ABSTRACT
Grainger, Mills and Sibanda examine an encounter between a Zimbabwean English speaker and British English speakers in a community singing group. The southern African notion of self can be said to be enshrined in the concepts of hlonipha and Ubuntu. In communicative situations where participants are from different parts of the world, it is all too easy to assume that any misunderstanding is the result of cultural difference. This paper draws on the data gathered for a pilot study into the interactional style of Zimbabwean English speakers when interacting with British English speakers in settings where direction must either be given or received by the Zimbabwean speaker. This paper has examined face in intercultural interaction by analyzing the discourse of naturally-occurring interaction between a Zimbabwean community artist and the British members of a choir. This examination of southern African face has also enabled the reader to theorize about the universal nature of face, and its relation to politeness theory.
