Abstract [eng] |
In everyday life, impoliteness is understood as a violation of the established rules of etiquette. In the science of linguistic pragmatics, impolite behaviour is primarily associated with negatively evaluated behaviour, occuring in specific context. The object of this research is linguistic impoliteness in Lithuanian political debates. The aim is to reveal the manifestations of impoliteness, analyze face-threatening acts, ascertain what is characteristic of impoliteness during the debates. In order to achieve the goal, quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods were applied. The material for the study was collected from the debates before the elections to the Seimas for the 2016–2020 term. The total duration of the debates is 720 minutes. The analysis revealed that all participants are involved in the impoliteness. Another feature of impoliteness in debates is that politicians seek to increase their power through face-threatening acts. An examination of the propositional content of face-threatening acts revealed that opponents are often belittled by claiming that they are lying or hiding the truth. In most cases face-threatening speech acts are performed indirectly and expressed using internal and external modifications. This suggests that politicians in TV debates seek to damage their rival`s face in a way that does not harm their own face by applying indirect impoliteness strategies and by negatively describing their opponents` general competencies. |