Reasons for Flouting Maxim in Talk Show
on
HUMANIS
Journal of Arts and Humanities
p-ISSN: 2528-5076, e-ISSN: 2302-920X
Terakreditasi Sinta-4, SK No: 23/E/KPT/2019
Vol 25.2 Mei 2021: 158-165
Reasons for Flouting Maxim in Talk Show
A A Ayu Cindy Karina Ivana Irawan, Ni Luh Sutjiati Beratha, Ni Wayan Sukarini Udayana University, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia
Correspondence email: cindy.karina@student.unud.ac.id, sutjiati59@gmail.com,
Article Info
Submitted: 27th April 2021
Revised: 6th May 2021
Accepted: 12th May 2021
Keywords: maxim, flouting
maxim, talk show
Corresponding Author:
A A Ayu Cindy Karina
Ivana Irawan, Email:
DOI:
021.v25.i02.p05
Abstract
This study is entitled Reasons for Flouting Maxim in Talk Show. The aim is to analyze the types of flouting maxim used by the participants in the talk show through their utterances based on theory of Conversational Maxim proposed by Grice and supporting theory Context of Situation by Halliday & Hasan to see how the maxim is flouted. The data was taken from one of the famous American talk shows which contains various topics of talk and the implementation of the conversational maxim, it is The Ellen Show. The data was collected by using observation method. Descriptive qualitative method was used as a method and technique of analyzing data. The data was presented in a form of words and sentences. The results show that all types of maxim are flouted in the talk show. The most flouted maxim found in conversation is maxim of quantity because the participants deliver more information than it is required even though that experience is based on their experiences.
INTRODUCTION
Communication is needed for all people who are living in a community or society. In order to make a successful communication, the speaker and the hearer need to make an understandable conversation to avoid misunderstanding. Therefore, the rules of conversation are needed to apply in communication. Grice (1975:45) proposed a term called cooperative principle and conversational maxim to get effective communication as informative as clearly, which are the branches of pragmatic study.
The cooperative principle maintains that people follow a pattern in
conversation, while conversational maxims are a set of rules applied by the people in order to uphold the effectiveness of communication. On the other hand, sometimes the participants unconsciously or even consciously disobey the rule of the conversational maxim and not following the cooperative principle. This condition is known as the flouting of the maxims.
When someone is flouting a maxim, they are not deliberately trying to deceive or mislead their interlocutor, but they are purposely not observing the principles so that the other person needs to understand another set of meanings. The way to
understand other meanings in a conversation to avoid misunderstanding is to look at the context of the situation.
Flouting of the maxim usually appears in a real form of conversation, one of them is a talk show because the conversation between all the participants comes naturally without any setting by the play director, the way they communicate is spontaneous and based on their knowledge. For this reason, sometimes the participants do not apply the theory of conversational maxim or did not give enough contribution as required in conversation.
The talk show that is used in this study is The Ellen Show episode of “Will Smith’s Full Interview”. It is one of the American talk show which always raises a current topic and there are many kinds of maxims that are flouted by the host and the guest through their utterance in the conversation.
METHOD AND THEORY
Data Source
The data source in this study way a video, taken from the Ellen Talk Show on the episode “Will Smith’s Full Interview” on May 25th, 2019. It was a video talk show between Ellen DeGeneres and Aladdin movie casts they are Will Smith, Mena Massoud, and Naomi Scott. This talk show was chosen as it is very popular which is one of the most famous American talk show that is hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. This episode has been watched by 7.5 million people and consists of various topics of talk which indicate the implementation of the cooperative principle and the conversational maxim that provide various types of flouting maxims for the analysis.
Data Collection
The data was collected using the observation method. The process of collecting data was done by using the following steps. Firstly, downloading the script of the talk show from the internet. Second, watching and listening to the talk show carefully. Third, reading the script of the talk show, and double-checking the script in order to avoid the missing words. Lastly observing the script of the talk show carefully by doing the notetaking to select the utterance that is related to flouting maxims.
Data Analysis
The descriptive qualitative method was used to analyze the data in this study. The technique used to analyze the data way reduction. The technique of analyzing the data followed by some steps. First, wrote down the pair of conversations uttered by the participants. Afterward, separated the dialogue to identify the types of maxims based on the theory of Cooperative Principle used in the talk show. Lastly, the data was analyzed in order to find out the types of maxims that flouting by understanding the context of the situation based on Flouting of Grice Maxim in talk show.
