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”Henrik, du kunne vel ikke lige lukke vinduet?” : How to be polite in Denmark and Korea – a comparison

Zola Christensen, Robert LU (2022) In Journal of the Scandinavian Society of Korea (스칸디나비아 연구) 30. p.177-189
Abstract
It is a well-known fact that when we in Korea find elaborate polite conjugations, that structure and determine everyday interaction, the Danes, on the other side of the Globe, have a habit of saying ‘you’ (‘du’) in almost every context. We are dealing with an Asian language ruled by a high level of honorific phrases and a Scandinavian language characterized by its more unpolished and straightforward interaction. However, this article will argue that Danish has a very different, but not less important, way of expressing politeness using other features of the language. The overall dissimilarity is: that where Korean has fixed forms, and a formal protocol ready to use, Danish is more dynamic and adjustable, applying (among other things)... (More)
It is a well-known fact that when we in Korea find elaborate polite conjugations, that structure and determine everyday interaction, the Danes, on the other side of the Globe, have a habit of saying ‘you’ (‘du’) in almost every context. We are dealing with an Asian language ruled by a high level of honorific phrases and a Scandinavian language characterized by its more unpolished and straightforward interaction. However, this article will argue that Danish has a very different, but not less important, way of expressing politeness using other features of the language. The overall dissimilarity is: that where Korean has fixed forms, and a formal protocol ready to use, Danish is more dynamic and adjustable, applying (among other things) discourse particles to zoom in on the suitable level of politeness required in the actual situation. The two ways of using the language, as we shall see, simultaneously reflect the differentiations between the two societies and cultures. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
pragmatics, cultural semantics, discourse analysis, language comparison, politeness strategies
in
Journal of the Scandinavian Society of Korea (스칸디나비아 연구)
volume
30
pages
13 pages
ISSN
1229-8646
DOI
10.26548/scandi.2022.30.177
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5203f35d-0056-4b3c-a708-06ddf3d1a662
alternative location
https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002925013
date added to LUP
2024-01-18 03:48:45
date last changed
2024-01-19 09:26:04
@article{5203f35d-0056-4b3c-a708-06ddf3d1a662,
  abstract     = {{It is a well-known fact that when we in Korea find elaborate polite conjugations, that structure and determine everyday interaction, the Danes, on the other side of the Globe, have a habit of saying ‘you’ (‘du’) in almost every context. We are dealing with an Asian language ruled by a high level of honorific phrases and a Scandinavian language characterized by its more unpolished and straightforward interaction. However, this article will argue that Danish has a very different, but not less important, way of expressing politeness using other features of the language. The overall dissimilarity is: that where Korean has fixed forms, and a formal protocol ready to use, Danish is more dynamic and adjustable, applying (among other things) discourse particles to zoom in on the suitable level of politeness required in the actual situation. The two ways of using the language, as we shall see, simultaneously reflect the differentiations between the two societies and cultures.}},
  author       = {{Zola Christensen, Robert}},
  issn         = {{1229-8646}},
  keywords     = {{pragmatics; cultural semantics; discourse analysis; language comparison; politeness strategies}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{177--189}},
  series       = {{Journal of the Scandinavian Society of Korea (스칸디나비아 연구)}},
  title        = {{”Henrik, du kunne vel ikke lige lukke vinduet?” : How to be polite in Denmark and Korea – a comparison}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.26548/scandi.2022.30.177}},
  doi          = {{10.26548/scandi.2022.30.177}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}