الفهرس 
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Abstract
the present study is an attempt to highlight a particular linguistic phenomenon that appears, now and then, in the pragmatic use of language. This phenomenon is known as ‘indirectness’, and it can occur when there is a mismatch between the implied meaning which the speaker intends to covery to his/her addresses, and the surface meaning which (s)he actually expresses. Thus, indirectness plays a rather effective role in social communication. If the hearer is not highly aware of the existence and role of such an element in the pragmatic use of language, this would eventually lead him/her to a misinterpretation, and consequently, to a ‘pragmatic failure’. Hence, because of the considerable significance of such a linguistic feature, namely that of indirectness, this study endeavours to trace its rather short history in linguistics, attempting to put an overall framework for analyzing it in social interactions. Furthermore, the study takes the literary language as its medium in which indirectness can be investigated, with regard to its use and its role in everyday communication, and in successful social interactions.More particularly, the study tries to scrutinize the element of indirectness, both linguistically and pragmatically, in two Arabic literary works, and two English ones: Naguib Mahfouz’s Midaq Alley, or “Zuqaq el-maddaq”, (1947) and Miramar (1967), and Charles Dickens Oliver Twist (1839) and Great Expectations (1861). Through analyzing the selected material from both Arabic and both English novels, the study attempts to answer some questions concerning the element of indirectness. Some of these questions could be:-When is indirectness indispensably necessary in a given speech situation? - Why is indirectness sometimes part and parcel of polite social interactions? - In addition to politeness, what are the other motivations, which can underlie the speaker’s use of indirectness? - To what degree is indirectness a characteristic feature of all natural languages? - How is indirectness employed by the speaker? Or - What are the linguistic tools and pragmatic strategies exploited by the speaker to achieve indirectness? - How can indirectness be successfully interpreted by the hearer? Or - What are the devices used by the hearer to accomplish successful interpretations of indirect utterances? - How far does indirectness affect, and is affected by, sociological factors and sociolinguistic variables? Or - Do the use and understanding of indirectness vary from one person to another, and from one culture to another? The study tries to cover such points, with much greater stress on the applied work Despite the apparent difference between the two selected authors: Mahfouz (1911 – 2006) and Dickens (1812 – 1870), for they belong to two different tcultures, and two distant ears (Mahfouz is a modern Egyptian writer, while Dickens is a Victorian English writer), there is, indeed, a great relation between them. The deep link, lying behind my choosing these two writers, is latent in the fact that both Dickens and Mahfouz have always been immersed in the cares and aspirations of their culturally different societies. For example, Mahfouz himself has once stated that his work “was shaped by being so Egyptian”. Accordingly, the works of those two writers can safely be regarded as perfect manifestations of their own societies. Moreover, such works can be good representations of the pragmatic use of language in such societies; they can demonstrate how people can employ language for successful, rather effective, communications. This can be clear in the novels selected for the analysis. Such works are expected to indicate how the element of indirectness is employed in both English and Arabic, and how it helps in conveying and understanding communicative messages.