Jocular flattery in Chinese multi-party instant messaging interactions

It is well attested that teasing is a vehicle for criticising others which is prototypically accomplished through diminishing, ridiculing or denigrating the target. In this paper, we examine a form of teasing that occurs through elevating others, or what we term “jocular flattery”. Our study focuses on instances of jocular flattery in a context that has largely been neglected, namely, multi-party, instant messaging interaction in (Mandarin) Chinese, thereby also contributing to the growing body of work on teasing across different linguistic and sociocultural contexts. We examine how jocular flattery is interactionally accomplished in multi-party chat groups, focusing, in particular, on what occasions jocular flattery, and how the target and audience respond to it. We suggest that jocular flattery is a vehicle for delivering mild reproaches of the target for “overdone”, “unfulfilled” or “out-of-place” actions, as well as a vehicle for taunting the target for the amusement of the group. However, we also propose that due to the cultural value traditionally placed on denigrating self and elevating other, jocular flattery is also a vehicle for accomplishing interactional rapport in the Chinese sociocultural context. •Jocular flattery is a form of teasing through elevating others.•It has not been studied in its own right.•It may be occasioned by overdone or unfulfilled or “out-of-place” actions.•It involves both transgressions and a flatterable.•It contributes to accomplishing interactional rapport.