Impoliteness recycled: Subject ellipsis in Modern Russian complaint discourse

Abstract

(Im)politeness is usually discussed in context of an ongoing discourse situation. In this article, I show that relational work is not limited to a single conversation: specifically, the impact of a face attack can carry over to subsequent conversations. During a face attack, one of the options for the hearer is to remain silent, not defending his/her face ( Culpeper, 1996:354). This option might be used when the offender is significantly more powerful than the hearer; the power differential sharply restricts the hearer's options for defending face ( Culpeper et al., 2003:1562; Austin, 1990:279; Bousfield and Locher, 2008:8–9). However, in some cases the hearer does not simply accept the damage to his/her face. Unable to confront the offender directly, the offended restores face by complaining to peers and soliciting their commiseration and approval. Using Modern Russian data, I show how an offensive conversation between two interlocutors (usually a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law) is recycled when the offended later complains at an online support group. The complainer often uses a special construction with subject ellipsis to introduce the reported offensive discourse. By using this construction, the offended retroactively and symbolically attacks the offender, thus repairing damage to face.