Data Presentation
The data was presented descriptively in form of words, phrases, and sentences based on the theory.
Literature Review
However, there are a lot of similar studies that have conducted research on Grice Maxim. The first is entitled Conversational Analysis in A Movie Entitled Life of PI Written by David Magee: A Context of Situation and Gricean maxim’s Perspective by Wira (2014). This study focuses on the context of situation in a movie based on theory of context of situation by Halliday and
Hasan and this study was designed in qualitative research.
The second is an article from International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature Volume 7 Issue 1 by Igdwedibia (2018) entitled Grice’s Conversational Implicature: A Pragmatic Analysis of Selected Poems of Audre Lorde. This article focuses on the extent to which these maxims can be applied and violated or adhered by Cooperative Principle of selected poems of Lorde. The design the researcher employs is analytic survey which is known as cross-sectional study involves the testing out of two hypotheses. A purposive sampling is used to do the selection.
Theory
The main theory of this article is a Pragmatics and focused on maxim called the theory of cooperative principle proposed by Grice (1975). According to Grice (1975), cooperative principles are the rules that people should follow in the conversation with the aim to make the conversation successful.
This theory consisted of four subprinciples called Maxims;
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1. Maxim of Quantity (be informative) 2. Maxim of Quality (be truthful) 3. Maxim of Relation (be relevant) 4. Maxim of Manner (be brief, orderly, and clear).
Cooperative principle also consists of flouting of Grice’s maxims they are:
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1. Flouting of Maxim Quantity (not informative)
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2. Flouting of Maxim Quality (not
truthful)
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3. Flouting of Maxim Relation (irrelevant or not correlated)
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4. Flouting of Maxim Manner (ambiguous and not clear).
In order to solve the problem, theory of cooperative principle by Grice (1975) is used to determine the maxim applied.
Furthermore, theory of flouting maxim by Grice (1975) helps to wrap the problem about the maxim flouted.
In order to support the finding of the flouting maxim, theory of Context of Situation by Halliday & Hasan (1989) needed to support Pragmatic theory. Context of situation gives the participants in conversation the exact information about the meanings that are being exchanged and the meanings that are likely to be exchanged. This term will help to explain how people interact in conversation to understand another set of meaning. There are three components of context of situation respectively:
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1. Field of discourse (topic of the conversation)
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2. Tenor of discourse (the participants)
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3. Mode of discourse (the style of using language).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This part discusses the analysis of the data based on the theory Cooperative Principle proposed by Grice (1975) with supporting theory Context of Situation by Halliday & Hasan. It presents The analysis of Grice Maxims, flouting of the maxim, as well as the reasons of flouting maxim occurring during the talk show The Ellen Show: Wil Smith Episode.
Reasons for Flouting Maxim in Talk Show
Flouting of Maxim Quantity
The maxim of quantity is flouted when the speaker’s utterance consists of more information than it is required.
Ellen : So, she asked for it?
Will Smith: She-- yeah. And I was like, aw baby, for real? Cause you don't have to do that, you know? And she was like, anything you want. And I was like, I want you to go
skydiving with me. And she was like, how is that what you want for your birthday?
Ellen : Yeah.
From the conversation above the context of situation talked about Will Smith’s wife Jada jumped out of a plane for Will Smith on his 50th birthday. There are two participants involved in the conversation above they are the host Ellen DeGeneres and the guest Will Smith. The role of the host was to ask a question regarding Will Smith’s wife who jumps out of a plane on his 50th birthday. The role of the guest was to answer the host’s question. The mode in part of the talk show was spoken dialogue and directly, so the participants deliver the utterances face to face. The form of language used in this conversation was an informative and informal language with dialogue interaction because there is a feedback interaction from the listener.
The flouting of maxim quantity occurs when the speaker is trying to contribute more than it should be. Referring to data 10 Will Smith applies the maxim of quality and the maxim of relation because his response is truthful and didn’t lack adequate evidence since he gives an explanation of what actually happens about her wife going skydiving for his 50th birthday. Therefore, Will Smith’s utterance also contains the maxim of relation because he didn’t try to discuss out of the topic of conversation. However, data 10 Will Smith’s utterance contains the flouting maxim of Quantity. It is proven when Ellen asks him about whether Jada his wife asked to jump out of a plane for Will Smith’s 50th birthday or not, and Will Smith answer, “she-yeah”. Then, he adds another piece of information about the thing they have been discussed about going skydiving for his 50th birthday.
