ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of theories of (im)politeness and highlights what different theoretical approaches offer with respect to furthering our understanding of (im)politeness as a social and pragmatic phenomenon. It is suggested that theories of (im)politeness make certain phenomena more salient, while at the same time necessarily backgrounding other possible understandings. This is illustrated through a case study where two distinct theories of (im)politeness are applied to the analysis of interactional data from an intercultural workplace. It is concluded that studies of (im)politeness in the workplace can benefit from taking into consideration a range of different theoretical stances.
