Literary Pragmatics and English Literature

Literary Pragmatics: Term and Concept

Etymology

• Derived from the Latin word, literary pragmatics is a combination of two words, Latin word, “literarius,” meaning “of or relating to letters or literature.” In this context, it refers to the study and interpretation of written works. From the Greek word “pragma,” meaning “deed” or “action.” In linguistics, pragmatics studies how language is used in context to achieve specific goals and create meaning.

Term and Concept in Literary Studies

• Literary Pragmatics: Literary Pragmatics is a field that combines literary analysis with the principles of pragmatics. It examines how authors use language to create meaning, how readers interpret texts, and how social and cultural factors influence both the production and reception of literature.
• Focus on Context: Literary pragmatics emphasizes the importance of context in understanding literature. This includes the historical and cultural context in which a work was written, as well as the specific context of individual words and phrases within the text.
• Reader Response: Literary pragmatics considers the role of the reader in creating meaning. It recognizes that readers bring their own experiences, knowledge, and interpretations to a text, and that these factors can shape how they understand and appreciate literature.
• Implicit Meaning: Literary pragmatics explores how authors use language to convey meaning beyond the literal level. This includes the use of irony, metaphor, and other figures of speech, as well as the creation of implied or indirect meanings through the structure and organization of a text.
• Social and Cultural Factors: Literary pragmatics examines how social and cultural factors influence the production and reception of literature. This includes the way that literature reflects and shapes social norms, values, and beliefs, as well as the way that literature is used to communicate and negotiate meaning within specific social and cultural contexts.
• Interdisciplinary Approach: Literary pragmatics draws on insights from a variety of disciplines, including linguistics, philosophy, sociology, and anthropology. This interdisciplinary approach allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the complex ways in which literature functions and creates meaning in the world.

Literary Pragmatics: Theorists, Works and Arguments

• Richard Ohmann (1971)
  • Work: “Speech Acts and the Definition of Literature”
  • Argument: Ohmann’s seminal work proposed that literary texts function as speech acts, and understanding them requires a comprehensive analysis of the author’s intentions, the reader’s expectations, and the social context in which the communication occurs. This approach highlights the interactive nature of literary communication and emphasizes the role of context in shaping meaning.
• Mary Louise Pratt (1977)
  • Work: Toward a Speech Act Theory of Literary Discourse
  • Argument: Pratt extended Ohmann’s ideas, arguing that literary texts involve a complex interplay of speech acts at multiple levels. She highlighted the interactions between the author, the narrator, and the characters, as well as the dynamic relationship between the text and the reader. This nuanced perspective underscores the multi-layered nature of literary communication and the various ways in which meaning is constructed and negotiated.
• Jonathan Culler (1981)
  • Work: The Pursuit of Signs: Semiotics, Literature, Deconstruction
  • Argument: Culler’s work emphasized the importance of reader response in literary pragmatics. He argued that readers actively construct meaning through their interactions with the text, drawing on their own experiences, knowledge, and interpretations. This reader-centered approach challenges the notion of a fixed or objective meaning inherent in the text and recognizes the dynamic and subjective nature of literary interpretation.
• Stanley Fish (1980)
  • Work: Is There a Text in This Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities
  • Argument: Fish’s influential work challenged the idea that the meaning of a literary text resides solely within the text itself. He argued that meaning is constructed by interpretive communities, groups of readers who share similar assumptions and interpretive strategies. This perspective highlights the social and cultural dimensions of literary interpretation and emphasizes the role of shared values and beliefs in shaping meaning.
• Wolfgang Iser (1978)
  • Work: The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response
  • Argument: Iser introduced the concept of the “implied reader,” a hypothetical reader who is constructed by the text and whose responses are anticipated by the author. He argued that the literary work comes to life through the reader’s active engagement with the text, and that meaning is co-created by the author and the reader in the act of reading. This dynamic model of literary communication emphasizes the interactive and participatory nature of the reading process.
• Relevance Theorists (Sperber and Wilson, 1986)
  • Work: Relevance: Communication and Cognition
  • Argument: Relevance theory provides a cognitive framework for understanding how readers infer meaning from literary texts. It suggests that readers strive to maximize the relevance of the information they receive, balancing the cognitive effort required to process the information with the potential rewards of understanding. This approach highlights the cognitive processes involved in literary interpretation and emphasizes the role of context and expectations in shaping meaning.

Literary Pragmatics : Key Principals

• Context Dependency: The meaning of literary texts is not fixed but depends heavily on the context of their production and reception. This includes historical, cultural, social, and linguistic contexts.
• Authorial Intention: While not the sole determinant of meaning, authorial intention plays a significant role in shaping the interpretation of literary works. Literary pragmatics considers the author’s intended meaning as one factor among many.
• Reader Response: Literary pragmatics emphasizes the active role of the reader in constructing meaning. Readers bring their own experiences, knowledge, and perspectives to the text, which influence their interpretations.
• Implicature: Literary texts often convey meaning beyond what is explicitly stated. Literary pragmatics examines how authors use implicature, or the implied meaning of utterances, to create deeper layers of significance.
• Speech Acts: Literary works can be viewed as a series of speech acts, such as assertions, promises, or commands. Analyzing these speech acts helps to understand the communicative intentions of the author and characters within the text.
• Interpretive Communities: The interpretation of literary texts is influenced by interpretive communities, groups of readers who share common assumptions and interpretive strategies. These communities play a crucial role in shaping the reception and understanding of literary works.
• Intertextuality: Literary texts often engage in dialogue with other texts, referencing or alluding to them. Literary pragmatics explores how these intertextual connections contribute to the meaning and interpretation of a work.
• Social and Cultural Significance: Literary pragmatics recognizes that literary texts are not created in a vacuum but are embedded in social and cultural contexts. These contexts shape the production and reception of literature, influencing the meaning and significance of works.

