"Indirectness has been a key concept in pragmatic research for over four decades, however the notion as a technical term does not have an agreed-upon definition and remains vague and ambiguous. In this collection, indirectness is examined as a way of communicating meaning that is inferred from textual, contextual and intertextual meaning units. Emphasis is placed on the way in which indirectness serves the representation of diverse voices in the text, and this is examined through three main prisms: (1) the inferential view focuses on textual and contextual cues from which pragmatic indirect meanings might be inferred; (2) the dialogic-intertextual view focuses on dialogic and intertextual cues according to which different voices (social, ideological, literary etc.) are identified in the text; and (3) the functional view focuses on the pragmatic-rhetorical functions fulfilled by indirectness of both kinds"--.

• The Discourse of Indirectness
• Editorial page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication page
• Table of contents
• Introduction
  • 1. Conceptualizing indirectness in this book
    • 1.1 The inferential view
    • 1.2 The dialogic-intertextual view
    • 1.3 The functional view
  • 2. Structure of the book
    • 2.1 Cues for indirectness: The inferential view
    • 2.2 Voices in the text: The dialogic-intertextual view
    • 2.3 (In)directness as an effective choice: The functional view
  • References
• Part I. Cues for indirectness: The inferential view
• Irony, humor or both?
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The original model
  • 3. New research on the relationship between irony and humor
  • 4. Textual analysis
    • 4.1 Macro-analysis
    • 4.2 Micro-analysis: Irony
    • 4.3 Micro-analysis: Humor
    • 4.4 Micro-level: Surrealistic irony or absurd humor
  • 5. Concluding remarks: The model revisited
  • References
    • Primary sources
    • Secondary sources
• “My refrigerator is as much in the dark as I am”
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Ruling out or retaining the literal meaning
  • 3. Analyzing metaphorical irony
    • 3.1 Comparing two referents
    • 3.2 One referent, double context
  • 4. Conclusions
  • References
• “Hero, genius, king and Messiah”
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Ethos, face and positioning
  • 3. Netanyahu and his Facebook page
  • 4. Pro-ethos readers’ comments vs. anti-ethos readers’ comments
  • 5. Ironic echoing in reader’s comments
  • 6. Ironic echoing in comments by Netanyahu’s supporters
  • 7. Ironic echoing in comments by Netanyahu’s critics
  • 8. Conclusion
  • References
• Part II. Voices in the text: The dialogic-intertextual view
• Indirectness and co-construction
  • 1. Introduction: Two kinds of indirectness?
  • 2. Egocentric vs. pluricentric acts
  • 3. Adapting to pluricentricity: On facts and ‘indirect speech’
  • 4. The dialectics of context
  • 5. The dynamics of discourse
  • 6. Indirectness and discourse: the discoursants’ voices
  • 6. Conclusion
  • References
• Whose line is it anyway?
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Theoretical background
    • 2.1 Participation framework in the literary text
    • 2.2 Footing
  • 3. Cues and the distinction between IA and narrative voices
  • 4. Methodology and text
  • 5. Three proposed cues and Three Men in a Boat
    • 5.1 Stylistic duet
    • 5.2 Absurd
    • 5.3 Lip-service
  • 6. Findings and summary
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
    • Primary sources
    • Secondary sources
• Anne Frank’s Diary – The Graphic Adaptation as a case of “indirect translation”
  • 1. Relevance Theory and Translation Studies
  • 2. From ‘Version C’ to the graphic adaptation
    • 2.1 Historical background
    • 2.2 The graphic novel comes into being
  • 3. Addressees and audiences
    • 3.1 From an imaginary addressee to real readers
    • 3.2 The graphic diary: Reinterpreting the icon and addressing today’s young audience
  • 4. Chronotopes
  • 5. Polyphony
  • 6. The visual contribution: The page-space, words and images
    • 6.1 The house behind
    • 6.2 Life in the secret annex
    • 6.3 Anne’s feminism
    • 6.4 The many faces of Anne
  • 7. Conclusion
  • Acknowledgement
  • References
• Part III. (In)directness as an effective choice: The functional view
• Indirectness and effectiveness of requests in professional emails
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Making a request by electronic mail
    • 2.1 The act of request
    • 2.2 A request by email
  • 3. Data and methods
    • 3.1 Theoretical and methodological frames
    • 3.2. Corpus
  • 4. Results
    • 4.1 Request / Non request
    • 4.2 Direct or indirect request?
    • 4.3 Polite or brutal request? Managing the illocutionary force of a request
    • 4.4 How to be effective and polite?
    • 4.5 Request, activity and hierarchical position
  • 5. Conclusion
  • References
• Directness and indirectness in a presidential debate
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Directness and indirectness
  • 3. Context of the interaction and source of the data
  • 4. In/directness at the micro level of the discourse
    • 4.1 Directness
    • 4.2 Indirectness
    • 4.3 Addressivity strategies occurring in all dimensions
  • 5. In/directness at the meso level of the interaction
    • 5.1 Presentation of topics and final messages
    • 5.2 Question and answer fragments
  • 6. Interpreting indirectness
  • 7. Concluding remarks
  • References
• “The hon. Gentleman says this is rubbish; it is absolutely true”
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Truth, reality and fact, and truths, realities and facts
  • 3. Methodology and data
    • 3.1 Participants and procedure
    • 3.2 Data and method
    • 3.3 Results
  • 4. Challenges
    • 4.1 The discursive value of references to truth
    • 4.2 The discursive value of references to fact
    • 4.3 The discursive value of references to reality
  • 5. Conclusion
  • References
• “Do you condemn?”
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Political condemnations and moral scripts
  • 3. Calls to condemn as rituals of loyalty in political interviews
  • 4. Interviewers’ self-positioning through a “do you condemn” question
  • 5. Interviewees’ responses to “Do you condemn” questions
  • 6. Conclusion
  • Funding
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• Index