The Flouting of Cooperative Principle in British Drama Downton Abbey

【Abstract】： With the development of globalization， numerous foreign TV dramas were presented to Chinese through the network. When watching those dramas， the author observes that the flouting of the cooperative principle is quite often， while in the specific context， with the assistant of background knowledge and the logic inference， the conversation takes place very naturally. This kind of flouting may add the humorous factors to the TV drama and indicate the diversity characteristics of different characters. In this thesis， the author discusses the flouting of cooperative principle in the famous British TV drama Downton Abbey. The author selects some dialogues from the season I to illustrate the flouting of CP and its intention.

【Key words】： cooperative principle， flouting of CP， Downton Abbey

I. Cooperative Principle and its maxims

1.1 Cooperative Principle

Cooperative principle or maxims of conversation is a set of principles that advanced by Grice， as part of his account of conversational implicatures. The cooperative principle describes how people interact with one another. It states， “Make your contribution such as it is required， at the stage at which it occurs， by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged”. （Grice，1975：41-58） Listeners and speakers must speak cooperatively and mutually accept one another to be understood in a particular way. The cooperative principle describes how effective communication in conversation is achieved in common social situations. The cooperative principle can be divided into four maxims， called the Gricean Maxims， describing specific rational principles observed by people who obey the cooperative principle; these principles enable effective communication. Grice proposed four conversational maxims that arise from the pragmatics of natural language. Applying the Gricean Maxims is a way to explain the link between utterances and what is understood from them.

1.2 The Gricean Maxims

There are four basic maxims of Gricean Maxims， namely， the maxim of quality， the maxim of quantity， the maxim of relation and the maxim of manner. To illustrate， four maxims are explained accordingly in this part.

By the maxim of quality， speakers are not expected to say anything they believe to be 1 or for which they lack of adequate evidence. By the maxim of quantity， speakers are not expected to give either less or more information than is required. By the maxim of relation， speakers are not expected to say something that are irrelevant. By the maxim of manner， speakers are expected to be brief and orderly， and to avoid obscurity or ambiguity.

II. The flouting of CP and its implication

Without cooperation， human interaction would be far more difficult and counterproductive. Therefore， the Cooperative Principle and the Gricean Maxims are not specific to conversation but to verbal interactions in general. For example， it would not make sense to reply to a question about the weather with an answer about groceries because it would violate the Maxim of Relevance. Likewise， responding to a simple yes/no question with a long monologue would violate the Maxim of Quantity.

However， it is possible to flout a maxim intentionally or unconsciously and thereby convey a different meaning than what is literally spoken. Many times in conversation， this flouting is manipulated by a speaker to produce a negative pragmatic effect， as with sarcasm or irony. One can flout the Maxim of Quality to tell a clumsy friend who has just taken a bad fall that her gracefulness is impressive and obviously intend to mean the complete opposite. The Gricean Maxims are therefore often purposefully flouted by comedians and writers， who may hide the complete truth and manipulate their words for the effect of the story and the sake of the reader’s experience. （Mcculloch， 2004）

Speakers who deliberately flout the maxims usually intend for their listeners to understand their underlying implication. Cooperation is still taking place， but no longer on the literal level. Thus， the Gricean Maxims serve a purpose both when they are followed and when they are flouted.

III. The Discourse analysis of Downton Abbey

（1）The flouting of the maxim of quality

Ethel： Elizabeth and Her German Garden. Whatever’s that about？

O’brien： It’s about an invitation to talk more， that’s what.

This conversation took place between maids and the footman. Anna’s pursuer Mr. Mosley requested Ethel to pass a book to Anna， while Ethel had no idea of this book， so she asked her leader， Mrs. O’brien. Although Mrs. O’brien knew “the real” main idea of that book was not to “accost to a young woman”， she still answered that it is a book concerning “talk more”. According to CP， it can be easily found that Mrs. O’brien flouted the maxim of quality， she said something 1 to Ethel. Actually， she pointed out the truth sharply， the audience know that Mr.Mosley was going to pursue Anna， and this book is his first attempt. The audience not only can understand Mrs. O’brien’s answer but also feel the humorous atmosphere between the characters. From the conversation， the audience also can figure out that Mrs. O’brien has a bitter tongue to other person. This flouting manifests many underlying information to the audience.

（2） The flouting of the maxim of quantity

Lady Edith： But how old is he？

Lady Mary： Old enough not to ask stupid questions.

From the surface of this conversation， it can observe that Mary did not answer Edith’s question， and she did not provide the adequate information to the speaker， it is a flouting of the maxim of quantity. While we should aware that the reason why Mary refused to answer this question. One assumption is Mary maybe did not know that man’s age， or she was reluctant to answer this sensitive question. Edith’s question is to query Mary the generation gap between her and Mr. Richard， and they were not suitable for each other. Mary heard that question， she suddenly felt very embarrassed so she retorted to Edith and satirized Edith at same time. If obeys the CP， the argument between them may not happen， it is helpless for developing the plot of the drama.

（3） The flouting of the maxim of relation

Ethel： Do you eat a lot of stews？

Mrs. Patmore： Don’t you fancy that， dear？

Ethel： Not all the time.

Mrs. Patmore： Oh， I see. Would you like to sleep in her Ladyship’s bedroom while you are at it.

From the surface of the conversation， Ethel talked about the food， but Mrs Patmore asked Ethel whether she wanted to sleep in her Ladyship’s bedroom. The question and answer are totally unrelated. We can assume that these two speakers violate the maxim of relation. While further consideration may tell us that the deliberately flouting is a satire from Mrs. Patmore. She satirized Ethel has too much desire， Ethel was not content with the food of servant and she was eager to share the master’s food， and Mrs.Patmore queried her superfluous desire. It can be said that the flouting of CP makes the audience has a vivid recognization on two character in Downton Abbey.

（4）The flouting of the maxim of manner

Dowager： You are quite wonderful the way you see room for improvement wherever you look. I never knew such reforming zeal.

Isobel： I take that as a complement.

Dowager： I must have said it wrong.

Isobel came to Downton to start her maid life， the way of doing things really annoyed Mrs. Dowager. The quarrel between these two maids is a spectacular scene in season I. From the surface of the conversation， it indicates that all the words Mr. Dowager used are commendatory words but to express the ironic meaning beneath the surface. From the perspective of CP， this is a flouting of the maxim of manner， to be specific， two speakers do not use concise words to express the meaning， they use some ambiguity or obscurity words to hide their actual meaning. Although this should be regarded as a flouting of CP， to the audience and the plot-developing， it creates a tense atmosphere between two characters. It really attracts audience to enjoy the show.

V. Conclusion

According to the above analysis， it can be easily concluded that in spoken discourse， the speakers always dedicate themselves to the state interests. On one hand， in order to achieve their personal goals， the linguistic forms in their language are sure to be selected consciously. Therefore， it is very important for common people to get the critical awareness in order to make a better understanding about what they have met in the daily communication; on the other hand， bearing the critical awareness in mind is also very helpful for us to understand the world and conduct the practice.

Reference：

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[2] Julian， F. Downton Abbey Script. Season One， 2010.

[3] McCulloch， G. Look at all these ducks there are at least ten[J]. Slate， 2014.7.

[4] 丁建新 廖益清， 批評話語分析述評[J]. 當代語言學， 2001.

[5] 丁言仁，語篇分析[M]. 南京：南京師范大學，2006.

[6] 黃國文， 語篇分析的理論與實踐[M]. 上海：上海外語教育出版社， 2001.