An Analysis of Conversational Implicature in Besieged City from the Perspective of Cooperative Principle and Politeness Principle

Abstract

The theory of conversational implicature proposed by H.P.Grice in 1967 has always been regarded as the focus of pragmatics. Its basic theory includes the four principles of verbal communication. The cooperative principle is the specific requirement of the theory of conversational implicature. Geoffrey Leech put forward the politeness principle to complement the cooperative principle. The cooperative principle and the politeness principle play an important role in people's communication. In the process of generating and understanding discourse, both parties in the conversation need to use them flexibly. This study selects the classic dialogues in the novel Besieged City as the text, and tries to analyse the conversational implicature arising from the violation of the principles of cooperation and politeness. It is found that conversational implicature can produce certain literary effects in literary works, and the successful achievement of conversational effect needs the comprehensive support of context, cooperation between both parties in the conversation, and social and cultural environment.