Conceptualising ‘the relational’ in pragmatics: Insights from metapragmatic emotion and (im)politeness comments

Over the past few years, there has been an increased focus on ‘the relational’ in pragmatics. However, different pragmatics scholars (e.g. Holmes and Marra, 2004, Locher and Watts, 2005, Arundale, 2006 and Spencer-Oatey, 2008) take different approaches to ‘the relational’ and use different terms when analysing interpersonal relations. As a result, there is considerable conceptual and terminological confusion. There are also a number of controversial issues, one of which is how interpersonal relations can best be studied from a pragmatic perspective. Most people agree that it is essential to hear the voice of the participants, yet there is less agreement as to how best to achieve that. I argue in this paper that one fruitful way is to examine the emotions and (im)politeness judgements that people recount in metapragmatic comments. I report a study of workplace project partnerships that illustrates the insights that such an approach can offer. The insights are of both theoretical and applied relevance, which is important because the effective management of diverse teams is widely recognised as particularly challenging. I contend that pragmatics research into interpersonal relations should be able to identify and illuminate such challenges for project participants, and I provide empirical evidence that an exclusive focus on discourse data is too limited for this.

► I review key issues and controversies re pragmatic approaches to ‘the relational’. ► I analyse metapragmatic emotion comments from workplace project partnerships. ► I argue that such comments offer useful insights for evaluating conceptual frameworks. ► I claim that discourse data alone is insufficient for studying ‘the relational’. ► I call for more pragmatics research on ‘the relational’ to seek applied relevance.