Context-dependent vantage points in literary narratives: A functional cognitive approach
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Szilárd Tátrai
Szilárd Tátrai (b. 1972) is an associate professor at Eötvös Loránd University and Jagiellonian University 〈tatrai.szilard@gmail.com〉. His research interest is in functional cognitive pragmatics (deixis, perspective, metapragmatic awareness).
Abstract
This paper offers a model for the interpretation of stories as referential scenes in narrative discourses as joint attentional scenes (see Tomasello 1999). It is proposed that narrative interpretation crucially builds on the context-dependent processing of the physical, social, and mental worlds presented by the narrative, pertaining to spatio-temporal relations, interpersonal relations, and the mental states of participants, respectively (see Tátrai 2010a; cf. Verschueren 1999). Set against the background of social cognitive linguistics (cf. Sinha 1999; Croft 2009), the model has a strong pragmatic orientation with its focus on the role of two context-dependent vantage points in the generation of a discourse universe (see Sanders and Spooren 1997). The first is the referential center that forms the basis of the situative grounding of the narrative's spatio-temporal and interpersonal relations. Second, the subject of consciousness plays a fundamental role in providing access to the mental processes of participants. The paper demonstrates the model's applicability by a pragmatic analysis of “That Will Be Fine” by William Faulkner.
About the author
Szilárd Tátrai (b. 1972) is an associate professor at Eötvös Loránd University and Jagiellonian University 〈tatrai.szilard@gmail.com〉. His research interest is in functional cognitive pragmatics (deixis, perspective, metapragmatic awareness).
©2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Munich/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Linguistic and literary aspects of perspectivity
- Introduction: Linguistic and literary aspects of perspectivity
- Context-dependent vantage points in literary narratives: A functional cognitive approach
- Authorial intention and global coherence in fictional text comprehension: A cognitive approach
- The role of perspectives in various forms of language use
- From trace to topical field: Toward a linguistic definition of point of view
- Indexicals, fiction, and perspective
- Why do we accept a narrative discourse ascribed to a “third-person narrator” as true? The classical, and a cognitive approach
- De-essentializing authenticity: A semiotic approach
- Introduction: De-essentializing authenticity: A semiotic approach
- Culture as accent: The cultural logic of hijabistas
- Why X doesn’t always mark the spot: Contested authenticity in Mexican indigenous language politics
- The semiotics and politics of “real selfhood” in the American therapeutic discourse of the World War II era
- Inauthentic authenticity: Semiotic design and globalization in the margins of China
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Linguistic and literary aspects of perspectivity
- Introduction: Linguistic and literary aspects of perspectivity
- Context-dependent vantage points in literary narratives: A functional cognitive approach
- Authorial intention and global coherence in fictional text comprehension: A cognitive approach
- The role of perspectives in various forms of language use
- From trace to topical field: Toward a linguistic definition of point of view
- Indexicals, fiction, and perspective
- Why do we accept a narrative discourse ascribed to a “third-person narrator” as true? The classical, and a cognitive approach
- De-essentializing authenticity: A semiotic approach
- Introduction: De-essentializing authenticity: A semiotic approach
- Culture as accent: The cultural logic of hijabistas
- Why X doesn’t always mark the spot: Contested authenticity in Mexican indigenous language politics
- The semiotics and politics of “real selfhood” in the American therapeutic discourse of the World War II era
- Inauthentic authenticity: Semiotic design and globalization in the margins of China
