Negative Politeness Off Record

18 Low High affective affective content content Figure 2.5 The Affective Function Scale Holmes, 2001, p. 10

B. Theoretical Framework

The study analyzes the use of politeness strategies used by the main characters of the novel Eat Pray Love 2010. The researcher synthesizes all theories in analyzing data in order to solve the research problems: 1 How do the main characters of the novel Eat Pray Love use politeness strategies in their dialogues? and 2 Which factors affect the use of politeness strategies by the main characters of the novel Eat Pray Love? Based on the theoretical description, the researcher applies theories from some linguists to understand the relation among pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and politeness strategies. The researcher requires understanding the meaning of each utterance in order to be able to classify the utterances into the four politeness strategies. In understanding the meaning of the utterances by the main characters, the resea rcher firstly needs to understand the theory of pragmatics since it is “the study of how language is used to communicate” Leech, 1992: 19. As mentioned previously, the researcher analyzes the use of politeness strategies in the novel Eat Pray Love 2010, hence the researcher applies sociolinguistics theory in order to clarify the topic. Sociolinguistics is the study of relationship between the use of language and society Radford, et al., 1999: 1. It is used since the analysis of the 19 use of politeness strategies and the factors is under its study. Afterwards, the researcher employs the theory of Brown and Levinson 1987 about politeness strategies and the theory of Holmes 2001 about the factors which influence the characters in speaking politely to solve those research problems. To solve the first research problem, the researcher applies the theory of politeness strategies of Brown and Levinson 1987. There are four politeness strategies, namely Bald-on Record, Positive Politeness, Negative Politeness, and Off R ecord. Based on Brown and Levinson’s 1987 theory, the researcher tries to analyze the use of politeness strategies by the main characters of the novel Eat Pray Love 2010. To solve the second research problem, the researcher applies the theory of Holmes 2001. There are four factors that can affect the main characters in speaking, namely social distance, status, formality, and referential and affective functions. Based on Holmes’ 2001 theory, the researcher analyzes the factors which can influence the main characters of the novel Eat Pray Love 2010 in speaking politely.