Muhamad Noh, Nurmaisarah and Mohd Ismath, Nurul Hanilah (2025) POLITENESS STRATEGIES IN THE EGYPTIAN MOVIE EXCUSE MY FRENCH: A PRAGMATIC STUDY. In: 9th International Symposium of Education and Values (ISOEVA), 7-10 October 2025, Famagusta/TRNC.
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Abstract
Politeness is a central concern in pragmatics, as it explores how interlocutors manage face, negotiate relationships, and maintain harmony in communication. Although politeness has been studied extensively in English and other widely spoken languages, little attention has been given to Arabic cinematic discourse. This study investigates politeness strategies in the Egyptian film Excuse My French (2014), directed by Amr Salama, which provides a rich portrayal of everyday interaction in an educational setting. Adopting Brown and Levinson’s (1987) framework, the study applied a descriptiveanalytical approach to the film’s full dialogue transcription. A total of 34 instances of politeness were identified: 9 bald on-record, 14 positive politeness, 6 negative politeness, and 5 off-record. The analysis reveals that the choice of strategy was strongly influenced by social distance, relative power, and the ranking of imposition. While the findings align with universal politeness principles, they also highlight culture-specific tendencies of Egyptian Arabic, particularly its emphasis on solidarity and reassurance. The study contributes to pragmatic scholarship by demonstrating how cinematic discourse reflects sociocultural norms, offering new insights into Arabic politeness strategies. The findings also raise questions about how universal theories, such as Brown and Levinson’s, can be adapted to account for Arabic cultural and institutional contexts.
| Item Type: | Proceeding Paper (Plenary Papers) |
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| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Pragmatics, Politeness Strategies, Brown and Levinson, Arabic film discourse, Egyptian cinema |
| Subjects: | P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics > P87 Communication. Mass media |
| Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button): | Kulliyyah of Sustainable Tourism and Contemporary Languages |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Nurul Hanilah Mohd Ismath |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Dec 2025 10:15 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Dec 2025 10:15 |
| Queue Number: | 2025-12-Q1424 |
| URI: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/126563 |
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