A Study Of Verbal Irony In Pride And Prejudice From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

The present study, from the perspective of Adaptation Theory, offers a pragmatic functional analysis of verbal irony in Pride and Prejudice, hoping to find a systematic and coherent account of verbal irony as a result of linguistic choices so as to help us gain better understanding and appreciation of the artistic value of this work.As a form of language, verbal irony used frequently in daily communication and literary works has attracted broad attention. The study on verbal irony has been the focus of attention for researchers from various traditions, including rhetoric, psychology, philosophy, and so on. Also, different findings have been achieved. The present study makes an attempt to analyze verbal irony systematically from the pragmatic perspective.Methodologically speaking, the present study belongs to a qualitative study based on the data collected from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice which is a masterpiece of irony. Describing the ordinary lives of the ordinary people, Jane Austen ironically shows the social reality of pursuing money and position. Thus, the novel provides a great number of ironic examples for this study. Based on the review of previous studies on irony of this work which mainly focus on the perspective of literary critic, this paper proposes a feasible methodology to analyze verbal irony in Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of Adaptation Theory proposed by Jef Verschueren, aiming to prove if this theory has a strong power to explain the use of verbal irony in novels.In order to illustrate the use of verbal irony in this work more effectively, the language material in Pride and Prejudice is explored from two aspects which are macro speech acts (ironic narration) and micro speech acts (ironic utterances). Furthermore, the present study makes an investigation into the functioning of verbal irony in this work. In the course of studying ironic narration and ironic utterances of this novel with Adaptation Theory, the author aims to explore why verbal irony, a linguistic phenomenon and communicative strategy, occurs so frequently in this novel. From the perspective of Adaptation Theory, language use can be taken as the continuous making of linguistic choice by adapting to the relevant contextual elements. Verbal irony is one kind of language phenomena, so it is also a result of choice-making and a product of adaptation. The utterers in this novel employ verbal irony frequently to adapt to different objects so as to achieve some particular goals. First, it provides an analysis of how the ironic narration is used as adaptation to the depicted social reality, to the reader reaction and to the author's own intention. Second, this thesis has analyzed that verbal irony is the result of adaptation to the social and mental worlds of the utterer and the interpreter. In this novel, the utterers'choosing verbal irony adapts to the social reality like social hierarchy, divergent social relationships, social conventions and the utterers'mental world like personalities, intentions, wishes. In addition, verbal irony, as a realization of linguistic reality, is closely related to the structural objects, consisting of linguistic clues and structural clues. Thus, the communicative intentions between characters, the author and the reader can be recognized. Then, with a lot of examples, this thesis demonstrates the dynamic adaptation process between verbal irony and the contextual correlates. Finally, The making of linguistic choices mainly results from the degrees of individual and social salience. Under certain linguistic contexts, the different degrees of the individual and social salience of the utterer and the interpreter can influence the success of verbal irony. Therefore, the Adaptation Theory has integrated cognitive, social and cultural elements into the study of pragmatics.In conclusion, the case study of Pride and Prejudice proves the feasibility that Adaptation Theory is employed to the analysis of literary works and illustrated theoretically how the communication between characters is analyzed dynamically, making contributions to the wider range of application of Adaptation Theory; meanwhile, the present study provides a new perspective on the charm of Jane Austen's art of verbal irony, making a significant attempt to the combination of pragmatics and literary criticism. Besides, this study explains why verbal irony is frequently used in this novel and it contributes to the interpretation and appreciation of other works. There are limitations in this thesis, so further exploration and perfection are needed.