Metapragmatics of Attentiveness; A Study on Interpersonal and Cross-cultural Pragmatics; Saeko Fukushima

Author

Saeko Fukushima [+–]

Tsuru University

Saeko Fukushima is Professor in the Department of English at Tsuru University in Japan. She has published Requests and Culture: Politeness in British English and Japanese (Peter Lang 2000/2002/2003) and articles in edited volumes and international journals such as Journal of Politeness Research, Journal of Pragmatics, Language Sciences, Multilingua, Pragmatics and World Englishes. Her research interests include cross-cultural pragmatics, intercultural pragmatics, sociopragmatics, pragmalinguistics, politeness, and metapragmatics.

Evaluation by a recipient of attentiveness is considered since recent research suggests that im/politeness resides in evaluation. Thus, both demonstration and evaluation of attentiveness are investigated in the book. Attentiveness may be demonstrated or evaluated differently within different cultures. Generation can be considered as one of the sub-groups of culture. Therefore, cross-cultural and cross-generational comparisons on demonstration and evaluation of attentiveness are included.

Although some differences in demonstration or evaluation of attentiveness are found cross-culturally, similarities outweigh differences. This suggests that attentiveness, which is thought to be a virtue in Japanese culture, is not unique to Japanese culture, and that attentiveness is an important interpersonal notion elsewhere, too. It is also shown that attentiveness is one of the constituents of politeness, which indicates that attentiveness is closely related to politeness.

Series: Pragmatic Interfaces

Preliminaries

List of figures and tables [+–] xi

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

This book examines attentiveness, which is briefly defined as a demonstrator’s pre-emptive responses to a recipient’s verbal or non-verbal cues or situations surrounding a recipient and a demonstrator, which takes the form of offering. It elucidates what attentiveness is, and addresses the importance of attentiveness in im/politeness research. It also suggests the importance of taking an interdisciplinary perspective in im/politeness research, the importance of non-linguistically manifested politeness and the heart perspective. Evaluation by a recipient of attentiveness is considered since recent research suggests that im/politeness resides in evaluation. Thus, both demonstration and evaluation of attentiveness are investigated in the book. Attentiveness may be demonstrated or evaluated differently within different cultures. Generation can be considered as one of the sub-groups of culture. Therefore, cross-cultural and cross-generational comparisons on demonstration and evaluation of attentiveness are included. Although some differences in demonstration or evaluation of attentiveness are found cross-culturally, similarities outweigh differences. This suggests that attentiveness, which is thought to be a virtue in Japanese culture, is not unique to Japanese culture, and that attentiveness is an important interpersonal notion elsewhere, too. It is also shown that attentiveness is one of the constituents of politeness, which indicates that attentiveness is closely related to politeness.

Foreword [+–] xiii-xiv

Dániel Z. Kádár

Dalian University of Foreign Languages

Daniel Z. Kadar (D.Litt, FHEA, PhD) is Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Pragmatics Research at Dalian University of Foreign Studies. He is also Research Professor of Pragmatics and Head of Research Centre at the Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He has been author and editor of more than 20 books, published by academic publishers of world-leading standing such as Equinox, Cambridge, Palgrave and Bloomsbury. He has also published a large number of studies in high impact journals such as Journal of Politeness Research and Journal of Pragmatics. His most recent works include Politeness, Impoliteness and Ritual: Maintaining the Moral Order in Interpersonal Interaction (Cambridge, 2017), The Palgrave Handbook of Linguistic Politeness (edited with Jonathan Culpeper andMichael Haugh, Palgrave, 2017), and Understanding Politeness (with Michael Haugh, Cambridge, 2013). He is Editor (with Xinren Chen) of Equinox’s East Asian Pragmatics journal.

Acknowledgments [+–] xv

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

Chapter 1

Introduction [+–] 1-6

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

1.1 Why this book? 1.2 Definition of attentiveness 1.3 Data and methodology 1.4 Structure of the book

Chapter 2

What is Attentiveness? [+–] 7-64

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

2.1 Introduction 2.2 Concept, conditions and processes of attentiveness 2.2.1 Concept of attentiveness 2.2.2 Conditions needed for attentiveness to arise 2.2.3 Processes of attentiveness 2.3 Attentiveness and some other similar concepts 2.3.1 Consideration, empathy, altruism and helping behaviour 2.3.2 Focus group data 2.3.3 Discussion 2.4 Conclusion

Chapter 3

Cross-cultural and Cross-generational Comparisons of Attentiveness [+–] 65-125

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

3.1 Introduction 3.2 Culture 3.2.1 Some issues on culture 3.2.2 Some tendencies in cultures 3.3 Evaluation of attentiveness: A cross-cultural (Japanese–British) comparison 3.3.1 Data and methodology 3.3.2 Data analysis 3.3.3 Results and discussion 3.4 Demonstration of attentiveness: Cross-cultural (Japanese–American) and cross-generational (among the Japanese) comparisons 3.4.1 Data and methodology 3.4.2 Data analysis 3.4.3 Results and discussion 3.5 Evaluation of attentiveness: Cross-cultural (Japanese–American) and cross-generational (among the Japanese) comparisons 3.5.1 Data and methodology 3.5.2 Data analysis 3.5.3 Results and discussion 3.6 Conclusion

Chapter 4

Attentiveness in Japanese Relational Networks [+–] 126-157

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

4.1 Introduction 4.2 Emic understandings of attentiveness 4.2.1 Data and methodology 4.2.2 Results and discussion 4.3 Attentiveness and politeness 4.3.1 Theoretical background 4.3.2 Data and methodology 4.3.3 Results and discussion 4.4 Conclusion

Chapter 5

Conclusion [+–] 158-163

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

5.1 Overview and implications 5.2 Prospects for future research

Appendices

Transcription Conventions [+–] 164-165

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

Appendix 1: Transcription conventions Appendix 2: Transcription conventions used in Cook and Burdelski (2017), which appear in Section 2.2.1

End Matter

Notes [+–] 166-184

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

References [+–] 185-206

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

Index [+–] 207-212

Saeko Fukushima

Tsuru University

Reviews

The topics studied are not only relevant to academics and advanced students working on Japanese, but practically to any reader who has interest in pragmatics and the Japanese lingua-culture, due to the explanatory power of Fukushima’s work. So, if the Reader is prepared for an academic tour de force and the exploration of a fascinating lingua-culture provided by an outstanding expert of the field, reading the present volume is a must.
From the Foreword by Dániel Z. Kádár, Dalian University of Foreign Languages, China and Hungarian Academy of Sciences

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Metapragmatics of Attentiveness

A Study in Interpersonal and Cross-cultural Pragmatics

Saeko Fukushima [+–]

Tsuru University

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