Analysis of Suspense Due To The Failure To Observe The Gricean Maxims in The TV Series 'Nikita' Seasons 1 and 2.
ABSTRACT
Dalam tugas akhir ini saya mengkaji ketidakpatuhan terhadap 4 bidal yang
diungkapkan oleh Grice. Keempat bidal tersebut adalah bidal kuantitas, kualitas,
cara dan relasi. Keempat bidal tersebut acap kali dilanggar untuk menghasilkan
implikatur tertentu yang pada ujungnya bisa menghasilkan suasana ketegangan.
Guna mengaplikasikan pelanggaran bidal tersebut yang berujung pada
ketegangan, saya menggunakan korpus data dari serial televisi Amerika yang
berjudul Nikita musim pertama dan kedua. Saya mendapati bahwa sejumlah
ketegangan seringkali dihasilkan oleh karena pelanggaran bidal jenis tertentu.
Salah satu penemuan yang saya peroleh dalam analisis ialah bidal yang
paling sering dilanggar dalam penelitian saya adalah bidal cara yaitu 9 data. Selain
bidal cara, yang paling sering dilanggar adalah bidal kualitas, yaitu terdapat 6
data. Dan bidal yang paling sedikit dilanggar adalah bidal kuantitas dan relasi,
yaitu masing-masing berjumlah 5 data.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….
i
ABSTRACT……………………………………………...…………………...
ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study………………………………………………
Statement of the Problem……………………………………………...
Purpose of the Study……………………………………………….......
Method of the Research………………………………………………..
Organization of the Thesis……………………………………………..
1
4
4
5
5
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK…………………….
6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF SUSPENSE DUE TO THE
FAILURE TO OBSERVE THE GRICEAN MAXIMS IN THE TV
SERIES NIKITASEASONS 1 AND 2………………………….......
14
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION………………………………………... 33
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………. 37
i
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
People express their feelings and thoughts through conversation by means
of language. “Language is only one of the systems of signs used by human beings
to communicate with each other.” (Jeffries 196) Sometimes, people do not say
what they actually mean within their communication. Thus, there is often a
difference between what the speaker says and what the speaker actually means. In
other words, there is an additional or different meaning observed within an
utterance, which is understood as implicature. “It seems clear that there is much
that is communicated by language which is not covered by any of them; and 'idea'
in particular is inherently imprecise.” (Lyons 3)
My topic falls under the study of pragmatics. In pragmatics, we learn
about language in depth in which there is an implied meaning within a speaker’s
utterance. Pragmatics is the study of the contextual meaning which is concerned
with the speaker’s meaning and the interpretation of the utterance. (Horn and
Ward xi) “Pragmatics is the study of those context-dependent aspects of meaning
1
Maranatha Christian University
which are systematically abstracted away from in the construction of content or
logical form.” (Horn and Ward xi) “Pragmatics concentrates on the aspects of
meaning that cannot be predicted by linguistic knowledge alone and takes into
account knowledge about the physical and social world.” (Peccei 3) The focus of
a pragmatic analysis thus is on the meaning of speaker’s utterance rather than the
meaning of words and sentences. In pragmatics, an utterance need not consist of
complete sentences. Each utterance is a unique physical event created at a
particular point in time for a particular communicative purpose. (Peccei 5)
For example, in a situation when A and B are in a room that is very hot, A
utters “It’s hot in here.” The utterance “It’s hot in here.” can be interpreted as
having three different meanings. First, it is possible that A is just giving a
comment that the room is hot. This is the literal meaning of the utterance.
Secondly, it can mean that A wants B to open the window or to switch on the air
conditioner or fan. Third, if we see it from another angle, A may suggest going
out of the room. Sometimes what people say have a meaning quite different from
what their words say, or even the meaning is the opposite of what they say.
(Thomas 1)
In Pragmatics, there is Gricean theory which discusses conversational
maxims. Grice introduces four conversational maxims. There are the maxims of
Quantity, Quality, Relation and Manner. (Thomas 63) They are the rules to
observe the maxims. It is possible that when people fail to observe the maxims,
there are five ways of failing to observe a maxim: flouting, violating, infringing,
opting out of, and suspending a maxim. (Thomas 64)
2
Maranatha Christian University
When people fail to observe the maxims, there may be a misunderstanding
between the speaker and the hearer. If the speaker does not answer what the hearer
asks or when he says something which is unclear, the hearer may likely
misunderstand the utterance or feel offended or even angry due to the utterance.
