Ethical Lingua: Journal of Language Teaching and Literature
Vol. 13 No. 2 (2026): Volume 13 No. 2 (2026): Volume 13 No 2 Oktober 2026

Negotiating Social Identity Through Politeness Strategies in the Film Basma: A Brown and Levinson Perspective

Selvy Rahmah (Arabic Language and Literature, Department Faculty of Humanities, Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University of Malang)
Dien Chotimah (Arabic Language and Literature, Department Faculty of Humanities, Maulana Malik Ibrahim State Islamic University of Malang)



Article Info

Publish Date
24 Aug 2026

Abstract

Language politeness is a sociopragmatic phenomenon representing speakers' social identity construction in interaction. This research analyzes the language politeness of the main character in the film "Basma" by Fatima Al-Banawi, aiming to describe politeness strategies and analyze their function in constructing and negotiating the character's social identity. Unlike previous research that only identified and classified types of politeness strategies, this study finds that language politeness in social practice can shape speaker positions, relationships, and identities. The methodology is qualitative descriptive, applying Brown and Levinson's theory, including bald on record, positive politeness, and off record strategies. Data consist of dialogues collected through observation, verbatim transcription, and documentation, analyzed using Miles and Huberman's model through data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. Results show the three strategies realize different identities: bald on record represents a firm, assertive individual identity amid relational pressure; positive politeness represents a relational identity oriented toward strengthening affective bonds and family solidarity; while off record represents social identity negotiation within an unbalanced power relationship. These findings indicate that politeness strategy selection is influenced not only by social distance and relative power, but also functions as a discursive mechanism for speakers to negotiate their identity.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

25409190

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

Ethical Lingua is an online academic journal published by Universitas Cokroaminoto Palopo. The journal publish scholarly articles on the scope of Language Teaching, Learning, and Assessment; Language Curriculum and Material Development; Linguistics and Applied Linguistics; Cultural Issues in ...