Apology Strategy Used by the Characters in Four Cartoon Movies

Abstract

This article discusses apology expressions in four cartoon movies. The goals are to describe the strategy of apology and explain how the utterances of apologies are affected by familiarity. The research collected the data from dialogues that consist of apology in Monsters University, Frozen, Mulan, and Mulan II. In analyzing the data, it followed five steps: (1) finding and understanding the context of the utterances of the apology expression in order to understand the speaker’s utterances; (2) identifying and describing the utterances based on the category of apology strategy; (3) analyzing the data based on the theory of apology strategy by Olshtain & Cohen; (4) analyzing the use of apology influence by familiarity; (5) making conclusion based on the results of the data analysis.

The results show that two apology strategies, an expression of an apology and an explanation or account of the situation, dominate the ranks. They are then followed by an acknowledgment of responsibility, and an offer of repair, and a promise of forbearance. Meanwhile, the relation between the speakers also influence the use of apology.