"This book, first published in 1990, combines an introduction to speech-act theory as developed by J. L. Austin with a survey of critical essays that have adapted Austin's thought for literary analysis. Speech-act theory emphasizes the social reality created when speakers agree that their language is performative - Austin's term for utterances like: ""we hereby declare"" or ""I promise"" that produce rather than describe what they name. In contrast to formal linguistics, speech-act theory insists on language's active prominence in the organization of collective life. The first section of the text concentrates on Austin's determination to situate language in society by demonstrating the social conventions manifest in language. The second and third parts of the book discuss literary critics' responses to speech-act theory's socialisation of language, which have both opened new understandings of textuality in general and stimulated new interpretations of individual works. This book will be of interest to students of linguistics and literary theory."
By:
Sandy Petrey
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Volume: 20
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 340g
ISBN: 9781138689749
ISBN 10: 1138689742
Series: Routledge Library Editions: Literary Theory
Pages: 186
Publication Date: 09 January 2018
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Part I: Beginnings; 1. Saying versus Doing 2. Saying Equals Doing 3. Saying, Doing, and Writing; Part II: Applications; 4. Austin and Searle Together and Apart 5. Textual Illocution 6. Performing the Performative 7. The Prose of the World; Part III: Challenges; 8. Locution, Illocution, and Deconstruction 9. Performativities; Bibliography; Index
