Text World Theory An Introduction

by Gavins, Joanna

• ISBN13: 9780748623006
• ISBN10: 0748623000
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-07
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Summary

Text World Theory is a cognitive model of all human discourse processing. In this introductory textbook, Joanna Gavins sets out a usable framework for understanding mental representations. Text World Theory is explained using naturally occurring texts and real situations, including literary works, advertising discourse, the language of lonely hearts, horoscopes, route directions, cookery books and song lyrics. The book will therefore enable students, teachers and researchers to make practical use of the text-world framework in a wide range of linguistic and literary contexts.Features* An accessible and enabling course book which includes suggestions for exploration and further reading.* Draws on linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, philosophy, poetics and stylistics, and will be attractive to students and researchers working in all of these disciplines.* Each chapter provides a reader-friendly introduction to an aspect of Text World Theory and includes at least two practical applications of these ideas to real discourse examples.

Author Biography

Joanna Gavins is a lecturer in English language and literature at the University of Sheffield, UK

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. viii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
Conceptualising Language	p. 1
The world in the mind	p. 3
Language in the mind	p. 4
Some history	p. 6
Text World Theory	p. 8
The structure of this book	p. 13
Further investigation	p. 15
Further reading	p. 16
Participating in Discourse	p. 18
Key issues in this chapter	p. 18
Interacting through language	p. 18
Communicating in context	p. 21
Making connections	p. 24
Exploring context	p. 25
Further investigation	p. 31
Further reading	p. 33
Scenes	p. 35
Key issues in this chapter	p. 35
Building a text-world	p. 35
World-building in practice	p. 38
Shifting text-worlds	p. 45
Further investigation	p. 51
Further reading	p. 52
Processes	p. 53
Key issues in this chapter	p. 53
Advancing the text-world	p. 53
Textual functions	p. 59
Enactor relationships	p. 64
Further investigation	p. 71
Further reading	p. 72
Layers	p. 71
Key issues in this chapter	p. 73
Hierarchies	p. 73
Transcending boundaries	p. 81
Fictionality	p. 83
Further investigation	p. 88
Further reading	p. 90
Attitudes	p. 91
Key issues in this chapter	p. 91
Modality and desire	p. 91
Obligation	p. 96
Instruction and self-implication	p. 103
Further investigation	p. 107
Further reading	p. 108
Distances	p. 109
Key issues in this chapter	p. 109
Knowledge and belief	p. 109
Perception	p. 113
Hypotheticality	p. 118
Further investigation	p. 123
Further reading	p. 125
Narratives	p. 126
Key issues in this chapter	p. 126
Focalisation	p. 126
Enactors and focalisation	p. 131
Narrative deception	p. 135
Further investigation	p. 143
Further reading	p. 144
Double-vision	p. 146
Key issues in this chapter	p. 146
Understanding metaphor	p. 146
Extended metaphor	p. 149
Understanding double-vision	p. 152
Double-vision and self-implication	p. 156
Further investigation	p. 162
Further reading	p. 164
Futures	p. 165
Key issues in this chapter	p. 165
Obscurity	p. 165
Resistance	p. 170
Performance	p. 172
Text	p. 174
Texture	p. 175
References	p. 178
Index	p. 189
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.