Impoliteness and Figurativeness in the American Late-Night Talk Show Real Time with Bill Maher

Impoliteness and figurativeness in the American late-night talk show Real Time with Bill Maher

Mariya Fedyna Fulbright Foreign Student Researcher Portland State University, OR, US

PhD student Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Ukraine Agenda

I. Theoretical background II. Data III. Analysis LINGUISTIC PRAGMATICS q Linguistic Impoliteness (Culpeper (1996, 2003, 2005, 2011); Bousfield (2008); q Politeness Theory (Brown and Levinson 1987);

SOCIOLOGY q Face-work (Goffman 1967);

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE q Figurative language usage (Dancygier and Sweetser (2014), Semino (2008), Gibbs (2000)); q Conceptual Metaphor Theory (G. Lakoff and M. Johnson (1980)) q Frame-shifting approach (Coulson (2001)) q Language creativity (R. Carter 2004) Impoliteness (Culpeper 1996; Culpeper 2003; Culpeper 2005; Culpeper 2011)

E. Goffman (1967) q “face” – the public self-image that every member of a society wants to claim for himself, an emotionally sensitive concept of the self. (Brown and Levinson 1987: 61-62) q Positive face – the want of every member that his wants be desirable to at least some others, by positive face they understand the positive consistent self-image or ‘personality’ (crucially including the desire that this self-image be liked, admired, cared about, understood, listened to, approved of, and so forth); q Negative face – the want of every competent adult member that his actions be unimpeded by others; the basic claim to freedom of action and freedom from imposition u Impoliteness: a negative attitude towards specific behaviours occurring in specific contexts. It is sustained by expectations, desires and/or beliefs about social organisation, including, in particular, how one person’s or a group’s identities are mediated by others in interaction. Situated behaviours are viewed negatively – considered ‘impolite’ – when they conflict with how one expects them to be, how one wants them to be and/or how one thinks they ought to be. Such behaviours always have or are presumed to have emotional consequences for at least one participant, that is, they cause or are presumed to cause offence (Culpeper 2011: 254). Types of impoliteness: Affective [S exposes anger towards H], Coercive [means of getting power via language] and Entertaining Impoliteness [creates exploitative entertainment at the expense of the target of impoliteness] (Culpeper 2011) The target is not always a single identifiable individual’s identity, it can be an identity, institution, organization, their representatives, etc., and indeed, multiples of these at the same time (Culpeper 2011). Questions?

u Is impolite language only used for anti-social purposes? u Can impolite language be creative? u To what extent can impoliteness be used strategically? DATA Topicality of late-night talk shows: q a prevalent media construct in the age of Donald Trump: Jimmy Kimmel Live! The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, etc. q Geoffrey Baym (2005) defines late-night talk shows as ‘alternative journalism’ § attract more and more viewers § not only a source of entertainment § gain political awareness § help to understand culture and modern society q Geoffrey Baym (2005): “‘jumbled mishmash’ with unique blending of comedy, late-night entertainment, news, and public affairs discussion. q They prove to be a rich source of data for impoliteness, humour and figurative language studies. Real Time with Bill Maher (2003 – present), airing live on HBO on Friday nights at 10:00 pm EST, is American late-night political comedy talk show.

Examples in this study are collected from monologues from the 15th season and the 17th season of Real Time with Bill Maher dated September – November 2017 and September – November 2019. Research objectives:

q to show how by means of impoliteness formulae and strategies (Culpeper 2011), Bill Maher is trying to undermine Donald Trump’s sense of identity and his sense of social and moral normality, at the same time reacting to the impolite rhetoric of Donald Trump (Goffman 1967, Culpeper 2011). q to show how linguistically impoliteness is realized in the media, exemplified by the American late-night political comedy show Real Time with Bill Maher q and what communicative functions are performed Analysis: Linguistic Impoliteness Impolite beliefs Maher associates with Donald Trump (Culpeper 2011) (on-record and off record impoliteness Bousfield (2008: 138)

