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3.2.1 Definition of the Maxim of Quality 9
3.2.2 Contrastive Study of Violation of CP in Talk Shows 9
3.3 Maxim of relation 11
3.3.1 Definition of the Maxim of Relation 11
3.3.2 Contrastive Study of Violation of CP in Talk Shows 11
3.4 Maxim of Manner 13
3.4.1 Definition of the Maxim of Manner 13
3.4.2 Contrastive Study of Violation of CP in Talk Shows 13
4 Conclusion 14
4.1 Major Findings 14
4.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Studies 15
5 References 17
A Contrastive Analysis of Chinese and American Talk Shows from the Perspective of Cooperative Principle --- Luyu vs Oprah Winfrey
1 Introduction
1.1 Research background
Cooperative principle, which was first proposed by Paul Grice in a paper entitled “Logic and Conversation”, is a very influential and prevailing part of pragmatics. In Grice’s view, to carry out a complete and comprehensive conversation, the participants should be able to abide by some rules, i.e. the CP. But sometimes the violation of CP will bring about some conversational implicatures.
Recently, the approaches to entertain are persified and one of the most welcome entertainments is TV talk show which has become increasingly popular both home and abroad. Oprah Winfrey is the most famous talk show queen, and Luyu enjoys the equal reputation in China. Their enthusiasm, honesty, and geniality make the guests feel free when talking. One of the hidden reasons for their charm lies in their successful and excellent utilization and command of language. To have a deep insight into their great success, analysis of their language is necessary. The present study will choose the two as the cases to do a contrastive analysis of the language under the perspective of CP.
1.2 Significance of the study
This study has both theoretical and practical significance. To be more specific, the study shows the theoretical value in analyzing the language used by Oprah Winfrey and Luyu. Actually, our daily communication abides by CP consciously or unconsciously and cannot exist without it. For example, speaker must say words that are relevant to the topic and hearer will guess the meanings by context, which is the embodiment of CP. Indeed, talk show is a reflection of interpersonal communication, the relationship of host, guest, and audience is relatively stable. To avoid disputes and conflicts, each part of them will choose to use proper language. Thus, they would obey or violate CP with awareness.
From practical perspective, the essay implies that a good mastery of CP can help viewers better understand the real and hidden meaning of both hosts and guests, without causing misunderstandings, which has great significance for language study and promoting interpersonal understanding.
Until now, though certain studies have been done on the analysis of talk show under the perspective of Cooperative Principle, few attention has been paid to making a contrastive analysis combined with Chinese and American talk shows, which is still a relatively new and insufficiently explored area. So this essay attempts to make a thorough analysis of talk shows from both China and America and investigate the language used in it from a different angle.
2 Literature Review
2.1 Grice’s Cooperative Principle
2.1.1 Cooperative Principle
American linguist Herbert Paul Grice put forward the world-famous theory of conversational implicature in 1967, which introduces the way to better understand natural language. To obtain mutual cooperation and successful communication, both participants of a conversation should adhere to some principles or maxims, which is the so-called Cooperative Principle. As phrased by Grice, “Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.” (1975: 45-47). Later in 1975, some part of the lectures which Grice delivered at Harvard to introduce the theory of Cooperative Principle was published into a book: Logic and Conversation (Grice, 1975) in which a range of principles guide the cooperative conversation in economical and effective language. During the same year, Grice published an article “The Cooperative Principle”, which has made a great contribution to pragmatic study.