POLITENESS AND IMPOLITENESS STRATEGIES IN QURAN: ANALYSIS OF CONVERSATION AMONGST PROPHETS AND THEIR NATIONS

Abstract

The Holy Quran, being the word of God, is the ultimate source of all knowledge. This paper investigates the politeness and impoliteness strategies used in conversation between holy prophets and disbelievers in their respective nations as provided in the Holy Quran. The selected verses, interpreted by Arberry (1955) in English, were based on the discussion between Prophets Moses (AS), Lot (AS), Abraham (AS), Noah (AS) and Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and their respective nations. These verses were used to see how far the politeness theory of Brown and Levinson (1979, 1987), and the impoliteness theory of Culpeper (1996) are compatible with the examples of Prophets’ politeness and their disbelievers’ impoliteness. Brown and Levinson’s (1979, 1987) theory is comprised of multiple positive and negative politeness strategies while the latter is based on impoliteness strategies. The qualitative analysis of the verses shows that prophets use positive or negative politeness strategies to address their nations while disbelievers mostly respond to them impolitely. The politeness strategies used in conversations between prophets and their nations convey information about the intentions of the prophets to spread their respective religion, but the hearers refuse to accept their message. The study concludes that both these theories correspond to the concept of politeness and impoliteness as evidenced in Holy Quran