Indirectness as a Politeness Strategy in Indian Extended Families

Politeness is a behavioral trend observed in most societies. This societal function is expected of individuals who wish to reside together peacefully and respectfully. India, as a multicultural nation, still values the tradition of living with an extended family. This requires negotiations among family members and politeness to maintain peaceful relationships at home. Taking this into account, this article analyzes the politeness strategies used by the characters in Arundhati Roy’s novel, The God of Small Things. While previous studies have focused on conversational dialogue, none has conducted a close contextual study within an extended family. Roy’s story revolves around an extended Christian family in Kerala where one finds a maze of complex relationships. Relationships among family members mature when individuals use politeness strategies to avoid or resolve conflicts, and the novel highlights Indian society in which characters use politeness strategies to maintain social and family relationships. This study used Brown and Levinson’s politeness strategy of indirectness for analysis. The analysis revealed that power factor/social rank plays a significant role in communication among family/societal members. Gender also plays a prominent role in determining politeness strategies. Indirectness is frequently used by females, children, and other weaker segments of society. The use of both positive and negative faces was also revealed during the close contextual analysis. Indirectness and other politeness theories can be extended to investigate family relationships in other cultural and regional communities. This study has implications for the application of politeness strategies in real-life conflict-resolution situations.