Flouting the cooperative principle

2.2 Flouting the cooperative principle

In the previous part, it was admitted that CP and maxims of conversation help the speaker and the hearer to understand each other.

Without cooperation, human interaction would be far more difficult and counterproductive. Therefore, the Cooperative Principle and the Gricean Maxims are not specific to conversation but to interaction as a whole. For example, it would not make sense to reply to a question about the weather with an answer about groceries because it would violate the Maxim of Relation. Likewise, responding to a request for some milk with an entire gallon instead of a glass would violate the Maxim of Quantity.

However, it is possible to flout a maxim intentionally or unconsciously and thereby convey a different meaning than what is literally spoken. Many times in conversation, this flouting is manipulated by a speaker to produce a negative pragmatic effect, as with sarcasm or irony. The Gricean Maxims are therefore often purposefully flouted by comedians and writers, who may hide the complete truth and manipulate their words for the effect of the story and the sake of the reader’s experience.

Speakers who deliberately flout the maxims usually intend for their listener to understand their underlying implication. Therefore, cooperation is still taking place, but no longer on the literal level. Conversationalists can assume that when speakers intentionally flout a maxim, they still do so with the aim of expressing some thought. Thus, the Gricean Maxims serve a purpose both when they are followed and when they are flouted.

There are several ways/reasons a speaker might break one of the rules:

1.  Violating the Cooperative Principle. One instance in which a speaker might break the maxim of quality is if they are really trying to deceive the listener; but this would also be a violation of the cooperative principle.

2.  Signaling a violation (minor violation). A person might essentially come out and tell you they are violating a maxim and why.

Examples.

“I don’t know if this is relevant, but...” (relation)

“I’m not sure how to say this, but...” (manner)

“I can’t tell you; I’m sworn to secrecy.” (quantity)

“This is just the word on the street; I can’t vouch for this information.” (quality)

3.  Maxim clash. A speaker might violate one maxim in order to preserve another.

Example.

Carson is driving John to Meredith’s house.

CARSON: Where does Meredith live?

JOHN: Nevada.

Maxim violated: Quantity.

Why: There is clash between quantity and quality. Carson is looking for a street address, but John gives a weaker, less informative statement (hence the quantity violation). If John really doesn’t know anything more specific, however, he cannot give a more informative statement without violating quality.[18]

4.  “Flouting” a maxim (major violation) to create a conversational implicature. By clearly and obviously violating a maxim, you can imply something beyond what you say.

Speakers should give enough information as necessary in order to understand the current conversation, but not provide more information than expected. This is known as the maxim of quantity, giving just the right amount of details so that the conversation flows smoothly.

Ia. A flouting of the first maxim of Quantity:

Examples:

1. Professor P. writes a letter of recommendation for Lucy when she applies for a programming job. The letter states, "Lucy is neat and well-dressed, comes to class on time, and has nice handwriting."

The letter is a blatant violation of several of the maxims, notably Quantity (insufficient information is given about Lucy's ability to program) and Relevance (irrelevant information is given).

But if the recipient of the letter assumes that Prof. P. is being cooperative overall, the recipient will conclude that the lack of information about Lucy's job skills is a way of communicating that they are insufficient, without explicitly saying so [8]

2. A: What should I do to get rid of this headache, Doctor?

B: Take some medicine.

Implication: B has not provided enough information – B did not say what medicine to take.

3. A: Where does C live?

B: Somewhere in the South of France.

Implication: B has not provided enough information – B did not say the exact address.

Extreme examples of a flouting of the first maxim of Quantity are provided by utterences of patent tautologies like Women are women and War is war.[7] They are totally noninformative according to the first maxim of Quantity and cannot be infringe it in any conversational context. But they are informative at the level of what implicated, and the hearer’s identification of their informative content at this level is dependent on his ability to explain the speaker’s selection ofthis particular patent tautology.

Ib. A flouting of the second maxim of Quantity.

4. A: Where’s Meredith?

B: The control room or the science lab.

Implication: B doesn’t know which of the two places Meredith is.

5. A: Excuse me–how much is this screwdriver?

B: $9.95. The saw is $39.50, and the power drill there on the table is $89.00.

Implication: B provides unnecessary additional information (marketers and salespeople often violate this rule in order to increase sales).

II. Examples in which the first maxim of quality is flouted.

1.  Irony:

a) A is a good friend!

Implication: A betrays the speaker, and audience knows it.

b) Don’t be silly. I love working 80 hours a week with no vacation.

A: A lot of people are depending on you.

B: Thanks, that really takes the pressure off.

Implication: By saying something clearly untrue, B is implying that the opposite is true (sarcasm). The true meaning being expressed here is probably more like “That really puts a lot of pressure on me” and perhaps, by extension, “Stop pressuring me.”

2.  Metaphor:

a)  You are the cream in my coffee

Implication: The speaker is attributing to his audience some feature or features in respectof which the audience resembles the mentioned substance.

It is possible to combine metaphor and irony by imposing on the hearer two stages og interpretation.

You are the cream in my coffee – can be interpreted as ‘You are my pride and joy’, or, as irony interpretant, ‘You are my bane.’