From the floutings of the cooperative principle to communica
From the floutings of the cooperative principle to communicaFrom the Floutings of the Cooperative Principle
to Communicative Competence
and to the Function of Context in Conversation
by
It is for a long time that linguists have set great store by the effectiveness of linguistic communication through the oral channel �� that is to say, our daily conversation. On account of the fact that these scholars regard linguistics, or to be more specific here, pragmatics, as a discipline stricter or more logical than any other one in social sciences or humanities, a strong impulse to generalize certain universal principles out of a huge variety of complex phenomena of our oral communication emerged, and has been exuberantly growing. Hence the theory of the Cooperative Principle.
As early as the 1960's, Grice has already propounded in Harvard his Cooperative Principle, with the definition as such: "Make your conversational contribution such as required at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged." He further worked four maxims in support of the principle by making it more concrete: 1.The Maxim of Quality: try to make your contribution one that is true, or one that has adequate evidence to testify to its very truth; 2. The Maxim of Quantity: try to say as much, and just as much as necessary in your contribution; 3. The Maxim of Relevance: try to make your contribution relevant; 4. The Maxim of Manner: try to make your conversation specific, perspicuous, concise and orderly.
According to grice's theoretical system, if one wants to make the conversation smooth or effective in conveying or understanding information, such principle and maxims are expected to be observed, either intentionally or unintentionally, by each participant involved. In sum, the Cooperative Principle is the prescriptive guidance to direct people's conversation.
The Introduction of the Paradox to the Principle
It can be suggested that the view discussed above beautifully pictures a paradisiacal dream of linguistics and philosophers. The maxims specify what participants have to do so as to converse in maximally effectual, sensible, cooperative way: they should speak honestly, relevantly, and clearly, while offering enough information. However, that is not the case in our real life. The genuine fact of our daily conversation put an imminent objection to this view of the nature of oral communication: no one actually speaks for the whole time like what is described by the principle. It is not difficult to note that all the maxims are frequently violated, either with intention or without. Here, four examples are respectively offered as follows:
EXAMPLE 1 �� the violation of the Maxim of Quality
A: I didn't know Jack got married two months ago.
B: I think he had a lioness at home now.
EXAMPLE 2 �� the violation of the Maxim of Quantity
A: Have you seen my keys?
B: Well, somewhere in the room.
EXAMPLE 3 �� the violation of the Maxim of Relevance...
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