Verlag:
Lang, Peter, AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, Bern
This volume investigates to what extent existing approaches to pragmatics and discourse shed light on how the form of a text creates stylistic effects. Taking a cross-cultural perspective, this book focuses on five key stylistic features of writing -...
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This volume investigates to what extent existing approaches to pragmatics and discourse shed light on how the form of a text creates stylistic effects. Taking a cross-cultural perspective, this book focuses on five key stylistic features of writing - paragraph structure, length and construction of sentences, organisation of information in sentences, relative formality of vocabulary, amount of nominalisation - widely seen as partly responsible for the different impressions created by academic writing in English and Italian. The author develops a theoretical framework for the investigation of in
Contents; Acknowledgements 9; 1. Introduction. Five Areas of Cross-cultural Variation 11; 2. Setting the Frame: Conceptualisations of Academic Writing 19; 2.1. Introduction 19; 2.2. Historical Background to the Current Debate 20; 2.3. Discourse Analysis and Pragmatics 23; 2.4. Written Discourse: Reciprocity and its Effects 25; 2.4.1. Shared Context 26; 2.4.2. Interactivity 29; 2.4.3. Channel and Processing Constraints 33; 2.5. Genre Analysis and the Role of Conventions 36; 2.6. Discourse Communities and Academic Discourse 42; 2.7. Contrastive Rhetoric 46; 2.8. Style and Stylistics 48
2.9. Conclusion 523. Style Manuals: What Can They Tell Us? 55; 3.1. Introduction 55; 3.2. Style as it is Described in the Manuals 55; 3.3. Topic One: Length and Organisation of Paragraphs 66; 3.4. Topic Two: Length and Construction of Sentences 71; 3.5. Topic Three: Organisation of Information within Sentences 77; 3.6. Topic Four: Choice of Vocabulary 81; 3.7. Topic Five: Amount of Nominalisation Felt to be Acceptable 85; 3.8. Conclusion 89; 4. Four Frameworks and Approaches: What Can They Tell Us? 95; 4.1. Introduction 95; 4.2. Methods and Materials 98
4.7.2. Pizzorno: Gricean Analysis 1454.8. Conclusion 148; 5. Relevance Theory: Comprehension and Style 151; 5.1. Introduction 151; 5.2. Relevance Theory: Underpinnings 153; 5.3. Key Concepts for Stylistic Analysis 164; 5.3.1. Contextual Assumptions 164; 5.3.2. Processing Effort 169; 5.3.3. Explicatures and Implicatures 173; 5.3.3.1. Explicatures 174; 5.3.3.2. Implicatures 180; 5.4. Relevance and Style: Tools for Analysis 186; 5.4.1. Abilities and Preferences: Stylistic Choices and Conventions 187; 5.4.2. Discourse and Relevance Theory 204; 5.5. Conclusion 213
6. Relevance Theory: What Insights Can It Give Us? 2156.1. Introduction 215; 6.2. Meier/Holbrook: "'I Seen My Opportunities and I Took ´em': Political corruption in the American States" 215; 6.3. Pizzorno: "Lo scambio occulto" 234; 6.4. Contrastive Observations about the Two Introductions 253; Appendices 257; Appendix A 257; Appendix B 264; Appendix C 275; References 279; Subject Index 303; Author Index 307;