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The Polite Press Release - Politeness in English/Japanese press releases following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident

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Author

  • Johan Nordgren

Summary, in English

This essay attempts to distinguish differences in politeness in Japanese and English press releases, with a specific focus on TEPCO and BP in the aftermath of their respective environmental disasters. Through the use of discourse analysis, PR theory and the Brown and Levinson politeness model I find that the Japanese press releases favour negative politeness, whereas the English favour positive politeness. After having accounted for the use of keigo in the Japanese press releases, it concludes that they are the more polite press releases. It further considers the potential impact of this on the perception of the business, suggesting several alternative outcomes.

Department/s

Publishing year

2012

Language

English

Document type

Student publication for Bachelor's degree

Topic

  • Languages and Literatures

Keywords

  • Japanese
  • English
  • Polite
  • Politeness
  • Face
  • PR
  • Business Relationships
  • Keigo
  • Press Release
  • Brown and Levinson
  • TEPCO
  • BP
  • Deepwater Horizon
  • Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
  • Fukushima Daiichi
  • Great East Japan Earthquake

Supervisor

  • Lars Larm