Re-Assessing Cross-Cultural Pragmatics: Insistence as a Marker of Affiliation and Connectedness

Abstract

This paper explores the practice of insisting among people in the Palestinian society with respect to invitations. Even though insistence is perceived as a Face Threatening Act (FTA) in some societies (Brown & Levinson, 1987), the study shows that insistence in Palestinian society is desirable and expected behavior which usually aims at highlighting in-group solidarity and revealing affiliation and hospitality. Building mainly on studies in socio-pragmatics and some ethnographic work in communication, this study examines instances of insistence by means of which caring and hospitality are conveyed as markers of affiliation that recreate an interpersonal ideology of connectedness