The misunderstanding may create suspense which the audience feels. “Suspense is
a major criterion for both an audience's selection and evaluation of entertaining
media offerings.” (Vorderer, Wulff, and Friedrichsen vii) The audience will
wonder what will happen to the next and other questions.
In my thesis, I would like to discuss the failure of observing the
conversational maxims in the television series Nikita Season One and Nikita
Season Two which leads to suspense for the audience. Nikita Season One and
Nikita Season Two revolve around the story of a secret organization known as
Division. Division is a secret U.S. agency which claims to be carrying out their
duty for the country, while in fact, they are spies and assassins. They recruit
young people with troubled backgrounds. Division erases all evidence of their
past and turns them into spies and assassins. In particular, the television series is
about Nikita, who is the first recruit to escape and intends to bring down her
former employers. (“Nikita Synopsis”) There are certain situations which force
the speaker or the hearer to break the rules. I decide to take Nikita Season One and
Nikita Season Two television series as the source of my data because this
television series is a favorite movie, full of action and suspense. Besides, Nikita
Season One and Nikita Season Two television series obviously show the failure of
observing the maxims is the conversation between the characters which causes
suspense to the audience.
3
Maranatha Christian University
After reading my thesis, it is expected that people will be aware that
people are connected with the rules of Gricean maxims in a conversation.
Moreover, they will be more concerned about what happens in a conversation and
knows when to break the rules of conversation.
841words
Statement of the Problem
In this analysis, there are five problems to be analysed:
1. What is the type of non-observance of the Gricean conversational maxim
which the speakers do?
2. Why do the speakers fail to observe the maxims?
3. How does the failure of observing the maxims in the scene help to create
suspense?
Purpose of the Study
The purposes of this analysis are:
1. To show the type of non-observance of the Gricean conversational maxim
which the speakers do.
2. To know the reason why the speakers fail to observe the maxims.
3. To show the failure of observing the maxims in the scene which create the
occurrence of suspense.
Method of Research
4
Maranatha Christian University
When I analysed this data, the first step I did was watching Nikita Season
One television series. While watching the series, I noted down the dialogues
which contain the failure of observing the maxims. In the next step, I analysed
those dialogues and categorize the specification of the non-observance of
conversational maxims. In the last step, I analysed the suspense felt by the
audience which was caused by the failure of observing the maxims.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis contains four chapters. The first chapter is the Introduction,
which consists of the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem,
Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. The
second chapter is the theory which I use to do my analysis. The third chapter is the
analysis of the data. The last chapter is the conclusion of the analysis. This thesis
ends with the Bibliography.
5
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analysing all my data, I conclude that all kinds of flouting the maxim
are eventually used to make the audience wonder what will happen next to the
characters or the story after the flouting has been made in order to create suspense.
I find this due to the fact that Nikita Season One and Two are action series that
rely on suspense to make the audience follow the story to the end. And yet, I find
out that each flouts has its own way of creating suspense even though they
sometimes coincide with one another.
To be more specific, I conclude that flouting the maxim of relation in
Nikita Season One and Two is used effectively to create suspense when it comes
to the concealment of truth. I arrive at a conclusion that certain truth that is
concealed from certain characters makes the audience feel somehow irritated
since they know the truth of what is actually going on and thus they continue
watching the story because they want to know what might be coming afterwards
towards the characters. Data (1) is one of the examples. Michael’s refusal to
reveal Alex’s real location makes the audience irritated and thus sticks to the story
33
Maranatha Christian University
because the audience knows what is actually going on and thus continue watching
it to find out what will happen to Alex.
I also conclude that irrelevant answers to a certain question as part of
flouting of relation maxim is also very effective to create suspense. I conclude that
the irrelevant response may lead to various possibilities unknown yet by the
audience, which definitely makes the audience stick to the story as they are
always left to wonder what might be coming ahead. Data (2) exemplifies this. It
creates suspense for the audience to find out that the irrelevant answer made by
Jaden finally prompts anger and uptight atmosphere between him and Alex which
eventually creates suspense felt by the audience.
