an analysis of fictional dialogue on jane eyre from gricean conversational implicature theory【畢業(yè)論文】

1、<p>　　本科畢業(yè)論文(設(shè)計(jì))</p><p>　題 目：An Analysis of Fictional Dialogue on Jane Eyre from Gricean Conversational Implicature Theory</p><p>　學(xué) 院：</p><p>　學(xué)生姓名：</p><p>

2、　專 業(yè)：英語</p><p>　班 級(jí)：</p><p>　指導(dǎo)教師：</p><p>　起止日期：</p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　Abstract1</p><p>　　Introduction3</p&

3、gt;<p>　　1. Theoretical Framework for Analysis3</p><p>　　1.1 Introduction of Jane Eyre3</p><p>　　1.2 Grice’s Cooperative Principle4</p><p>　　1.2.1 Definition4</p>

4、<p>　　1.2.2 Four Conversational Maxims4</p><p>　　1.2.3 Violation of the Maxims4</p><p>　　1.3 The Necessity and Feasibility of Analyzing Fictional Dialogue in Jane Eyre by CP5</p>

5、<p>　　1.3.1 Necessity5</p><p>　　1.3.2 Feasibility5</p><p>　　2. An Analysis of Conversational Implicature in Jane Eyre6</p><p>　　2.1 Violation of the Quantity Maxim6</p&g

6、t;<p>　　2.1.1 Overstatement6</p><p>　　2.1.2 Understatement6</p><p>　　2.2 Violation of the Quality Maxim7</p><p>　　2.2.1 Metaphor7</p><p>　　2.2.2 Irony7</

7、p><p>　　2.2.3 Hyperbole8</p><p>　　2.3 Violation of the Manner Maxim8</p><p>　　2.3.1 Being Obscure8</p><p>　　2.3.2 Being Ambiguous9</p><p>　　2.3.3 Failure

8、to Be Brief9</p><p>　　2.3.4 Failure to Be Orderly10</p><p>　　2.4 Violation of the Relevance Maxim10</p><p>　　3. Functions of Conversational Implicature in Jane Eyre11</p>

9、<p>　　3.1 Revealing the Social Phenomena11</p><p>　　3.2 Showing the Personality of the Main Characters11</p><p>　　Conclusion11</p><p>　　References13</p><p>&l

10、t;b>　　摘要</b></p><p>　　英國女作家夏洛蒂?勃朗特的經(jīng)典小說《簡·愛》深受讀者喜愛，對(duì)它的研究可謂不勝枚舉。但是，從語用學(xué)的角度分析《簡·愛》里頗為豐富的會(huì)話含義則不多見。</p><p>　　本文從語用學(xué)的視角，運(yùn)用Grice提出的合作原則，分析《簡?愛》中男女主人公會(huì)話的含義。在此基礎(chǔ)上分析了會(huì)話含義的運(yùn)用在《簡?愛》中的作用，

11、從而進(jìn)一步說明了運(yùn)用語用學(xué)理論分析《簡·愛》中會(huì)話含義的必要性和可行性。</p><p>　　通過研究，本文發(fā)現(xiàn)《簡·愛》中人物往往多違背常規(guī)，采用迂回曲折的表達(dá)方式，以產(chǎn)生言外之意。Grice 的會(huì)話含義理論正適合于解釋這些現(xiàn)象。合作原則及其會(huì)話準(zhǔn)則一方面應(yīng)證了夏洛蒂﹒勃朗特小說創(chuàng)作的現(xiàn)實(shí)主義和女性意識(shí)；另一方面證明了運(yùn)用語用學(xué)理論對(duì)文學(xué)作品進(jìn)行文本分析的有效性及其對(duì)小說創(chuàng)作與欣賞的啟示。&

12、lt;/p><p>　　[關(guān)鍵詞]：《簡·愛》；會(huì)話含義；合作原則；會(huì)話準(zhǔn)則</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre enjoys great popularity from generation to generation and has bee

13、n studied fully since its publishing. However, few studies explored it from the perspective of pragmatics. </p><p>　　From the perspective of pragmatics, this paper applies Grice’s CP to analyze conversationa

14、l implicature of hero and heroine in Jane Eyre. This lays a solid foundation for analyzing the function of conversational implicature in Jane Eyre which makes a further explanation to its feasibilities and necessities of

