The Pragmatical Study of White Lies in Pretty Little Liars正文

1.IntroductionPeople‟s life is filled with lies from the official political sphere, interpersonal communications or traditional cultural customs. Researches about lies over the past few decades had once caused an upsurge in developmental psychology, which the lying appearance and the moral evaluation were given by the developmental psychologists.1.1 The Research Status of LiesThere are many related researches for some language phenomena in the literatures, but few of them study the same topic as this thesis. For the study of the lies, whether for the malicious lies or for the white lies, scholars often conduct the research in the scope of ethics, psychology, pragmatics, sociology and so on. Chinese scholars often carry on study on the phenomena of lies in the literatures. For example, there are a lot of papers studying on the lies phenomena in the Story of the Stone. In this thesis, the author focuses on white lies in a U.S. TV series which is called Pretty Little Liars.1.2 The Significance of the ResearchFirstly, the studies of lies have been conducted from ethics, philosophy, sociolinguistics and pragmatics. White lies are a special kind of lies and a lot of people like to use it in daily communications. Therefore, it is necessary to carry on the research of white lies, since it‟s important for the development of the use of language.Secondly, by reason of the extensive use of white lies by the characters in Pretty Little Liars, and the lies play different roles in different contexts, it is necessary to study these phenomena in order to acknowledge white lies better. This study can not1only further the exploration of the theory in linguistic phenomena research, but also provide more research perspectives and expand the scope of the research. The study can also make a contribution to promoting and supporting the development of language applications.Thirdly, the study of analyzing white lies can promote a harmonious environment to language. There are well-intentioned lies (white lies) and malicious lies in our daily communication, through the analysis of well-intentioned lie, it can help people to facilitate the identification ability of malicious lies. At the same time, it can be helpful for people to have a better use of white lies.Above all, the study of analyzing the white lies in Pretty Little Liars can gain a great value and significance both in theoretical and practical application.1.3 Material SelectionPretty Little Liars is a series of young adult novels by Sara Shepard. The plots of this novel were made into a TV series on ABC Family in 2010. The series follows the lives of four teenage girls —Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, Hanna Marin, and Spencer Hastings— whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader, Alison DiLaurentis. Three years later, after the discovery of Ali's body, they begin receiving text messages from an anonymous source, "A," who threatens to expose their secrets. These four beauties live a tough life under the threats by “A”, so they always tell lies to protect themselves and their families. [1]2. General Views of Lies2.1 The Definition of LiesDifferent people and dictionaries give many definitions to lies, according to their own understandings of lies.Base on the definition given in W ikipedia, “To lie is to deliver a false statement to another person, and what the speaking person knows is not the whole truth, intentionally”.According to Bok, he defines lies are “statements (they have to be utterances to which the criterion of truth or falsity is applicable) that the speaker believes to be false and that are intending to mislead the addressee”. (Bok, 1978)[2]Coleman and Kay (1981: 28)[3]think that a lie is consisted of three key elements:1) The proposition is false;2) The speaker believes the proposition to be false;3) In uttering the proposition, the speaker intends to deceive the addressee.From the point of views of Li Xiankun (1998)[4], (the chief of the committee of semiotics of The Chinese Association of Logic), he pointed out that “lies are false speeches which the speaker intentionally said to the hearer well knowing that are not true”.By searching the Internet of Jilin University Library, the definition of lies is given: “lies are some pieces of message that are contradictory to the facts. The liar speaks what he or she believes true as untrue to the hearer or the deceived to make him or her believe what does not exist really exists or speaks what really exists as it does not exist.”To sum up, a lie is a statement must contain two elements