Facework and im/politeness across legal contexts: An introduction

Abstract

In this introductory essay, I outline some of the studies which have already explored facework and im/politeness in legal contexts: specifically, Lakoff (1989), Penman (1990), Archer (2008, under review), Limberg (2008) and Harris (forthcoming 2011). Having suggested ways in which these studies have helped to shape and advance current thinking on facework and im/politeness, in both legal contexts and also more generally, I move on to outline the papers in this special edition, and the issues raised therein.