ABSTRACT
The chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of impoliteness research in Spanish, assess it critically, and suggest new areas of possible development for the field. The overview unveils two main foci of interest among researchers; namely, studies that seek to theorize impoliteness, and those that analyze mediated cases of impoliteness, either via traditional or digital media. After reviewing the field, four main issues, both theoretical and methodological, related to the bulk of the research under scrutiny, are identified and discussed, i.e., approaches, units of analysis, data, and reflexivity and interdisciplinarity. Further, suggestions are offered regarding several under-researched areas, mostly related to metapragmatics, issues of nomenclature, conventionalization, morality, qualitative tools of analysis, and ethical considerations, all of which can help advance the field.