15、 the conversational implicature from the pragmatic approach.</p><p>　　After studying, we discover that characters in Jane Eyre always use indirect expressions to produce conversational implicature by floutin

16、g the CP and conversational maxims. Gricean conversational implicature theory is right to interpret these phenomena. The author thinks that the CP and the conversational maxims, on the one hand, reflects Charlotte’s real

17、ism and Jane Eyre’s female consciousness; and on the other hand, it proves the validity of applying pragmatic theory into literary works. It al</p><p>　　[Key Words]: Jane Eyre; conversational implicature; co

18、operative principle; conversational maxims; </p><p>　　An Analysis of Fictional Dialogue on Jane Eyre from Gricean Conversational Implicature Theory</p><p>　　Introduction</p><p>　　Th

19、ere has been a great deal of study and analysis over Jane’s personalities from perspective of feminism. However, this thesis deals with the application of conversational implicature theory to fictional dialogue in Jane E

20、yre and few studies explored it from the perspective of pragmatics. Therefore, it is worth trying to study so as to deepen the understanding of the work.</p><p>　　It is well known that conversational implica

21、ture theory was proposed by Grice in the William James lecture delivered at Harvard in 1967. Grice (1967) develops the concept of implicature, which is essentially a theory about how people use language and means “what i

22、s implicated” or “what is implicitly conveyed” in contrast to “what is said”. It can be divided into two parts: conventional implicature and conversational implicature. The former depends upon the meaning of some special

23、 words regardles</p><p>　　The structure of this thesis is as follows. Chapter one is committed to a theoretical framework for the pragmatic analysis of fictional dialogue in Jane Eyre. Chapter two conducts a

24、 case study of Jane Eyre within the framework built in chapter one by analyzing fictional dialogue excerpted from the fiction. Chapter three mainly talks about functions of conventional implicature in Jane Eyre.</p>

25、;<p>　　1. Theoretical Framework for Analysis</p><p>　　1.1 Introduction of Jane Eyre</p><p>　　It is well known that Jane Eyre is a representative work of Charlotte Bronte.Jane Eyre, the ma

26、in character, was an orphan who was passed into the care of Mrs. Reed, the wife of her mother’s brother. After years of neglect and abuse, she was sent to a boarding school at age of ten, where she received good educatio

27、n under severe conditions. After her graduation, she got a position as a governess at Thornfield where she fell in love with her employer, Mr. Edward Rochester. At their wedding ceremony</p><p>　　1.2 Grice’s

28、 Cooperative Principle</p><p>　　1.2.1 Definition</p><p>　　According to Grice (1967), people cooperate with each other in a conversation. Speakers shape their utterances to be understood by heare

29、rs. In a word, it means in communication both parties involved will normally seek to cooperate with each other to establish agreed meaning. There are four maxims in the CP: quantity, quality, relevance and manner, which

30、will be illustrated in the following part.</p><p>　　1.2.2 Four Conversational Maxims</p><p>　　According to Grice (1975), participants are expected to observe CP in the conversation and he put fo

31、rward some detailed principles called conversational maxims that underlie CP, as follows.</p><p>　　The maxim of Quality</p><p>　　Try to make your contribution one that is true, especially:</p

32、><p>　　(i) Do not say what you believe to be false.</p><p>　　(ii) Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.</p><p>　　The maxim of Quantity</p><p>　　(i) Make yo

33、ur contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange.</p><p>　　(ii) Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.</p><p>　　(3) The maxim of R

34、elevance</p><p>　　Make your contribution relevant.</p><p>　　(4) The maxim of Manner</p><p>　　Be perspicuous, and specifically:</p><p>　　(i) Avoid obscurity of expressio

35、n</p><p>　　(ii) Avoid ambiguity</p><p>　　(iii) Be brief</p><p>　　(iv) Be orderly</p><p>　　(Grice, 1975)</p><p>　　According to the CP, the participants in a

36、 conversation normally communicate in a maximally efficient, rational and cooperative way. They should speak sincerely, relevantly and clearly, while providing sufficient information. But in real communication, the parti

37、cipants often flout the cooperative principle and its maxims. In such cases, conversational implicature arise.</p><p>　　1.2.3 Violation of the Maxims</p><p>　　Flouting the Maxim of Quality</p

38、><p>　　If what the speaker says is not true or lacks adequate evidence, he/she violates the maxim of quality. For example, </p><p>　　A: Ah, who am I kidding? I wouldn’t have a shot with a girl like

