Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Notes on related terms 6
1.3 Terminological issue 7
1.4 An overview of related studies 9
1.4.1 Pragmatic studies of misunderstanding 10
1.4.2 Related studies of deliberate misinterpretation 18
1.5 The perspectives of present study 32
Chapter 2 A Description of the Conceptual Framework 34
2.1 Introduction 34
2.2 The delimitation of deliberate misinterpretation 34
2.2.1 Working definition of deliberate misinterpretation 34
2.2.2 Properties of the process of deliberate misinterpretation 38
2.2.3 Deliberate misinterpretation vs. accidental misunderstanding 39
2.2.4 Deliberate misinterpretation vs. digression 41
2.2.5 DMI/deliberate non-understanding vs. faked non-understanding 41
2.2.6 Deliberate misinterpretation vs.misleading 43
2.3 A discussion of the theoretical background of the framework 45
2.3.1 Linguistic adaptation theory 45
2.3.2 Relevance theory 48
2.3.3 Face theory and politeness 56
2.4 The characterization of conceptual framework 59
2.4.1 Cognitive Basis of deliberate misinterpretation 59
2.4.2 Deliberate misinterpretation as a process of choice making 60
2.4.3 Communicative needs 61
2.4.4 Contextual correlates of adaptability 63
2.4.5 Interactional natures 64
2.5 Summary 66
Chapter 3 Prerequisites to Deliberate Misinterpretation 68
3.1 Introduction 68
3.2 Mutuality 69
3.2.1 Mutuality of logical information 70
3.2.2 Mutuality of encyclopaedic information 72
3.2 3 Mutuality of linguistic information 73
3.2.4 Mutuality of immediate context 74
3.3 Relevance as a generalized communicative principle 75
3.4 Triggers of deliberate misinterpretation 78
3.4.1 Minimal information provided by S1 80
3.4.2 Indeterminacy of S1's conversational utterance 83
3.5 Summary 94
Chapter 4 Means of Deliberate Misinterpretation 96
4.1 Introduction 96
4.2 Deliberately violating the Law of Identity 97
4.2.1 Deliberately violating the Law of Identity in concept 98
4.2.2 Deliberately violating the Law of Identity in judgment 104
4.3 Deliberately ignoring the context 109
4.3.1 Disregarding the speech situation 110
4.3.2 Telling a truism 111
4.3.3 Being overliteral 113
4.4 Summary 114
Chapter 5 Functioning of Deliberate Misinterpretation 116
5.1 Introduction 116
5.2 Contextual correlates affecting the choice of DMI 117
5.2.1 DMI as a means of adaptation to the social world 118
5.2.2 DMI as a means of adaptation to the mental world 123
5.3 Communicative functions of DMI 127
5.3 1 Improving interpersonal relationships 128
5.3.2 Manipulating information 134
5.3 3 Creating special communicative effects 138
5.4 Properties of the functioning of DMI 143
5.4.1 Discrepancy 143
5.4.2 Implicitness 145
5.5 Summary 146
Chapter 6 Conclusion 148
6.1 The generative mechanism of DMI 148
6.2 The variable means of DMI 149
6.3 Functioning of DMI 149
Bibliography 152