CLARICE LISPECTOR'S LAST INTERVIEW: A PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF FACE THREATENING AND FACE SAVING ACTS

UMA ANÁLISE PRAGMÁTICA DOS MOVIMENTOS DE AMEAÇA E PRESERVAÇÃO DA FACE

Abstract

In this work, we align ourselves with pragmatic studies of language analysis to establish a dialogue between Goffman's Face Theory (1974, 1981) and Brown and Levinson's Politeness Theory (1987). We focus on the notion of face and politeness strategies within each of these theoretical constructs. We selected an interview with the writer Clarice Lispector conducted by the reporter Júlio Lerner, from TV Cultura, in February 1977, as our object of analysis. Our general objective was to analyze the socio-interactional face-preservation movements in what is known as Clarice Lispector's last interview. To this end, we sought to identify speech acts that supposedly threatened the interviewee's face and to verify the possible politeness strategies employed by the writer to preserve her face. Regarding the methodological procedures, our investigation is qualitative and interpretative in nature. Overall, our results showed that, although Clarice Lispector's answers, as well as the questions directed to her by the journalist, threatened her positive face, she did not fail to employ several politeness strategies to preserve her positive face and the positive face of her interlocutor, adapting to the context of the interview and showing sensitivity to the questions, especially those related to her personal life and her work as a writer.