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(Im)politeness in Ancient Egypt : Norms, Wit, and Rudeness in Texts from Pharaonic Times through Late Antiquity / edited by Maria Victoria Almansa-Villatoro, Aurore Motte.

Language and Linguistics E-Books Online, Collection 2025 Available online

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Format:
Book
Contributor:
Almansa-Villatoro, Maria Victoria, editor.
Motte, Aurore, editor.
Series:
Language and Linguistics E-Books Online, Collection 2025.
Studies in Pragmatics ; 27.
Language and Linguistics E-Books Online, Collection 2025
Studies in Pragmatics ; 27
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Ancient Near East and Egypt.
Egyptology.
Historical and Comparative Linguistics & Linguistic Typology.
Languages and Linguistics.
Pragmatics & Discourse Analysis.
Sociolinguistics.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (343 pages)
Edition:
1st ed.
Other Title:
Norms, Wit, and Rudeness in Texts from Pharaonic Times through Late Antiquity
Place of Publication:
Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2026.
Language Note:
English
Summary:
(Im)politeness in Ancient Egypt is the first book-length study of (im)politeness in ancient Egyptian texts. Leading experts in their respective corpora examine a range of textual sources spanning approximately 2,000 years, using the latest frameworks for analyzing language in usage. This edited volume asks how ancient Egyptians adapted and modified their language to persuade, complain, or mock, and how they assessed the risks and benefits of communicating with those above or below them in the social hierarchy. The papers explore whether ancient Egyptians used politeness freely and strategically, or were constrained by mandatory social rules. The documents presented, translated, and analyzed in this book include personal letters, ritual utterances, fictional stories, dialogue captions in tomb scenes, and messages to dead relatives.
Contents:
Preface
List of Figures and Tables
Notes on Contributors and Editors
Ancient Egyptian Politeness throughout the Ages
Approaches, Questions, and Results
M. Victoria Almansa-Villatoro and Aurore Motte
1 The Study of Politeness in Ancient Languages—Methodological Notes
Dániel Z. Kádár and Juliane House
2 J.nḏ-ḥr.k “Protect your face!”: Addressing Politeness in the Pyramid Texts
Brendan Hainline
3 Solidarity Politeness in Old Kingdom Speech Captions
Aurore Motte
4 Ritual, (Im‑)politeness, and Social Order in the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period Letters to the Dead in Comparison with Letters to the Living
M. Victoria Almansa-Villatoro
5 Phraseology and Motivation in Heqanakht’s Letters
James P. Allen
6 (Im)polite Behaviors in Ancient Egyptian Fictional Stories
Nikolaos Lazaridis
7 Exploring Third-Party (Im)politeness in the Late Ramesside Letters
Kim Ridealgh
8 (Im)politeness, Irony and Hierarchical Status: Pragmatic Anchorage of the Ancient Egyptian Fictional Narrative
Gaëlle Chantrain
9 L’impolitesse comme source de divertissement et d’éducation: l’exemple de la Lettre satirique
Nathalie Sojic
10 Appearance and Reality in Setne’s Dialogue with “Pharaoh” in First Setne 5.31–35
Joseph Cross
11 Politeness and Impoliteness in Coptic Documents: The Correspondence of the Monk Frange in 8th Century Thebes
Jennifer Cromwell and Alain Delattre
Index.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
Description based on print version record.
ISBN:
90-04-72423-0
OCLC:
1542807650
Publisher Number:
10.1163/9789004724235 DOI

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