Unfortunately, that information is not needed by Ellen because she didn’t ask that kind of specific question. The question and the topic conversation are about Jada asked to jump out of a plane or not.
In data 10, Will Smith flouts the maxim of quantity because of giving too much information or trying to contribute more than it should be. Based on the situation that is already explained before, it can be concluded that Will Smith flouts Maxim of Quantity because he wants to tell everyone about what exactly happened between Will Smith and his wife who ended up join him to jump out of a plane on his 50th birthday. That is why he gives a long answer. It means that at first, his wife said that she will do anything he wants on his 50th birthday. Then, Will Smith asks her to go skydiving with him. Finally, her wife ended up going skydiving on his 50th birthday because she really loves him and as she said she will do anything on his 50th birthday even though it was one of the intense activities.
Flouting of Maxim Quality
The maxim of quality is flouted when the speaker’s utterance consists of unclear information which may lead to a miss perception.
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Example 2
Will Smith : She love me.
Ellen : Yeah. Yeah!
Will Smith : Yes, exactly!
Ellen : She probably loves you a
little less now. Now—
[WILL SMITH LAUGH]
The context of situation in the conversation above is talking about Will Smith’s wife Jada jump out of a plane on his 50th birthday because she loves Will Smith and will do anything for him. The participants in the conversation above are the host Ellen DeGeneres and the guest
Will Smith. The role of the guest is to give a statement regarding his wife Jada who ended up jump out of a plane on his 50th birthday. The role of the host is to respond the guest’s statement based on the fact. The way language is being used in the conversation above is the guest and the host were communicating face to face in spoken dialogue. The conversation has an informative mode because Will Smith is trying to explain that her wife loves him and will do anything for him on his 50th birthday.
The flouting of maxim quality happens when the speaker says something they believe to be false or might lead to the wrong information. In data 42 above Ellen’s first answer shows the application of maxim quality because she says something that she believes not to be false since she knows that Jada ended up jumping out of a plane for Will Smith’s 50th birthday. However, in data 42 also contains the flouting of maxim quality in Ellen’s second answer because she says something that she lacks adequate, as she knows that Jada already jumps out of a plane for his 50th birthday it means that she loves Will Smith and she will do anything he wants. It is also proven from Will Smith’s non-verbal language to answer Ellen’s statement by laughing, as he knows well that Jada still loves him.
From the analysis above, in data 42 Ellen’s statement flouts the maxim of quality in giving Will Smith a statement that she says something she believes to be false. Behind her false answers when she said Jada loves him a little less now. Ellen only wants to joke around him and make the talk show more alive by saying that statement. And Will Smith as Jada’s husband also knows that Ellen’s statement is not true. He merely laughing that because he wants to express how funny it is when Ellen trying to joke around him.
Flouting of Maxim Relation
The maxim of relation is flouted when the speaker’s utterance is not correlated to the topic of conversation. Example 3
Ellen : OK, so now, the heli— Will Smith : Don't do that. Don't do that, all right?
Ellen : OK.
Will Smith : You should skydive, but don't do that one.
Ellen : So yeah, I was going to say, so then you're hanging there for a while until the helicopter lands.
According to the talk show, this conversation is taking place in The Ellen Show studio. The topic of the conversation is discussing about Will Smith’s experiences while jumping out of a plane. The participants of the conversation in data 19 are the host Ellen DeGeneres and the guest Will Smith. Ellen as a host asks Will Smith regarding his experiences jump out of a plane and hanging there until the helicopter landed. Will Smith as a guest should answer the question that is given by Ellen. The informal language indicates an informal situation between the host and the guest. The way they are communicating in the conversation above is face-to-face in spoken dialogue.
The flouting of the maxim relation occurs when the speaker says something that is irrelevant to the topic of the conversation. From the data above, Will Smith’s utterance flouts the maxim of relation. It is proven when Ellen as the host would like to give her comment about Will Smith’s video while jump out of a plane, however, her comment is cut by Will Smith’s response. Then, knowing that Will Smith gives an irrelevant response, Ellen’s second response is trying to be relevant from what he said.
