How to analyze a dialogue with the tools of politeness linguistic and the cultural dimension tools.

How to analyze a dialogue with the tools of politeness linguistic and the cultural dimension tools.

This dialogue is present within the textbook of Italian language "Progetto Italiano 2" from Edilingua publishing house.

 Nessun problema...



Daniela: Non credevo che avresti trovato la casa
dei tuoi sogni così presto; come hai fatto?
Tommaso: Facile: all’inizio, come ricordi, ho cercato
tra gli annunci, poi mi sono rivolto ad un’agenzia
immobiliare: una cosa da nulla!
Daniela: Beh, complimenti! Allora, com’è la vita
nelle piccole città? Monotona, eh?
Tommaso: Niente affatto! Non mi annoio per niente!
Daniela: Davvero?! Ti sei già abituato alla vita di
provincia?
Tommaso: Certo, ed è stato facile.
Daniela: E con il lavoro? Per tutti noi in ufficio è
stata una sorpresa quando ti sei dimesso!
Tommaso: Semplice: adesso lavoro da libero professionista.
Guadagno un po’ meno, ma quando vado in giro con la bici non ci penso
affatto.
Daniela: E della vita in città non ti manca proprio
niente? Che ne so... locali, cinema, ristoranti?
Tommaso: No, niente di tutto questo. Quando vivi in
mezzo al verde e la prima cosa che ve di la
mattina è il lago, non pensi a queste cose.
Solo a mia moglie mancano... i negozi di
Milano. Pazienza!

The dialogue is entitled "no problem" in reference to the way of responding to the difficulties of some people who have an informal and engaging conversational style in socio-pragmatic terms. The expression "no problem" is a colloquial expression with an informal style to indicate adherence to a positive politeness since it is a way to give a positive face to one's person. At the same time, it is a way to activate one's own person as capable of affecting reality without anxiety and stress. Indeed, within a framework in harmony with the cultural dimension of the "weak avoidance of uncertainty".

This dialogue takes place between Daniela and Tommaso on Tommaso's move to out of city.

Daniela begins her turn of speech in this way "Non credevo che avresti trovato la casa

dei tuoi sogni così presto; come hai fatto? (

I didn't think you would find the house of your dreams so soon: how did you do it) ?" In this turn of speech we see how Daniela starts with a form of scepticism towards Tommaso. This is an act of threat at the beginning of the dialogue for the defence of Tommaso's negative face which could protect his right to the autonomy of his decision. Daniela say "so early" as a another element of the statement that threatens the negative face of Tommaso who is mitigated by "come hai fatto? (how did you do it?)" that is, the request for explanations are a way to trigger a mitigation usually in Italian oral interaction. In practice, it becomes a way to reduce costs for threats faced in terms of the negative face. Tommaso replies with "Facile: as you remember, I looked through the advertisements, then I turned to a real estate agency: a trifle" ( Facile: all’inizio, come ricordi, ho cercato

tra gli annunci, poi mi sono rivolto ad un’agenzia

immobiliare: una cosa da nulla!).

