Cogprints

Global coherence, narrative structure, and expectations of relevance

Unger, Dr. Christoph (2002) Global coherence, narrative structure, and expectations of relevance. [Conference Paper] (Unpublished)

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF
76Kb

Abstract

A topic for both literary studies and discourse analysis is the global structure of texts. Studies of global text structure have largely been focused on narrative structure, where a major strand of research has been devoted to the role which grounding (sometimes called information staging or foreground-background articulation) has for discourse structuring. It is often claimed that grounding is an important aspect of the notion of global coherence, that the overt realisation of grounding effects in texts depend on their genre and that this is generally reflected in the verbal system of natural languages (e.g. Caenepeel 1995; Hooper 1998; Hopper 1979; Fleischmann 1985; 1990; Longacre 1983; 1989). However, the notions of foreground and background are notoriously vague. In this paper I will argue for an alternative account of grounding effects based on the relevance-theoretic claim that the fine-tuning of the addressee's expectations of relevance is an essential part of the on-line processing of complex ostensive stimuli such as texts (Unger 2001). Linguistic and non-linguistic clues can be used to point the addressee to gradations in information grounding within a text in ways which far extend the coding resources of natural languages. This account may provide an explanatory account for Gumperz' (1992) "contextualization clues" and thus open up a new line of interdisciplinary interaction of relevance-theoretic pragmatics with some strands of research in ethnomethodology. It also suggests the idea that the emergence of literary form may be facilitated by the relevance-orientedness of cognition and communication which suggests that the more clues the communicator can give for fine-tuning the addressee's expectation of relevance in complex stimuli, the better chance of successful communication he has, which in turn motivates the use of communicative clues far beyond the coding resources of given natural languages as well as adherence to cultural conventions regarding the form of texts.

Item Type:Conference Paper
Keywords:relevance, relevance theory, narrative, narrative structure, information grounding, foreground, background, global coherence, ostensive stimuli, complex ostensive stimuli
Subjects:Linguistics > Pragmatics
ID Code:5440
Deposited By: Unger, Dr. Christoph
Deposited On:06 Mar 2007
Last Modified:11 Mar 2011 08:56

References in Article

Select the SEEK icon to attempt to find the referenced article. If it does not appear to be in cogprints you will be forwarded to the paracite service. Poorly formated references will probably not work.

Basso, E. B. 1992: 'Contextualization in Kalapalo narratives,' In Duranti & Goodwin (eds) Rethinking context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 253-269.

Blass, R. 1990: Relevance relations in discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Caenepeel, M. 1995: 'Aspect and text structure,' Linguistics. 33, 213-253.

Fleischmann, S. 1985: 'Discourse functions of tense-aspect oppositions in narrative: toward a theory of grounding,' Linguistics. 23(6), 851-882.

Fleischmann, S. 1990: Tense and Narrativity: From Medieval Performance to Modern Fiction. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Gumperz, J. J. 1992: 'Contextualization and understanding,' In Duranti, A. & C. Goodwin (eds): Rethinking context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 229-252.

Grimes, J. E. 1975: The Thread of Discourse. The Hague: Mouton.

Hooper, R. 1998: 'Universals of narrative pragmatics: a Polynesian case study,' Linguistics. 36, 119-160.

Hopper, P. J. 1979: 'Aspect and foregrounding in discourse,' In Giv'n, T. (ed.): Syntax and semantics 12: Discourse and syntax. San Diego, CA and London, UK: Academic Press. 213-241.

Hopper, P. J. & S. A. Thompson 1980: 'Transitivity in grammar and discourse,' Language. 56(1), 251-299.

Klein, W. & C. von Stutterheim 1987: 'Quaestio und referentielle Bewegung in Erz'hlungen,' Linguistische Berichte. 109, 163-183.

Kuppevelt, J. van 1995: 'Main structure and side structure in discourse,' Linguistics. 33, 809-833.

Labov, W. 1972: Language in the Inner City. Studies in Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Labov, W. & J. Waletzky 1967: 'Narrative analysis: oral versions of personal experience,' In Helm (ed.) Essays on the Verbal and Visual Arts. Proceedings of the 1966 Annual Spring Meeting of the American Ethnological Society. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 12-44.

Longacre, R. E. 1983: The grammar of discourse. New York: Plenum Press.

Longacre, R. E. 1989: 'Two hypotheses regarding text generation and text analysis,' Discourse processes. 12, 413'460.

Longacre, R. E. 1990: 'Introduction,' In Longacre & Shaler (eds) 'Indian Textlinguistic Sketches,' Occasional Papers in Translation and Textlinguistics. 4(1/2), 1'17.

Reinhart, T. 1984: 'Principles of Gestalt perception in the temporal organization of narrative texts,' Linguistics. 22, 53-94.

Sperber, D. & D. Wilson 1995: Relevance. first edition 1986, Oxford: Blackwell.

Stutterheim, C. von 1997: Einige Prinzipien des Textaufbaus. T'bingen: Niemeyer.

Unger, C. 2001: On the cognitive role of genre: a relevance-theoretic perspective. University of London PhD thesis.

Wilson, D. & D. Sperber 1993: 'Linguistic form and relevance,' Lingua. 90, 1-25.

Metadata

Repository Staff Only: item control page