Therefore, Will Smith gives another response and his response flouts the maxim of relation in this context of the situation because his response is not correlated to the comment that Ellen going to tell him. It is proven on Ellen’s last utterance, “so yeah, I was going to say, so then you’re hanging there for a while until the helicopter lands”.
Based on data 19, Will Smith’s utterance flouts the maxim of relation by providing such an irrelevant response since she hasn’t finished her utterance. He flouts the maxim because he thought it will be better if he gives Ellen a suggestion to not jump out of a helicopter since Ellen as a host and the audience know that he already experienced it before. Therefore, by giving irrelevant answers, Ellen as a host and the audiences need to think again if they want to jump out of a helicopter.
Flouting of Maxim Manner
The maxim of manner is flouted when the speaker’s utterance consists of ambiguous, not orderly, and unclear information.
Example 4
Ellen :
But wait, so did Jada end up liking it?
Will Smith :
No, no. No, I thought she would, see? Because when I jumped, I had like a spiritual experience, you know? It's like when I walked up to the edge of that plane and you get attacked by your mind, like your mind is like, you stupid! You stupid! and it's screaming. And you know that voice? We all have that voice in our head. It's not always our friend. It calls us names and stuff. And it everyone's like, you're a dumb man. You're a very dumb man. And I walked up to the edge. And when I jumped, [GASP]. And it is-- I had the experience of pure bliss. It's not
falling. It's flying, right? And you're flying. And you use your hands. And you're like, oh, hey! And you're falling for, like, over a minute, like you-- it's not no short time.
The topic of the conversation above is about what Jada feels while jump out of a plane. According to the talk show, this conversation takes place in the Ellen Show studio. The participants of the conversation are still the same which involves Ellen DeGeneres as a host and Will Smith as a guest. In this conversation, both of the participants are talking about what Jada feels while jump out of a plane, however, the guest gives some other information about the experiences of jump out of a plane. According to the utterances above, the participants use an informal language and the way language is used in the conversation is spoken dialogue which means the host and the guest were communicating face to face.
Flouting of maxim manner occurs when the speaker not orderly and briefly in delivering their utterance. In data 11 Will Smith responds flout the maxim of manner because he did not deliver his response to Ellen’s question orderly and briefly. It is proven because he gives too much explanation about what he feels while jump out of a plane, meanwhile, Ellen gives him a yes-no question about Jada ended up like it or not. He might say, “no, no, no” at the first stage of his response then he adds another explanation in detail about what he feels while jump out of a plane, which are not related to the question that Ellen gives to Will Smith. Therefore, Will Smith’s answer flouts the maxim of manner.
From data 11, it shows that Will Smith gives a too-long-winded utterance. He does not make his point clear, brief, and easy to be understood. The reason that he flouts the maxim of manner is
because Will Smith does not have much time to recognize his answer and make it orderly. He wants to explain more about his experience while jump out of a plane and what it feels like when he’s on the edge then, flying. The reason he explains it more also because he thought his wife Jada is feeling the same as what he feels when they jump out of a plane. However, he fails to make his utterance brief and clear. Therefore, he gives a long-winded answer because he has to answer it spontaneously since the context of the situation was on the talk show with such a short time given.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the previous analysis, this study focuses on the analysis of flouting maxims using the theory proposed by Herbert Paul Grice (1975) with supporting theory of Context of Situation by Halliday & Hasan in Talk Show “The Ellen Show: Will Smith Episode”. The conclusion is as follows. The analysis also shows that four-sub principles of maxims are flouted in The Ellen Show: Will Smith Episode. They were Flouting of Maxim Quantity, Flouting of Maxim Quality, Flouting of Maxim Relation, and Flouting of Maxim Manner. Because there is possibility of an utterance to apply one or more maxim and at the same time it may flout the other maxim.
Moreover, the most flouted maxim is the Maxim of Quantity because the respond or answer of the participants to the question given during the Talk Show deliver more information than it is required or asked by the other participant even though those experiences based on their experience. Therefore, those phenomena make the maxim of quantity is flouted in the conversation during the Talk Show.
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