الفهرس 
Review of LiteratureOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 280 |  |  |
| | | from | 280 | | |
Abstract
Many studies have emphasized the importance of politeness phenomenon in studying literary characterization (see, for example, Culpeper (2001) and Bennison (1993)). The present research examines in detail the characterization of the major characters of Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations from a pragmatic approach. Politeness
phenomenon is the selected pragmatic criterion according to which the
researcher traces the characters’ development and analyzes their
characterization from a linguistic perspective. The pragmatic model of
linguistic politeness applied in this research is the one suggested by
Brown and Levinson (1987) since it is considered the most
comprehensive work in the area of linguistic politeness. In addition to
this model, the research benefits from other theoretical notions; namely,
Leech’s (1983) notion of a ’speech situation’ and Searle’s (1979)
classification of ’speech acts’.
The procedure followed in this research is to analyze the different
relationships existing in the novel through analyzing the most significant
conversations in such relationships as speech situations with specific
contexts. Throughout these conversations, participants (i.e. the fictional characters) perform certain speech acts with specific illocutionary
(pragmatic) functions using certain politeness strategies. As far as this
thesis is concerned, the choice of a certain strategy depends primarily on
two main factors: the relative power (P) and the social distance (D). The
third factor mentioned by Brown and Levinson (1987) – the rank of
imposition (Rx) – is excluded in this thesis because the thesis does not
address the cultural aspect of politeness. Instead, the ’affect’ factor – i.e.the degree of intimacy between the two participants is highly considered
during the analysis of certain relationships in the novel. Generally, the analysis of the characters’ speech acts and the different politeness
strategies they use to perform them throughout the three stages of the
novel in the light of the P and D factors and the context (background
knowledge) of each speech situation offers a satisfactory elucidation of
the characterization of those characters. The purpose of this study is thus twofold: to present a pragmatic model of linguistic politeness and apply it
to the fictional dialogue of a narrative, and to offer a detailed linguistic
(pragmatic) analysis of a literary concept, i.e. ’characterization’, in this
narrative work.
Great Expectations is the selected text for the present research
because of its highly social nature, which has to do with the
sociolinguistic aspect of politeness phenomenon. Besides, the novel’s
major theme is the idea of ’social class’ and ’social status’ in the Victorian
society, which has a close connection to the two variables (P and D)
affecting the characters’ choice of a certain politeness strategy. Thus, the
novel’s major theme facilitates the application of the proposed pragmatic
model and is elucidated by the application of such a model. In addition,the novel is a social drama set in Dickens’s Victorian society that showed a wide interest in matters of politeness or what was known as ’etiquette’;
so the application of politeness phenomenon to such a Victorian work is
highly appropriate. Finally, a large portion of the novel consists of
character-to-character dialogues and this helps applying the selected
toolkit by analyzing such dialogues in the light of the politeness choices
(strategies) of the characters. Changes in these choices from one stage of the novel to the other help the researcher trace the development of the
characterization of those characters. In short, both the content and the
form of Great Expectations offer a suitable material for the application of
a pragmatic model of politeness (B–L model) for the investigation of
characterization.
This thesis falls into five chapters. Chapter One is an introduction.
It gives a statement of the context and scope of the study, a statement of
the research questions and some account of the objectives and
significance of the study. It presents also definitions of some significant
technical terms occurring in the title of the thesis and inside the work
itself. Besides, it provides a brief account of Charles Dickens as an
English novelist: his birth, life and works; his use of ’language’, which
refers basically to his use of ’dialogue’; and his method of portraying
fictional characters. Finally, the chapter sheds light on the novel under
investigation (Great Expectations) ; namely, the main incidents and the
major characters inhabiting the world of the novel.Chapter Two is a review of the literature of politeness
phenomenon. It gives a brief account of politeness theories which
preceded Brown and Levinson’s (1987) model. It gives also an adequate
description of Brown and Levinson’s model; namely, the concept of
‘face’, ‘face-threatening acts’ (FTAs) and the parameters of the amount
of face threat. Besides, it discusses briefly the five major super-strategies
proposed by Brown and Levinson for performing FTAs. Finally, the
chapter gives an idea about the critiques of this model as well as
examples of studies that have dealt with the relation between power and
politeness and studies that have applied politeness theory to literature.
Chapter Three presents the main theoretical framework in the
light of which the analysis of data is done. The theoretical framework
consists mainly of the four major politeness super-strategies proposed
by Brown and Levinson in their model of 1987– the bald-on-record
strategy, positive politeness, negative politeness and off-record
strategies– with their numerous sub-strategies realizing these major
strategies. The fifth politeness strategy proposed by the two authors –
”Don’t do the FTA” – is not a part of the thesis’s theoretical framework
because the thesis’s main concern is the analysis of the FTAs performed
through the different politeness strategies.
Chapter Four deals with the data, analysis and pragmatic
interpretation. It presents the pragmatic analysis of characterization in the novel through analyzing the different relationships in the novel in
the light of the proposed theoretical framework. Chapter Five is the conclusion in which the researcher sheds light
on the most important findings relevant to the four major kinds of
politeness strategies.