文学作品中人物语言的顺应性研究

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　　【摘要】The present study is undertaken to investigate the character utterances in literature works on the basis of Jef Verschueren's Linguistic Adaptation Theory．It aims to dig out the mechanism involved in production of character utterance in literature works，that is，whether character utterances are the outcome of linguistic choices interadaptable with language user's physical world，social world and mental world．
　　【关键词】Adaptation Theory；Literary Language；Character?蒺s Utterances；Mental World；Social World；Physical World
　　【中图分类号】I106 【文献标识码】A
　　【文章编号】1007-4309（2011）06-0041-2.5
　　
　　Jef Verschueren，Secretary--General of International Pragmatics Association，puts forward a theory of adaptation which is used to understand and explain pragmatics from a new perspective in Understanding Pragmatics．（2000）Moreover，he proposes that pragmatics is actually a perspective on language．He argued that pragmatics should be a general，cognitive，social，and cultural perspective on linguistic phenomena in relation to their usage in forms of behavior．Linguistic Adaptation Theory is the core of the “Pragmatic Perspective”．From the perspective of Adaptation Theory language use can be defined as the continuous making of linguistic choices．What makes it possible for the language users to make choices is the three properties of language：variability，negotiability and adaptability．Language adaptation could be examined from four inter-related angles for a better pragmatic description and explanation，including contextual correlates of adaptability，structural objects of adaptability，dynamics of adaptability and the salience of the adaptation process．The generation of meaning is a dynamic process operating on context-structure interrelationships at various levels of salience．
　　Literature is the art of language，its purpose is to communicate with readers，literature creation and appreciation is a process of interaction between the author and the reader．In order to achieve the goal of communication，the creation of literary language has to choose the forms of language，including pronunciation，intonation，vocabulary，sentence structure，the text type，codes，language style，etc，the content of language and pragmatic strategies．Therefore，literary language is also a result of making choices．Previous research of literary language is mostly in the study of the nature，features，structure，styles，utterance-building strategies，and rhetorical method of literary language，in the past，the previous studies are mostly from the respect of linguistic phenomenon．Few studies are from the western linguistic perspective．This paper tries to study on the creative use of character utterances in literature works using the adaptation theory，a new perspective of modern pragmatics．
　　Character utterances in literature works is a process of intentional choice making so as to obtain or reach their communicative needs．These choices can occur at any levels of linguistic structure （including appropriate terms of address，language style，word，sentence type and conversational topic）．And these choices are the result of adaptation to the mental world （including the utterer's motivation personality，beliefs and intention），social world （power correlated，the social relationships between the speaker and hearer，and social settings or culture）and physical world （space and time）．Because the space is limited，this paper will take the utterer's motivation ，personality and intention for example．
　　Verbal interaction is no doubt communication from mind to mind （Verschueren，2000：87）．Linguistic choices are affected by communicators' “minds in society”more or less．The mental world activated in language use contains cognitive and emotive elements （including personality，emotions，beliefs，desires and motivations or intentions）．Just as the utterance needs to inter-adapt with the speaker's mental world，the choices made are always adapted，whether tentatively or successfully，to the speaker's assessment of what the mental world of the interpreters looks like．Thus “judgments of the interpreter's personality traits，emotional involvement patterns of beliefs，wishes and desires，motivations and intentions，may all enter the picture”．Obviously，it is completely impossible to take all these factors into account in such a way that communicative problems and conflicts can be completely avoided．“Choices even have to be made with respect to which interpreter's assumed mental states the utterance should be most tuned into”（Verschueren，2000：89）Therefore，the judgments of the interpreter's personality traits，emotional involvement，patterns of belief and so on may all have an influence on what kind of linguistic choices the utterer will make．Similarly，the interpreter's understanding of utterance can be influenced by both his own mental world and that of the utterer．In this study，we mainly focus on the utterer's motivation personality and intention．
　　Motivation is subjectively experienced as a desire or wish，if the desire is fulfilled，it will be followed by a feeling of satisfaction，otherwise，a sense of frustration．Guided by various communicative motivations，language user makes utterances and is ready to chooser his linguistic structures or forms．Interlocutors are able to adjust their expressions according to their communicative motivation and the perceived motivation of their partner．In the process of communication if the improper linguistic choices are selected，the communication will encounter the risk of losing face to a certain degree，thus the communication cannot successfully proceed．The following example is chosen from the famous Chinese fiction--- A Dream of Red Mansions，Volume Ⅲ；Lady Xing wants to marry Yuanyang as her husband's concubine ，she asks Wang Xifeng for her advice，at first，Wang Xifeng thought that Lady Xing is her mather-in-law and the relationship between them is very close，so she persuades her directly：
　　凤姐儿听了，忙道：“依我说，竟别碰这个钉子去。老太太离了鸳鸯，饭也吃不下去的，哪里就舍得了?况且平口说起闲话来，老太太常说，老爷如今上了年纪，作什么左一个小老婆右一个小老婆放在屋里，没的耽误了人家．放着身子不保养，官儿也不好生作去，成口家和小老婆喝酒……我是不敢去的……老爷如今上了年纪，行事不妥，太太该劝才是。比不得年轻，作这些事无碍。如今兄弟，侄儿，儿子，孙子一大群，还这么闹起来，怎样见人呢?
