Home Linguistics & Semiotics 9. Doing dialects in dialogues: Regional, social and ethnic variation in fiction
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9. Doing dialects in dialogues: Regional, social and ethnic variation in fiction

  • Gaëlle Planchenault
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Pragmatics of Fiction
This chapter is in the book Pragmatics of Fiction

Abstract

For professionals who strive to make their characters speak in a way that sounds true to their readership/audience and that is also informative of the characters’ story and identity, using the right resources is fundamental. Writers and performers display non-standard phonological and lexical variables (represented by the means of eye dialect in literature or performed accents in films) in order to index social, regional and ethnic traits as well as associated values. Performed voices inform the analyst about the society in which the media discourse takes place, about its relations to legitimate and non-standard ways of speaking, as well as to discriminated groups. In this chapter, I endeavour to demonstrate that, in fiction, dialect variation is a favoured practice in the depictions of the Other, but also that performances of rural/regional and social dialects have given way to stylizations of the ethnic Other.

Abstract

For professionals who strive to make their characters speak in a way that sounds true to their readership/audience and that is also informative of the characters’ story and identity, using the right resources is fundamental. Writers and performers display non-standard phonological and lexical variables (represented by the means of eye dialect in literature or performed accents in films) in order to index social, regional and ethnic traits as well as associated values. Performed voices inform the analyst about the society in which the media discourse takes place, about its relations to legitimate and non-standard ways of speaking, as well as to discriminated groups. In this chapter, I endeavour to demonstrate that, in fiction, dialect variation is a favoured practice in the depictions of the Other, but also that performances of rural/regional and social dialects have given way to stylizations of the ethnic Other.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Preface to the handbook series v
  3. Preface ix
  4. Table of contents xi
  5. 1. Introducing Pragmatics of Fiction: Approaches, trends and developments 1
  6. I. Pragmatics of fiction as communication: Foundations
  7. 2. Participation structure in fictional discourse: Authors, scriptwriters, audiences and characters 25
  8. 3. The pragmatics of the genres of fiction 55
  9. 4. Fictional characterisation 93
  10. 5. The role of dialogue in fiction 129
  11. 6. Narrative perspectives on voice in fiction 159
  12. 7. Pragmatics of style in fiction 197
  13. II. Features of orality and variation
  14. 8. Oral features in fiction 235
  15. 9. Doing dialects in dialogues: Regional, social and ethnic variation in fiction 265
  16. 10. Multilingualism in fiction 297
  17. 11. The pragmatics of estrangement in fantasy and science fiction 329
  18. III. Pragmatic themes in fiction
  19. 12. Pragmatics and the translation of fiction 367
  20. 13. Subtitling and dubbing in telecinematic text 397
  21. 14. (Im)politeness in fiction 425
  22. 15. (Im)politeness and telecinematic discourse 455
  23. 16. Stance in fiction 489
  24. 17. Language and emotion in fiction 515
  25. 18. Language change and fiction 553
  26. Bionotes 585
  27. Index of authors of scholarly work 591
  28. Index of authors of fictional work 603
  29. Index of fictional sources 605
  30. Subject index 609
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110431094-009

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Preface to the handbook series v
  3. Preface ix
  4. Table of contents xi
  5. 1. Introducing Pragmatics of Fiction: Approaches, trends and developments 1
  6. I. Pragmatics of fiction as communication: Foundations
  7. 2. Participation structure in fictional discourse: Authors, scriptwriters, audiences and characters 25
  8. 3. The pragmatics of the genres of fiction 55
  9. 4. Fictional characterisation 93
  10. 5. The role of dialogue in fiction 129
  11. 6. Narrative perspectives on voice in fiction 159
  12. 7. Pragmatics of style in fiction 197
  13. II. Features of orality and variation
  14. 8. Oral features in fiction 235
  15. 9. Doing dialects in dialogues: Regional, social and ethnic variation in fiction 265
  16. 10. Multilingualism in fiction 297
  17. 11. The pragmatics of estrangement in fantasy and science fiction 329
  18. III. Pragmatic themes in fiction
  19. 12. Pragmatics and the translation of fiction 367
  20. 13. Subtitling and dubbing in telecinematic text 397
  21. 14. (Im)politeness in fiction 425
  22. 15. (Im)politeness and telecinematic discourse 455
  23. 16. Stance in fiction 489
  24. 17. Language and emotion in fiction 515
  25. 18. Language change and fiction 553
  26. Bionotes 585
  27. Index of authors of scholarly work 591
  28. Index of authors of fictional work 603
  29. Index of fictional sources 605
  30. Subject index 609
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