英语文体学Chapter 4 Deepstructure Deviation.docx

英语文体学Chapter 4 Deepstructure Deviation.docx

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英语文体学Chapter4DeepstructureDeviation

Chapter4Deep-structureDeviation

    Deep-structuredeviationreferstosemanticdeviation,whichmaybedefinedas"linguisticeffectsinvolvingsomethingoddinthecognitivemeaningofacertainlinguisticunit,e.g.,awordorphrase"（Leech,1969:

131）.Thusdefined,semanticdeviationmayincludeanumberoflinguisticphenomena.Inthefollowing,however,wewillonlybeabletodiscussfourtypicalcases:

contradiction,transference,deceptionandambiguity.

    4.1Contradiction

    Contradictionisatypeofsemanticdeviationwhichconveysself-conflictinginformation.Itcanbereadilydividedintotwotypeswhicharetermedinrhetoricoxymoronandparadox.

    4.1.1Oxymoron

    Oxymoronis"theyokingtogetheroftwoexpressionswhichareincompatible,sothatincombinationtheyhavenoconceivableliteralreferencetoreality"（Leech,1969:

132）.LetusnowconsidersomeexamplesfromthefollowingpassagesbyDickens.

（1）Asthewretchedcreaturemumbledandchuckledinherhideousmerriment,theundertakerturnedtogoaway.

    （OliverTwist）

（2）Themajoragainpressedtohisblueeyesthetipsofthefingersthatweredisposedontheedgeofthewheeledchairwithcarefulcarelessness,aftertheCleopatramodelandMr.Dombeybowed.

    （DombeyandSon）

    ThewretchedcreatureinPassage

（1）referstoanoldwomanwhoisdescribedinthenovelasbehavinginmanywayslikeanidiot.Thesurfacecontradictionofthetwowordshideousandmerrimentaptlyshowstheextentoftheoldwoman'sidiocy.

    ThesemanticclashisevenmoreapparentinthetwoantonymscarefulandcarelessnessinPassage

（2）.Thegroupingtogetherofthetwoantonymsvividlyandunreservedlydemonstratesthepretenceandaffectednessofthemajor.

    4.1.2Paradox

    Aparadoxisastatementwhichisabsurdbecauseitisself-evidentlyfalse.Agoodexampleofparadoxiscontainedinthefollowingpassage.

    （3）Nurse:

HisnameisRomeo,andaMontague.

    Theonlysonofyourgreatenemy.

    Juliet:

Myonlylovesprungfrommyonlyhate.

    Tooearlyseenunknownandknowntoolate！

    Prodigiousbirthoflovethatitistome,

    ThatImustlovealoathedenemy.

    （Shakespeare,RomeoandJuliet）

    ThestatementthatMyonlylovesprungfrommyonlyhateisabsurdbecauseloveandhatehaveoppositemeanings,anditisinconceivablethatlovecanspringfromhate.Intheplay,however,Juliethasfallenmadlyinlovewiththesonofthefamilyshehasbeenbroughtuptohate.Thus,theparadoxhereeffectivelyexpressesJuliet'smixedfeelingsforwhatshehasdoneandatthesametime,dulyanticipatesherfinaltragedy.

    AnotherinterestingexampleofparadoxisfoundintheopeningofOrwell'sNineteenEighty-Four:

    （4）Itwasabright,colddayinApril,andtheclockswerestrikingthirteen.

    Thesecondclauseofthesentenceisastatementthatisextremelyabsurdforinrealitynoclockstrikesbeyondtwelve.Throughtheuseoftheparadox,Orwellseemstohintthatthewholestorywillbeabsurd.

    Inbrief,oxymoronandparadoxaredevicesthatallowtheliterarywritertoexpressacertaintruthormessagethroughapparentfalsehood.

4.2Transference

    Inliterature,transferenceofmeaningistheprocesswherebyliteraryabsurdityleadsthemindtocomprehensiononafigurativeplane.Itissoimportantanelementinliteraturethatpoetsandcriticsalikehavetendedtoconsiderittheonlythingthatreallymattersinliterature.Transferenceinliteraturereferstosuchtraditionalfiguresofspeechassynecdoche,metonymyandmetaphor.Weshallexaminethesedeviceswithillustrationsinturn.

    4.2.1Synecdoche

    Synecdocheisatypeoftransferenceofmeaningwhichinvolvesthesubstitutionofapartforthewhole.Agoodexampleofsynecdocheisfoundinthefollowinglines:

    （5）Returntoher?

...

    No,ratherIabjureallroofsandchoose...

    Tobeacomradewiththewolfandowl.

    （Shakespeare,TheTamingoftheShrew）

    Here,roofsdonotrefertotheoutsidecoveringsontopofbuildings;buttowholehousesorbuildings.Ifweextendalittlethedefinitionofsynecdoche,wemaysaythateventhewolfandtheowlcanbesaidtobesynecdochic,forthewolfinthiscontextrefersnottooneparticularwolfbuttoallthewolvesandallbeastsofpreyandtheowlrefersnottooneparticularowlbuttoalltheowlsandallthebirdsofprey.

    Synecdochecanalsobeinterpretedmorebroadlytoincludesubstitutionofthewholeforapart,e.g.thesubstitutionof'thearmy'for'asoldier'.However,weneednotgofurtherintothishere.