I also arrive at a conclusion that maxim of quality is very effective to
create suspense because it involves lies. I find that being untruthful committed by
a certain character again is very effective to make the audience guess what might
be coming ahead after the lies as in data (3), (4), (5). The lies made by the
characters may lead to the uncertainty about the continuation of the story or what
will happen to the characters as the possibility is still left open for the audience,
which is appropriate for the occurrence of the suspense.
The other discovery that I can conclude from my analysis is that flouting
the maxim of quantity may end up with suspense because it revolves around the
incomplete revelation of certain information. Information not revealed completely
can trigger the audience’s curiosity. They will eager to find out the remains of the
story. Anything may happen to or between the characters because they either
conceal a certain part for the audience or among themselves. Data (7) is one that
exemplifies this.
34
Maranatha Christian University
As far as flouting the maxim of manner is concerned, the suspense created
by this kind of flout maxim relies on the prolonging an answer. I find this to be
effective because the long-winded response may make the other characters
become curious of the possibility whether something is hidden purposefully or
whether there is an attempt of avoidance towards a certain topic so as not to be
discussed further. Data (17) is one of the examples that depicts it. The attempt of
avoidance towards a cretin topic or the purposeful concealment of a certain topic
is very easy and effective to create the suspense felt by the audience as they are
left to wonder what will happen afterwards. I also find out that maxim of manner
is the mostly flouted maxim with the total of nine data.
Aside from flouting maxim, I arrive at the finding that the other four kinds
of non-observance such as violating a maxim, infringing a maxim, opting out of a
maxim, and suspending a maxim are not found in my analysis. Violation of
maxim is not in the data because no characters seem to have intentions of
misleading the other characters. Even though there is, it does not end up with
suspense. Infringing the maxim is also not found because all the characters have
perfect linguistic performances and they are mostly professionals. They speak
clearly and cleverly during the whole season as agents. Opting out of a maxim is
also not found because they cooperate in the ways the conversation needs.
Suspending a maxim is also not found because they do not use initials to mention
things become of certain cultures, taboos or whatsoever. Thus, it can be concluded
that flouting maxims is the most effective way to create suspense as it can easily
trigger the audience to tickle the audience’s curiosity and continue watching the
story.
35
Maranatha Christian University
It can also be concluded that this thesis can be further developed. In
addition to analysing the failure of observing the conversational maxims in the
television series Nikita Season One and Nikita Season Two which create suspense,
I find that that the failure of observing the conversational maxims can also create
conflicts because conflicts occur as a further consequence of the suspense that has
been created.
If we apply this in this daily life, the failure to observe the Gricean maxims
often happens in around us, but the failure to observe the Gricean maxims which
creates suspense rarely happens in daily life because the suspense in daily life
more often happens when we act badly to someone or satirize someone directly.
I also arrive at a conclusion that the failure to observe the maxims which
create suspense is overrated because it is too dramatic; therefore, there are many
dialogues which fail to observe the maxims in action television series in order to
make the audience feel the suspense and have full of questions so that they will
become curious about what will happen next. That is why, I am of the opinion that
the failure to observe the Gricean maxims is necessary to apply in action
television series in order to make the audiences feel the suspense and the
curiosity, thus inviting the audience to always watch the series.
1,041 words
36
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts
Nikita Season One. Craig Silverstein. Warner Bros. Television. 2011. Film.
Nikita Season Two. Craig Silverstein. Warner Bros. Television. 2012. Film.
References
Attardo, Salvatore. Linguistic Theories of Humor. Walter de Gruyter, 1994. Print.
Barry, Anita K. Linguistic Perspectives on Language and Education. United
States: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Print.
Cutting, Joan. Pragmatics and Discourse: A Resource Book for Students.
Routledge, 2002. Print.
Dornerus, Emma. “A Comparative Study of How Scriptwriters Break Maxims in
Desperate Housewifes and That 70’s Show.” Breaking Maxims in
Conversation (2005): par. 7. Web. 22 May 2012.
Horn, Laurence R., and Gregory Ward. The Handbook of Pragmatics. John Wiley
& Sons, 2006. Print.
Jeffries, Lesley. Meaning in English: An Introduction to Language Study.
Palgrave Macmillan, 1998. Print.
37
Maranatha Christian University
Lyons, John. Language and Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge University
Press, 1981. Print.
“Nikita Synopsis.” Ace Show Biz. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May 2013.
O'Keeffe, Anne, Brian Clancy, and Svenja Adolphs. Introducing Pragmatics in
Use. New York: Routledge, 2011. Print.
