corporation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Lerner, Gene H.
    (1993) Collectivities in action: Establishing the relevance of conjoined participation in conversation. Text13.2: 213–245.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Mao, Lu Ming Robert
    (1994) Beyond politeness theory: ‘Face’ revisited and renewed. Journal of Pragmatics21: 451–486. doi: 10.1016/0378‑2166(94)90025‑6
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(94)90025-6 [Google Scholar]
  42. Maynard, Douglas W.
    (1984) Inside plea bargaining: The language of negotiation. New York: Plenum Press. doi: 10.1007/978‑1‑4899‑0372‑3
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0372-3 [Google Scholar]
  43. Miller, Laura
    (1989) The Japanese language and honorific speech: Is there a Nihongo without keigo?Penn Linguistics Review13: 38–46.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Mills, C. Wright
    (1951) White collar. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Okamoto, Shigeko
    (1999) Situated politeness: Coordinating honorific and non-honorific expressions in Japanese conversations. Pragmatics9.1: 51–74.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Ourousoff, Alexandra
    (1993) Illusions of rationality: False premises of the liberal tradition. Man28: 281–298. doi: 10.2307/2803414
    https://doi.org/10.2307/2803414 [Google Scholar]
  47. Pomerantz, Anita
    (1984) Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: Some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J.M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds.), Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Riesman, David
    (1950) The lonely crowd: A study of the changing American character. New Haven: Yale University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Rosenbaum, James E.
    (1984) Career mobility in a corporate hierarchy. Orlando: Academic Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Sacks, Harvey
    (1987) On the preferences for agreement and contiguity in sequences in conversation. In G. Button and J.R.E. Lee (eds.), Talk and social organisation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Sacks, Harvey , Emanuel A. Schegloff , and Gail Jefferson
    (1974) A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language50: 696–735. doi: 10.2307/412243
    https://doi.org/10.2307/412243 [Google Scholar]
  52. Sarangi, Srikant , and Celia Roberts
    (1999a) The dynamics of interactional and institutional orders in work-related settings. In S. Sarangi and C. Roberts (eds.), Talk, work and institutional order: Discourse in medical, mediation and management settings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110208375
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110208375 [Google Scholar]
  53. (eds.) (1999b) Talk, work and institutional order: Discourse in medical, mediation and management settings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110208375
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110208375 [Google Scholar]
  54. Schegloff, Emanuel A.
    (1995) Parties and talking together: Two ways in which numbers are significant for talk-in-interaction. In P. Ten Have and G. Psathas (eds.), Situated order: Studies in the social organization of talk and embodied activities. Washington: University Press of America.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Schegloff, Emanuel A. , Gail Jefferson , and Harvey Sacks
    (1977) The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language53: 361–382. doi: 10.1353/lan.1977.0041
    https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.1977.0041 [Google Scholar]
  56. Schieffelin, Bambi , Kathryn A. Woolard , and Paul Kroskrity
    (eds.) (1998) Language ideologies: Practice and theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Schiffrin, Deborah
    (1984) Jewish argument as sociability. Language in Society13: 311–335. doi: 10.1017/S0047404500010526
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500010526 [Google Scholar]
  58. Schwartzman, Helen
    (1989) The meeting: Gatherings in organizations and communities. New York: Plenum Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Silverstein, Michael
    (1998) Contemporary transformations of local linguistic communities. Annual Review of Anthropology27: 401–426. doi: 10.1146/annurev.anthro.27.1.401
    https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.27.1.401 [Google Scholar]
  60. Wasson, Christina
    (1996) “Your candor would be appreciated”: Performing contradictory identities in business meetings. Paper read atDiscourse as Mosaic: Linguistic Re/Production of Identities and Ideologies, at Washington, DC.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. (1998) “Feeding the gorilla”: Meetings, work and hierarchy in corporate America. Paper read atAmerican Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, December 4, Philadelphia.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. (2000) “Feeding the gorilla”: Talk and surveillance in business meetings. Paper read at4th International Conference on Organizational Discourse, July 28, London.
    [Google Scholar]
  63. Watts, Richard J.
    (1992) Linguistic politeness and politic verbal behavior: Reconsidering claims for universality. In R.J. Watts , S. Ide and K. Ehlich (eds.), Politeness in language: Studies in its history, theory, and practice. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  64. (1999) Language and politeness in early eighteenth century Britain. Pragmatics9.1: 5–20.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Watts, Richard J. , Sachiko Ide , and Konrad Ehlich
    (eds.) (1992) Politeness in language: Studies in its history, theory, and practice. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Whyte, William H.
    (1956) The organization man. New York: Simon and Schuster.
    [Google Scholar]
  67. Wodak, Ruth
    (ed.) (1989) Language, power, and ideology: Studies in political discourse. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. doi: 10.1075/ct.7
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ct.7 [Google Scholar]
  68. Woolard, Kathryn , and Bambi Schieffelin
    (1994) Language ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology23: 55–82. doi: 10.1146/annurev.an.23.100194.000415
    https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.23.100194.000415 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/prag.10.4.03was
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Business Meetings; Caution; Consensus; Politeness; Talk in the Workplace
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error