Salient inferences: Pragmatics and The Inheritors

Abstract

Halliday's famous (1971) analysis and Hoover's more recent (1999) corpus-based work, both of which say relatively little about inferential processes. This paper suggests that an account of inferential processes is in principle a vital part of any adequate account of how texts create effects, even though it is not always practical to offer a detailed account. In some cases, including the case of The Inheritors, the nature of the inferential processes which the text gives rise to makes an important contribution to how we understand and respond to the text.

From functional to cognitive grammar in stylistic analysis of Golding’sThe Inheritors

“…To make this argument, Section 2 outlines Halliday's analysis and key claims. Section 3 traces the development of this literary linguistic reading of Golding's The Inheritors through the work of Black (1993), Hoover (1999) and Clark (2009), situating a CG perspective in relation to this broader body of stylistic research. Section 4 outlines a cognitive grammatical framework.…”

“…Despite some suggestive remarks, all three concentrate on the linguistic structures constituting Language A 'without much reference to the inferential processes of readers' (Clark 2009: 173). Conversely, Clark's (2009) treatment of The Inheritors is oriented to the reception pole of discourse. He uses insights from relevance theory to investigate the inferential processes readers go through in order to interpret Lok's deviant mind style.…”

“…Given the differences in these questions, the analysis provided here should not be seen as a challenge to Clark's (2009) account of how readers inferentially construct meaning from The Inheritors. As in my discussion of SFG and CG in Section 1, different theoretical approaches place emphasis on different aspects of their object of study.…”

“…As in my discussion of SFG and CG in Section 1, different theoretical approaches place emphasis on different aspects of their object of study. Clark (2009) focuses on the pragmatics of meaning construction in the novel. This paper adds to this with a discussion of the conceptual processes involved in mentally representing the events of the narrative.…”

“The thick and black clouds of Obloquie”: Modality and Point of View in Abiezer Coppe’s ‘A Remonstrance’

“…The study of the ideological implications of modal effects in A Remonstrance inevitably raises such problematic issues as the relationship between semantics and pragmatics and the consequent definition of reliable indicators to establish the extent to which meanings are linguistically encoded or pragmatically inferred (see Grice 1989, Recanati 2004, Burton-Roberts 2007, Clark 2009, and Mello, Panunzi & Raso 2011). This issue is hotly debated because critics always hope to define a complete list of modalizing devices, but in most cases they have to account for many unpredictable ways in which the writer may present his own opinions and viewpoints to the reader, especially when he relies on covert forms of communication.…”