Home Linguistics & Semiotics chapter 10. Pronouns and sociospatial ordering in conversation and fiction
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

chapter 10. Pronouns and sociospatial ordering in conversation and fiction

  • Dwi Noverini Djenar
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
The Pragmatics of Personal Pronouns
This chapter is in the book The Pragmatics of Personal Pronouns

Abstract

This study examines the use of Indonesian pronoun sets aku ‘I’ – kamu ‘you’ and gua/gue ‘I’ – (e)lu/(e)lo ‘you’ in conversation and teen fiction to show the extent to which social meanings are typified through multiple modes of communication. Based on findings from previous studies on conversation and my own analysis of the pronouns in the fiction, I show that meanings typified in conversation are mirrored in fiction. Youth speakers distinguish these meanings on the basis of social and regional differentiation. To the extent that the pronouns index social relations and regional differentiation, they can be considered as “sociospatial” deixis. The mirroring effect between conversation and fiction lends support to the view that fiction is “quasi-mimetic” of life.

Abstract

This study examines the use of Indonesian pronoun sets aku ‘I’ – kamu ‘you’ and gua/gue ‘I’ – (e)lu/(e)lo ‘you’ in conversation and teen fiction to show the extent to which social meanings are typified through multiple modes of communication. Based on findings from previous studies on conversation and my own analysis of the pronouns in the fiction, I show that meanings typified in conversation are mirrored in fiction. Youth speakers distinguish these meanings on the basis of social and regional differentiation. To the extent that the pronouns index social relations and regional differentiation, they can be considered as “sociospatial” deixis. The mirroring effect between conversation and fiction lends support to the view that fiction is “quasi-mimetic” of life.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Personal pronouns 1
  4. PART I. Personal pronouns beyond syntax: Competing forms in context
  5. Chapter 2. She said “I don’t like her and her don’t like me” 27
  6. Chapter 3. Free self-forms in discourse-pragmatic functions 45
  7. Chapter 4. Sex-indefinite references to human beings in American English 69
  8. PART II. First and second person pronouns across genres: Advertising, TV series and literature
  9. Chapter 5. ‘ Loquor, ergo sum’ 95
  10. Chapter 6. ‘You’ and ‘I’ in charity fundraising appeals 105
  11. Chapter 7. Breaking the fourth wall 125
  12. Chapter 8. How do person deictics construct roles for the reader? 147
  13. PART III. Referring to the self and the addressee in context of interaction
  14. Chapter 9. First and second person pronouns in two mother-child dyads 173
  15. chapter 10. Pronouns and sociospatial ordering in conversation and fiction 195
  16. Chapter 11. Referring to oneself in the third person 215
  17. PART IV. The pragmatics of impersonal and antecedentless pronouns
  18. Chapter 12. Interpreting antecedentless pronouns in narrative texts 241
  19. Chapter 13. The infinite present 259
  20. Chapter 14. Pragmatic and stylistic uses of personal pronoun one 275
  21. Chapter 15. Impersonal uses of the second person singular and generalized empathy 311
  22. Index 335
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.171.10dje

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Personal pronouns 1
  4. PART I. Personal pronouns beyond syntax: Competing forms in context
  5. Chapter 2. She said “I don’t like her and her don’t like me” 27
  6. Chapter 3. Free self-forms in discourse-pragmatic functions 45
  7. Chapter 4. Sex-indefinite references to human beings in American English 69
  8. PART II. First and second person pronouns across genres: Advertising, TV series and literature
  9. Chapter 5. ‘ Loquor, ergo sum’ 95
  10. Chapter 6. ‘You’ and ‘I’ in charity fundraising appeals 105
  11. Chapter 7. Breaking the fourth wall 125
  12. Chapter 8. How do person deictics construct roles for the reader? 147
  13. PART III. Referring to the self and the addressee in context of interaction
  14. Chapter 9. First and second person pronouns in two mother-child dyads 173
  15. chapter 10. Pronouns and sociospatial ordering in conversation and fiction 195
  16. Chapter 11. Referring to oneself in the third person 215
  17. PART IV. The pragmatics of impersonal and antecedentless pronouns
  18. Chapter 12. Interpreting antecedentless pronouns in narrative texts 241
  19. Chapter 13. The infinite present 259
  20. Chapter 14. Pragmatic and stylistic uses of personal pronoun one 275
  21. Chapter 15. Impersonal uses of the second person singular and generalized empathy 311
  22. Index 335
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2026 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 28.2.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/slcs.171.10dje/html
Scroll to top button