英语文体学Chapter 4 Deepstructure Deviation.docx

1、英语文体学Chapter 4 Deepstructure DeviationChapter 4 Deep-structure Deviation Deep-structure deviation refers to semantic deviation, which may be defined as linguistic effects involving something odd in the cognitive meaning of a certain linguistic unit, e.g., a word or phrase (Leech, 1969: 131). Thus de

2、fined, semantic deviation may include a number of linguistic phenomena. In the following, however, we will only be able to discuss four typical cases: contradiction, transference, deception and ambiguity. 4.1 Contradiction Contradiction is a type of semantic deviation which conveys self-conflicting

3、information. It can be readily divided into two types which are termed in rhetoric oxymoron and paradox. 4.1.1 Oxymoron Oxymoron is the yoking together of two expressions which are incompatible, so that in combination they have no conceivable literal reference to reality (Leech, 1969: 132). Let us n

4、ow consider some examples from the following passages by Dickens. (1) As the wretched creature mumbled and chuckled in her hideous merriment, the undertaker turned to go away. (Oliver Twist) (2) The major again pressed to his blue eyes the tips of the fingers that were disposed on the edge of the wh

5、eeled chair with careful carelessness, after the Cleopatra model and Mr. Dombey bowed. (Dombey and Son) The wretched creature in Passage (1) refers to an old woman who is described in the novel as behaving in many ways like an idiot. The surface contradiction of the two words hideous and merriment a

6、ptly shows the extent of the old womans idiocy. The semantic clash is even more apparent in the two antonyms careful and carelessness in Passage (2). The grouping together of the two antonyms vividly and unreservedly demonstrates the pretence and affectedness of the major. 4.1.2 Paradox A paradox is

7、 a statement which is absurd because it is self-evidently false. A good example of paradox is contained in the following passage. (3) Nurse: His name is Romeo, and a Montague. The only son of your great enemy. Juliet: My only love sprung from my only hate. Too early seen unknown and known too late！

8、Prodigious birth of love that it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy. (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet) The statement that My only love sprung from my only hate is absurd because love and hate have opposite meanings, and it is inconceivable that love can spring from hate. In the play, however,

9、Juliet has fallen madly in love with the son of the family she has been brought up to hate. Thus, the paradox here effectively expresses Juliets mixed feelings for what she has done and at the same time, duly anticipates her final tragedy. Another interesting example of paradox is found in the openi

10、ng of Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four: (4) It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. The second clause of the sentence is a statement that is extremely absurd for in reality no clock strikes beyond twelve. Through the use of the paradox, Orwell seems to hint that the wh

11、ole story will be absurd. In brief, oxymoron and paradox are devices that allow the literary writer to express a certain truth or message through apparent falsehood.4.2 Transference In literature, transference of meaning is the process whereby literary absurdity leads the mind to comprehension on a

12、figurative plane. It is so important an element in literature that poets and critics alike have tended to consider it the only thing that really matters in literature. Transference in literature refers to such traditional figures of speech as synecdoche, metonymy and metaphor. We shall examine these

13、 devices with illustrations in turn. 4.2.1 Synecdoche Synecdoche is a type of transference of meaning which involves the substitution of a part for the whole. A good example of synecdoche is found in the following lines: (5) Return to her? . No, rather I abjure all roofs and choose. To be a comrade

14、with the wolf and owl. (Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew) Here, roofs do not refer to the outside coverings on top of buildings; but to whole houses or buildings. If we extend a little the definition of synecdoche, we may say that even the wolf and the owl can be said to be synecdochic, for the

15、wolf in this context refers not to one particular wolf but to all the wolves and all beasts of prey and the owl refers not to one particular owl but to all the owls and all the birds of prey. Synecdoche can also be interpreted more broadly to include substitution of the whole for a part, e.g. the su

16、bstitution of the army for a soldier. However, we need not go further into this here. 4.2.2 Metonymy Metonymy is another type of transference which involves substitution, and therefore has often been confused with synecdoche. However, metonymy is the substitution of a word referring to an attribute