Peccei, Jean Stilwell. Pragmatics. London: Routledge, 1999. Print
“Suspense.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 8th ed. 2010. Print.
Thomas, Jenny. Meaning in Interaction: An Introduction to Pragmatics.
Longman, 1995. Print.
Vorderer, Peter, Hans Jürgen Wulff, and Mike Friedrichsen. Suspense:
Conceptualizations, Theoretical Analyses, and Empirical Explorations.
Routledge, 1996. Print.
Yule, George. Pragmatics. Oxford University Press, 1996. Print.
38
Maranatha Christian University
Dalam tugas akhir ini saya mengkaji ketidakpatuhan terhadap 4 bidal yang
diungkapkan oleh Grice. Keempat bidal tersebut adalah bidal kuantitas, kualitas,
cara dan relasi. Keempat bidal tersebut acap kali dilanggar untuk menghasilkan
implikatur tertentu yang pada ujungnya bisa menghasilkan suasana ketegangan.
Guna mengaplikasikan pelanggaran bidal tersebut yang berujung pada
ketegangan, saya menggunakan korpus data dari serial televisi Amerika yang
berjudul Nikita musim pertama dan kedua. Saya mendapati bahwa sejumlah
ketegangan seringkali dihasilkan oleh karena pelanggaran bidal jenis tertentu.
Salah satu penemuan yang saya peroleh dalam analisis ialah bidal yang
paling sering dilanggar dalam penelitian saya adalah bidal cara yaitu 9 data. Selain
bidal cara, yang paling sering dilanggar adalah bidal kualitas, yaitu terdapat 6
data. Dan bidal yang paling sedikit dilanggar adalah bidal kuantitas dan relasi,
yaitu masing-masing berjumlah 5 data.
ii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………….
i
ABSTRACT……………………………………………...…………………...
ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study………………………………………………
Statement of the Problem……………………………………………...
Purpose of the Study……………………………………………….......
Method of the Research………………………………………………..
Organization of the Thesis……………………………………………..
1
4
4
5
5
CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK…………………….
6
CHAPTER THREE: ANALYSIS OF SUSPENSE DUE TO THE
FAILURE TO OBSERVE THE GRICEAN MAXIMS IN THE TV
SERIES NIKITASEASONS 1 AND 2………………………….......
14
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION………………………………………... 33
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………. 37
i
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
People express their feelings and thoughts through conversation by means
of language. “Language is only one of the systems of signs used by human beings
to communicate with each other.” (Jeffries 196) Sometimes, people do not say
what they actually mean within their communication. Thus, there is often a
difference between what the speaker says and what the speaker actually means. In
other words, there is an additional or different meaning observed within an
utterance, which is understood as implicature. “It seems clear that there is much
that is communicated by language which is not covered by any of them; and 'idea'
in particular is inherently imprecise.” (Lyons 3)
My topic falls under the study of pragmatics. In pragmatics, we learn
about language in depth in which there is an implied meaning within a speaker’s
utterance. Pragmatics is the study of the contextual meaning which is concerned
with the speaker’s meaning and the interpretation of the utterance. (Horn and
Ward xi) “Pragmatics is the study of those context-dependent aspects of meaning
1
Maranatha Christian University
which are systematically abstracted away from in the construction of content or
logical form.” (Horn and Ward xi) “Pragmatics concentrates on the aspects of
meaning that cannot be predicted by linguistic knowledge alone and takes into
account knowledge about the physical and social world.” (Peccei 3) The focus of
a pragmatic analysis thus is on the meaning of speaker’s utterance rather than the
meaning of words and sentences. In pragmatics, an utterance need not consist of
complete sentences. Each utterance is a unique physical event created at a
particular point in time for a particular communicative purpose. (Peccei 5)
For example, in a situation when A and B are in a room that is very hot, A
utters “It’s hot in here.” The utterance “It’s hot in here.” can be interpreted as
having three different meanings. First, it is possible that A is just giving a
comment that the room is hot. This is the literal meaning of the utterance.
Secondly, it can mean that A wants B to open the window or to switch on the air
conditioner or fan. Third, if we see it from another angle, A may suggest going
out of the room. Sometimes what people say have a meaning quite different from
what their words say, or even the meaning is the opposite of what they say.