that are falsehood and the speaker‟s intentionality. That means a lie is a false statement which is contradictive to the true fact and the speaker (the liar) does it on purpose with some intentions.But from the Modern Chinese Dictionary, it shows that lies are not always false speeches. For example, the liar consider himself tells a lie, but what he says just can fit the facts actually. It defines "lie" as "false speeches", while “false speeches” are “unreal or deceptive utterances”. The unreal statement has two different interpretations. One is that lies are not consistent with the objective facts, the other3one is that the lies are not consistent with the speaker's subjective understanding. In the paper, it is suggested that the former can be considered as “false speeches”, and the latter can be defined as lies. An important difference between false speeches and lies is that false speeches have intentionality. In other words, false speech is a speech act that people use it by knowing it is not real. Above all, lies not always have no true value in semantics.2.2 The Classification of LiesLie is a common language phenomenon of human society. From the point of views of Xin Ju (2003)[5], lies are classified into several categories on the basis of the interest of lies:1.Lies which are beneficial to the self and not harmful but beneficial to others. That means they are beneficial to both the self and other (such as games and entertainments);2. Lies which are beneficial to the self, but are not harmful to other;3. Lies which are beneficial to the self, but are harmful to others (such as perjury in courts);4. Lies which are harmless to the self, but are beneficial to others (such as sacrificing one‟s own interests for the sake;5. Lies which are harmful to the self but have no influence on others (such as self-deception and daydreaming);6. Lies which are harmful to both the self and others;7. Lies which are neither beneficial nor harmful to both the self and others (such as joking);8. Lies which are neither beneficial nor harmful to the self, but beneficial to others (such as telling a lie to comfort the patients);9. Lies which are neither beneficial nor harmful to the self, but are harmful to the others (such as deliberately made rumors).She also pointed out that according to the context of situation where the lies occur, lies can be divided into appropriate lies and inappropriate lies. And if focus on the pragmatic effects of telling lies, there are several kinds of lies can be classified as well, such as humorous lies, quick-witted lies, deceptive lies and so on. In addition, base on the way of people telling lies, lies can be classified into verbal lies and non-verbal lies. [6]However, all these kinds of classification methods of lies are too multilevel and complex to use in our daily life. It is also not too convenient for our daily identification of lies. So people always divide lies into two types according to the lying intentions in communication —White Lie and Malicious Lie.2.3 What Are White Lies and Malicious Lies?According to the Oxford Dictionary[7]: "A white lie is a harmless and small lie, especially one that you tell to avoid hurting somebody”. The definition of white lies is accurately explained that in order to reduce the damage to the hearers, people use white lies to help out. Therefore, a white lie: (1) is harmless on intention; (2) Semantically, liar considers his lies are not real; (3) as a pragmatic strategy, its perlocutionary act is always good, but the nature of the speech may be good or bad.Malicious lie is a kind of tort. It is used with malice which the utterer knew it was false or would cause damage or harm to others. Malicious lie is a false statement that causes damage to the claimant. In this case, it means that the defedant either knew the statement was not true or did not take proper care to check. [8]It is often used as weapon in a competitive situation, setting out to destroy the character and reputations of their victims, usually with devastating and lasting results.