Volume 9, Issue 3 (9-2026) JSAL 2026, 9(3): 0-0 | Back to browse issues page

Shojaee Y Z, Elahi R. (2026). Overt Impoliteness, Discursive Resistance, and Gendered Power in Three Plays by Martin McDonagh. JSAL. 9(3),
URL: http://jsal.ierf.ir/article-1-267-en.html

Overt Impoliteness, Discursive Resistance, and Gendered Power in Three Plays by Martin McDonagh

Yasamin Zahra Shojaee¹, Roya Elahi ^*²

1- MA in English Language and Literature, Ershad Damavand Institute of Higher Education, Tehran, Iran
2- Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, Ershad Damavand Institute of Higher Education, Tehran, Iran , r.elahi@e-damavandihe.ac.ir

Abstract: (17 Views)

This article examines severe resistive verbal violence directed by socially marginalized women against dominant men in Martin McDonagh’s “A Very Very Very Dark Matter”, “The Cripple of Inishmaan”, and “The Lieutenant of Inishmore”. It draws upon Jonathan Culpeper’s overt impoliteness and bald-on-record impoliteness theories to identify the absence of mitigation or redress strategies. Also, employing qualitative content analysis, close reading, and discourse analysis, the study analyzes these instances across three types of intra-familial relationships - mother-son, spouses, and siblings - to highlight direct verbal attacks on the characters' face and explore how they function within unequal gender power dynamics. While previous research has explored violence and gender dynamics in McDonagh’s plays, less attention has been paid to how impoliteness - specifically overt impoliteness - functions as interactional resistance when enacted by socially subordinate female characters within asymmetrical familial relationships. The findings indicate that bald-on-record impoliteness serves not merely as threatening verbal attacks, but also as potential forms of interactional resistance within unequal power relations. Moreover, this article's analysis frames the female characters' use of moral accusations, explicit insults, identity degradation, and taboo-breaking language in McDonagh's selected scenes. These verbal attacks may directly challenge male authority; however, for the most part, they do not lead to lasting changes in the gendered power dynamics depicted in his plays. Thus, the force of their resistance remains interactive rather than structural.

Keywords: Overt Impoliteness, Bald-On-Record Impoliteness, Severe Verbal Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Martin McDonagh, Jonathan Culpeper’s Theory

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Discourse Analysis
Received: 2026/08/11 | Accepted: 2026/09/1 | Published: 2026/09/1

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