39、 that.</p><p>　　B: Don’t put yourself down. You are a very attractive man.</p><p>　　The conversation takes place at weekends when A has to accompany B in order to make compensation. When a beaut

40、y passes by, she has captured A’s heart. B looks down upon A’s behavior in his mind, but glorifies him in front of him. It is obvious that B has told lies.</p><p>　　(2)Flouting the Maxim of Quantity</p>

41、;<p>　　If the speaker provides more or less than is required, he is actually flouting the Maxim of Quantity. For instance,</p><p>　　A: When are you backing to school?</p><p>　　B: Sometime

42、 this morning.</p><p>　　Here the speaker fails to provide the precise time of his or her backing to the school because the speaker may do not know the precise time.</p><p>　　(3)Flouting the Maxi

43、m of Relevance</p><p>　　In some situation, the reply in a conversation may seem irrelevant to what they are talking about. For instance,</p><p>　　A: How many surrealists does it take to screw in

44、 a light bulb?</p><p><b>　　B: Fish</b></p><p>　　In the above short dialogue between A and B, B combines a strange answer with surrealists, which violates the maxim of relation.</p

45、><p>　　(4)Flouting the Maxim of Manner</p><p>　　If people speak in a vague or ambiguous way, they may violate the maxim of manner. For example,</p><p>　　A: Let’s send the teachers some

46、thing to express our gratitude.</p><p>　　B: Okay, but veto M-O-N-E-Y.</p><p>　　B’s utterance is obscure. In fact B doesn’t directly mention the money. So he avoids mentioning the word explicitly

47、. </p><p>　　1.3 The Necessity and Feasibility of Analyzing Fictional Dialogue in Jane Eyre by CP</p><p>　　1.3.1 Necessity</p><p>　　Fictional dialogue is a key to analyze the novel b

48、ecause it reflects character’s thoughts, feelings and personalities. What’s more, fictional dialogue needs to be interpreted and understood well because of its abundant implicature. As Leech and Short propose that, “We m

49、ust also recognize the importance of inference in the determination of characters: in novels, as in real life, a person’s characters are inferred from outward behavior, especially from speech” (Leech & Short, 2001: 2

50、00). Example 1</p><p>　　1.3.2 Feasibility</p><p>　　Language is a way to express one’s idea, feeling and so on. It is closely related to the society he lives. So is fictional dialogue. Fictional

51、dialogue is created by writers in their imaginational world. With fictional dialogue, the writer reflects the society he lives. It is well known that literature is a mirror of reflecting the society. From my perspective,

52、 although conversational implicature theory is based on daily conversations, it is the same to analyze the conversations in the novel. As</p><p>　　2. An Analysis of Conversational Implicature in Jane Eyre<

53、;/p><p>　　2.1 Violation of the Quantity Maxim</p><p>　　2.1.1 Overstatement</p><p>　　Overstatement refers to a case in which speaker’s information is more than required while stating a

54、fact. There is a dialogue which overstatement appears in Jane Eyre. </p><p><b>　　Example 1</b></p><p>　　“Then I must go: --you have said it yourself.”</p><p>　　“No: you

55、must stay! I swear it—and the oath shall be kept.”</p><p>　　“I tell you I must go!” I retorted, roused to something like passion. “Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an autom

56、aton? —a machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless

57、 and heartless? You think wrong! –I have as much as soul as you, --and full an much as heart! And if God had gifted me with some beau</p><p>　　It is obvious that Jane’s answer is overstatement. Actually she

58、simply expresses she must go. The conversational implicature is that although she is a governess and a poor, plain girl, she strives for equality and free love.</p><p>　　2.1.2 Understatement</p><p

59、>　　Understatement is the opposite side of overstatement that speaker’s information is less than required while stating a fact. By this way, the speaker intends to arouse the listener’s working on the implicature impli

60、ed.</p><p><b>　　Example 2</b></p><p>　　(At Thornfield)</p><p>　　(R) “Jane, do you mean to go one way in the world, and to let me go another?”</p><p>　　(R) “

61、Jane” (bending towards and embracing me), “do you mean it now?”</p><p>　　(J) “I do.”</p><p>　　(R) “And now?” softly kissing my forehead and cheek.</p><p>　　(J) “I do,”</p>&l

