MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL – FAYS’ FAILURE TO PICK UP IMPLICATURES?
MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL – FAYS’ FAILURE TO PICK UP IMPLICATURES?
Author(s): Alexandra Roxana MĂRGINEANSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Philology
Published by: Editura Universităţii Vasile Goldiş
Keywords: pragmatics; implicatures; maxims; idioms; film;
Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes the verbal exchanges of the main character in the 2019 motion picture „Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” from the point of view of pragmatics, more precisely indirectness and implied meanings in context, focusing on conversational implicatures. To this aim, Grice’s theory of implicatures, Cooperative Principle, as well as types of conversational maxims and non-observance thereof set up the theoretical background, along with a linguistic scrutiny of some idiomatic expressions. The fairy’s dialogues disclose an ambiguous attitude towards grasping and coping with indirectness. Paradoxically, she seems both clumsier in dealing with hidden meanings (or reluctant to acknowledge these) and more perceptive of them than humans. The analysis reveals that there is, with her, a passage from averseness towards indirectness as mode of interaction towards getting its usefulness and producing it more openly. The conclusions draw on the reasons for, and effects of this progression.
Journal: Studii de Ştiinţă şi Cultură
- Issue Year: XVI/2020
- Issue No: 03
- Page Range: 77-86
- Page Count: 10
- Language: English