(Thomas 1)
In Pragmatics, there is Gricean theory which discusses conversational
maxims. Grice introduces four conversational maxims. There are the maxims of
Quantity, Quality, Relation and Manner. (Thomas 63) They are the rules to
observe the maxims. It is possible that when people fail to observe the maxims,
there are five ways of failing to observe a maxim: flouting, violating, infringing,
opting out of, and suspending a maxim. (Thomas 64)
2
Maranatha Christian University
When people fail to observe the maxims, there may be a misunderstanding
between the speaker and the hearer. If the speaker does not answer what the hearer
asks or when he says something which is unclear, the hearer may likely
misunderstand the utterance or feel offended or even angry due to the utterance.
The misunderstanding may create suspense which the audience feels. “Suspense is
a major criterion for both an audience's selection and evaluation of entertaining
media offerings.” (Vorderer, Wulff, and Friedrichsen vii) The audience will
wonder what will happen to the next and other questions.
In my thesis, I would like to discuss the failure of observing the
conversational maxims in the television series Nikita Season One and Nikita
Season Two which leads to suspense for the audience. Nikita Season One and
Nikita Season Two revolve around the story of a secret organization known as
Division. Division is a secret U.S. agency which claims to be carrying out their
duty for the country, while in fact, they are spies and assassins. They recruit
young people with troubled backgrounds. Division erases all evidence of their
past and turns them into spies and assassins. In particular, the television series is
about Nikita, who is the first recruit to escape and intends to bring down her
former employers. (“Nikita Synopsis”) There are certain situations which force
the speaker or the hearer to break the rules. I decide to take Nikita Season One and
Nikita Season Two television series as the source of my data because this
television series is a favorite movie, full of action and suspense. Besides, Nikita
Season One and Nikita Season Two television series obviously show the failure of
observing the maxims is the conversation between the characters which causes
suspense to the audience.
3
Maranatha Christian University
After reading my thesis, it is expected that people will be aware that
people are connected with the rules of Gricean maxims in a conversation.
Moreover, they will be more concerned about what happens in a conversation and
knows when to break the rules of conversation.
841words
Statement of the Problem
In this analysis, there are five problems to be analysed:
1. What is the type of non-observance of the Gricean conversational maxim
which the speakers do?
2. Why do the speakers fail to observe the maxims?
3. How does the failure of observing the maxims in the scene help to create
suspense?
Purpose of the Study
The purposes of this analysis are:
1. To show the type of non-observance of the Gricean conversational maxim
which the speakers do.
2. To know the reason why the speakers fail to observe the maxims.
3. To show the failure of observing the maxims in the scene which create the
occurrence of suspense.
Method of Research
4
Maranatha Christian University
When I analysed this data, the first step I did was watching Nikita Season
One television series. While watching the series, I noted down the dialogues
which contain the failure of observing the maxims. In the next step, I analysed
those dialogues and categorize the specification of the non-observance of
conversational maxims. In the last step, I analysed the suspense felt by the
audience which was caused by the failure of observing the maxims.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis contains four chapters. The first chapter is the Introduction,
which consists of the Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem,
Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the Thesis. The
second chapter is the theory which I use to do my analysis. The third chapter is the
analysis of the data. The last chapter is the conclusion of the analysis. This thesis
ends with the Bibliography.
5
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After analysing all my data, I conclude that all kinds of flouting the maxim
are eventually used to make the audience wonder what will happen next to the
characters or the story after the flouting has been made in order to create suspense.
I find this due to the fact that Nikita Season One and Two are action series that
rely on suspense to make the audience follow the story to the end. And yet, I find
out that each flouts has its own way of creating suspense even though they
sometimes coincide with one another.
To be more specific, I conclude that flouting the maxim of relation in
Nikita Season One and Two is used effectively to create suspense when it comes
to the concealment of truth. I arrive at a conclusion that certain truth that is
concealed from certain characters makes the audience feel somehow irritated
since they know the truth of what is actually going on and thus they continue
watching the story because they want to know what might be coming afterwards
towards the characters. Data (1) is one of the examples. Michael’s refusal to
reveal Alex’s real location makes the audience irritated and thus sticks to the story
33
Maranatha Christian University
because the audience knows what is actually going on and thus continue watching
it to find out what will happen to Alex.
