《白象似的群山》中的会话分析.docx

《白象似的群山》中的会话分析.docx

《《白象似的群山》中的会话分析.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《《白象似的群山》中的会话分析.docx（9页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

《白象似的群山》中的会话分析

《白象似的群山》中的会话分析

摘要

《白象似的群山》是海明威的一部短篇小说。

海明威的作品以及他本人的生平一直受到无数学者及评论家的青睐。

整篇小说以会话为主，小说中的人物通过对话表达自己的真实意图，也给读者留下了深刻的印象。

小说会话是小说文学体裁的重要组成部分。

与真实会话相同，小说中的会话也遵循一定的语言规则和策略。

人们通过会话直接或间接地表达自己的意图，以达到某种目的。

本文会运用会话合作原则和福柯的话语权利理论对《白象似的群山》中的会话进行分析，解读小说人物角色的真实意图。

同时也有助于更好的理解合作原则和话语权利在会话中的应用,对今后的文学鉴赏及教学也有借鉴作用。

关键词：

小说会话，合作原则，话语权利理论，言语行为理论

ConversationAnalysisinHillslikeWhiteElephants

Abstract

HillsLikeWhiteElephantsisashortstorywrittenbyHemingway,whoseworksandlifehasbeenfavoredbycountlesscritics.Mostoftheshortstoryisintheformofconversation.Charactersinthenovelexpresstheirtrueintentionsthroughthedialogue,whichleavesreadersadeepimpression.Justlikereal-lifeconversations,itsconversationsintheshortstoryalsohavetofollowsomelinguisticrulesandstrategies.Peopleexpresstheirintentionsthroughconversationsdirectlyorindirectlytoachieveacertainpurpose.ThispaperwillapplytheprincipleofcooperationandFoucauldiandiscourseanalysistoanalyzetheconversationsinHillsLikeWhiteElephantsandinterpretthetruemeaningofthecharacters'words.Atthesametime,itisalsohelpfultohaveabetterunderstandingoftheapplicationoftheprincipleofcooperationandFoucauldiandiscourseanalysisinconversation,whichwouldbehelpfulinliteraryappreciationandteaching.

KeyWords:

conversation,theprincipleofcooperation,discoursepower,SpeechActTheory

1.Introduction

HillslikeWhiteElephantsisoneofthemasterpiecesofErnestHemingway.Itwasfirstpublishedin1927andembodiedinHemingway’ssecondcollectionofshortstories—“MenWithoutWomen”.Thestorybearsanopenending,astheheroineJigstates“ButIdon’tcareaboutme.AndI’lldoitandtheneverythingwillbefine”.Theshortstoryisnomorethan1500words,andalsowithnoexcitedplot.However,WesterncriticsregardtheshortstoryasoneofthemostterriblestoryofHemingway’sworks.IttakesplaceinlastcenturyinSpain.AyoungAmericanmanandawomansitinarailwaystationnexttoasmallinn.Theydrinkbeerandtalkwitheachotherunhappilywhilewaitingtrain.Thetopicisaroundnothingmorethananoperation.Duringtheconversation,themanseemstobeverypatientandgenerousallthetime,butthewomannamedJigsometimeslooksatdistantmountains,sometimesstaresatthewordsonacurtainoftheinn,sometimesisabsent-mindedandsometimesishysterical.Themanwantsthegirltodotheoperation,whilethegirlisnotwillingtodoit.Whenthetrainisarriving,thesetwopeoplestopthetalkabruptly.Asfortheoperation,otherscanmakenothingofit.Thestoryseemstobeasimpleconversationbetweenthesetwolovers,butactuallyitincludesadiscourseconfrontationbetweenthemanandthewoman.Theconversationdemonstratessomediscoursepowerandsomedisobedienceoftheprincipleofcooperation.

AnotherfeatureofHemingway’sworksishis“icebergtheory”.Asfor“icebergtheory”,Hemingwayhashisownexplanation.Hethinksthatifawriterknowswellaboutwhathewanttowrite,hemayomitwhathehasknowninhiswork.Ifthewriterexpressproperlyandfullofemotion,readersareabletounderstandtheomittedpart.ItisobviousthatHemingwayisinfavorof“icebergtheory”.AccordingtoHemingway’sexplanation,wecanknowthaticebergtheoryistocreateadistinctiveimagethroughsimplewords.Therearewriters’thoughtandemotionundertheirwords.Soworksinthiskindarefullofemotionbutwithmoreimplication,whichmakesreaderspursuethedeepmeaningofworkthroughthesedistinctivecharacters.

TheHemingway’sicebergtheoryalsohasareflectioninthisshortstory.Wecanseethatthereisnoobviousanddirectexpressionbothforthemanandthegirl.Theyallliketoimplytheothertogettheirownpurpose.Thegirlalwaysusesmetaphortoaskthemanabouttheirfuture,whilethemanseemsnotwantstotakehisresponsibility.Readerscanusetheirimaginationtoexploreanypossibilityoftheshortstory.Maybethemaninnovelhasmarried,forcinghislovertodotheabortion.Maybethemanthinksthatthefetuswillbeatroubleforthegirlandhersake.Asforthegirl,maybesheiswillingtodotheabortionbecauseofthelesstime.Maybesheagreestodotheabortionfortheman’ssake.MilanKunderathinksthatHemingwayisgoodatconstructdialoguesbothinrealityandinliterature.Hecreatesasimple,clearandmeaningfulstructurethatgivesreadersawonderfulstory.

