Questão 96945

In the context of cross-cultural communication, a British manager is meeting with a Japanese counterpart. The British manager, wanting to close a deal, asks directly: 'So, do we have an agreement?' The Japanese counterpart, feeling pressured and wishing to avoid a direct refusal which would be face-threatening, replies with a long pause, followed by: 'That is a very interesting proposal which requires further consideration internally.' A linguistic analyst observing this interaction would note a mismatch in conversational maxims. Which of Grice's maxims is the Japanese counterpart primarily flouting from a Western perspective, but adhering to from a Japanese cultural perspective focused on harmony (wa 和)?