17、of the thing that is meant, rather than the substitution of a part for the whole, or the whole for a part. The following poem once quoted and studied by Feng Cuihua (1983: 50) contains excellent examples of metonymy and is thus requoted and further studied here. (6) The glories of our blood and stat

18、e, Are shadows, not substantial things; There is no armour against fate; Death lays his icy hand on kings; Sceptre and Crown Must tumble down And in the dust be equal made With the poor crooked Scythe and Spade. (Shirley, The Glories of our Blood) In this poem, four metonyms are used: Sceptre, Crown

19、, Scythe, and Spade. Sceptre and Crown are things that kings and queens carry and wear to represent their power and authority, and are therefore metonyms for kings and queens. Scythe and spade are things used by peasants or farm workers, and are therefore metonyms for peasants. What Shirley is tryin

20、g to say is that death comes to all people, the noble and the humble alike. The idea would have been expressed much less effectively, if metonyms had not been used. 4.2.3 Metaphor The final and the most important type of meaning transference in literature is metaphor. It is associated, as Leech poin

21、ts out, with a particular rule of transference which may be called the metaphoric rule (1969: 151). That is, the figurative meaning is derived from the literal meaning or it is, as it were, the literal meaning. Now let us take a look at the examples below. (7) It is an empire ruled by one man - a sp

22、ecialist who is a giant in his own narrow field, but who otherwise is an inferior and poisonous human being, mean, egotistic, suspicious, miserly, brutally insistent to the point of bloodshed on his own whims, a moody despot with a mind more provincial than that of the most barbarous village bigot.

23、(Gold, Mike Gold Reader) (8) Lifes but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. (Shakespeare, Macbeth) In Passage (7), it which is said to be an empire refers t

24、o the Ford plant. In the dictionaries, of course, plant is not defined as empire. We can, therefore, only interpret it is an empire with recourse to the metaphoric rule. That is, we can only understand the meaning to be that it is like an empire or it is, as it were, an empire. The same point applie

25、s to Passage (8), where life is said to be a walking shadow, a poor player and a tale told by an idiot. We must understand these definitions of life in a figurative sense, i.e. life is like a walking shadow, a poor player and a tale told by an idiot. There are three elements in a metaphor. The most

26、generally accepted terms for the most explicitly stated elements are those introduced by I. A. Richards (1936): tenor (for the literal meaning) and vehicle (for the figurative meaning). The element that is not overtly stated is what Leech terms the ground (of comparison), i.e. the likeness perceived

27、 between the tenor and the vehicle. Leech points out that every metaphor is implicitly of the form X is like Y in respect of Z (X is the tenor, Y is the vehicle and Z is the ground) (1969: 151). In our first example above, it (the Ford plant) is the tenor, empire is the vehicle and, powerfulness, ex

28、ploitation and oppression can most probably be taken to be the ground. The use of this metaphor, as can be clearly seen, vividly reveals monopoly in American industry. Metaphor has been classified into types in different ways. There are five main types of metaphor, grouped partly in accordance with

29、Chapmans organization (1983: 8182). A. One type of sensory perception is expressed in terms of another, e.g. (9) If music be the food of love, play on. (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night) (10) Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. (Bacon, Of Studies) B

30、. A non-human referent is given human attributes, e.g. (11) So I unto myself alone will sing The wood shall to me answer, and my echo ring. (Spenser, Epithalamion) (12) Mistress, I dug upon your grave To bury a bone, in case I should be hungry near this spot When passing on my daily trot, I am sorry

31、, but I forgot It was your resting-place. (Hardy, Ah, Are you Digging on my Grave?) The speaker in the second example is a dog. C. A non-animate referent is given animate characteristics, e.g. (13) The sky rejoices in the mornings birth. (Wordsworth, Resolution and Independence) D. An abstraction is treated as if it were animate, e.g. (14) A terrible beauty is born. (W. B. Yeats, Easter 1916) E. A human referent is treated either as an inanimate being or