The pragmatics of manipulation: Exploiting im/politeness theories

Abstract

This paper focuses on the pragmatic functioning of manipulation, dealing more specifically with its socio-psychological aspects that tend to be overlooked in Critical Discourse Analysis and pragma-cognitive approaches of the phenomenon. After exposing to what extent the study of Manipulative Discourse (MD) has been hampered by traditional philosophy of language and argumentative/persuasion theories predicated on a truth and morality bias, it demonstrates that MD is parasitic on both Grice's (1975, 1989) Cooperative Principle and Brown and Levinson's (1987) politeness strategies, going beyond both frameworks to propose a model of manipulation that puts equal emphasis on Self and Other. In an attempt at theoretically rebalancing the traditional emphasis on the Other's face wants in politeness theory, it brings to light three manipulative tactics – as exploited by some characters in the American political TV series House of Cards – that consist in 1. taking advantage of the victims’ emotional vulnerability and/or face needs, 2. consenting to false Self Face-Threatening act (Chen, 2001), and 3. using Self Face-Flattering Acts to ‘give a high value’ to the Self as an enticing strategy. Among MD resources are impoliteness moves that are paradoxically exploited to ‘draw in’ the Other, thereby resolving conflict and bridging distance.