House rules: power relations through the flouting of the conversational principle in popular culture-House M.D.

Abstract

Abstract : This paper studies the flouting of the conversational maxims as means of exercising power in a sample of popular culture; the medical television drama House M.D. The study samples scenes from the eight seasons of the series in which its protagonist Dr. Gregory House intentionally, and unintentionally, flouts conversational maxims to redefine rules of power play. To that end, this linguistics study of conversational principles is contextualized within a broad sociological frame work of the theories defining power and a broader frame of the critical discursive analysis of power and language. The findings primarily demonstrate that uncooperativeness on part of one of the participants and their disregard for conversational principles points towards an imbalance in power relations.