Focalization And Modes Of Narration In Selected Short Stories Of Ernest Hemingway: A Textual Analysis Of Dialogue, Monologue, And Interior Monologue
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Date
2015-08
Authors
Khabbazbashi, Shirin
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Abstract
According to Halliday (2002), language users make constant linguistic choices to fulfill different language functions in order to convey various meanings and such linguistic choices are reflected in the lexicogrammatical structures of the created texts. Halliday‘s account of language has been discussed and used by numerous scholars in linguistic studies (Gutwinski, 1976; Carter, 1982; Fowler, 1996; Simpson, 1994), yet research on the effects of different stylistic choices by the authors on the lexicogrammatical structures of the narrative texts and the methodological issues concerned have remained sparse. In fact, stylistic studies in literature are mostly based on the subjective, interpretative analysis, as some scholars have stated (MacDonald, 2002; Zyngier, 1994; Enkvist, 1971). Therefore, such studies need to be complemented by other research tools to form a coherent methodology for analyzing literary texts. Furthermore, Genette‘s focalization theory (1983) has merely remained at the level of theoretical discussions, without any practical attempt in finding the linguistic indices to be linked to his theoretical concepts (Broman, 2004). Moreover, the role of addressee/narratee in recognizing the focalizing voices of narrative texts has not been fully tackled in the studies related to the focalization. Therefore, the present study is dedicated to address the mentioned problem, adopting an interdisciplinary approach by combining Halliday‘s systemic functional linguistics theory (2002) and focalization theory of Genette (1983). The selected stories for the analysis are: ―Hills Like White Elephants‖ (1927), ―The Killers‖ (1927), and The Old Man and the Sea (1952) by Ernest
Hemingway. The present study is concerned with three textual features: ratio of lexical density, proportion of non-simple T-units, and average sentence length and measures these textual features in three different narration modes (dialogue, monologue, and interior monologue), two points of view (the third person objective and omniscient points of view), and distinctive addressees/narratees. Additionally, the dialogues of the three stories are analyzed and compared in terms of lexicogrammatical discrepancies, since the stories appear in different dialogic and monologic narration styles. The findings of this study demonstrate the effects of stylistic choices of the author on the lexicogrammatical structures of the selected stories. Furthermore, the study adds a third perspective to the focalization theory by proposing the question of ―To whom is it said?‖ and expanding the previously introduced questions of ―Who says?‖ and ―Who sees?‖ by Genette (1983). By developing a new model to identify and categorize the characteristics of the addressee/narratee, the study differentiates three types of addressee/narratee in The Old Man and the Sea. Also the study identifies the ―self‖ as an interactive addressee/ narratee and distinguishes his focalizing voice in this story. Additionally, the results of the study unmask the textual discrepancies between dialogues of the stylistically different monologic and dialogic stories.
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Ernest Hemingway , Monologue