ISSN: 2302-920X

Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud

Vol 17.1 Oktober 2016: 229 - 233

Politeness Maxims Found Among Characters in “Paper Towns” Movie

Putu Ismaya Syafitri1*, I Ketut Wandia2, Putu Lirishati Soethama3

123English Department, Faculty of Arts, Udayana University

1[ismayasyafitri@yahoo.co.id] 2[iketutwandia@yahoo.com] 3[lirishatinya@gmail.com]

*Corresponding Author

Abstrak

Judul tesis ini adalah "Politeness Maxims Found between Characters in Paper Towns Movie". Tesisini membahas tentang jenis kesantunan berbahasa yang digunakan oleh karakter di dalam film Paper Towns. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menggambarkan jenis kesantunan berbahasa dan juga untuk menganalisis alasan mengapa kesantunan berbahasa yang digunakan oleh karakter dalam film Paper Towns. Data utama dalam penulisan ini diambil dari ucapan-ucapan dalam percakapan antara karakter di film "Paper Towns". Percakapan yang dipilih dalam penelitian ini adalah orang-orang yang memiliki prinsip kesopanan. Metode yang diterapkan dalam tesis ini adalah metode dokumentasi dan penelitian kualitatif. Data deskriptif dan kualitatif dianalisis berdasarkan teori kesantunan berbahasa dinyatakan oleh Leech (1983). Lintah mengusulkan enam maksim yang menentukan kesopanan. Teoriini juga dikenal sebagai prinsipkesopanan oleh Leech seperti: Maksim Kebijaksanaan, Maksim Kedermawanan, Maksim Pujian, Maksim Kerendahan Hati, Maksim Persetujuan dan Maksim Simpati. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa enam kesantunan berbahasa dapat ditemukan dalam film ini.Keenam kesantuan berbahasa tersebut adalah Maksim Kebijaksanaan, Maksim Kedermawanan, Maksim Pujian, Maksim Kerendahan Hati, Maksim Persetujuan dan Maksim Simpati. Jenis kesantunan berbahasa yang banyak digunakan oleh karakter adalah Maksim persetujuan. Selain itu, alasan untuk menggunakan kesantunan berbahasa adalahi konteks situasi dan hubungan antara karakter.

Kata kunci: kesantunan, maksim Leech, film, karakter.

  • 1.    Background of the Study

As human beings, the interaction between people is really important. The interaction could be done physically and orally. Conversation is the example of daily interaction with other people. People have conversations to get some information or gain their knowledge about what happens in their environment. The conversation that we use also has rules and it depends on the situation, place, and people. Conversation has several rules or factors to build a good communication with other people. To be polite is one way to establish a smooth and meaningful conversation. The meaning of

politeness in this study is the act that people do to save someone else’s feeling or save somebody else’s face through many ways. Politeness is related to culture and depends on the situation and background of the society. Lakoff (1976) stated politeness is best expressed as the practical application of good manners or etiquette. He explains that sometimes polite can be quite rude or simply eccentric in another cultural context. Women are more likely to use politeness formulas than men though the exact differences are not clear.

  • 2.    Problems of the Study

Referring to the background illustrated previously, two research questions are the focus of the present study:

  • a)    What types of politeness maxim are used by the characters in “Paper Towns” movie?

  • b)    Why are the politeness maxims applied by the characters in “Paper Towns” movie?

  • 3.    Aims of the Study

  • a)    To describe the type of politeness maxims.

  • b)    To explain the reasons why the maxims of politeness are applied by the characters in “Paper Towns” movie.

  • 4.    Research Method

The primary data in this writing were taken from the utterances in the conversation between the characters in “Paper Towns” movie. The method and technique used in collecting data is the documentation method. The data in this study were analyzed qualitatively based on the theory of politeness maxims proposed by Leech (1983).

  • 5.    Result and Discussion

This part deals with the result and discussion of the data. The data analysis is divided into the utterances applied to the maxim of politeness theory, the analysis of each conversation, and the reasons why politeness maxim were applied to each conversation.

