| Abstract [eng] |
A complaint is an act of speech in which one or more persons complain about something that they believe to be wrong, inappropriate, or causing negative consequences. The purpose of a complaint is to prompt action to resolve the problem or just to express emotions. The aim of this paper is to analyze electronic complaints and identify the strategies characteristic of this genre, as well as the means by which (im)politeness is expressed, and to determine the strategic models of each category according to the length of the complaints. To achieve this goal, a qualitative discourse analysis method was chosen, using aspects of (im)politeness and complaint strategies. The research material consists of 140 complaints received from a private catering company. The complaints were collected at random and then divided into four groups according to their length. First, each strategy is discussed separately, with examples provided and commented on. The second part of the study identifies the most common patterns of strategies and how they change as complaints become longer. The third part discusses (im)politeness, the means by which direct and indirect impoliteness are expressed, and examples of politeness in complaints. The results of the study revealed that longer complaints are characterized by a more detailed structure and a wider range of strategies, while the shortest complaints are straightforward, with clearly dominant strategies of accusation and expression of dissatisfaction. It was found that accusation is the main and the most frequently used complaint strategy. At the same time, it was found that the following strategies were used the least: insult, presentation of evidence, and mitigation. It was also found that complaint strategies increase as complaints become longer. Direct impoliteness manifests itself in strong emotions, intensive use of punctuation marks, writing words in capital letters, as well as elements of sarcasm and irony. Indirect impoliteness is expressed through rhetorical questions, hidden accusations, suggestions, or comments that indirectly disparage the company or specific employees. Politeness was found to be minimal and it was most often expressed through greetings, emoticons, and expressions of gratitude. This study may be useful for further complaint research that could examine complaints in various fields. |