62、t;p>　　(R) “Oh, Jane, this is bitter! This—his is wicked. It would not be wicked to love me.”</p><p>　　(J) “It would to obey you.” (Jane Eyre: P323)</p><p>　　From this con

63、versation, we know that Jane decides to leave because of the existence of his mad wife. The sentences like “do you mean it now?”, “I do”, and “It would to obey you” are both understatement. They respectively mean “do you

64、 really want to leave” and “Yes, I have to go or it would be wicked.” It also reflects her feminism.</p><p>　　2.2 Violation of the Quality Maxim</p><p>　　In Jane Eyre we can easily find conversa

65、tional implicatures generated by flouting the quality maxim.</p><p>　　2.2.1 Metaphor</p><p>　　Metaphor is a non-literal use of words and phrases in which one thing is spoken of as if it were som

66、e other thing. </p><p><b>　　Example 3</b></p><p>　　(At Thornfield)</p><p>　　(R) “One instant, Jane. Give one glance to my horrible life when you are gone. All happiness

67、will be torn away with you. What then is left? For a wife I have but the maniac upstairs: as well might you refer me to some corpse in yonder churchyard. What shall I do, Jane? Where turn for a companion, and for some ho

68、pe?”</p><p>　　(J) “Do as I do: trust in God and yourself. Believe in heaven. Hope to meet again there.” (Jane Eyre: P323-324)</p><p>　　This dialogue happens when Jane knows Mr. Rochester has a m

69、ad wife. Some corpse in yonder churchyard is a metaphor by which Rochester compares his mad wife to corpse. And from Jane’s answer that “Hope to meet again there” probably implies that let’s meet in the heaven after deat

70、h. Also we can see Jane’s feminism to some extent. By using a metaphor, Mr. Rochester wants to make Jane know that his life will be more miserable if she leaves him. </p><p>　　2.2.2 Irony</p><p>

71、;　　Irony is a kind of rhetorical device. It always at the opposite side of what the speaker actually means. </p><p><b>　　Example 4</b></p><p>　　(At Thornfield)</p><p>　　

72、(R) “It’s like your impudence to say so: I expected it of you: I heard it in your step as you crossed the threshold.”</p><p>　　(J) “Did you? You’ve a quick ear.”</p><p>　　(R) “I have; and a quic

73、k eye, and a quick brain.”</p><p>　　(J) “You need them all in your trade.”</p><p>　　(R) “I do: especially when I’ve customers like you to deal with. Why don’t you tremble?”</p><p>　

74、　(J) “I’m not cold.”</p><p>　　(R) “Why don’t you turn pale?”</p><p>　　(J) “I’m not sick.”</p><p>　　(R) “Why don’t you consult my art?”</p><p>　　(J) “I’m not silly.”

75、 (Jane Eyre: P201)</p><p>　　This dialogue happens between Jane and Rochester who acts as a fortune teller. The word “impudence” annoys her. So she recriminates the fortune teller w

76、ith an ironical tone “quick ear” and “you need them all in your trade”, which mocks at the fortune teller. Actually she doesn’t believe it at all. What’s more, it reflects her rebelliousness.</p><p>　　2.2.3

77、Hyperbole</p><p>　　Hyperbole is a commonly used figure of speech which is an exaggerated expression of the utterance’s meaning. Its function is to make listener more impressive of what he or she says.</p&

78、gt;<p><b>　　Example 5</b></p><p>　　(At Thornfield)</p><p>　　(J) “No, sir; I am not on such terms with my relatives as would justify me in asking favors of them—but I shall adv

79、ertise.”</p><p>　　(R) “You shall walk up the pyramids of Egypt?” he growled. “At your peril you advertise! I wish I had only offered you a sovereign instead of ten pounds. Give me back nine pounds, Jane; I’v

80、e a use for it.” </p><p>　　(Jane Eyre: P230)</p><p>　　When Jane asks a few days’ leave to her aunt’s, Rochester is afraid that Jane may be never back.