Maher attacks Donald Trump’s PERSONAL VALUE: u (1) “There's a pig in the White House. He was in Japan this week and they took him to a sushi place and asked him if he would like some yellow tail and he said, ‘sure what's her name’ (10/11/17). u (2) “… we weathered in this country hurricane Harvey and hurricane American Irma and now we're back to worrying about shitstorm Donald” (15/09/17) u (3) “… this vile nincompoop” (20/10/17) u (4) “... somewhere Rex Tillerson is saying I told you he was a moron” (20/10/17) u (5) “… also what kind of cretin in the whole history of the world has ever had to deny something he said during a condolence call” Maher attacks his role as a president and a human being:

u (6) “... Donald Trump is the worst person ever and he is a Republican and he is President” (23/06/17) u (7) “… and then he says it is not a real catastrophe like Katrina and they said ‘well you're not a real president like Obama’ (6/10/17)” u (8) “… we had a rough week and he does not make it better, you know, you've heard that term first responders he's got a new thing worst responder (6/10/17) u (9) “…he went back this week to the one thing he knows he could definitely get done as president – visiting hurricane sites” (23/06/17) Maher attacks his mental stability/health: u (10) ... a week for the history books also for the books about abnormal psychology (20/10/17) u (11) “… but the big political news you see that Donald Trump announced a breakthrough on immigration, the dreamers can stay and by that he means they can't stay or maybe they can stay as somebody else … and by that he means get out and we're building the wall and by that he means we're repairing the fence – I mean he thinks he's being bipartisan this is not bipartisan this is bipolar I don't know if he knows what he wants”. (20/10/17)

Maher attacks his competence: u (12) “... the same Trump pattern bluff-lie-attack because you know he doesn't know anything so when he's asked about something he's got a bluff and then when they caught him out on the bluff then he lies and then when they caught him on the lie he attacks” (20/10/17) u (13) “... he sends out J. Kelly yesterday to defend his own inept call and stupid lies” Maher attacks Donald Trump’s appearance: u (14) “…I'm just saying if you're a coke smuggler take the weekend off, this is not a good time to be out, and they said this is the most serious storm ever like I'm seeing colors on the hurricane maps I've never seen before here's a little guide if you see yellow like Trump's hair – take extra care if you see orange like his face shelter-in-place and red like his ties to Russia just evacuate” (08/09/2017)

u (15) “… I know it's the first day of fall when Trump's colors are at their peak, no really, the way his hair explodes and a riot of golds and reds and his faces are rich umber” (22/09/17). Maher attacks Republicans

u (16) ... really now folks I have to tell you Democrats have to stop losing elections because sorry Republican viewers I love you but the wrong people are in power, and they are not afraid to use that power, and let me tell you they are full of good ideas” u (17) … but no John McCain I gotta give to him, he said I cannot in good conscience vote for such a vague irresponsible piece of legislation (about Healthcare Bill) and all the Republicans at once said what's good conscience but they're learning” (22/09/17) MAHER ATTACKS MELANIA:

Liu (1986) notes that face is not confined to the immediate aspects of an individual’s self (e.g. abilities, disposition, appearance), but includes all that the self identifies with (e.g. family, school, possessions). Liu (1986) also argues that ‘we can hypothesize a prototypical diagram of the self as consisting of layers of components with the most face-laden closest to the ego’ (1986: 30, as cited in Culpeper 2011: 26).

Thus in our data, the targets of impoliteness are usually Donald Trump, Melania Trump, the representatives of the Republican Party, supporters of Donald Trump and many others who are related to the President. u (18) “… he went back to Florida … he and the first lady served up food to the victims or as Melania calls the program ‘meals on heels’ and she dressed more sensibly this time, she was wearing a safari jacket and apparently she was disappointed when they told her she was just going to be looking at poor people not actually hunting them” (08/09/2017) Theoretical input: Conceptual Metaphor Lakoff and Johnson (1980) argue that metaphorical expressions in language express underlying conceptual metaphors, in which the metaphor topic is experienced as the vehicle. “The essence of conceptual metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (1980, p. 5).