HillslikeWhiteElephantsisfullofconversations.Therearealltogetherfiveroundsofconversations.Eachconversationwaswordsagainstandwordsstruggle,whichmakesthewholestorymoreinterestingandintriguing.ThepurposeofthisthesisistoanalyzeHillslikeWhiteElephantsbythecooperativeprinciplefromthepragmaticperspective,wecanunderstandthecharacteristicsofHemingway's"icebergtheory"fromanotherangleandunderstandtheauthor'sintention.ThisthesiswillanalyzeHillslikeWhiteElephantsfromtwoaspects.Oneistheapplicationofprincipleofcooperationinthestory’sconversation;anotheroneisthediscoursepowerreflectedinthestory.

Thethesisincludesfourchapters.Themaincontentsofeachchapterareasfollows:

Chapteronedealswiththeliteraturereviewandbackgroundinformation.Itreviewsthefeaturesoftheshortstory,therelevanttheoriesaswellasthepragmatictheoriesandprinciples,whichprovideabasisforfutureanalysisofdialoguesintheshortstories.

Chaptertwointroducestheprincipleofcooperationanditsapplicationindiscourse.TheprincipleofcooperationisputforwardbyGrice.Cooperativeprinciplesrefertotherulesthatspeakersinaconversationaresupposedtoobey,whichcanpromoteidealconversations.Butinrealconversations,theseprinciplesarehardtoobeyforthatpeoplewoulddisobeysomeprinciplestogetsomepurpose.Theanalysisofcooperativeprinciplesinthisnovelcanrevealtherelationshipbetweenliteralmeaningandtherealmeaningoftheutterance.Inthischapter,wecanunderstandthetruepurposeofthemanandthegirlandthetruemeaningoftheirwords.

Chapterthreeusespragmatictheoriestoanalyzedialoguesinstory.ThischapterwilluseFoucault’stheoryofdiscoursetoexplorethepowerofcharacters’words.Discoursecanproducepower,inreturn,powercanalsoinfluencethediscourse.Thischaptercanhelpreadersfeelthepowerandthecharmoflanguage.

Chapterfouristheconclusionofthewholethesis,themajorfindingsoftheanalysis,thelimitationsofthestudyaswellasthesuggestionsforthefurther.

2.ConversationAnalysisofHillslikeWhiteElephants

2.1.Principleofcooperation

H.P.Grice,anAmericanphilosopher,putsforwardthe"cooperativeprinciple"intheconversation,whichmeansspeakersandlistenersshouldcomplywithsomeprinciplestoachievespecificgoalsincommunication.Cooperativeprincipleincludesfourcriteria:

MaximofQuantity,MaximofQuality,MaximofRelevance,MaximofManner.MaximofQuantityreferstothatthecontentofaconversationshouldcontainallnecessaryinformationandshouldnothaveredundantinformation;MaximofQualityrequestsspeakerstotelltruth.Whatismoreimportantisthatspeakerscannotsaysomethingtheydon’tknowortheydon’thaveenoughevidence;MaximofRelevancemeansthatspeakersshouldsaysomethingrelatedtothemainideaofconversation.Anythingirrelevantisnotaccepted;MaximofMannerholdsthatspeakersshouldexpresstheirideasinasimpleandclearway,tryingtheirbesttoavoidambiguity.[1]However,theprincipleofcooperationishardlytobeobeyedinsomeconversation.Sometimeswhenpeopleneedtoexpressthemselvesinaeuphemisticway,theywilldisobeysomeprinciplesofconversation,evendisobeyallthesefourprinciples,insteadofexpressingsomethingdirectly.

2.2.ConversationanalysisinFive–roundconversation

“ThehillsacrossthevalleyoftheEbrowerelongandwhite.”[2]theLandscapedescriptionatbeginningofthestorykeepswiththetitleHillsLikeWhiteElephants.Thenthewomanoverlooksthemountainsandexpressesheremotion.Thefirstroundconversationfocusesonthehills

'Theylooklikewhiteelephants,'shesaid.

'I'veneverseenone.'Themandrankhisbeer.

'No,youwouldn'thave.'

'Imighthave,'themansaid.'JustbecauseyousayIwouldn'thavedoesn'tproveanything.'[3]Inthisdialogue,thewomanbroughtupthesubjectfirst.Shemademetaphorsoftheshapeandcolorofthemountainsinthedistance.Themanseemedtobenotinterestedinthis.Whenthewomancomplainttheman’sindifference,themansuddenlychangedtheargumentandrefutedher.Inthispartthemanonlyhastwosentencesandthatobviouslydisobeythemaximofquality.Itisobviouslythatthemandidn’tsaythetruth,orwhathesaidisnotreliable.Itwasnotharmonyfortheirrelationship.Thereweresomecomplainsbetweenthem.However,neitherofthemcanpersuadetheother.Theirdialoguecandemonstratetheriftoftheirrelationship.

Whenthewomansawthatthisdialoguecouldn’tgoon,shechangedtoanothersubject.Shesuggestedhavingakindofdrink.Themanandthewomanbothmadeanevaluationafterdrinking.

Ittasteslikelicorice,'thegirlsaidandputtheglassdown.'

'That'sthewaywitheverything.'

'Yes,'saidthegirl.'Everythingtastesoflicorice.Especiallyallthethingsyou'vewaitedsolongfor,likeabsinthe.'

'Oh,cutitout.'

'Youstartedit,'thegirlsaid.'Iwasbeingamused.Iwashavingafinetime.'[4]Thewomanthoughtthedrinktastinglikelicorice,butthemanthoughtthatallthingswerethesame.Whenthewomancomparedsomethingshedesiredforalongtimetothisdrink,shewasinterruptedb