[9]For example, a company might spread false information to its customers or competitors in order to get more interests. Malicious is often covered under laws regarding defamation.52.4 How to Identify White Lies and Malicious Lies?The main differences between white lies and malicious lies can be divided into four parts.1.Different interpretations.White lies are often used with the purpose of benefit of others, in order to get a good result. Malicious lies are usually for the liar s‟ own interests, and people hide the truth deliberately in order to confuse others and to achieve their own goals.2.Different psychologies.White lie is made up passively under the forcing psychological state. There is no stress, and speakers do not have to worry about the consequences of being laid bare. Malicious lie is a guilty statement with strong psychological pressure, and the liars are always worried about the consequences of being laid bare.3.Different expressions.People often tell white lies with calm and unaffected face looking, while malicious liars look confused and affected.4.Different consequences.After lies being exposed, white lies can be understood, or even accepted with good impression increasing. Malicious lies cannot be accepted and understood after being laid bare, and people often hate and detest the liars.3. The Analysis of White Lies in Pretty Little Liars from PragmaticPerspectiveIn this part, three theories are used to analyze white lies. Examples are selected from Pretty Little Liars in the pragmatic field. The reason of telling white lie in each example is also analyzed.3.1 The Cooperative PrinciplePeople communicate with others in daily life. In order to understand from each other, we are often in cooperation with the speakers or the hearers with the desire to know the conversations better. According to Grice, “our talk exchanges do not normally consist of a succession of disconnected remarks, and would not be rational if they did. They are characteristically, to some degree at least, cooperative efforts; and each participant recognizes in them, to some extent, a common purpose or set of purposes, or at least a mutually accepted direction.”(Grice, 1975:45)[10]On the basis of this general view, Paul Grice proposed the Cooperative Principle (known as CP for short) in 1975 about how people use language. He gives the definition of this principle as follows (Chen, 1999: 227): “Make your contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.” Grice su bdivides this general principle into four detailed and explicit maxims: Quality Maxim, Quantity Maxim, Relation Maxim and Manner Maxim. They are expressed as follows (Chen, 1999: 227—228)[11]:1．The Maxim of QualityTry to make your contribution one that is true, specifically:(i) do not say what you believe to be false(ii) do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence2．The Maxim of Quantity(i) make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange(ii) do not make your contribution more informative than is required3．The Maxim of RelevanceMake your contributions relevant.4．The Maxim of MannerBe perspicuous, and specifically:7(i) avoid obscurity(ii) avoid ambiguity(iii) be brief(iv) be orderlyGrice also summarizes that among these four maxims, the first three maxims are about “what is to be said” and the last one is about “how it is to be said”. Actually, we really find that we follow these maxims subconsciously in our daily conversations. In this way, we can interact in a more direct and efficient way.However, these maxims are not always observed when people use them. They are violated in conversations sometimes as follow:3.1.1 The Violation of Quality MaximEzra: I have to go up the cabin this weekend. Can you get away? Come with me? It‟s been a while since we‟ve been up there.Aria: My dad‟s going up to Syracuse and I can‟t leave Mike.In fact, Aria doesn‟t want to go with Ezra because she is going to join her friends at the weekend. Aria just tells a white lie so as to refuse Ezra‟s invitation politely. What Aria says is what she believes to be false. Thus, it is obviously a white lie which violates the Maxim of Quality.(Pretty Little Liars, the 18th Episode, Season Four)3.1.2The Violation of Manner MaximCaleb is fond of Hanna. He asks Hanna out for dinner, and he wants to show his love to Hanna.Caleb: I like you!Hanna: What? What did you say? I cannot hear you!Caleb: I said I like you.Hanna: I can‟t hear you!Caleb: I like you very much, Hanna.Hanna: What?At last, Caleb may get to know that Hanna is lying to him. In fact she can hear what Caleb says and pretends she does not. She is just joking with Caleb. It is a small white lie adopted by Hanna to make fool of Caleb and to tell him her acceptance of his love indirectly. By telling this lie, Hanna deliberately violates the Maxim of Manner which is “be brief” by saying the same words again and ag ain, but she shows her heart indirectly. The joking and amusing effect is presented at the same time. (Pretty Little Liars, the 12th Episode, Season One)3.2The Politeness PrincipleIn 1983, G. H. Leech proposed another principle called the Politeness Principle. His assumptions can be analyzed from two aspects: with other things being