Alessandro Duranti is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at UCLA. His books include From Grammar to Politics: Linguistic Anthropology in a Western Samoan Village (1994), the textbook Linguistic Anthropology (1997), The Anthropology of Intentions: Language in a World of Others (2015), and a number of edited volumes. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the UCLA Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award, and the American Anthropological Association/Mayfield Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

• Acknowledgments


• Contributors


• Introduction


• Alessandro Duranti


• Politeness


• Henri Bergson


• Chapter One: A Sympathetic Reading of Bergson's Politeness


• Alessandro Duranti


• Chapter Two: Politeness is Political


• Mahalia Gayle


• Chapter Three: "Politesse," Power, and Point of View: Bergson's Essay in Comparative Perspective


• Judith T. Irvine


• Chapter Four: "Politeness has a heart": From Mantras to Stance-Taking in French Children's Socialization to Politeness


• Aliyah Morgenstern


• Chapter Five: "Hey, but that's not respectful!": Civic Discourse and Liberal Education


• in Pluralistic France


• Graham M. Jones


• Chapter Six: Giving up on Politeness: The Desire for Tactile Knowledge and the Art of


• Finding Life Lovable


• Terra Edwards


• Chapter Seven: The Surface of Politesse: Acting murt?? in Dhofar, Oman


• Kamala Russell


• Chapter Eight: Programming Politeness: Digital Servantry and the Rules of Social Engagement


• Keith M. Murphy


• Chapter Nine: Grace, Too: Reflections on Bergson's Ethics


• Jason Throop


• Chapter Ten: Bergson's intuitive politeness


• William F. Hanks


• Index

Rethinking Politeness with Henri Bergson offers the first English translation of a little-known essay by influential French philosopher Henri Bergson on the classifications of politeness acts. The translation is followed by a series of essays from scholars who critically engage with and build on Bergson's ideas, and recontextualize politeness as a key dimension of human sociability.