Sprachliche Höflichkeit in der Laienliteraturkritik

This study will analyze a relatively recent type of text ‒ the Internet book review written by amateurs and published on commercial websites ‒ from a linguistic point of view with special regard to verbal expressions of politeness. Literary reviews have a long history of criticizing: traditional forms range from mild reproof, to moderate disdain, provocatory polemic, or even unconcealed hostility. We argue that the particularity of amateur book reviews on the Internet is their hybrid combination of features that are taken, on one hand, from the conventional genre of the book review and, on the other, from the standards of netiquette as commonly requested in Internet forums. This study will investigate how non-expert book reviews on the Internet express negative criticism ‒ through specific linguistic means and speech acts ‒ and show how (im)politeness is created within this textual genre and how it is adapted to this specific communication situation.