A study of implicatures in oscar films of the 20th century

THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES BIỆN HOÀNG THẠCH A STUDY OF IMPLICATURES IN OSCAR FILMS OF THE 20th CENTURY MASTER THESIS IN LINGUISTICS AND CULTURAL STUDIES OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES Da Nang, 2021 THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDIES BIỆN HOÀNG THẠCH A STUDY OF IMPLICATURES IN OSCAR FILMS OF THE 20th CENTURY Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS Code: 822.02.01 MASTER THESIS IN LINGUISTICS AND CULTURAL STUDIES OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES Supervisor: Assoc Prof Ph.D PHAN VĂN HÒA Da Nang, 2021 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole, or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without acknowledgement in the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Danang, December 2021 BIỆN HOÀNG THẠCH ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Ph.D Phan Văn Hòa, Da Nang University of Foreign Language Studies, for his support, guidance, patience and inspiration in researching and writing this thesis I could not have imagined having a better supervisor for my M.A thesis I also express my gratitude to lecturers at Da Nang University of Foreign Language for their positive and encouraging impacts on my work in one way or another Finally, my special thanks and blessings go to my parents and my friends for their love and support in any respect during the completion of the thesis Their wellbeing is of great inspiration to me all the time iii ABSTRACT This study investigates maxim violations in three Oscar-winning movies: Gone with the Wind; The Godfather and Hamlet Grice’s maxims are used in daily conversations to create a comprehensive and purposeful conversation by making a proper answer in response to the message of the counterpart However, dialogists often either obey or violate Grice’s maxims for various purposes such as concealing a truth, fooling the other speaker, or expressing an implied message Besides being spotted in many daily conversations, Grice’s maxim violations are also found in movie lines The researcher uses Gone with the Wind; The Godfather, and Hamlet movie scripts to be investigated to analyze Grice’s maxim violations by the characters’ responses Three Oscar-winning movies create the possibility of maxim violations on the speakers’ utterances Therefore, two research questions are formulated to achieve the objectives of the study The first research question is about which Grice’s maxims are violated in The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, and Hamlet movies The second one is about the similarities and differences of frequency and linguistic features in creating Maxim violations in The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, and Hamlet films The finding in this research for the first research question revealed that there were four types of Grice’s maxim were violated in The Godfather, Gone with the Wind and Hamlet movies namely, maxim of Quantity, maxim of Quality, maxim of Relevance, and maxim of Manner For the second research question, the researcher showed that comparing similarities and differences of frequency and linguistic features in the creating Maxim violations in The Godfather, Gone with the Wind and Hamlet films can add a better understanding of the author’s purposes in creating maxim violations among three films iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vii Chapter One INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.2.1 Aims 1.2.2 Objectives 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1.5 SIGNIFICATION OF THE STUDY 1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 PREVIOUS RESEARCHES RELATED TO THE STUDY 2.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.2.1 Definition of Key Terms 2.2.2 Conversational Analysis 2.2.3 Cooperative Principles 2.2.4 Conversational Implicature 10 2.2.5 Grice’s Cooperative Principle 11 Chapter Three METHODOLOGY 14 3.1 RESEARCH METHODS 14 3.2 SAMPLES 14 3.3 PROCEDURES OF DATA COLLECTIONS 15 v 3.4 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY 16 3.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY 17 Chapter Four RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 18 4.1 VIOLATION OF GRICE’S MAXIMS IN GONE WITH THE WIND, THE GODFATHER AND HAMLET 18 4.1.1 Violation of Quantity Maxim in Gone With The Wind, The Godfather and Hamlet 20 4.1.2 Violation of Quality Maxim in Gone with the Wind, The Godfather and Hamlet 24 4.1.3 Violation of Manner Maxim in Gone With The Wind, The Godfather and Hamlet 28 4.1.4 Violation of Relevance Maxim in Gone With The Wind, The Godfather and Hamlet 30 4.2 SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN THE CREATING MAXIM VIOLATIONS AMONG THE THREE OSCAR WINNING MOVIES 33 4.2.1 Similarities 33 4.2.2 Differences 36 4.2.2.1 Difference of reasons for violating conversational maxims in the three movies 36 4.2.2.2 Noticeable times of flouting the maxim of manner in Gone with the wind 54 4.3 CHAPTER SUMMARY 57 Chapter Five CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 58 5.1 CONCLUSIONS 58 5.2 IMPLICATIONS 61 5.2.1 The implications for the Vietnamese learners of English: 61 5.2.2 The implications for the Vietnamese translators 62 5.2.3 The implications for the Vietnamese teachers 63 5.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 64 vi 5.4 SUGGESTIONS 65 5.4.1 English learners 65 5.4.2 Future researchers 65 REFERENCES 66 QUYẾT ĐỊNH GIAO ĐỀ TÀI LUẬN VĂN (Bản sao) APPENDIX 69 vii LIST OF TABLES Numbers Names of Tables of Tables Pages 4.1 Maxim Violation by main characters in The Godfather 18 4.2 Maxim Violation by main characters in Hamlet 19 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Maxim violation by main characters in Gone With The Wind Special reasons for violating conversational maxims in The Godfather Special reasons for violating conversational maxims in Gone with the Wind Special reasons for violating conversational maxims in Hamlet 19 36 41 49 Chapter One INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE Communication plays fundamental importance to the existence, survival, and development of human beings Communication is a process of sharing ideas, information, viewpoints, feelings, etc from person to person to reach a mutual understanding In order to reach this objective, language is the core Language is eventually essential since it is the primary means through which humans communicate and interact with one another It is apparent that communication, language, and interaction are closely interrelated However, reaching a common understanding is not always easy as interlocutors have to apply themselves in the specific context that their counterparts are referring to This is a real challenge to Vietnamese learners of English since they often pay little attention to the implied message, respond improperly, then fail in communicating with others Recognizing conversational implicatures exactly and responding appropriately can be considered as language learners’ pragmatic competence In numerous everyday discussions, conversationalists are in some cases a lot wordier than required or answer an inquiry with an insignificant reply Great correspondence is important to make the association runs well and successfully Audience members and speakers should talk agreeably and commonly acknowledge each other to be perceived with a certain goal in mind So Grice (1975) proposes the cooperative Principle which states “Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.” Cooperative Principles enable speakers to shape their utterances so that they are received by listeners The phrase “Make your conversational contribution such as required” suggests that the speakers should provide enough information without providing too much The phrase “At the stage which it occurs” means that the 119 children, and I've spoiled them, as you see But Signor Sollozzo, my no is final 11  (Quantity and Relevance)  BONASERA: Then make them suffer as she suffers How much shall I pay you? DON CORLEONE: You never think to protect yourself with real friends You think it's enough to be an American All right, the Police protects you, there are Courts of Law, so you don't need a friend like me But now you come to me and say Don Corleone, you must give me justice And you don't ask in respect or friendship And you don't think to call me Godfather; instead you come to my house on the day my daughter is to be married and you ask me to murder for money Appendix 3: Quality maxim violation in The Godfather movie script MICHAEL who out of sheer terror had swallowed the bath towel in his mouth and suffocated The smile on his face seems to indicate that he is telling a tall story KAY I never know when you're telling me the truth MICHAEL Now I can talk I feel much better SONNY (tenderly) 120 Connie, what is it? CONNIE (desperately) It was my fault! I started a fight with him and I tried to hit him so he hit me He didn't even try to hit me hard Sonny, I walked into it CONNIE Oh Sonny, please don't anything Please don't He stops, and then laughs good naturedly SONNY Hey Con What'm I goin' to do? Make your kid a orphan before he's born KAY What was that? HAGEN An accident No one was hurt CONNIE (O.S.) Sonny, just send a car to bring me home I'll tell you then, it's nothing Sonny, don't you come Send TOM, please Sonny, it's nothing; I just want to come home FABRIZZIO We hear We were told you were a Pezzonovanta big shot MICHAEL 121 Only the son of a Pezzonovanta MICHAEL (almost kindly) Don't be frightened Do you think I'd make my sister a widow? Do you think I'd make your children fatherless? After all, I'm Godfather to your son No, your punishment is that you're out of the family business I'm putting you on a plane to Vegas and I want you to stay there I'll send Connie an allowance, that's all But don't keep saying you're innocent; it insults my intelligence and makes me angry Who approached you, Tattaglia or Barzini? CARLO (sees his way out) Barzini MICHAEL (softly) Good, good Leave now; there's a car waiting to take you to the airport 10 KAY Is it true? MICHAEL No 122 MICHAEL You fingered Sonny for the Barzini 11 people That little farce you played out with my sister Did Barzini kid you that would fool a Corleone? CARLO I swear I'm innocent I swear on the head of my children, I'm innocent Mike, don't this to me, please Mike, don't this to me! Appendix 4: Quantity maxim violation in The Godfather movie script KAY I didn't know your family knew Johnny Fontane MICHAEL Sure KAY (in a spooky low tone) Michael, that scarey guy Is he a relative? She has picked out LUCA BRASI MICHAEL No His name is Luca Brasi You wouldn't like him MICHAEL How's Mom? SONNY Good She's been through it before Me too You were too young to know 123 about it You better wait outside; there're some things you shouldn't hear SONNY Tom, you're the Consigliere, what we if the old man dies? HAGEN Without your father's political contacts and personal influence, the Corleone family loses half its strength Without your father, the other New York families might wind up supporting Sollozzo, and the Tattaglias just to make sure there isn't a long destructive war The old days are over, this is 1946; nobody wants bloodshed anymore If your father dies make the deal, Sonny (SONNY sits up with his head in his hands) You ready? Did Clemenza tell you be sure to drop the gun right away? MICHAEL A million times CONNIE Oh Sonny, please don't anything Please don't He stops, and then laughs good naturedly SONNY Hey Con What'm I goin' to do? Make your kid a orphan before he's born 124 KAY What was that? HAGEN An accident No one was hurt KAY Will you give this to him? HAGEN If I accept that letter and you told a Court of Law I accepted it, they would interpret it as my having knowledge of his whereabouts Just wait Kay, he'll contact you SONNY Pop, they hit us and we hit them back HAGEN We put out a lot of material through our contacts in the Newspapers about McCluskey's being tied up with Sollozzo in the Drug Rackets things are starting to loosen up 10 CARLO What was that? CONNIE Your girl friend She says she can't make it tonight You lousy bastard you have the nerve to give your whores my telephone number 125 I'll kill you, you bastard! 11 TATTAGLIA I agree to everything here, I'm willing to forget my own misfortune But I must hear strict assurance from Corleone When time goes by and his position becomes stronger, will he attempt any individual vengeance? They all look at the DON; especially HAGEN, who feels that DON CORLEONE has given a great deal, and must have something else in mind Slowly the DON rises DON CORLEONE I forego my vengeance for my dead son, for the common good But I have selfish reasons My youngest son had to flee, accused of Sollozzo's murder, and I must now make arrangements so that he can come home with safety, cleared of all those false charges That is my affair, and I will make those arrangements (with strength) But I am a superstitious man and so if some unlucky accident should befall my youngest son, if some police officer should accidentally shoot him, or if he should hang 126 himself in his cell, or if my son is struck by a bolt of lightning, then I will blame some of the people here That, I could never forgive, but aside from that, let me swear by the souls of my Grandchildren that I will never be the one to break the peace we have made 12 DON CORLEONE Accept what's happened, Michael MICHAEL I could accept everything that's happened; I could accept it, but that I never had a choice From the time I was born, you had laid this all out for me 13 MICHAEL You wanted me to be your son DON CORLEONE Yes, but sons who would be professors, scientists, musicians and grandchildren who could be, who knows, a Governor, a President even, nothing's impossible here in America 14 MICHAEL Then why have I become a man like you? 127 DON CORLEONE You are like me, we refuse to be fools, to be puppets dancing on a string pulled by other men I hoped the time for guns and killing and massacres was over That was my misfortune That was your misfortune I was hunted on the streets of Corleone when I was twelve years old because of who my father was I had no choice 15 MICHAEL A man has to choose what he will be I believe that DON CORLEONE What else you believe in? MICHAEL doesn't answer DON CORLEONE Believe in a family Can you believe in your country? Those Pezzonovante of the State who decide what we shall with our lives? Who declare wars they wish us to fight in to protect what they own Do you put your fate in the hands of men whose only talent is that they tricked a bloc of people to vote for them? Michael, in five 128 years the Corleone family can be completely legitimate Very difficult things have to happen to make that possible I can't them anymore, but you can, if you choose to 16 MICHAEL I'll need him DON CORLEONE There are men in this world who demand to be killed They argue in gambling games; they jump out of