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A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to Faulkner's Style and Stylization in His Major Works

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A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to Faulkner's Style and Stylization in His Major Works THE PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITY of ORAN Department of English A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to Faulkner's Style and Stylization in his Major Works COMPARATIVE STYLISTICS By Mrs. Baya BENSALAH Defended before theJury in December 2013 President: Prof. Sidi Mohamed LAKHDAR BARKA University of Oran Examiners: Prof. Fouzia BEJAOUI University of Sidi Belabbes Prof. Faouzi BORSALI University of Adrar Dr. Mohamed MELLOUK University of Sidi Belabbes Dr. Abd-el-Kader Lotfi BELHATTAB University of Oran Supervisor: Prof. Mohamed MILIANI University of Oran Academic Year: 2013/2014 ABSTRACT The background for this thesis is our dissatisfaction with the definitions brought to style up-to-date, and in particular with the lack of a reasonable theoretical framework by which it is described. These definitions of style, as an authentic representation of a writer, the sum total of atypical and recurrent expressive and formal devices that constitute his manner of expression, remain vague and lacking in effective systemization. Resting on the assumptions that utterance interpretation is a cognitive process, that an essential feature of human communication is the expression and recognition of intentions and that utterances raise expectations of relevance because the search for relevance is a basic feature of human cognition, which communicators (writers) may exploit, Relevance Theory provides a framework within which we can account for intentions underlying Style and Stylization. It is then with this theoretical tool that we endeavour to highlight intentional stylistic practices in Faulkner’s thirteen major works. Our main objective is to demonstrate that there is no constant manner of expression; a writer’s style is the product of intentional and deliberate manipulations of language based on his preferences and abilities, as well as on specific pragmatic purposes. We provide a literature review of Relevance Theory in the first chapter while we submit the corpora to a three-folded inferential analysis extending over three chapters: Chapter two discusses Faulkner’s Syntactic Features (Not-only but Paromologia, not-but Dirimens Copulatio; the Discourse Marker (Even) and the varied syntactic structures); chapter three, his Lexical Features (Compounding) and chapter four his Rhetorical Features (Simile). Chapter five draws our research results into a classroom situation wherein we put Relevance Theory at the service of pedagogy. The series of the designed activities treat mainly the Writing and Reading skills by enhancing the teaching of Context, Intention and Relevance. Finally, conclusions are drawn as to the efficacy of Relevance Theory in the understanding of the mechanisms underlying human communication, and then a redefinition of Style and Stylization are suggested. Style is redefined as the writer’s decision to foreground/background, it can be more or less stylized based on this decision, on his relationship and complicity (Mutual Cognitive Environment) with his reader and on the pragmatic and stylistic effects he wants to create while Stylization is an artistically motivated deviation exhibited through qualitative and quantitative foregrounding. The foregrounded stylistic devices equate foregrounded implicatures and stylistic differences are just differences in the way relevance is achieved. I RÉSUMÉ Notre insatisfaction à propos du flou définitionnel qui affirme de manière approximative et ambiguë que le style est la représentation authentique d’un écrivain visible à travers des expressions formelles, atypiques et récurrentes et les conceptions du style qui, somme toute, restent vagues et manquent de systématisation notamment en l’absence d’un cadre théorique effective touchant à la question du style ont été les premières motivations qui ont présidé à l’avènement de cette recherche doctorale. Cette carence théorique peut, selon nous, être comblée par la Théorie de la Pertinence qui nous permet entre autres de rendre compte des intentions sous-jacentes au Style et à la Stylisation car reposant sur l’hypothèse que l’interprétation d’un énoncé relève d’un processus cognitif et ce, sans oublier que toute communication n’est au fond que l’expression et la reconnaissance des intentions doublée du fait que les énoncés suscitent des attentes de pertinence. C’est grâce à ces outils théoriques que nous nous efforcerons de mettre en évidence les pratiques stylistiques intentionnelles dans les treize œuvres majeures de Faulkner. Notre objectif principal est donc de démontrer qu'il n'existe pas de manière constante d'expression, le style d'un écrivain est le produit de manipulations intentionnelles et délibérées de la langue en fonction de ses préférences et aptitudes, ainsi que sur des fins