Approaching Characters through Conversation: An Application of Co-operative and Politeness Principles to Two Amharic Plays A
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2009-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study is a discourse analysis of two selected plays of Getnet Enyew
namely, Etege Taytu (Empress Taytu) and Wubetn Flega (Quest for Beauty). It
aims to demonstrate how frameworks from pragmatics and discourse analysis
can be used to study dramatic conversation. With this purpose in mind, the
study attempts to show how it is possible to study dramatic characters through
their conversational behavior. To this end, the conversational principles of
politeness and co-operation are used as frameworks to study the dramatic
characters in the selected Amharic plays.
Pragmatic theories and principles of conversation lay down ground rules as to
how participants' conversational behavior should be designed. Applying these
conversational theories while studying dramatic dialogue, is believed to be so
yielding in that it reveals much about the characters and their relationship
with one another. In support of this idea Akalu (1997) states that through the
social theories of conversation suggested by principles of co-operation and
politeness it is possible to study the characters.
To this end carefully selected conversational extracts will be examined in light
of the selected frameworks of analysis to demonstrate as to how characters can
be approached through their conversational behavior.
The study has shown that pragmatic principles are resourceful means of
studying dramatic dialogue. Using the selected frameworks from pragmatics an
attempt is made to demonstrate how it is possible to study dramatic characters
through their conversational behavior. The analysis has shown that the change
in characters' personality trait is implicated by the change in their
conversational strategy. Moreover, it has been shown that characters' attitude
towards one another, how they exploit one another in conversation and the sort
of power relationship between them is inferable from their conversational
behavior.