Beyond relational work: a psycho-pragmatic analysis of impoliteness in Shakespeare's King Lear

This paper offers a psycho-pragmatic analysis of impoliteness in Shakespeare's *King Lear* at the intradiegetic level of communication. The main objective is to explore how impoliteness assessment is influenced by interlocutors' psychological traits, their reality paradigms, and fictional participation. The study uses an eclectic framework drawing from impoliteness and relational work studies, particularly Locher and Jucker's (2021) factors influencing relational work and Archer's (2002) concept of reality paradigms. Two main findings are presented: psychological traits significantly contribute to impoliteness production, reception, and assessment; and psychological impoliteness operates within context-specific expectation frames of a community of practice.

Ayman Khafaga