equal, to minimize the expression of impolite beliefs and maximize the expression of polite beliefs (2003: 82)[12]. He defined two terms “self” which mainly refers to the sp eaker and “other” which mainly refers to the hearer in conversations. With the two terms he developed the Politeness Principle into a number of maxims as follows (Chen, 1999:229)[13]:1. Tact Maxim(i) minimize benefit to self;(ii) maximize benefic to other;2. Generosity Maxim(i) minimize cost to other;(ii) maximize cost to self3. Approbation Maxim,(i) minimize dispraise of other;(ii) maximize praise of other;94. Modesty Maxim(i) minimize praise of self;(ii) maximize dispraise of self;5. Agreement Maxim(i) minimize disagreement between self and other;(ii) maximize agreement between self and other;6. Sympathy Maxim(i) minimize antipathy between self and other;(ii) maximize sympathy between self and other;Leech also claims that not all the maxims are equally important. It seems that the Tact Maxim is the most powerful constraint on conversational behavior. However, it appears that all these assumptions are culturally dependent, because different values will be placed by different cultures on different maxims and the sub-maxims. For example, Chinese culture values the Modesty Maxim most, while western culture values the Tact Maxim most.3.2.1 White Lies Following the Tact MaximAria is a high school student, and Mr. Fitz (Ezra) is her English teacher. But they have a teacher-student relationship. Nobody knows they are in love except Aria‟s best friends. In one day, Mr. Fitz accidentally found that his ex-girlfriend was pregnant before they broke up, and he has a son now. After knowing this, Aria broke up with Mr. Fitz sadly, and Mr. Fitz moved out of Rosewood. After several months, he moved back to the town. He meets Aria in a café accidentally.Mr. Fitz: Aria?Aria: You know, I could pretend like I didn‟t see you. But I don‟t want to lie. This is new territory for us. What…what do I do? Do I say “Hi” to you? Do I avoid you?Mr. Fitz: Well. I‟m saying “Hi”.Aria: We probably shouldn‟t have a coffee together though, right?Mr. Fitz: Yeah, yesterday I might have said that that would be okay.Aria: Why not tonight?Mr. Fitz: I got offered a permanent job.Aria: Oh! That‟s great.Mr. Fitz: I haven‟t said yes yet because it‟s at Rosewood.Aria: Ezra, you know it‟s a lot easier to not see you when I‟m actually not seeing you.Mr. Fitz: I really need this. I have a family now. And if you want to see other people…Sometimes that‟s the best way to move on.Aria: I‟m not ready for that.In this case, both of them are still fond of each other. Ezra doesn‟t live with his ex-girlfriend now. He thinks that Aria deserves a better man, so he tells a lie that he has family and asks Aria to meet with other people instead of wasting time to wait for him. He just tells a white lie to maximize the benefit to Aria to have a better future. Therefore, this white lie aims at maximize the benefit to others.(Pretty Little Liars, the 1st Episode, Season Four)3.2.2White Lies Following the General MaximAria goes to visit Jake because she wants to know something about her brother from Jake. While at that moment, Jake is sleeping. After hearing the bell rings, he gets up to open the door with drowsiness on the face.Aria: I‟m sorry to disturb you sleeping.Jake: Never mind. I have already woken up. It‟s time for me to wakeup.In this case, Jake tells a white lie to conceal the fact that he is not happy to be disturbed when he is in a sound sleep in order to maximize the cost to self to make the other feel better.(Pretty Little Liars, the 9th Episode, Season Four)113.2.3White Lies Following the Modesty MaximHanna‟s mom was framed that she killed a detective, and she was sent to jail because she has no innocent evidence. Fortunately, Spencer‟s mom is a famous lawyer and she helps Hanna‟s mom to find some strong evidences, so that Hanna‟s mom is able to be released.Hanna‟s mom: Thank you for your help.Spencer‟s mom: It‟s just my duty. You are so strong, Ashley. You save yourself.As a matter of fact, Spencer‟s mom has tried her best to help Hanna‟s mom out. She really did a great help to Hanna‟s mom, but she just be modest and says that Hanna‟s mom saves herself. This can be a typical example of telling white lies to show someone‟s modesty and it is the common way to follow the Modesty Maxim of the Politeness Principle.