Face Threatening Act and Gender Bias in Manggarain Marriage Proposal, Indonesia

Abstract

This study aimed to describe and analyze the spokesmen's politeness strategies and gender bias in their utterances when making a marriage proposal in Manggarai, Indonesia. This study was under the philosophy of interpretivism with the employment of descriptive qualitative design. Six spokesmen in three different marriage proposals were the main source of data. Since the researchers were participant observers, relevant data notes were taken. To support the observation data, the researchers conducted interviews and documentation studies. Dwelling pragmatic theory, the obtained data were analyzed through some stages: data reduction, data display, and drawing a conclusion. It is discovered that on record without redressive consisting of positive and negative type is predominantly used as a strategy followed by redressive and off the record. In addition, gender bias was found in the use of the figurative language of metaphor, simile, and symbolism in the spokesmen’s utterances. In order to have effective and meaningful interpersonal relationships and communication, it is, therefore, crucial that we understand what to say and how to say it.

Politeness in Tiba Meka ritual in Manggaraian language and culture, Eastern Indonesia

“…Several studies have investigated Manggarai language and culture. Darong et al (2022) studied politeness in FTAs theory and gender bias perspective. Menggo et al (2021) researched metaphors in Manggaraian culture in relation to strengthening students character.…”

“…The data presented in the above excerpts explicate the realisation of polite utterances on the ritual of tiba meka. It was applied to save the positive face of the guests, such as being respected, which is related to the concept of face as the crucial element of politeness strategy (Brown & Levinson, 1987;Darong et al, 2022). In socio-cultural context, polite utterances maintain a social relationship, fraternity, and intimacy between the host and the guest (Semana & Menggo, 2022).…”

“…It is also an indication of how the spokesman protected the face (self-image) of the guests in order that they felt honoured and convenient. Therefore, it is crucial to account for the face of the hearer in the cultural events or rituals (Darong et al, 2022;Kadar & House, 2021;Menggo et al, 2021).…”