  • a)    Tact Maxim

The tact maxim minimizes the expression of beliefs which imply cost to others and maximize the expression of beliefs which imply benefit others. There is one utterance using the Tact Maxim.

  • 1.    MARGO: Okay, you see this? This is your comfort zone. It's this big, Quentin.

    All the things that you want in the world are way out there. The way you felt tonight that is the way you should feel your whole life. All right. See you.

She said that his comfort zone is just a little zone if it is compared with the whole life. Margo wants Quentin to get out from his comfort zone and open his eyes. There are many experiences and happiness out there. Margo uses the tact maxim to Quentin because of the context of situation (the relation) between them.

  • b)    Generosity Maxim

This maxim minimizes the expression of benefit to self and maximizes the expression of cost to self’. Unlike the tact maxim, the generosity maxim focuses on the speaker.

  • 1.    GIRL: See you tonight?

LACEY: Oh. I don't know. Probably.

GIRL: Let me know if you need a ride.

The girl is minimizing benefit to herself, because she gives Lacey a ride to the party. By giving a ride to Lacey, she is maximizing the cost to herself.

  • c)    Approbation Maxim

The approbation maxim minimizes the expression of beliefs which express dispraise of others; maximizes the expression of beliefs which express praise of others. 1. QUENTIN: It's beautiful.

MARGO: You think so?

QUENTIN: Uh... From a distance, I mean.

MARGO: Yeah. Everything's uglier up close.

QUENTIN: Not you.

Quentin as the speaker gives praise as a form of appreciation to someone else. The reason why Quentin applies approbation maxim is the context of situation (the relation) between them.

  • d)    Modesty Maxim

This maxim states minimize the expression of praise of self, minimize the expression of dispraise of self.

  • 1.    QUENTIN: Cow? It was a land whale. And Ben, at the last second, grabbed the steering wheel... spun us to safety, saves our lives. You were a vehicular ballerina.

BEN: I didn't know what I was doing.

In this case, the speaker minimizes the expression of praise of self. The reason why Ben applies modesty maxim is the context of situation (the setting).

  • e)    Agreement Maxim

If is simply observed that they are much more direct in expressing agreement rather than disagreement.

  • 1.      BEN: Well, I'm going to UCF. You're going to North Carolina, you're going to

Boston. We've known each other since we were fetuses. And it's not gonna be like that anymore. And that's gonna suck for me.

RADAR: Me, too.

He is really sad about it and Radar agrees. Radar also feels how Ben felt. That is why Radar said Me, too. No disagreement in this conversation, the agreement is maximized nicely.

  • f)    Sympathy Maxim

This maxim minimizes antipathy between self and another, maximizes sympathy between self and another.

  • 1.    MRS. JACOBSEN: I know this is a difficult situation for you.

QUENTIN: Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Spiegelman.

MR. SPIEGELMEN: Hello, Quentin.

She uses that maxim because she wants to make Mr. Spiegelmen calm down. There is no antipathy between them. The reason why Mrs. Jacobsen gives a sympathy utterance to Mr. Spiegelmen is the context of situation (the relation) between Quentin’s mother and Margo’s mother.

  • 6.    Conclusion

There are six types of politeness maxims that can be found in this movie. They are Tact Maxim, Generosity Maxim, Approbation Maxim, Modesty Maxim, Agreement Maxim, Sympathy Maxim. The type of politeness maxims that is mostly used in this movie is the approbation maxim.

The reason why the politeness maxim is applied by the characters in this movie is influenced by some factors; they are the context of situation (the relation between participants, setting, and topic), age (this means that the younger speakers have to speak politely to the older speaker), gender (women and men have different ways of talking and realizing and interpreting speech acts), kinship (terms indicates blood relationship between the speakers and the hearers), and social status (such as occupation, education, and wealth). The reason why the politeness maxim is mostly used is the context of situation (the relationship between the characters).

  • 7.    Bibliography

Leech, Geoffrey N. 1983. Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman Group Ltd.

Richards, Jack C. and Richard W. Schmidt. (eds). 1983. Language and Communication.

London and New York: Longman Group Ltd.

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