A Linguistic Approach To The Interpersonal Relationship In Jane Austen’s Major Fiction

The nineteenth-century British novelist Jane Austen is recognized as a significantclassic writer. Though she has published only six novels, Austen is noted as“Shakespeare in Prose” and her reputation has been increasingly stable and enduring.With the adeptness at describing the life of ordinary people and the development oftheir complex relationship, Austen’s fiction embodies the dialectical art and theunique interpretation of the philosophy and value of life, and represents her relentlesspursuit of human equality and harmony. Her works of different periods represent herthinking and judgment of different interpersonal relationships from initialmale-female relationship to parent-child relationship, and finally to femalerelationship in general. Her fiction is far from being magnificent or passionate, but itis considered delicate and delightful and its truthfulness may touch the soul of thereader immediately. However, she is not only a highly sensitive and self-consciousliterary master, but also innovative in the art of language. Many scholars haveinvestigated her language and style, but the study of her language in the representationof interpersonal relationship from the linguistic perspective has been generallyneglected. Therefore, this dissertation applies the linguistic theory to Austen’sfictional texts, aiming at a comprehensive and systematic study of her linguisticachievements in the representation of human relationship.This dissertation applies the cooperative principle, interpersonal metafunction,and speech representation to the examination of the integrated interpersonalrelationship in Austen’s three important novels, namely Pride and Prejudice, Emmaand Persuasion. This dissertation is primarily qualitative based and it aims to exploreAusten’s art of language by means of the application of cooperative principle, mood,modality, direct speech representation and indirect speech representation in thedemonstration of interpersonal relationship. In addition to the Introduction and theConclusion, this dissertation consists of three chapters. In the introduction, this dissertation first reviews the relevant language study ofJane Austen’s fiction of different stages. Previously her contemporary critics haveignored her conscious effort and artistic ingenuity, regarding her as beingspontaneously and instinctively charming. Not until the twentieth century, did a newgeneration of experts and scholars emerge to pay attention to Austen’s artisticachievements and explore her art of language from diverse perspectives. Furthermorethe modern critics take advantage of the development of stylistics and linguistics tofurther explore the unity of content and form in her fiction. And then the introductionilluminates relevant linguistic theories and terms. Finally, it clarifies the argument,research methods and structure of this dissertation.The first chapter applies the cooperative principle to the exploration of therealization of male-female relationship in Pride and Prejudice. Austen is concernedwith double sides of male-female relationship, not only depicting the cooperation butalso the conflict between men and women in the novel. This dissertation points outthat the compliance with the cooperative principle demonstrates the compromise andcoordination between men and women. The cooperation in speech acts reflects theirtolerance and respect, and the observation of the maxims of quantity, quality,relevance and manner facilitates effective communication indicating their mutual careand understanding. However the violation of the cooperative principle leads tohierarchy and disagreement between men and women. Non-cooperation in theirspeech acts implies the discord between different genders and social positions. Andthe violation of the four conversational maxims creates discrepancy andmisinterpretation between men and women who share no common backgroundknowledge. This chapter adopts a linguistic approach to study Austen’s linguistic artin the representation of male-female relationship by means of the observance andviolation of the cooperative principle.The second chapter employs interpersonal metafunction to illustrate therepresentation of parent-child relationship in Emma. Austen believes that the characterformation is closely related to the family and social environment, and she shows anincreasing concern for the influence of parents’ love on children’s growth. This chapter examines how mood and modality function in the exhibition of parent-childrelationship. First, it applies mood analysis to the reflection of parents’ restricted lovein terms of mood choice and mood construction. Different types of mood clauses mayexhibit psychological changes and different personalities, which show the parents’indulgence of their children. Mood construction, which is represented by the choice ofsubject and finite elements, expresses feelings and attitudes to display theirresponsibility in parents’ love. Then this chapter studies the application of modaloperators and modal adjuncts to the exploration of children’s growth in adversity.Modal operators, namely modal auxiliaries, possess different levels of modal value toconvey opinions and judgments, which expose personalities and illustrate thechildren’s unconscious inheritance from their parents. Modal adjuncts contain thecharacter’s attitudes and emotions, which exhibit children’s reward and gratitude fortheir parents. In conclusion, this dissertation figures out that the interpersonalmetafunction is meaningful in disclosing Austen’s linguistic contribution.The third chapter examines the speech representation in the representation offemale friendship in Persuasion in which Austen not only attaches importance tofemale relationship but also female independence and consciousness. This chapterstudies two different ways of speech representation in female relations, namely directspeech representation and indirect speech representation. On one hand, this chapterholds that direct speech representation, which consists of direct speech and free directspeech, operates effectively in the realization of female disharmony. Its directness andobjectivity enable the reader to make direct observation and fair evaluation of femalecharacters and their relations. Then indirect speech representation, which is composedof indirect speech and free indirect speech, functions in the depiction of harmoniousfemale friendship. Indirect speech is an important means of shaping the character, andhelps the reader gain a quick grasp of female relationship. In addition, it may arousethe reader’s sympathy with the distancing effect of the past tense and thetransformation of pronouns and other deictics. While free indirect speech, also callednarrated monologue, reveals psychological activities and promotes the interactionbetween the character and the reader by adopting the character’s perspective and language. This dissertation argues that as a great writer Austen has demonstrated herexquisite craftsmanship in the use of language.Through the linguistic analyses of Austen’s three important novels, thisdissertation draws the following conclusion: Austen’s superb language skills andcontinuous artistic improvement demonstrate themselves in Pride and Prejudice,Emma and Persuasion. As a master of language, she is capable of making good use ofthe cooperation and noncooperation in characters’ conversation to portray thecharacters and depict complicated relationship between men and women. Withlanguage as the medium, she explores mood and modality in her fiction to reflect thecharacter’s psychology and thinking, and to display the dialectical relationshipbetween parents and children. Meanwhile she adopts different modes of speechrepresentation to present female characters and exhibit the dynamic relationshipbetween them. In general, Austen’s flexible and efficient employment of languagecontributes to the achievement of her writing goal, artistic conception and therepresentation of different human relationship. Her fiction embodies the unity of formand content.Jane Austen is committed to depicting three or four families in a small town, theEnglish middle class and its daily life. Her three novels, namely Pride and Prejudice,Emma and Persuasion, make in-depth inquiry into interpersonal relationship ofdifferent nature and levels. The present dissertation explores the linguistic features inher major fiction, and studies the cooperative principle, interpersonal metafuncitonand speech representation in the exhibition of different human relationship. Theoriginality of this dissertation lies in the new linguistic approach to the analysis ofmale-female, parent-child, and female relationships in Austen’s fiction. It endeavorsto present a fresh means of access to Austen’s fictional texts and it analyzes the mostbasic and important components of Austen’s language in the representation ofinterpersonal relations, which proves to be effective in her writing. Thus it brings thereader directly in touch with the authorial purpose conveyed by her language. Thesignificance of this dissertation consists in the point that it explores Austen’s expertisein the use of language, which is illustrated through the employment of linguistic theories to the analysis of the human relationship in her major fiction. It not onlyenriches the literary study of the texts, but also enhances the integration of linguisticsand literature. To some extent, it is a creative attempt at the study of Austen’s fictionand provides an alternative for both literary and linguistic studies.