The study explores the narrative viewpoints in Joyce's "The Dead" through an examination of deictic shifts. It contributes to an understanding of the type of cognitive mechanics Joyce employed to capture the reader's cognitive stance. The question regarding the nature of cognitive resources that create a parallel between the narrator, characters, and readers is investigated. The research highlights the role of POPs and PUSHes in portraying the narrative structure. The text is divided into three parts, and the shifts of deictic centers are schematically represented, with a focus on likely deictic foregrounding that has aesthetic functions.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. Introduction
2. Approaching Point of View in Stylistics
3. Approaching Point of View in Cognitive Stylistics
3.1 Deictic Shift Theory
3.1.1 Deictic Terms and the Deictic Center
3.1.1.1 Place Deictic Terms
3.1.1.3 Person and Social Deictic Terms
3.1.1.4 Emphatic Deictic Terms
3.1.2 Deictic Projection and Deictic Fields
4. Narrative Progression and the Deictic Center Shift
5. Deictic Center Shifts Throughout Joyce's The Dead
5.1 Part One
5.2 Part Two
5.3 Part Three
Objectives and Core Topics
This work explores how narrative viewpoints are structured in James Joyce's "The Dead" by applying Deictic Shift Theory (DST). The primary objective is to investigate the "cognitive mechanics" Joyce employs to facilitate reader involvement, focusing on how readers mentally anchor themselves within the text world through deictic shifts and centers.
- Application of Deictic Shift Theory (DST) to literary analysis.
- Examination of linguistic triggers that control narrative movement and perspective.
- Cognitive processing of "POP" and "PUSH" mechanisms in narrative progression.
- Analysis of deictic fields, centers, and the artistic function of spatial, temporal, and personal deixis.
- Investigation of readerly immersion and its dependency on shifting deictic coordinates.
Excerpt from the Book
Place Deictic Terms
Place deixis defines the spatial grids of WHERE or the place in the textual world from which the reader views the events, objects, and characters described in the narrative. Place deictics are realized through adverbs such as here and there, locatives such as from his pocket, on the table, demonstratives such as this and that, and verbs of motion such as come, go, bring, and take. They acquire meaning only through a reference to the writer's, narrator's or character's position within the context of the textual world. The following is the opening paragraph in James Joyce's The Dead:
(1) Lily, the caretaker's daughter, was literally run off her feet. Hardly had she brought one gentleman into the little pantry behind the office on the ground floor and helped him off with his overcoat than the wheezy hall-door bell clanged again and she had to scamper along the bare hallway to let in another guest. It was well for her she had not to attend to the ladies also. But Miss Kate and Miss Julia had thought of that and had converted the bathroom upstairs into a ladies' dressing-room. Miss Kate and Miss Julia were there, gossiping and laughing and fussing, walking after each other to the head of the stairs, peering down over the banisters and calling down to Lily to ask her who had come. (Italics mine) (173)
This paragraph abounds with fourteen place deictic terms, the italicized ones, ranging from adverbs, as in ( in . . . there . . . down . . . upstairs); locatives, as in ( . . . into the little pantry . . . behind the office . . . on the ground floor . . . along the bare hallway . . . to the ladies . . . to the head of the stairs . . . over the banisters . . .); a single demonstrative which is (that) ; and finally to verbs of motion, as in the two verbs ( . . . brought . . . come).
Summary of Chapters
Preface: Introduces the study's aim to explore narrative viewpoint structures in "The Dead" through Deictic Shift Theory and the cognitive engagement of the reader.
1. Introduction: Outlines the significance of narrative perspective and how linguistic patterns in Joyce’s work guide the reader through complex narratorial viewpoints.
2. Approaching Point of View in Stylistics: Discusses traditional stylistic approaches to "who tells and who sees" and the linguistic framework of narrative point of view.
3. Approaching Point of View in Cognitive Stylistics: Shifts the focus to the cognitive layer of narrative interpretation and how readers process point of view dynamically.
3.1 Deictic Shift Theory: Details the primary grids of WHO, WHERE, and WHEN as coordinates that define the text world and the cognitive stance of the reader.
