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5 Direct and Indirect Discourse

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Pragmatic Stylistics
This chapter is in the book Pragmatic Stylistics
Direct and Indirect Discourse5.1 INTRODUCTIONI will consider here the role of direct and indirect discourse in fiction, focusing onthe ways in which they are used, the interpretive problems they present, and the con-tribution they make to give fictional discourse the complex layers of meaning andimplicatures which they can generate. They are an important means of characterisa-tion.5.2 IDIOLECTThe moment we open our mouths we situate ourselves sociolinguistically: our lexis,pronunciation and the syntactic choices we make allow our interlocutor(s) to makeinferences about our education, our geographical and social origins. Our choiceamong the options available to us in the language will also be influenced by theactivity we are engaged in. Every speaker has unique features of language use: theseare termed idiolect. (It should be noted here that few fictions provide sufficient evi-dence of a character’s lect to enable an identification of idiolectal features whichwould satisfy a sociolinguist. Rather, what happens is that features of language areused contrastively with the language of the narrator, and so function to suggest idio-lectal features of the character.) All of this means that the speech of fictional char-acters can make a most useful contribution to their characterisation: they canindicate what they are doing, suggest their relations with other characters, and marktheir educational and social status. Some writers (Austen is the obvious example)manipulate the language of their characters in such a way that the closer the char-acter’s language to that of the narrator, the closer their agreement on significantmoral and ideological matters. Those who do not see eye to eye with the narratordeviate from her linguistic norms. Dialect or idiolectal forms are sometimes used forthe purpose of sketchy characterisation, or at least identification of the geographi-cal and/or social class of a character. In an explanatory note Twain describes thevarious dialects he uses in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and their sociolingu-istic purpose. Huck is the narrator, Jim a runaway slave he is helping. If they reachCairo, Jim is free:Chapter 5
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

Direct and Indirect Discourse5.1 INTRODUCTIONI will consider here the role of direct and indirect discourse in fiction, focusing onthe ways in which they are used, the interpretive problems they present, and the con-tribution they make to give fictional discourse the complex layers of meaning andimplicatures which they can generate. They are an important means of characterisa-tion.5.2 IDIOLECTThe moment we open our mouths we situate ourselves sociolinguistically: our lexis,pronunciation and the syntactic choices we make allow our interlocutor(s) to makeinferences about our education, our geographical and social origins. Our choiceamong the options available to us in the language will also be influenced by theactivity we are engaged in. Every speaker has unique features of language use: theseare termed idiolect. (It should be noted here that few fictions provide sufficient evi-dence of a character’s lect to enable an identification of idiolectal features whichwould satisfy a sociolinguist. Rather, what happens is that features of language areused contrastively with the language of the narrator, and so function to suggest idio-lectal features of the character.) All of this means that the speech of fictional char-acters can make a most useful contribution to their characterisation: they canindicate what they are doing, suggest their relations with other characters, and marktheir educational and social status. Some writers (Austen is the obvious example)manipulate the language of their characters in such a way that the closer the char-acter’s language to that of the narrator, the closer their agreement on significantmoral and ideological matters. Those who do not see eye to eye with the narratordeviate from her linguistic norms. Dialect or idiolectal forms are sometimes used forthe purpose of sketchy characterisation, or at least identification of the geographi-cal and/or social class of a character. In an explanatory note Twain describes thevarious dialects he uses in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and their sociolingu-istic purpose. Huck is the narrator, Jim a runaway slave he is helping. If they reachCairo, Jim is free:Chapter 5
© 2022, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents iii
  3. Series Editors’ Preface v
  4. Acknowledgements vii
  5. Acronyms viii
  6. Glossary ix
  7. Introduction 1
  8. 1 Pragmatics and Stylistics 2
  9. 2 Pragmatic Theories 17
  10. 3 Signposts 36
  11. 4 Narrative Voices 53
  12. 5 Direct and Indirect Discourse 63
  13. 6 Politeness and Literary Discourse 72
  14. 7 Relevance and Echoic Discourse 80
  15. 8 Tropes and Parody 102
  16. 9 Symbolism 124
  17. 10 Psychonarration 137
  18. 11 Conclusion 150
  19. Bibliography 158
  20. General Index 163
  21. Index to Literary Authors and Works Cited 165
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748626373-010

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents iii
  3. Series Editors’ Preface v
  4. Acknowledgements vii
  5. Acronyms viii
  6. Glossary ix
  7. Introduction 1
  8. 1 Pragmatics and Stylistics 2
  9. 2 Pragmatic Theories 17
  10. 3 Signposts 36
  11. 4 Narrative Voices 53
  12. 5 Direct and Indirect Discourse 63
  13. 6 Politeness and Literary Discourse 72
  14. 7 Relevance and Echoic Discourse 80
  15. 8 Tropes and Parody 102
  16. 9 Symbolism 124
  17. 10 Psychonarration 137
  18. 11 Conclusion 150
  19. Bibliography 158
  20. General Index 163
  21. Index to Literary Authors and Works Cited 165
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