Toward a Motivation Model of Pragmatics (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9783111536125)

With the "discursive turn" has come a distrust - a complete rejection by some - of theories that seek deeper reasons for surface phenomena. Rong Chen argues that this distrust, with its accompanying overemphasis on specificity and fluidity of linguistic meaning and social values, is unwarranted and unhelpful. Drawing on insights from social theories and various strands of pragmatics, he proposes a motivation model of pragmatics (MMP), contending that language use can be adequately, coherently, and elegantly studied via the motivation behind it in its varied and dynamic contexts. The model, with its well-laid out components, is then applied to (im)politeness research, cross-cultural pragmatics, diachronic pragmatics, discourse and genre analysis, conversation analysis, identity construction, and the study of metaphor, sarcasm, parody, and lying. MMP is thus a framework aimed at accounting for fluidity with stable notions, specificity with general principles, and differences with similar underlying factors. As such, the book should appeal to students of pragmatics, (im)politeness, conversation analysis, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, communication, sociology, and psychology.

Author: Rong Chen
ISBN-10: 3111536122
ISBN-13: 9783111536125
Publisher: de Gruyter Mouton
Language: English
Published: 06/17/2024
Pages: 346
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.79d