81、“You shall walk up the pyramids of Egypt” is a hyperbole when he is hearing Jane will find a new job by advertising. Actually he shows his anger of her leaving to find a job. Also it can reflect Jane is an independent fe

82、male. </p><p>　　2.3 Violation of the Manner Maxim</p><p>　　2.3.1 Being Obscure</p><p>　　In our daily life, the speaker sometimes tends to make utterances ambiguous for a certain pur

83、pose. Those who know the speaker’s real intention can infer its real meaning.</p><p><b>　　Example 6</b></p><p>　　“You have saved my life: I have a pleasure in owing you so immense a

84、debt. I cannot say more. Nothing else that has being would have been tolerable to me in the character of creditor for such an obligation: but you: it is different; --I you’re your benefits no burden, Jane.” （Jane Eyre:

85、 P154)</p><p>　　This is Rochester’s reply after Jane saves his life during the fire. This sentence seems not strange at all. It just expresses his appreciation to Jane. However, in fact, it may contain two k

86、inds of meanings: On one hand, it is just literal meaning to express his appreciation; On the other hand, it shows his love to Jane. In this way, Rochester makes Jane understand this utterance by her own understanding. &

87、lt;/p><p>　　2.3.2 Being Ambiguous</p><p>　　In a conversation, the speaker may sometimes deliberately hide the real intention and wants to be understood by his listener. </p><p><b&g

88、t;　　Example 7</b></p><p>　　“Papa says you never come to see us now,” continued Miss Oliver, looking up. “You are quite a stranger at Vale Hall. He is alone this evening, and not very well: will you ret

89、urn with me and visit him?”</p><p>　　“It is not a seasonable hour to intrude on Mr. Oliver,” answered St. John. </p><p>　　(Jane Eyre: P371-372)</p><p>　　We can easily see Miss Olive

90、r’s implicature is that she loves St. John deeply, which makes her invite him bravely to her home in the name of her farther’s sickness. In this way, she gives a hint to St. John and others are difficult to catch the rea

91、l meaning. However, St. John refuses her request politely. What he really tells her is that he may be not the right person. </p><p>　　2.3.3 Failure to be Brief</p><p>　　In a conversation, when

92、the speaker speaks in a prolix way, he or she violates maxim of manner. In fact, the speaker’s real intention is hoping the listener to find it by herself/himself.</p><p><b>　　Example 8</b></p

93、><p>　　(At Ferndean)</p><p>　　(J) “My dear master,” I answered, “I am Jane Eyre: I have found you out—I am come back to you.”</p><p>　　(R) “In truth?—in the flesh? My living Jane?”<

94、/p><p>　　(J) “You touch me, sir—you hold me, and fast enough: I am not cold like a corpse, nor vacant like air, am I?”</p><p>　　(R) “My living darling! These are certainly her limbs, and these her

95、features; but I cannot be so blest, after all my misery. It is a dream; such dreams as I have had at night when I have clasped her once more to my heart, as I do now; and kissed her, as thus—and felt that she loved me, a

96、nd trusted that she would not leave me.” </p><p>　　…(omitted)</p><p>　　(R) “It is you—is it, Jane? You are come back to me, then?”</p><p>　　(J) “I am.”</p><p>　　(R) “An

97、d you do not lie dead in some ditch, under some stream? And you are not a pining outcast amongst strangers?” (Jane Eyre: P444)</p><p>　　This dialogue occurs when Jane returns to Roches

98、ter who couldn’t believe that especially he has been blind after the fire. So he asks “In truth?—in the flesh? My living Jane?” to show his doubt. But when he touches and holds her, he still doubts it –“It is you—is it,

99、Jane? You are come back to me, then?” All of these questions imply that if it is a fact that Jane really comes back to me.</p><p>　　2.3.4 Failure to Be Orderly</p><p>　　It means that the speaker

100、 speaks in a mixed or illogical way.</p><p><b>　　Example 9</b></p><p>　　“I thought I could have done some good.”</p><p>　　“You thought! You thought! Yes, it makes me imp

101、atience to hear you: but, however, you have suffered, and are likely to suffer enough for not taking my advice; so I’ll say no more. Carter—hurry! –hurry! The sun will soon rise, and I must have him off.”

102、 (Jane Eyre: P217)</p><p>　　During this dialogue, the reply made by Rochester is out of order. Actually it shows Rochester’s anger because Mason doesn’t accept his suggestion so t

103、hat Mason is stabbed his mad wife—Mason’s elder sister. Mason’s stupid action may bring huge misfortune to them, especially for him. Hence he speaks in this way in order to mix up his angry words. From his reply, Mason c

104、an easily infer Rochester’s real meaning: Do not do this stupid action again, go. </p><p>　　2.4 Violation of the Relevance Maxim</p><p>　　Example 10</p><p>　　(At Thornfield)</p&