(Pretty Little Liars, the 12th Episode, Season Four)3.2.4White Lies Following the Agreement MaximEmily and Paige are very good at swimming, and they have potential to pass the swimming examination to go to one of the best universities together. Unfortunately, Emily was hurt by “A”, and the injury‟s condition of her arm is too serious to swim. Paige loves Emily very much (they are homosexual), so she does something for Emily. Here is their conversation:Paige: It looks incredible.Emily: But it‟s just so far away.Paige: That‟s what I love about it. It‟s got one of the best swim programs in the country. I thought you‟d be excited.Emily: Oh, it‟s an amazing opportunity. You have to take it. You have to say yes.Paige: It‟s an amazing opportunity for us, Emily. I want you to come with me.Emily: To Stanford?Paige: They offered me a full ride. And you‟re as good as I am. If they want me, they‟ll want you, too. Think about it, Emily. You and me in California, live together. We‟ll study on the beach. We spend weekend in San Francisco. We……Emily: Yes, it‟s amazing.Although Emily says “yes”, she doesn‟t feel amazing actually because she knows that her wound is difficult to recover and she can‟t go to Stanford with Paige. The reason why she shows her agreement is that she doesn‟t want to let Paige down. Paige has tried her best to seize the opportunity for Emily. Thus, in this situation, Emily tells a white lie to keep correspondent with Paige in opinions and minimize disagreement between self and other, while maximize agreement between self and other. In a situation like this, to tell the truth may be very unfriendly and hurtful, while telling a lie may be the most appropriate.(Pretty Little Liars, the 1st Episode, Season Four)3.2.5White Lies Following the Sympathy MaximAfter Alison‟s death, her family moved out of Rosewood to another place. But after a year, Mrs. Dilaurentis (Alison‟s mom) moves back to Rosewood. She is packing up things outside the house when Emily coming to visit her. Here are their conversations:Mrs. Dilaurentis: Emily? It feels like home when you see a friendly face.Emily: Hi. This is for you. It‟s from my mom.Mrs. Dilaurentis: Tell her I said thank you, and I look forward to having her over for tea as soon as I‟m settled in.Emily: I will…….Alison hated that smell.Mrs. Dilaurentis: It‟s good to hear someone say her name. People avoided. They‟re trying to be polite. But it‟s not nice. It‟s weak. Emily, would you mind13helping with these?Emily: Sure.In fact, Emily is not willing to help Mrs. Dilaurentis. Because Alison was one of her best friends, she will be sad if she goes into Alison‟s house. She is also afraid of a death person‟s house. She says “sure”is just telling a white lie to show her sympathy and minimize her antipathy to Alison‟s mom. She respects and sympathizes Mrs. Dilaurentis. Thus it is helpful for them to keep a harmonious relationship by telling such a lie.(Pretty Little Liars, the 1st Episode, Season Four)3.3Face-saving TheoryErvin Goffman is the first person who noticed the notion of “face”. From his perspective, “face is roughly the public image an individual seeks to project. A person‟s face is something that is not lodged in or on his body, but rather something that is diffusely located in the flow of events in the encounter. Thus the face is a social phenomenon which is created in the dynamic communications”.Goffman (1969:7-8)[14]shows his concern about one‟s own face is related to “self-respect” and concern about other‟s face is related to “considerateness”. He argues that “the combined effect of the rule of self-respect and the rule of considerateness is that a person tends to conduct himself during an interaction so as to reduce the possibility of damaging a person‟s face and maintain both his own f ace and that of the other”.The Face-saving Theory was pointed out by Brown and Levinson in 1978, which is theory with politeness. According to Brown & Levinson‟s theory, they explain “face” as an “individual‟s self-esteem” or “the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself” (1987:60)[15]. According to Brown and Levinson (1978:66)[16], there are two aspect of “face”: positive face and negative face. A Person‟s positive face is reflected in his desire to be liked, approved of, respected andappreciated by other which represents an individual‟s desire to seem worthy and deserving of approval; and a person‟s negative face is reflected in the desire not to be impeded or put upon, but to have the freedom to act as he chooses which represents the desire to be autonomous, unimpeded by others (Brown & Levinson, 1987)[17].