    4.2.2Metonymy

    Metonymyisanothertypeoftransferencewhichinvolvessubstitution,andthereforehasoftenbeenconfusedwithsynecdoche.However,metonymyisthesubstitutionofawordreferringtoanattributeofthethingthatismeant,ratherthanthesubstitutionofapartforthewhole,orthewholeforapart.ThefollowingpoemoncequotedandstudiedbyFengCuihua（1983:

50）containsexcellentexamplesofmetonymyandisthusrequotedandfurtherstudiedhere.

    （6）Thegloriesofourbloodandstate,

    Areshadows,notsubstantialthings;

    Thereisnoarmouragainstfate;

    Deathlayshisicyhandonkings;

    SceptreandCrown

    Musttumbledown

    Andinthedustbeequalmade

    WiththepoorcrookedScytheandSpade.

    （Shirley,TheGloriesofourBlood）

    Inthispoem,fourmetonymsareused:

Sceptre,Crown,Scythe,andSpade.SceptreandCrownarethingsthatkingsandqueenscarryandweartorepresenttheirpowerandauthority,andarethereforemetonymsforkingsandqueens.Scytheandspadearethingsusedbypeasantsorfarmworkers,andarethereforemetonymsforpeasants.WhatShirleyistryingtosayisthatdeathcomestoallpeople,thenobleandthehumblealike.Theideawouldhavebeenexpressedmuchlesseffectively,ifmetonymshadnotbeenused.

    4.2.3Metaphor

    Thefinalandthemostimportanttypeofmeaningtransferenceinliteratureismetaphor.Itisassociated,asLeechpointsout,withaparticularruleoftransferencewhichmaybecalledthe"metaphoricrule"（1969:

151）.Thatis,thefigurativemeaningisderivedfromtheliteralmeaningoritis,asitwere,theliteralmeaning.Nowletustakealookattheexamplesbelow.

    （7）Itisanempireruledbyoneman-aspecialistwhoisagiantinhisownnarrowfield,butwhootherwiseisaninferiorandpoisonoushumanbeing,mean,egotistic,suspicious,miserly,brutallyinsistenttothepointofbloodshedonhisownwhims,amoodydespotwithamindmoreprovincialthanthatofthemostbarbarousvillagebigot.

    （Gold,MikeGoldReader）

    （8）Life'sbutawalkingshadow,apoorplayer

    Thatstrutsandfretshishouruponthestage,

    Andthenisheardnomore:

itisatale

    Toldbyanidiot,fullofsoundandfury,

    Signifyingnothing.

    （Shakespeare,Macbeth）

    InPassage（7）,itwhichissaidtobeanempirereferstotheFordplant.Inthedictionaries,ofcourse,'plant'isnotdefinedasempire.Wecan,therefore,onlyinterpretitisanempirewithrecoursetothe"metaphoricrule".Thatis,wecanonlyunderstandthemeaningtobethatitislikeanempireoritis,asitwere,anempire.ThesamepointappliestoPassage（8）,wherelifeissaidtobeawalkingshadow,apoorplayerandataletoldbyanidiot.Wemustunderstandthesedefinitionsoflifeinafigurativesense,i.e.lifeislikeawalkingshadow,apoorplayerandataletoldbyanidiot.

    Therearethreeelementsinametaphor.ThemostgenerallyacceptedtermsforthemostexplicitlystatedelementsarethoseintroducedbyI.A.Richards（1936）:

tenor（fortheliteralmeaning）andvehicle（forthefigurativemeaning）.TheelementthatisnotovertlystatediswhatLeechtermstheground（ofcomparison）,i.e.thelikenessperceivedbetweenthetenorandthevehicle.Leechpointsoutthateverymetaphorisimplicitlyoftheform"XislikeYinrespectofZ"（Xisthetenor,YisthevehicleandZistheground）（1969:

151）.Inourfirstexampleabove,it（theFordplant）isthetenor,empireisthevehicleand,'powerfulness','exploitation'and'oppression'canmostprobablybetakentobetheground.Theuseofthismetaphor,ascanbeclearlyseen,vividlyrevealsmonopolyinAmericanindustry.

    Metaphorhasbeenclassifiedintotypesindifferentways.Therearefivemaintypesofmetaphor,groupedpartlyinaccordancewithChapman'sorganization（1983:

81～82）.

    A.Onetypeofsensoryperceptionisexpressedintermsofanother,e.g.

    （9）Ifmusicbethefoodoflove,playon.

    （Shakespeare,TwelfthNight）

    （10）Somebooksaretobetasted,otherstobeswallowed,andsomefewtobechewedanddigested.

    （Bacon,OfStudies）

    B.Anon-humanreferentisgivenhumanattributes,e.g.

    （11）SoIuntomyselfalonewillsing

    Thewoodshalltomeanswer,andmyechoring.

    （Spenser,Epithalamion）

    （12）'Mistress,Iduguponyourgrave

    Toburyabone,incase

    Ishouldbehungrynearthisspot

    Whenpassingonmydailytrot,

    Iamsorry,butIforgot

    Itwasyourresting-place.'

    （Hardy,'Ah,AreyouDiggingonmyGrave?

'）

    ThespeakerⅠinthesecondexampleisadog.

    C.Anon-animatereferentisgivenanimatecharacteristics,e.g.

    （13）Theskyrejoicesinthemorning'sbirth.

    （Wordsworth,ResolutionandIndependence）

    D.Anabstractionistreatedasifitwereanimate,e.g.

    （14）Aterriblebeautyisborn.

    （W.B.Yeats,Easter1916）

    E.Ahumanreferentistreatedeitherasaninanimatebeingor