Book Review: Maria Sidiropoulou, Understanding Im/politeness Through Translation: The English-Greek Paradigm

Abstract

significance of investigating cinematic discourse from a linguistic perspective and the applicability of a multimodal conversation analytic method of analysis. In sum, as films reflect human behaviour, sociality, language use and multimodality in the real life, social interaction adds another dimension to the study of cinematic discourse. This book offers engaging and lucid style analyses and describes a segment of Woody Allen’s cinematic discourse, focusing specifically on the performed (or diegetic) interactions between actors in various roles in some of his films. The analysis focuses on speech (film dialogues), in both its verbal and prosodic forms, as well as non-verbal types of interaction including gaze and gesture, taking a social interactional approach and using multimodal conversation analysis as a theoretical framework and analytical tool. Furthermore, the work offers an insightful, up-to-date analysis of scripted conversation in cinematic discourse, through illustrating how fictional figures construct the narrative and paying attention to embodied nuances of the characters’ on-screen interactions. Finally, the book aims to bridge the gap between the disciplines of applied linguistics and cinema studies and offer linguistic insights into performed interactions from a multimodal point of view, and contribution to the methodology of research on cinematic discourse.