Self-presentation q Consistent with Goffman (1967), by self-presentation we understand the kind of image a person aims to project of themselves and the kind of role they want to play in interaction. q Throughout his speeches, Donald Trump positions himself in various ways. We use the analytical approach of Goffman (1967), notably the concept of ‘self- presentation’ to unravel the roles Donald Trump exhibits through his rhetoric (Ritchie and Fedyna, 2020). Based on the analysis of Donald Trump’s rhetoric, we single out the following ‘self-presentation’ images: ‘Performer’ image, ‘Victim’ image, ‘Hero’ image, ‘Saviour’ image. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE ANALYSIS: CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9psUk4hObGc you know … his level of self-pity I don't think we could ever measure this you know it's awe-inspiring it's like the depths of the universe that every day the President of the United State acts like a high school girl who was sopping into his pillow that everybody hates him and all his fans are like finally a real man in the White House (25/10/2019). q “like the depths of the universe”: vehicle that activates simulations of vast empty space, with immense galaxies and nebulae to give meaning both to “awe-inspiring” [ironic of course] and “unmeasurable.” q Bill Maher is playing with contrasts. We have then the image of teenage girl lying in bed crying and sobbing “everybody hates me,” and we are metaphorically invited to experience Trump as that pathetic little girl. q Then the passage reverses course again, contrasting this “high school girl” metaphor with the attitude expressed by many Trump supporters “a real man.” q This passage is multi-layered. We have combination of metaphor and ironic mockery/sarcasm to serve the function of impoliteness toward Donald Trump – even more impoliteness by implication toward his supporters. Figurativeness and Humor Hyperbole, metaphor, metonymy, pun, sarcasm, etc. Creative Puns Examples: “worst responder”, “meals on heels”, “… he kept doing that nasal sniffing thing that he does that one is not his fault he suffers some treasonal allergies” “…so now he's like making nice with Schumer and Pelosi again this week he wined and dined Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer well they dined he wined [whined]”.

Frame-shifting approach (Coulsen, 2001): the abrupt shift from one frame to another that creates humorous effect. Yet two frames are activated in the mind. On the basis of our analysis it seems reasonable to assume that q Impoliteness blended with figurativeness in Maher’s monologues: 1) is obviously strategic, as, on the one hand, it aims to criticize either the President Donald Trump, his policies, the Republican party, etc., or the current state of affairs in the social, political and cultural world, 2) on the other hand, combination of impoliteness and figurative language adds up to the communicative functions achieved: humour, irony, persuasion, argumentation, constructive social criticism, to name but a few (more to come in further research); 3) most figurative forms are blended by Maher and often achieve impoliteness by implication; 4) Consistent with Carter (2004), we argue that Maher’s monologues are elaborately creative due to extensive use of figurative language, notably open displays of metaphoric invention, punning, uses of idioms and departures from expected idiomatic formulations (pattern re-forming) as well as impoliteness. 5) particular patterns of figurative language blended with linguistic impoliteness add up to popularity of the show in the U.S. References

1. Geoffrey Baym (2005) The Daily Show: Discursive Integration and the Reinvention of Political Journalism, Political Communication, 22:3, 259-276, DOI: 10.1080/10584600591006492 2. Brown, P., & Levinson, S. (1987). Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3. Carter, R. (2004). Language and Creativity: The Art of Common Talk. London and New York: Routledge. 4. Coulson, S (2001). Semantic leaps: Frame-shifting and conceptual blending in meaning construction. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. 5. Colston, H. (2015). Using Figurative Language. New York: Cambridge University Press. 6. Culpeper, J. (2005). Impoliteness and entertainment in the television quiz show: The Weakest Link. Journal of Politeness Research: Language, Behaviour, Culture 1: 35–72. 7. Culpeper, J. (2011). Impoliteness: Using Language to Cause Offence. Cambridge University Press. 8. Goffman, Erving (1967) Interactional Ritual: Essays on Face-to-face Behavior. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books. 9. Grice, H. Paul (1975) Logic and conversation. In: Peter Cole and Jerry Morgan (eds.) Syntax and Semantics 3: Speech Acts. London and New York: Academic Press, pp. 41–58. 10. Lakoff, G., and Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 11. Ritchie, L. D. (2013) Metaphor. New York: Cambridge University Press. 12. Ritchie, L. D. and Schell, C. (2009) ‘“The ivory tower” on an “unstable foundation”: Playful language, humor, and metaphor in the negotiation of scientists’ identities’, Metaphor and Symbol, 24: 90–104. 13. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLajuJYZKBz2RzVVBUOQd24ap06Yc0Nl2m Thank You!