This article investigates the discoursive dimension of literary texts
at the level of character’s interaction drawing its evidence from E.M.
Forster’s A Passage to India (1924). Firstly, the main categories proposed
by Brown and Levinson (1978, 1987) in their seminal study of
‘politeness phenomena’ are presented together with some of the questions
raised by the application of the theory to social psychology and
stylistic analyses. This model is the applied to fictional conversations
between British and Indian participants in order to discover the ways
linguistic strategies are selected to limit other participant’s freedom
(‘negative face’) or challenge their personal image (‘positive face’).
This selection of verbal strategies will convey information about power
relations, and the way speakers react to these circumstances. Tentative
conclusions call for revision and further research.
