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Beschreibung
Face has for a long time been the central concept in politeness research, and linguistically, politeness would have to be expressed as something “extra” in order to be analysed. Informed by Émile Durkheim’s sociology, Mervyn Horgan has recently proposed to shift from politeness to civility, and from face to ritual, that is the norms of everyday interactions (Horgan 2021, “Sacred civility? An alternative conceptual architecture informed by cultural sociology”, in Journal of Politeness Research 17.1, 9-33). Applying this concept, the present paper investigates Old Assyrian letters regarding their particular normalness (to violently paraphrase Clifford Geertz) in the face of civility. What can we learn about Old Assyrian society from viewing the standards of letter writing through the lens of civility, and what about (in)civility from breaches of standard language use?
Zeitraum
9 Juli 2025
Ereignistitel
70th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale : From Cradle to Grave. Everyday Life in the Ancient Near East