Abstract
Abstract
This study examines face attributes in political interviews involving interviewers working for western
broadcasting companies and Iranian politicians. The data consists of 10 hours of talk. The topic raised in the interviews is
concerned with Iran’s human rights which have aroused concern and been the focus of international attention. Iranian politicians
interviewed on global media are often questioned about Iran’s non-conformity with Human Rights Council. The study revealed that
the interviewers ascribed the Iranian politicians with the negative attributes of lack of universalism, non-benevolence, lack of
power, non-conformity, and lack of self-direction and the interviewees claimed the positive attributes of security, conformity,
benevolence, universalism, self-direction, achievement and tradition to save or enhance their face.
Also, the findings demonstrated that Iranian politicians tended to be more concerned with their collective
face.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company