In Tommaso's statement we see how "easy" it is a way to adhere to an informal and engaging style and in the same way allows you to understand how to interpret the progress of the interaction between the two people. The use of "as you remember" as a discursive signal is a way to give the interlocutor a positive face (capable of remembering our words) despite the initial threat present in Daniela's question. The description of the events is a way to give a positive face and therefore it is a search for recognition for one's work in terms of increases in benefits for one's positive face. "una cosa da niente" is a way to confirm full adherence to an engaging, informal and lightly stressed style. Daniela replies with "well compliments" as a way to ratify Tommaso's need for a positive face and then continues with a question that still represents a threat to the defence of his negative face with a big attack when he uses the adjective "monotonous". Tommaso's answer will be "not at all! I'm not bored at all!" in order to achieve a clear defence of the protection of his need for recognition in terms of a positive face. Therefore it adheres with this reply to a cultural dimension of "strong avoidance of uncertainty". In fact Tommaso fights this question to avoid too high costs for his need to enhance his positive face. Daniela's answer will be "really" ( davvero) to signal the granting of those mitigation elements to find an interactional balance between the two interlocutors after having incurred considerable costs on Tommaso's positive face. Daniela continues with the questions saying "and for the job" to maintain the style of charging high costs to the need for recognition of Tommaso's positive face especially by a friend who should understand the friend's reasons instead it seems that just the opposite is what happens in this beginning of dialogue. In other words, Tommaso is not given a positive face because his vision of reality is not ratified. Daniela mentions "the surprise of the office is that it has undergone his resignation as a form of threat to the need for collective positive face of that office place. So this description offered by Daniela is not a mitigation but a threat and a cost in term of interaction to be supported for his negative face. Tommaso's reply remains in an engaging style to make people understand the nature of the dialogue between two friends by saying "simple" as a way of saying that there are no costs in this decision for his positive face as Daniela thinks oppositely. In this way Tommaso has managed to change the notion of person becoming from employee to "freelancer". In this way, Tommaso manages to activate reality in a different way and the expression "freelancer ( libero professionista)" usually allows in Italian cultural context of gaining a positive face. Only afterwards there are costs for Tommaso in terms of a negative face by explaining a certain loss of wages but then highlights the possibility of being happy riding a bike as a way to gain a positive face and at the same time to adhere to a "satisfied" cultural dimension because they can remember positive emotions more easily with this decision. In essence Tommaso seems to initially adhere to a weak avoidance of uncertainty with his ability to "quit" to signal his ability to live with little stress and anxiety about this change in a cultural context where people keep work even when they don't like it in harmony with a dimension of "strong avoidance of uncertainty" which often entails in the end an implicit or unconscious adhesion to a "constrained" type dimension since things do not depend on us but on the context in which we find ourselves. For Tommaso this change also represents his desire to adhere to a long-term dimension because what good or bad depends on the circumstances and at the same time Tommaso wants to adhere to a "satisfied" dimension with greater control of his life, with greater importance to his free time, with a tendency to remember positive emotions as all important elements for his need for recognition in terms of a positive face.

Daniela continues the dialogue with her questions with the intent of obtaining some ratification regarding her vision of reality, which would be a way to make Tommaso pay international costs in terms of positive courtesy. For Daniela, the absence of clubs, cinemas, restaurants intended as quality of life in a "collective" sense in the city should represent a very high cost to be incurred for the need for a positive face allocated to Tommaso. These elements such as "cinema, clubs, restaurants" all fall within the cultural dimension of "short-term orientation" because you are essentially happy to spend money on social life and take pride in your city. In light of the "collectivism" cultural dimension, relationships are more important in this kind of context. However, Tommaso categorically refuses to pay further costs to defend his negative face. Therefore in his reply he does not intend to ratify the interactional costs inflicted by Daniela because he intends to fully defend his adhesion to a "satisfied" cultural dimension by offering his description as a way to mitigate his choices by trying to obtain interactional advantages with the recognition of his existential needs as a form of recognition for his positive face. Tommaso lists the advantages of living in the province by stating that "living in the midst of greenery, the presence of the lake" are key elements of Tommaso's choice to give his choices a positive face. The real costs to his need for a positive face are inflicted by Tommaso's wife who lacks the stores in Milan, namely the possibility of joining a dimension with a short-term orientation that contrasts Tommaso's new vision of reality focused on the long-term orientation and the possibility of being "satisfied" (happy in other words). Announcing his wife's vision, Tommaso integrates the fact that he has to pay costs as Daniela wanted to underline throughout the dialogue with her "friend" questions. In fact, in this dialogue, Daniela's questions of clarification or clarification have the function of assessing the strength and consistency of our need for a positive face in such a way that we can subsequently ratify it.