A Pragmatic Study Of Mock Impoliteness In Weibo Discourses

Mock impoliteness,apparently impolite but not really impolite,starts to draw more attention from scholars.The in-depth research of mock impoliteness offers a way to better understand politeness and impoliteness.The existing literature shows that most of the studies of mock impoliteness have been focused on face-to-face interactions by ignoring the data from social media.In addition,social media,such as Weibo,becomes one of the important channels for people to communicate with each other.Therefore,the present study aims to explore mock impoliteness in Weibo discourses based on Bousfield’s impoliteness model and Spencer-Oatey’s Rapport Management Theory.The qualitative method is adopted to analyze 100 pieces of interactional instances collected from Weibo through tracking the Weibo users in the same friendship circles.To be specific,the thesis aims to address the following research questions:(1)How is mock impoliteness realized in Weibo discourses?(2)What are the triggers of mock impoliteness in Weibo discourses?(3)What pragmatic functions can mock impoliteness fulfill in Weibo discourses?Based on the analysis of the selected instances,the major findings are drawn as follows:First,mock impoliteness in Weibo discourses is realized through initiating strategies and responding strategies.The addressers choose different strategies to initiate mock impoliteness,which are showing doubt,taking unsympathetic attitudes,using abusive language,using coercive language and using inappropriate vocatives.Faced with the addressers’ mock impoliteness,the addressees choose relevant strategies to respond,namely,accepting actively or passively,countering offensively or defensively and withholding.Second,mock impoliteness in Weibo discourses can be triggered both linguistically and paralinguistically.The linguistic representations of misfortunes,reflections,self-mockery,exaggerated statements and unconvincing resolutions in the Weibo posts can potentially trigger mock impoliteness.Photos and emoticons as the paralinguistic elements in Weibo discourses can also be triggering factors of mock impoliteness,for instance,photos of food and selfies.The emoticons might serve as the supplementary triggers of mock impoliteness,accompanied by the linguistic triggers.Third,mock impoliteness in Weibo discourses fulfills three pragmatic functions,namely,displaying in-group identity,reinforcing intimacy and entertaining.The realization of mock impoliteness manifests that the interactants involved belong to a certain group or circle with shared knowledge and ethos,thus displaying the in-group identities.The intimacy between the interactants is also gradually reinforced during the interactions.In addition,mock impoliteness in Weibo discourses can entertain not only the interactants involved but also the third parties,sometimes demonstrated explicitly through lexicalized laughter.The present thesis examines mock impoliteness in Weibo discourses in terms of its initiating and responding strategies,triggers and pragmatic functions.It enriches the understanding of mock impoliteness in non-spontaneous and asynchronous interactions,lays the foundations for the pragmatic studies of mock impoliteness in Weibo discourses and offers some implications for fostering the pragmatic competence of Chinese as second language learners.