| Author: | Lau, Chin Man |
| Title: | A pragmatic analysis of swearing as a discursive strategy in legislative council meetings in Hong Kong |
| Advisors: | Ladegaard, Hans J. (ENGL) Wu, Dong Ying Doreen (CBS) |
| Degree: | DALS |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Subject: | Swearing Discourse analysis Power (Social sciences) Language and languages -- Political aspects Legislators -- China -- Hong Kong Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Humanities |
| Pages: | xv, 370 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | This thesis gives a pragmatic analysis of swearing as a discursive strategy for power negotiation, raising protest or expressing disagreement in Legislative Council (LegCo) meetings in Hong Kong. The use of socially taboo swearing expressions in formal LegCo meetings by some LegCo members, who shoulder important constitutional responsibilities, remains a puzzle, since the LegCo is generally regarded as a solemn venue for discussing matters of great public interest. This study aims to study: (1) the forms of swearing expressions used by members in formal meetings; (2) the major socio-cultural and pragmatic factors affecting their choice of different forms of swearing expressions; (3) the discursive strategies used by members to enhance the impact and lower the chance of being sanctioned; (4) how the general public understand the dysphemistic swearing connotations of euphemistic substitutes; and (5) how the general public evaluate the use of swearing expressions by LegCo members in terms of (in)appropriateness and (im)politeness. Theoretically, the thesis topic is closely related to the concepts of taboo, politeness/impoliteness and swearing. The literature review in these areas suggests that the existing theories and approaches may not be able to explain satisfactorily the use of swearing expressions in formal LegCo setting. The first-wave rationalist approach to (im)politeness focuses on the speaker’s intention, whereas face and discursive strategies may be oversimplified. The second-wave discursive approach focusing on the hearer’s evaluation may not have the theoretical clarity and sophistication required. The most recent third-wave integrated approach attempts to search for systematic and predictable patterns of (im)politeness usage as a social practice. It is still developing and there is a clear theoretical gap to be filled along this approach. At the empirical level, background research was conducted on the use of Cantonese swearing in Hong Kong. Factual information on the actual use of swearing by individual LegCo members in the past was collected, and it was found that the swearing expressions that were actually used were predominantly euphemistic. A new holistic theoretical model (see Figure 3 on page 66) on (im)politeness is proposed to provide a comprehensive and dynamic framework for general application across different cultures and situational contexts. This model, which was adopted as the analytical framework for this study, comprises three major parts. The first part covers the general factors affecting the production, reception and evaluation of (im)polite discourse. The second part covers the three stages of discourse composed of production, reception and evaluation, and the third part covers the perlocutionary effects and long-term impacts. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect respondents’ views on swearing by LegCo members. The results were applied to the proposed holistic model to address the research questions as appropriate. Excerpts of real-life LegCo discourses were selected for detailed discourse analysis. It was found that the use of swearing expressions by LegCo members can be systematically explained. A host of major socio-cultural and pragmatic factors were analysed and their relevance to the swearing discursive acts is explained in detail. Such factors include the relevant laws, public acceptability, general socio-cultural norms and expectations, institutional rules and regulations, as well as speaker-hearer social and power relationships. There was a clear asymmetrical distribution of power between members and the President and Chairman of Committee. The discursive strategies used to enhance perlocutionary effects and minimise possible sanctions include the use of euphemistic substitutes, repetition, paraphrasing, doublespeak, and non-verbal communication. The use of euphemistic swearing could be explained as a discursive strategy for resistance and non-cooperation in the pragmatic context of LegCo discussion. The results of questionnaire survey found that there were diverse views among the respondents on the use of swearing by members. The majority of them had negative views on the use of dysphemistic swearing. The survey results also found that there was a close relationship between respondents’ evaluation of (in)appropriateness and (im)politeness. In the proposed model, each of the relevant factors may produce positive or negative forces. Swearing is more likely to occur when the positive forces outweigh the negative ones. The proposed model is dynamic in nature: The cumulated perlocutionary effects each discursive act may lead to possible changes in the influencing factors over time. The model is also a useful holistic and dynamic theoretical model which may help shed light on the reasons behind the use of impolite language and swearing by LegCo members. It is hoped that the model and this study may stimulate more in-depth research on (im)politeness and swearing. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7083.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 4.71 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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