A Sociocultural Study in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman

Marjan Salehi Chakousari, Hossein Sadeghoghlo, Somaiyeh Alipour Kakroudi

Abstract


The choice of terms of address is a typical example to show the relational aspect of language. People will be addressed differently throughout the day. They will reciprocate depending on factors such as power, affect, distance or closeness. Using different words in different contexts show if the person has crossed the borders of socially accepted language or not. This research is going to focus on dialogues of the play "Death of a Salesman" according to Brown, Levinson and Wardhaugh's theories of politeness, taboo words, and power relation. A few examples were studied carefully and the researcher understood that different factors cause people use power and consider politeness in their speech or use taboo words.


Keywords


sociolinguistics, politeness, power, taboo words, Death of a Salesman

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References


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