Literary Pragmatics: How to Use in Literary Critiques

Literary Work	Observation	Literary Pragmatics Analysis	Application in Critique
“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway	Sparse dialogue, lack of explicit exposition, indirect language about abortion	Implicature: Unspoken intentions, power dynamics conveyed through subtext.	Analyze Hemingway’s use of implicature and subtext to create tension and ambiguity.
	Train station setting as a metaphor	Context: Characters’ relationship, societal attitudes towards abortion in the 1920s	Explore how context shapes the interpretation of the text.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe	Unreliable narrator, descent into madness	Reader response: Unreliable narration creates unease, distrust in the reader.	Delve into how Poe manipulates the reader’s expectations through the narrator’s voice.
	Gaps, inconsistencies in the narrative		Explore how setting and themes contribute to the reader’s emotional response.
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner	Non-linear narrative, collective narrator	Interpretive communities: Collective narration shapes understanding of Emily.	Examine how collective narration and non-linear structure contribute to ambiguity.
	Fragmented narrative, conflicting perspectives		Explore how setting and themes resonate with the reader’s understanding of the South.

Literary Pragmatics: Criticism Against It

• Overemphasis on Context: Some critics argue that literary pragmatics places too much emphasis on context, potentially neglecting the inherent aesthetic and artistic qualities of the text itself.
• Neglect of Formalist Analysis: Literary pragmatics is sometimes criticized for not paying enough attention to formalist analysis, which focuses on the structural and stylistic elements of a literary work, such as language, imagery, and symbolism.
• Subjectivity in Interpretation: The emphasis on reader response in literary pragmatics can lead to a high degree of subjectivity in interpretation, making it difficult to establish a consensus on the meaning of a text.
• Limited Scope: Literary pragmatics may not be applicable to all types of literary works, particularly those that rely heavily on symbolism, allegory, or other complex literary devices that may not lend themselves easily to pragmatic analysis.
• Lack of Theoretical Unity: Literary pragmatics is a relatively new field, and there is still a lack of consensus among scholars on its theoretical foundations and methodologies, which can lead to inconsistencies in its application.
• Potential for Overinterpretation: Some critics argue that literary pragmatics can lead to overinterpretation, where readers may attribute meanings to the text that were not intended by the author, based on their own personal biases and experiences.
• Challenges in Reconciling Conflicting Interpretations: Due to the emphasis on context and reader response, literary pragmatics can sometimes struggle to reconcile conflicting interpretations of a text, as different readers may bring different perspectives and assumptions to the reading process.

Literary Pragmatics: Key Terms

Term	Definition
Implicature	The implied meaning of an utterance, going beyond its literal meaning.
Speech Act	An utterance that performs an action, such as making a statement, asking a question, or giving a command.
Deixis	Words or phrases that point to a specific time, place, or person in the context of an utterance (e.g., “here,” “now”).
Presupposition	An assumption that is implicit in an utterance and taken for granted by the speaker and listener.
Cooperative Principle	The assumption that participants in a conversation are working together to achieve a common goal.
Conversational Maxims	Specific principles that guide cooperative communication, such as being truthful, relevant, and clear.
Politeness Theory	The study of how language is used to express politeness and maintain social harmony.
Face	The public self-image that a person wants to maintain in social interactions.
Face-Threatening Act	An act that challenges or undermines a person’s face.
Context	The circumstances surrounding an utterance, including the physical setting, the participants, and the purpose.

Literary Pragmatics: Suggested Readings

1. Chapman, Siobhan, and Christopher Routledge. Key Ideas in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language. Edinburgh University Press, 2009. https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/
2. Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2000. https://corp.oup.com/
3. Fish, Stanley. Is There a Text in This Class? The Authority of Interpretive Communities. Harvard University Press, 1980. https://www.hup.harvard.edu/
4. Iser, Wolfgang. The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978. https://www.press.jhu.edu/books
5. Mey, Jacob L. Pragmatics: An Introduction. 2nd ed., Blackwell, 2001. https://www.blackwellpublishing.com/
6. Ohmann, Richard. “Speech Acts and the Definition of Literature.” Philosophy and Rhetoric, vol. 4, no. 1, 1971, pp. 1-19. https://www.psupress.org/
7. Pratt, Mary Louise. Toward a Speech Act Theory of Literary Discourse. Indiana University Press, 1977. https://iupress.org/
8. Sell, Roger D. Literature as Communication: The Foundations of Literary Pragmatics. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2014. https://benjamins.com/
9. Sperber, Dan, and Deirdre Wilson. Relevance: Communication and Cognition. 2nd ed., Blackwell, 1995. https://www.blackwellpublishing.com/
10. van Dijk, Teun A. Discourse and Literature: New Approaches to the Analysis of Literary Genres. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1985. https://benjamins.com/