Entertaining Impoliteness in Egyptian TV Shows: Abla Fahita as a Model | ||||
| CDELT Occasional Papers in the Development of English Education | ||||
| Article 15, Volume 65, Issue 1, July 2018, Page 515-549 PDF (716.38 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/opde.2018.106587 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| Wesam M. A. Ibrahim Ibrahim | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Impoliteness can be defined as the use of “communicative strategies” which are “designed to attack face, and thereby cause social conflict and disharmony” (Culpeper et al., 2003: 1564). The present study applies Jonathan Culpeper’s (2011a) model of ‘impoliteness’ after being supplemented by the notions of jocular mockery, jocular abuse, and recipients’ responses (Bousfield, 2008, 2010) to the TV show Abla Fahita. Abla Fahita, (Egyptian Arabic: أبلة فاهيتا [ˈʔɑblɑ fæˈhiːtæ]), is a puppet character which regularly appears on Egyptian television since 2011. The show has huge popularilty and, indeed, can be considered a phenomenon for being watched by 8 Million Egyptians, according to the Egyptian Centre for Research on Public Opinion. It should be noted, however, that Abla Fahita and other similar TV shows are considered radical in terms of the Egyptian politeness standards and conservative nature. Hence, such shows have been condemned as degrading and low-moral and have been accused of causing the deterioration of the Egyptian culture. Despite all denunciation, Abla Fahita still enjoys a huge audience and dominates in terms of the viewers' rates. Actually, a part of the show’s popularity can be ascribed to its characteristic impoliteness, particularly Abla Fahita’s off-beat expressions in mocking her guests and her sexual innuendos, which might be seen as entertaining by some viewers. The study shows that Abla Fahita employs what can be called a humour-impoliteness formula to entertain viewers. It is hoped that this paper would present a significant contribution to the study of impoliteness in Colloquial Arabic by investigating the exploitation of impolitement for entertainment purposes in Abla Fahita | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Entertaining impoliteness; the Egyptian Colloquial Arabic; Egyptian TV shows; Abla Fahita | ||||
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