Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Self, the Other, the Tribe, and the Divine: Self-Praise Discourse in Jordanian Arabic

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Self-Praise Across Cultures and Contexts

Part of the book series: Advances in (Im)politeness Studies ((AIMS))

  • 178 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter explores the use of self-praise in Jordanian Arabic (JA) in a corpus of online and spoken data. The analysis, grounded in the discursive social psychology framework of positioning theory and rapport management, shows that self-praise in JA is both individual and group-based. Individual self-praise focuses on one’s own “praiseworthy” personal attributes, such as physical appearance, personality, accomplishments, male offspring, travel, material possessions, and geographical origin. Group-based self-praise refers to praising the self as member of a tribe and celebrating and honoring one’s tribal affiliation, which makes self-praise a resource for projecting a collective social identity. These two types are often mediated by disclaimers that serve to legitimate, mitigate, or present self-praise in a circumspect way, mainly invoking the divine and giving credit to God, presenting self-praise as self-defense, attributing self-praise to a third party, explicitly denying or justifying self-praise, and presenting self-praise as a collective rather than individual act. In addition to being conveyed directly, self-praise is constructed through metaphor, simile, and poetic and formulaic language. Practices of self-praise in JA largely reflect collectivistic norms and fatalistic beliefs and strongly point to an inherent propensity toward self-praise in Arab culture where self-praising speech is tolerated and practiced as a celebration of one’s accomplishments, character, social group, and identity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    The author would like to thank two graduate students, Batool Al-Momani and Hamza Klaib, for their assistance in the data collection.

References

  • Al-Nawawi, Y. (2001). Kitāb al-aḏkār [The book of remembrance]. In A. A. Yassin (Ed.), Dār Ibn Khuzaymah.

