Directness and Indirectness Across Cultures

Directness may often be considered rude in English, but in other languages it signals closeness and honesty. Equally, indirectness can be judged to be polite in English, whereas in other languages it can be regarded as cold and distancing. This book analyses why this is and provides the reader with a set of tools to investigate directness and indirectness in interaction. The authors examine the way that these differences in evaluation may lead to misunderstanding in conversations, focussing on the difficulty in clearly defining and isolating directness and indirectness. Situated within a discursive theoretical perspective, the book shows, through the analysis of role plays, naturally occurring data and interviews, how it is possible to analyse interactants' evaluations and assessments of directness and indirectness.

Karen Grainger is a Principal Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She researches language use and interaction in institutional, intercultural and electronic contexts. She has published in the areas of health care, intercultural communication and educational sociolinguistics. She is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Politeness Research.

Sara Mills is Research Professor in Linguistics at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She has published in the areas of feminist linguistics and politeness theory. Her publications include Gender and Politeness (2003), Politeness in East Asia (co-authored, 2011), Language and Sexism (2008), Language Gender and Feminism (co-authored, 2012), and Gender Representation in an International Context (co-authored, 2015).