　　However，this kind of words threatens the face of Lady Xing，she is very unpleasant to hear that and says“I invited you over simply to ask your opinion，but at once you trot out all these reasons against it．Did you think I'd send you in this errand? I shall go myself，of course．”At this moment，Wang Xifeng is aware of her threatening Lady Xing?蒺s face，and she change her words as soon as possible，with a pleasant smile Wang Xifeng replies “you are quite right madam，what can I know，young as I am?”in order to adapt to her face-saving motivation and to make Lady Xing happy．By adaptation to Wang Xifeng?蒺s motivation to alleviate the improper words and to please Lady Xing?蒺s ideas，Wang Xifeng chooses different language style，and different words，she consciously creates a new context which benefits her continuous communication．Lady Xing feels happy again and continues their communication．Wang Xifeng continues to pleasing Lady Xing：“After all，you know best，madam．As she is in high spirits today，it seems to me now's the time to make this request．”By taking her advice，Lady Xing goes to Lady Dowager's room happily and an embarrassing discourse is successfully accomplished．
　　The term“personality”means“an individual's characteristic pattern of thoughts，emotions，and observable behaviors”（Huffman，quoted in Wang Jianhua，2001：119）or “a person's general style of interacting with the world，especially with other individuals”and“the ways in which individuals differ from each other”（Gray，quoted in Wang Jianhua，2001：119）Personality serves as an important factor in triggering the linguistic choices an utterer makes．The personality of the language user to a large extent determines the linguistic choices he or she makes．
　　In Ch'ien Chung-shu and His `Fortress Besieged?蒺，Yang Chiang，Chung-shu?蒺s wife，makes a brief account of the background for Fortress Besieged and Ch'ien Chung-shu's life．In his life introduction，she emphasizes repeatedly his puckishness，which carries a rich connotation in Wuxi，his hometown．Yang Chiang says “Though books fail to entirely capture Ch'ien Chung-shu's sweet quirkiness，it is still overflowing with everyday life （2003：413）”．We can't help laughing when we read his interesting life details．He is as naughty as a little kid sometimes．And he even often says something mischievous in a refined and elegant way to his father-in-law just for the fun of it．In Yang's opinion，the author of Fortress Besieged is the seemingly“eccentric”Chung-shu．In their daily life as husband and wife，he often says idiotic and silly things，which he would top off with his own creativity，imagination and exaggerations，from which we could often get a feel of the techniques he uses in writing Fortress Besieged．It is those charming mischievous quirks of his that makes it possible for him to create the characters and plots for the novel and pass them off as real people and real deeds．Therefore，his personality plays a very important role in his employment of language through the talented writing skills in writing Fortress Besieged．
　　Psychological intentions refer to the language user's motives behind their performing of a specific act of language．Intention plays an important role in influencing individual's action．It is able to activate or guide human action to certain direction according to predetermined plans．Grice defines the speaker meaning as“the speaker's intention in the making of an utterance to product an effect in the hearer by means of the hearer's recognition of the intention to produce an effect．”（Verschueren，1999：47）Successful communication，or the successful transfer of means of meaning，is thus seen as a process by which a state of mutual knowledge of a communicative intention is attained，with the help of（intentionally applied）principles of co-operation．Therefore Verschueren said：“meaning is made fully depending on intentions．”（ibid）
　　For example，we all know the classic English novel Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen，an interesting but profound love story between two rich bachelors Bingley and his prideful friend Darcy and the two daughters of a middle landlords Mr Bennets，Jane and Elizabeth．At first，Elizabeth was unware of Darcy?蒺s affection，but her love rival Miss Bingley was much more sensitive．So she doesn't miss any opportunity to attack the weaknesses of humble origin of Elizabeth．When Darcy answered Miss Bingley?蒺s queation，he was mediating for Elizabeth?蒺 beautiful eyes．Miss Bingley said at once：“You will have a charming mother-in-law，indeed，and of course she will be always at Pemberley with you．”（Pride and Prejudice p．28）。Apparently，Miss Bingley just says a truth，if Darcy marries Elizabeth，he will of course be with his mother-in-low，but in fact，Miss Bingley has her own intention when sha says these words，because Elizabeth?蒺 mother Mrs Bennet is a vulgar，ill-bred and ignorant woman，this is also what has been bothering Darcy，by saying this，Miss Bingley wants Darcy to cut down his affection on Elizabeth．
　　Both theoretical and practical significance of this thesis can be explored．Theoretically，it enlarges the vision of linguistic studies and widens the scope of the studies on literary language use．Practically，the thesis can help the readers understand and appreciate the creation and artistic attractions of the language in literature works．
　　Since the adaptation theory has its theoretical and practical value in the creation of literature works，we can figure out some instructive and important principles and rules guiding the creation of literary language and literature works．It is also helpful and useful for our understanding and appreciation of the literary language and literature works in the future．
　　
　　【参考文献】
　　［1］Levinson，Stephen C．Pragmatics ［M］．Cambridge：Cambridge University Press 1983．
　　［2］Leech，G Principles of Pragmatics，London：Longman．1983．
　　［3］何自然，于国栋．语用学理解――Verschueren的新作评介［J］．现代外语，1999．
　　［4］何自然．语用学讲稿［M］．南京：南京师范大学出版社，2003．

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