pragmatiques spécifiques. Pour ce faire, nous allons saisir, dans le premier chapitre, l’essentiel de la Théorie de la Pertinence pour, ensuite, soumettre notre corpus à une analyse inférentielle qui va s’étendre sur trois chapitres qui vont s’intéresser, tour à tour, aux traits syntaxiques de l’écriture de Faulkner (Négation, marqueurs de discours et structures syntaxiques variées), aux traits lexicaux (composé lexical unifié) et à l’expression de la rhétorique (la Comparaison). Le chapitre cinq se propose, quant à lui, de didactiser les acquis de cette recherche en fonction de deux objectifs essentiels à savoir, ceux de la compétence d’écriture et de la lecture par l’enseignement/apprentissage des notions de Contexte, de Pertinence et de l’Intention. Finalement, nos conclusions soulignent l’efficacité de la théorie de la pertinence dans la compréhension des mécanismes sous-jacents la communication humaine et proposent une redéfinition de la notion du Style et de celle de Stylisation. La première notion est conçue comme la décision de l’auteur de mettre au fond ou en saillance une entité donnée ; le Style peut être donc plus au moins stylisé en fonction de cette volonté ainsi que de la relation que l’écrivain a avec son lecteur et du but communicatif recherché (effets pragmatiques et stylistiques). Quand à la deuxième, elle est entendue comme une déviation artistiquement motivée visible aussi bien qualitativement que quantitativement. Nous irons également vers les dispositifs stylistiques mis en saillance afin d’affirmer que leur rôle est de mettre en saillance des implicatures et que les différences stylistiques ne sont au fond que la façon dont la pertinence est atteinte. II ملخص تطلق هد امذرة من عدم اقتاعا بما تقدم من تعاريف أسلوب إى يوما هدا و خاصة في غياب إطار ظري معقول. تبقى هد اتعاريف اتي تحدد اسلوب تمثيل حقيقي لتاب محصلة أدوات اشلية و اتعبيرية امتررة واامطية و اتي تشل طريقته في اتعبير, غامضة و مقوصة من اتظيم ااجع. بااستاد على أن تأويل امطوقة هي عملية معرفية, على أن اتعبير و معرفة امقاصد هي سمة إساية لتواصل ااساى, و على أن امطوقات تدعو امائمة ان هد اخيرة هي ميزة أساسية لتفير واتي قد يوظفها اتاب, فان ظرية امائمة توفر اإطار اعلمي ادى يما من اإحاطة بامقاصد امحددة أسلوب و اتأسلب. فعليه فان ظرية امائمة تما من توضيح اتطبيقات اسلوبية اإاردية هم ثاثة عشرة رواية فورFaulkner. إن هدفا ااساسى هو توضيح عدم ثبات طرق اتعبير حيث أن أسلوب ااتب هو تيجة تحوير ارادى و مقصود لغة مراعاة خياراته و قدراته ودا هدافه اتداوية اخاصة. يتاول افصل اول بذة مارجعيه ظرية امائمة فيما تتاول افصول اثاثة امواية تحليل استداي لمدوات. افصل اثاي ياقش اسمات احوية )not only…but, not…only, even( و بيات حوية متوعة. ياقش افصل اثاث تريب امفردات )Compounding( فيما يوضح افصل ااربع اسمات اباغية )Rhetorical( أسلوب اتشبيه. يسقط افصل اخامس تائجا في وضعية تعليمية أين يتم توظيف تائج ظرية امائمة في اتعليم و عليه فان اشطة و اتمارين الغوية امصممة تعاج بصفة أساسية مهارتي اتابة واقراءة و دك بتطوير تعليماتها في إطار اسياق, امقصود )ية ااتب( و امائمة. و خلصت افصول إى مدى جاعة ظرية امائمة في فهم أوضح يات امحددة لتواصل اإساي, و مه لوصول إى محاوة تعريف جديدة أسلوب اتأسلب. إن اسلوب, ادن, هو قارر ااتب في جعل بعض اسمات اسلوبية اتئة أو ظاهرة و جعل ابعض اخر محصرة متارجعة, و يون بدك اخيار اسلوبي أثر أو اقل تأسلبا باظر إى دك اقرار, إى عاقته و اشتراه مع اقارئ في اوسط امعرفي, وباظر إى اتأثيرات اسلوبية و اتداوية اتي يريد ااتب خلقها. فيما يمن اتأسلب في احارف اسلوب مطلقا من دواعي اعمل افي اتي تظهر مدى تمن ااتب و اتي تظهر جليا في اتوء امي و اوعي.ان ادوات اسلوبية ااتئة أو اثر برواز تعادل استلزامات اتئة بدورها وما افروقات اسلوبية إا فروقات في تحقيق امائمة. III To my parents IV ACKNOWLEDGMENT More often than not, a researcher is a ‘secluded-lonely-hunter’, coming to terms with his own thoughts and doubts. At least that is my experience during these four years. Still, it is beyond doubt that I received all the support, advice, encouragement and love from my family, my teachers and friends. Accordingly, I would like to express my gratitude to a number of people who over these years have contributed in various ways to the completion of this work. First, I am heartily thankful to my advisor, Professor Mohamed Miliani who originally introduced me to Stylistics. Without him, I definitely would have never discovered the intellectual challenges and pleasures of studying Language in use and of doing Comparative Stylistics in particular. His clarity in teaching and his critical, concise and straightforward way of dealing with theoretical ideas and linguistic reasoning shaped my thinking and my development, both as a person and a researcher. I thank him for the invaluable comments that have never failed to point me in the right direction when I was astray. Likewise, I am deeply grateful to Professor Sidi Mohamed Lakhdar Barka whose lectures at the University of Ouargla in 2003-2005 stimulated my interest in working on Faulkner. Professor Lakhdar Barka convinced me that Literature can and should be used to reshape taste, to perform the art of sharing beauty, to teach an empathetic experience, simply to teach Life. This provided the original motivation for the present work.
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