I also conclude that irrelevant answers to a certain question as part of
flouting of relation maxim is also very effective to create suspense. I conclude that
the irrelevant response may lead to various possibilities unknown yet by the
audience, which definitely makes the audience stick to the story as they are
always left to wonder what might be coming ahead. Data (2) exemplifies this. It
creates suspense for the audience to find out that the irrelevant answer made by
Jaden finally prompts anger and uptight atmosphere between him and Alex which
eventually creates suspense felt by the audience.
I also arrive at a conclusion that maxim of quality is very effective to
create suspense because it involves lies. I find that being untruthful committed by
a certain character again is very effective to make the audience guess what might
be coming ahead after the lies as in data (3), (4), (5). The lies made by the
characters may lead to the uncertainty about the continuation of the story or what
will happen to the characters as the possibility is still left open for the audience,
which is appropriate for the occurrence of the suspense.
The other discovery that I can conclude from my analysis is that flouting
the maxim of quantity may end up with suspense because it revolves around the
incomplete revelation of certain information. Information not revealed completely
can trigger the audience’s curiosity. They will eager to find out the remains of the
story. Anything may happen to or between the characters because they either
conceal a certain part for the audience or among themselves. Data (7) is one that
exemplifies this.
34
Maranatha Christian University
As far as flouting the maxim of manner is concerned, the suspense created
by this kind of flout maxim relies on the prolonging an answer. I find this to be
effective because the long-winded response may make the other characters
become curious of the possibility whether something is hidden purposefully or
whether there is an attempt of avoidance towards a certain topic so as not to be
discussed further. Data (17) is one of the examples that depicts it. The attempt of
avoidance towards a cretin topic or the purposeful concealment of a certain topic
is very easy and effective to create the suspense felt by the audience as they are
left to wonder what will happen afterwards. I also find out that maxim of manner
is the mostly flouted maxim with the total of nine data.
Aside from flouting maxim, I arrive at the finding that the other four kinds
of non-observance such as violating a maxim, infringing a maxim, opting out of a
maxim, and suspending a maxim are not found in my analysis. Violation of
maxim is not in the data because no characters seem to have intentions of
misleading the other characters. Even though there is, it does not end up with
suspense. Infringing the maxim is also not found because all the characters have
perfect linguistic performances and they are mostly professionals. They speak
clearly and cleverly during the whole season as agents. Opting out of a maxim is
also not found because they cooperate in the ways the conversation needs.
Suspending a maxim is also not found because they do not use initials to mention
things become of certain cultures, taboos or whatsoever. Thus, it can be concluded
that flouting maxims is the most effective way to create suspense as it can easily
trigger the audience to tickle the audience’s curiosity and continue watching the
story.
35
Maranatha Christian University
It can also be concluded that this thesis can be further developed. In
addition to analysing the failure of observing the conversational maxims in the
television series Nikita Season One and Nikita Season Two which create suspense,
I find that that the failure of observing the conversational maxims can also create
conflicts because conflicts occur as a further consequence of the suspense that has
been created.
If we apply this in this daily life, the failure to observe the Gricean maxims
often happens in around us, but the failure to observe the Gricean maxims which
creates suspense rarely happens in daily life because the suspense in daily life
more often happens when we act badly to someone or satirize someone directly.
I also arrive at a conclusion that the failure to observe the maxims which
create suspense is overrated because it is too dramatic; therefore, there are many
dialogues which fail to observe the maxims in action television series in order to
make the audience feel the suspense and have full of questions so that they will
become curious about what will happen next. That is why, I am of the opinion that
the failure to observe the Gricean maxims is necessary to apply in action
television series in order to make the audiences feel the suspense and the
curiosity, thus inviting the audience to always watch the series.
1,041 words
36
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts
Nikita Season One. Craig Silverstein. Warner Bros. Television. 2011. Film.
Nikita Season Two. Craig Silverstein. Warner Bros. Television. 2012. Film.
References
Attardo, Salvatore. Linguistic Theories of Humor. Walter de Gruyter, 1994. Print.
Barry, Anita K. Linguistic Perspectives on Language and Education. United
States: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Print.
Cutting, Joan. Pragmatics and Discourse: A Resource Book for Students.
Routledge, 2002. Print.
Dornerus, Emma. “A Comparative Study of How Scriptwriters Break Maxims in
Desperate Housewifes and That 70’s Show.” Breaking Maxims in
Conversation (2005): par. 7. Web. 22 May 2012.
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