“F ace” is an important thing that people try to protect in the mutual conversations. If a person is publicly recognized with credit or good reputations, his face will be enhanced. Inversely, if he is humiliated or criticized in front of others, his face will be lost. Both one‟s own face and his interlocutors‟ face are consider as conversational participants when mention the mutual self-interest. Thus, it is expected that people‟s own face should be concerned primarily as well as other people‟s face in every social communication.Brown & Levinson (1978:70)[18]argue that “certain types of acts are liable to damage or threaten face as they run contrary to the face wants of the addressee and/or of the speaker. Such an act is referred to as a face threatening act (FTA)”. After knowing the distinction between “negative”and “positive”face, FTAs is classified into those threaten the negative and those threaten the positive wants of speaker and hearer in interaction by Brown and Levinson. Some speech acts have the potential of damaging others‟positive face. For example, people express disapproval, disagreements and accusations. Some may threaten others‟ negative face. For example, a requ est or an order will impose upon others‟ freedom of action. And sometimes a speech act may also potentially damage the speaker‟s own positive or negative face.When the problem “how to protect one‟s positive face” comes out, Brown & Levinson indicates that so as not to make disagreement with the addressee, the strategy of token agreements, pretended agreements, dodges or lies should be carried out.3.3.1For Oneself Positive Face SavingAshley is quarreling at home with his husband Mr. Marin. Their neighbor15happens to come to visit them at that moment. Ashley says to the neighbor, “We are joking with each other”.Ashley doesn‟t tell the truth to the neighbor in order not to lose her own and her husband‟s face in front of an outsider. Thus it can be a white lie that the wife tells to maintain her own face and her family‟s reputation.(Pretty Little Liars, the 7th Episode, Season Two)3.3.2For Other's Positive Face SavingCece is a high school student. She opens a clothes shop in the town, so she wears different kinds of clothes to school every day.Cece: Hey, Hanna. What do you think of my new dress?Hanna: It looks nice on you!Cece: Really? Do you like it?Hanna: Yes.As a matter of fact, Hanna thinks that the dress is poor in quality and it doesn‟t look nice on Cece. But instead of telling the truth, she chooses to tell a lie, which can be considered as a white lie. By telling this white lie, Cece‟s positive face is saved. It is helpful for these two girls to maintain their relationship as well.(Pretty Little Liars, the 7th Episode, Season Three)3.3.3For Oneself Negative Face SavingSpencer is a smart girl with curiousness. In order to find out who is “A”, she has tried to collect all the evidences at home without sleep for several days. In order to protect her friends, she keeps it as a secret and looks for clues by herself. She is exhausted and she gets a bad mood at the moment when Hanna makes her a phone call.Hanna: Hey, Spencer. Me and Emily is outside your house. Open up.Spencer: Hey, Hanna. I‟m at the library.Hanna: No, you‟re not. I see your car in the driveway.Spencer: I walked.Hanna: Um, look. The police gave me back my shoes finally. And I was wondering if you could come over and help me make my closet all neat-freaky.Spencer: I would really like to, but Fitz is making me redo this essay, so…Hanna: Well, come over later?Spencer: Yeah, maybe. I really got to go.In fact, Spencer is frustrated at that moment because she is too tired to look for clues. She doesn‟t want her friends to see her gaunt face, so she tells a lie to Hanna that she‟s not at home. But Hanna finds her car in Spencer‟s driveway. In order to save the negative face, Spencer tells another lie that she walked to the library. By telling this white lie, Spencer saves her own negative face and avoids hurting Hanna‟s feelings at the same time.(Pretty Little Liars, the 18th Episode, Season Four)3.3.4For Other's Positive Face ThreateningSpencer is on a trip by train. On the train, a four-year-old boy sitting opposite to her who keeps making noises the whole afternoon. His parents and other passengers around are annoyed. So the boy‟s grandmother sa ys to him, “Be quiet! Or the police would come to take you away!” The boy is so young that he takes what his grandmother says true and behaved properly. The grandmother‟s words can be regarded as a face-threatening act which restrains the young boy‟s freedom. But in that situation, the white lie told by the grandmother helps to make her young naughty grandson behave well in public. From this example we can see that a white lie can even threaten one‟s negative face but can still bring some benefits.(Pretty Little Liars, the 5th Episode, Season One)17。