Mock impoliteness in Saudi Arabia: Evil eye expressive and responsive strategies

Abstract

The belief in evil eye is an intriguing phenomenon attested in many cultures across the world (Dundes, 1981; Elworthy, 2004; Ross, 2010 among others). According to this belief, a person can bring damage to others and their possessions by (i) staring at them and (ii) wishing them misfortune (Sheldrake, 2003; Ross, 2010). The current study undertakes a sociopragmatic exploration of evil eye as a constructed speech act in Bani Buhair, a small tribe located in the southwestern province of Saudi Arabia. It argues that evil eye is neither a haphazard phenomenon nor a subsidiary form of compliments. In contrast, evil eye is executed following strict protocol. The analysis shows that Buhairi eyers use similes, metaphors, questions and negation among many other strategies in their evil eye performance. In response, Buhairi eyees react with revengeful expressions, religious invocations of misfortune, complaints and/or threats. These strategies diverge in terms of age (young or middle-aged) and reinforce humor, solidarity and identity among Buhairi in-groups. In this paper, it is argued that evil eye should not be accommodated within either politeness or impoliteness models (Leech, 1983; Brown and Levinson, 1987; Culpeper, 1996) but within Haugh and Bousfield's (2012) model of mock impoliteness. Both the strategies and the audience's evaluations thereof indicate that evil eye is a non-impolite speech act.