Chapter 9. The – mostly – brighter side of hypocrisy and the concept of face

Abstract

This chapter considers the relation between hypocrisy and the concept of face. It is argued that face is an ideal lens through which to view both the inevitability of hypocrisy and also its various hues. This inevitability is the result of the unavoidability of face in interaction. Face is more than an affective attribute to which homage must be paid. It is the essential means without which most communication would grind to a halt, and in that facework involves interactants giving off impressions of themselves and forming impressions of others present which may not be correct, there is a sense in which face makes hypocrites of us all. Examples of this accidental and essentially beneficial hypocrisy are analysed in support of this argument. The chapter then proceeds to an example of the more obviously beneficial facet of hypocrisy, when it is used to save and/or enhance people’s faces. A subsequent brief consideration of hypocrisy in speech acts again finds that it has positive social value.