Framing Authority: Gender, Face, and Mitigation at a Radio Network

Abstract

This article examines the work-related talk of a female technical director of a radio news-and-talk program to illustrate that women and men in positions of institutional authority create gendered identities through the demeanors of authority they create based on their face-related practices. Although extensive research, including P. Brown and Levinson’s (1987) analysis of linguistic politeness phenomena, has explored the linguistic dimensions of deference, these discussions have not integrated the concept of demeanor, even though Goffman (1967) introduces deference and demeanor as ‘two basic elements’ of the expressive component of language - that component through which individuals convey face-related meanings. An interactional sociolinguistic approach shows that the relationship between gendered identities and the linguistic expression of face is mediated by the dynamic negotiation of positions and frames. The implications of these practices are discussed within the context of gendered discourse in the workplace.

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