Motaleat-e-zaban-e-farsi

Motaleat-e-zaban-e-farsi

Speech Act Analysis Based on Brown and Levinson’s Politeness Theory: A Comparative Study of Persian and Egyptian Young Adult Fiction

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Maryam Jalali
Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22034/jmzf.2026.545246.1249
Abstract
 
1.      Introduction
Young Adult (YA) literature provides adolescents with a cognitive and emotional bridge toward adulthood, shaping their social understanding and communicative awareness. This study employs Brown and Levinson’s Politeness Theory to comparatively analyze the role of speech acts and politeness strategies in character construction within two influential YA works: Safar be Shahr-e Soleiman (The Journey to Solomon’s City) by Fereydoun Amouzadeh Khalili (Iran) and Hasnaa wa al-Thu‘ban al-Malaki (Hasnaa and the Royal Serpent) by Ya‘qub al-Sharouni (Egypt). The research assumes that variations in the protagonists’ responses to Face-Threatening Acts (FTAs), and the choice of politeness strategies, directly inform the depth of narrative identity formation and the mode of character development.
 
2.      Research Methodology
The study follows a descriptive–analytical design grounded in intratextual discourse analysis. Characters in both texts were distinguished as hero and anti hero. All speech acts were categorized according to Austin and Searle’s typology—Assertives, Directives, Commissives, Expressives, Declaratives—and subsequently analyzed through Brown and Levinson’s politeness strategies: Bald On Record, Positive Politeness, Negative Politeness, and Off Record. The analysis focuses on how protagonists negotiate FTAs in relation to the variables of power, social distance, and imposition.
 
3.      Discuss
 A comparative reading of the two narratives reveals significant contrasts in politeness strategy deployment:
A) In Safar be Shahr e Soleiman
The power dynamic is direct and interpersonal, with minimal social distance between the girl (hero) and Heshmat Khan (anti hero). This results in the predominance of Bald On Record strategies. The heroine’s Assertive and Commissive acts, particularly her commitment to completing a magical carpet, construct a strong positive face and define her ideological identity. At the narrative climax, her decisive Declarative act (“the carpet is finished”) constitutes a major FTA against the anti hero’s negative face, functioning as a liberating, confrontational speech act. Heshmat Khan relies primarily on direct Directives to impose authority, occasionally supplemented by superficial Positive Politeness to maintain control.
 
B) In Hasnaa wa al Thu‘ban al Malaki
Power is institutionalized and vertical, exercised through official authority rather than direct verbal confrontation. Consequently, Hasnaa frequently adopts Off Record strategies—rhetorical questions, indirect reasoning, and cautious inquiry—allowing her to manage FTAs while safeguarding her negative face. Explicit speech appears only when addressing her father, where the power gap is less absolute. The anti hero employs formal Declarative acts (“we will write the contract”), exerting control without engaging in interpersonal negotiation.
Across both narratives, Assertives appear frequently, but the decisive element is the type of politeness strategy employed: direct resistance in the Persian text versus indirect negotiation in the Egyptian text.
 
4.      Conclusion
The study concludes that politeness strategies play a pivotal role in shaping identity, power relations, and narrative tension in YA fiction. In Safar be Shahr e Soleiman, constant interpersonal confrontation leads both hero and anti hero to rely on Bald On Record strategies, framing explicit speech as a vehicle of resistance and autonomy. In Hasnaa wa al Thu‘ban al Malaki, indirectness emerges as a culturally mediated survival mechanism within a rigid hierarchical structure. Despite these differences, both protagonists ultimately resort to explicit speech to preserve their negative face—freedom, independence, and self determination—although each arrives at this explicitness through a distinct psychological and cultural trajectory.
 
 
Keywords
literature
speech acts
characterization
Iran
Egypt
 کتاب­شناسی  
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منابع لاتین
 
1)     Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.
2)     Searle, John R. (1979). expresstion and meaning: studies in the theory of speech acts.Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
3)     Palmer, F. R. (2008). Semantics: a new outline. Translated by Safavi, K. Tehran: Markaz Publications.
4)     Verschueren, J. (2003). underestanding pragmatics. London:Amold.
 

  • Receive Date 06 September 2025
  • Accept Date 01 December 2025