Interpersonal pragmatics and its link to (im)politeness research

•Modern scholars within politeness research need to carefully define the scope of their research.•Scholars studying interpersonal aspects of communication can benefit from insights within other linguistic and interdisciplinary fields of studies.•Studying (im)politeness benefits from combining methodologies from different research fields.

In light of the fact that politeness research has been on the map since the 1970s, this paper revisits some of the more recent developments. The scope of analysis has been widened from face-maintaining and face-enhancing data to instances of conflictual and face-aggravating behaviour. There is an increase in discussions about appropriate methodological and theoretical approaches to politeness, and we see a tendency to creatively draw on approaches from other fields (such as identity construction research). These trends have made the field an especially vibrant one that is currently witnessing a struggle to (re)define its focus. Two connected issues (clarifying and refining the scope of our research questions and efforts of developing an interdisciplinary approach within interpersonal pragmatics) are particularly discussed in an endeavour to outline potential research paths.