3.1.1 Deictic Terms and the Deictic Center: Explains the concept of deixis as an umbrella term for linguistic expressions that map relations between events, objects, and characters.
3.1.1.1 Place Deictic Terms: Analyzes how spatial markers like adverbs, locatives, and motion verbs establish the narrative’s spatial point of reference.
3.1.1.3 Person and Social Deictic Terms: Examines how personal pronouns and social titles encode social distance and character relationships within a narrative.
3.1.1.4 Emphatic Deictic Terms: Investigates the use of demonstratives like 'this' and 'that' to express emotional and psychological closeness or distance.
3.1.2 Deictic Projection and Deictic Fields: Discusses the cognitive process of leaving one's actual discourse world to inhabit a fictional text world.
4. Narrative Progression and the Deictic Center Shift: Analyzes the dynamics of movement between deictic centers through linguistic and non-linguistic triggers.
5. Deictic Center Shifts Throughout Joyce's The Dead: Provides a practical application of the method to track deictic shifts across the structure of Joyce's story.
5.1 Part One: Details the deictic structure in the story’s opening, focusing on Gabriel’s interactions and the initial triggers of reader involvement.
5.2 Part Two: Analyzes the complex, embedded deictic shifts during the party scene, emphasizing Gabriel's internal cognitive states.
5.3 Part Three: Investigates the final part of the story, focusing on the deictic "abyss" created by Gretta’s revelations and the story’s poignant conclusion.
Keywords
Deictic Shift Theory, Cognitive Stylistics, Narrative Viewpoint, Deictic Center, Text World, Reader Involvement, Deixis, POPs and PUSHes, Joyce's The Dead, Narrative Progression, Cognitive Stance, Spatial Deixis, Temporal Deixis, Person Deixis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this publication?
The book focuses on applying cognitive stylistics, specifically Deictic Shift Theory (DST), to analyze how James Joyce structures narrative viewpoints in his short story "The Dead" and how readers process these perspective shifts.
What are the primary thematic areas explored?
The study examines the relationship between linguistic forms (pronouns, locatives, tenses) and the reader’s cognitive immersion into fictional worlds, highlighting the mechanics of how perspective is anchored and changed.
What is the main research question or goal?
The primary aim is to uncover the cognitive resources Joyce uses to create a parallelism between the narrator's, the character's, and the reader's cognitive stances, specifically through the dynamics of shifting deictic centers.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The research uses the methodology of cognitive stylistics and Deictic Shift Theory. It utilizes a schematic representation process to map and trace the sequences of deictic pushes and pops throughout the narrative.
What topics are covered in the main body of the work?
The main sections cover the theoretical foundations of point of view in stylistics, the breakdown of various deictic types (place, person, temporal, emphatic, textual), and an empirical analysis of Joyce's "The Dead" across its three narrative parts.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Deictic Shift Theory, Cognitive Stylistics, Narrative Viewpoint, Deictic Center, POPs and PUSHes, and reader involvement.
How does the author define a "PUSH" versus a "POP" in the context of reading?
A "PUSH" involves moving from a primary ontological level (like the real reader's world) down into a deeper fictional or internal state (like a memory or flashback). A "POP" is the reverse movement, shifting back to a higher or more conscious ontological level.
What is "Deictic Voiding" as described in the book?
Deictic voiding occurs when a deictic element (such as WHO or WHEN) is shifted to null, which the author observes in certain sections of the text where the narrator remains external or omniscient without a clear personal anchor.
Why is the concept of "Embedding" significant in the analysis of Gabriel?
Embedding describes scenes or thoughts contained within Gabriel's primary deictic field. This technique reveals his restricted or egotistical perception, as his internal monologue frames the actions of others—like his wife or his aunts—within his own perspective.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Khalid Shakir Hussein (Autor:in), 2023, Exploring Narrative Viewpoints in Joyce's 'The Dead'. An Examination of Deictic Shift Theory and Cognitive Mechanics, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/1380740