    Google Scholar 

  • Al Zidjaly, N. (2012). What has happened to Arabs? Identity and face management online. Multilingua, 31, 413–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badarneh, M. A. (2010). The pragmatics of diminutives in colloquial Jordanian Arabic. Journal of Pragmatics, 42, 153–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badarneh, M. A. (2020). Discourses of defense: Self and other positioning in public responses to accusations of corruption in Jordan. Discourse Studies, 22(4), 399–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benoit, P. J. (1997). Telling the success story: Acclaiming and disclaiming discourse. State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berman, L. (1999). Positioning in the formation of a ‘national’ identity. In R. Harré & L. van Langenhove (Eds.), Positioning theory: Moral contexts of intentional action (pp. 138–159). Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolander, B., & Locher, M. A. (2015). “Peter is a dumb nut”: Status updates and reactions to them as ‘acts of positioning’ in Facebook. Pragmatics, 25(1), 99–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bousfield, D., & Locher, M. A. (Eds.). (2008). Impoliteness in language: Studies on its interplay with power in theory and practice. Mouton de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breeze, R. (2013). Corporate discourse. Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carbaugh, D. (1999). Positioning as display of cultural identity. In R. Harré & L. van Langenhove (Eds.), Positioning theory (pp. 160–177). Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen-Mor, D. (Ed.). (2018). Cultural journeys into the Arab world. State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culpeper, J. (2011). Impoliteness: Using language to cause offence. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, B., & Harré, R. (1990). Positioning: The social construction of self. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 20(1), 43–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dayter, D. (2014). Self-praise in microblogging. Journal of Pragmatics, 61, 91–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dayter, D. (2016). Discursive self in microblogging: Speech acts, stories and self-praise. John Benjamins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dayter, D. (2018). Self-praise online and offline: The hallmark speech act of social media? Internet Pragmatics, 1(1), 184–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dean, H. (2016). Poverty and social exclusion. In H. Dean & L. Platt (Eds.), Social advantage and disadvantage (pp. 3–24). Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dean, H., & Platt, L. (Eds.). (2016). Social advantage and disadvantage. Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, R. K. (2003). Pliny and the art of (in)offensive self-praise. Arethusa, 36(2), 235–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grainger, K., Kerkam, Z., Mansor, F., & Mills, S. (2015). Offering and hospitality in Arabic and English. Journal of Politeness Research, 11(1), 41–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harré, R., & van Langenhove, L. (1999). Reflexive positioning: Autobiography. In R. Harré & L. van Langenhove (Eds.), Positioning theory (pp. 60–73). Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harré, R., Moghaddam, F. M., Cairnie, T. P., Rothbart, D., & Sabat, S. R. (2009). Recent advances in positioning theory. Theory & Psychology, 19(1), 5–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haugh, M. (2015). Im/politeness implicatures. De Gruyter Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horn, L. R. (2018). The lexical clone: Pragmatics, prototypes, productivity. In R. Finkbeiner & U. Freywald (Eds.), Exact repetition in grammar and discourse (pp. 233–264). De Gruyter Mouton.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, E. E., & Pittman, T. S. (1982). Toward a general theory of strategic self-presentation. In J. M. Suls (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on the self (pp. 231–263). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, M. S. (2017). The practice of praising one’s own child in parent-to-parent talk. Discourse Studies, 19(5), 536–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kochman, T. (1981). Black and white styles in conflict. University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, P. (2007). Formulaic language in cultural perspective. In B. Kortman & E. C. Traugott (Eds.), Phraseology and culture in English (pp. 471–496). Mouton de Gruyter.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Leech, G. (1983). Principles of pragmatics. Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loureiro, S. M., & Kaufmann, H. R. (2016). Luxury values as drivers for affective commitment: The case of luxury car tribes. Cogent Business & Management, 3(1), 1171192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maíz-Arévalo, C. (2021). “Blowing our own trumpet”: Self-praise in Peninsular Spanish face-to-face communication. Journal of Pragmatics, 183, 107–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matley, D. (2018). “This is NOT a #humblebrag, this is just a #brag”: The pragmatics of self-praise, hashtags and politeness in Instagram posts. Discourse, Context & Media, 22, 30–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Migdadi, F., Badarneh, M. A., & Momani, K. (2010). Divine will and its extensions: Communicative functions of maašaallah in colloquial Jordanian Arabic. Communication Monographs, 77, 480–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milardo, R. M. (2009). The forgotten kin: Aunts and uncles. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, E. R. (2014). The language of adult immigrants: Agency in the making. Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, L. C., Cooke, L., Tsang, J., & Morgan, F. (1992). Should I brag? Nature and impact of positive and boastful disclosures for women and men. Human Communication Research, 18(3), 364–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moghaddam, F. M. (1999). Reflexive positioning: Culture and private discourse. In R. Harré & L. van Langenhove (Eds.), Positioning theory (pp. 74–86). Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muniz, A., & O’Guinn, T. (2001). Brand community. Journal of Consumer Research, 27, 412–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nydell, M.K. (2018). Understanding Arabs: A contemporary guide to Arab society (6th ed.). Nicholas Brealey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, R., Barton, D., Unger, J., & Zappavigna, M. (2014). Researching language and social media. Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Papoutsakis, N. (2009). Desert travel as a form of boasting. Harrassowitz Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parrott, G. W. (2003). Positioning and the emotions. In R. Harré & F. M. Moghaddam (Eds.), The self and others: Positioning individuals and groups in personal, political, and cultural contexts (pp. 29–44). Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pawlak, M. C. (2018). Consistency isn’t everything: Self-commendation in 2 Corinthians. Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 40(3), 360–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pomerantz, A. (1978). Compliment responses: Notes on the cooperation of multiple constraints. In J. Schenkein (Ed.), Studies in the organization of conversational interaction (pp. 79–112). Academic Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rouchota, V. (1998). Procedural meaning and parenthetical discourse markers. In A. H. Jucker & Y. Ziv (Eds.), Discourse markers (pp. 97–126). John Benjamins.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ren, W., & Guo, Y. (2020). Self-praise on Chinese social networking sites. Journal of Pragmatics, 169, 179–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rüdiger, S., & Dayter, D. (2020). Manbragging online: Self-praise on pick-up artists’ forums. Journal of Pragmatics, 161, 16–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabat, S. (2003). Malignant positioning and the predicament of people with Alzheimer’s disease. In R. Harré & F. M. Moghaddam (Eds.), The self and others (pp. 85–98). Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sifianou, M. (1992). The use of diminutives in expressing politeness: Modern Greek versus English. Journal of Pragmatics, 17, 155–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spatharas, D. (2011). Self-praise and envy: From rhetoric to the Athenian courts. Arethusa, 44, 199–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speer, S. (2011). On the role of reported, third party compliments in passing as a ‘real’ woman. In S. A. Speer & E. Stokoe (Eds.), Conversation and gender (pp. 155–182). Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Speer, S. (2012). The interactional organization of self-praise: Epistemics, preference organization, and implications for identity research. Social Psychology Quarterly, 75(1), 52–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer-Oatey, H. (2002). Managing rapport in talk: Using rapport sensitive incidents to explore the motivational concerns underlying the management of relations. Journal of Pragmatics, 34, 529–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, D. (2007). Recounting god’s blessings: Linguistic prophylaxis and self-representation in Arabic autobiography. Al-’arabiyya, 40(41), 197–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, D. (2019). ‘We’re the ones who made the ants stand in line!’: The ideology of ingenuity and preposterous boasts in Egyptian Arabic. In J. E. Lowry & S. Toorawa (Eds.), Arabic belles lettres (pp. 175–198). Lockwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Synnott, A. (1993). The body social: Symbolism, self and society. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terlouw, K. (2012). From thick to thin regional identities? GeoJournal, 77, 707–721.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tobback, E. (2019). Telling the world how skillful you are: Self-praise strategies on LinkedIn. Discourse & Communication, 13(6), 647–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood, K. (2011). Facework as self-heroicisation: A case study of three elderly women. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 2215–2242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Langenhove, L., & Harré, R. (1999). Introducing positioning theory. In R. Harré & L. van Langenhove (Eds.), Positioning theory (pp. 14–31). Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Damme, C., Hoorens, V., & Sedikides, C. (2016). Why self-enhancement provokes dislike: The hubris hypothesis and the aversiveness of explicit self-superiority claims. Self Identity, 15(2), 173–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wierzbicka, A. (1991). Cross-cultural pragmatics: The semantics of human interaction. Mouton de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, R.-J.R. (2011). A conversation analysis of self-praising in everyday Mandarin interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 3152–3176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, R.-J.R. (2012). Self-praising through reporting: Strategic use of two reporting practices in Mandarin conversation. Discourse Processes, 49(8), 622–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, Jordan University of Science and Technology, PO Box 3030, Irbid, 22110, Jordan

    Muhammad A. Badarneh

Authors
  1. Muhammad A. Badarneh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Muhammad A. Badarneh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of English Studies, Zhejiang International Studies University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Chaoqun Xie

  2. School of Foreign Languages, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

    Ying Tong

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Badarneh, M.A. (2022). The Self, the Other, the Tribe, and the Divine: Self-Praise Discourse in Jordanian Arabic. In: Xie, C., Tong, Y. (eds) Self-Praise Across Cultures and Contexts. Advances in (Im)politeness Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99217-0_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation