Violation of Leech's Politeness Maxims in Pakistani Political Talk Shows: A Pragmatic Analysis of Capital Talk

Abstract

This research examines violation to Leech’s (1983) Politeness Maxims in Pakistani political talk show, "Capital Talk", a program featuring journalist Hamid Mir on Geo News. With an increasing number of political talk shows now being used as a high-pressure arena for public debate, they often utilize communication styles that violate traditional rules of politeness. Using a mixed-methodology (qualitative/quantitative), rooted in pragmatic theory, this research analyzes three episodes of "Capital Talk" which were broadcast on May 31st, June 1st, and June 2nd 2026. The data consists of dialogues among politicians, journalists and analysts. Based on Leech's (1983) Politeness Principle, consisting of six maxims (Tact; Generosity; Approval; Modesty; Agreement; and Sympathy), these maxims provide the theoretical underpinnings for this research. Results indicate that the most commonly broken maxims are Approbation and Agreement followed closely by Tact. Impolite behavior was exhibited through face threatening acts, interruptions, verbal aggression, sarcastic comments and deliberate denigration of their political opponents. In conclusion, the researchers assert that the confrontational nature of the program and the format utilized to create a confrontational environment systematically encourages impoliteness as a rhetorical strategy. These results contribute to the knowledge in the fields of pragmatics, political discourse analysis, and media studies.