their cars in a rage if someone so much as scratches their fender These people wander through the streets calling out "Kill me, kill me." Luca Brasi was like that And since he wasn't scared of death, and in fact, looked for it I made him my weapon Because I was the only person in the world that he truly hoped would not kill him I think you have done the same with this man 17 BONASERA Then make them suffer as she suffers How much shall I pay you Both HAGEN and SONNY react DON CORLEONE 129 You never think to protect yourself with real friends You think it's enough to be an American All right, the Police protects you, there are Courts of Law, so you don't need a friend like me But now you come to me and say Don Corleone, you must give me justice And you don't ask in respect or friendship And you don't think to call me Godfather; instead you come to my house on the day my daughter is to be married and you ask me to murder for money 18 THE GODFATHER While this remains, we hear: "I believe in America." Suddenly we are watching in CLOSE VIEW, AMERIGO BONASERA, a man of sixty, dressed in a black suit, on the verge of great emotion BONASERA America has made my fortune BONASERA I raised my daughter in the American fashion; I gave her freedom, but taught her never to dishonor her family She found a boy friend, not an Italian She went to the movies with him, stayed out late 130 Two months ago he took her for a drive, with another boy friend They made her drink whiskey and then they tried to take advantage of her She resisted; she kept her honor So they beat her like an animal When I went to the hospital her nose was broken, her jaw was shattered and held together by wire, and she could not even weep because of the pai 19 SOLLOZZO The Tattaglias will guarantee your investment also DON CORLEONE Young people are greedy, and they have no manners They speak when they should listen But I have a sentimental weakness for my children, and I've spoiled them, as you see But Signor Sollozzo, my no is final 131 Appendix 5: Multiple maxim violations (Quantity and Relevance)  BONASERA: Then make them suffer as she suffers How much shall I pay you? DON CORLEONE: You never think to protect yourself with real friends You think it's enough to be an American All right, the Police protects you, there are Courts of Law, so you don't need a friend like me But now you come to me and say Don Corleone, you must give me justice And you don't ask in respect or friendship And you don't think to call me Godfather; instead you come to my house on the day my daughter is to be married and you ask me to murder for money (Quantity and Relevance) SOLLOZZO The Tattaglias will guarantee your investment also DON CORLEONE Young people are greedy, and they have no manners They speak when they should listen But I have a sentimental weakness for my children, and I've spoiled them, as you see But Signor Sollozzo, my no is final (Quantity and Relevance) SONNY: (SONNY sits up with his head in his hands) You ready? Did Clemenza tell you be sure to drop the gun right away? MICHAEL A million times (Quality and Quantity) SONNY 132 (tenderly) Connie, what is it? CONNIE (desperately) It was my fault! I started a fight with him and I tried to hit him so he hit me He didn't even try to hit me hard Sonny, I walked into it  (Quality and Quantity) SONNY (tenderly) Connie, what is it? CONNIE (desperately) It was my fault! I started a fight with him and I tried to hit him so he hit me He didn't even try to hit me hard Sonny, I walked into it  (Quality and Quantity)  CONNIE Oh Sonny, please don't anything Please don't He stops, and then laughs good naturedly SONNY Hey Con What'm I goin' to do? Make your kid a orphan before he's born  Quality and Quantity) KAY What was that? HAGEN 133 An accident No one was hurt  ( Relevance and Manner)  KAY Can I go to the hospital with you? MICHAEL I don't think so You don't want to end up on page of the Daily News  ( Relevance and Manner)  DON CORLEONE The Court gave you justice BONASERA An eye for an eye! 10  ( Relevance and Manner)  MICHAEL Why don't you stop living like a bum and get this place cleaned up SONNY What are you, inspecting the barracks? 11  ( Quantity and Manner)  HAGEN (a revelation) He was the one behind Sollozzo? DON CORLEONE Tattaglia is a pimp He could never have outfought Santino But I wasn't sure until this day No, it was Barzini all along ... by Mario Puzo and Coppola In light of Puzo's 1969 novel of a similar name, The Godfather stars Marlon Brando as the head of an amazing Italian-American wrongdoing family The film is generally... discoveries of this examination can make a minor commitment to English educating and learning in Vietnam 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1.2.1 Aims The study of implicatures in Oscar films of the 20th century aims... a relationship with movies as a communication method as well The three chosen Oscar- winning films are Gone with the Wind; The Godfather and Hamlet All of them are interesting and meaningful films