Similes, Puns and Counterfactuals in Literary Narrative / Edition 1

by Jennifer Riddle Harding

Overview

In this study, Jennifer Riddle Harding presents a cognitive analysis of three figures of speech that have readily identifiable forms: similes, puns, and counterfactuals. Harding argues that when deployed in literary narrative, these forms have narrative functions—such as the depiction of conscious experiences, allegorical meanings, and alternative plots—uniquely developed by these more visible figures of speech. Metaphors, by contrast, are often "invisible" in the formal structure of a text. With a solid cognitive grounding, Harding’s approach emphasizes the relationship between figurative forms and narrative effects. Harding demonstrates the literary functions of previously neglected figures of speech, and the potential for a unified approach to a topic that crosses cognitive disciplines. Her work has implications for the rhetorical approach to figures of speech, for cognitive disciplines, and for the studies of literature, rhetoric, and narrative.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367366308
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/10/2019
Series:	Routledge Studies in Rhetoric and Stylistics
Pages:	172
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jennifer Riddle Harding is Associate Professor of English at Washington and Jefferson College, USA.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction to Similes, Puns, and Counterfactuals in Literary Narrative

Chapter 2: Similes

Chapter 3: Drunken Eloquence: Similes in John Updike’s "Transaction"

Chapter 4: Puns

Chapter 5: Very Punny: Puns in Bret Harte’s "The Luck of Roaring Camp"

Chapter 6: Counterfactuals

Chapter 7: Complex Regrets: Counterfactuals in Hemingway’s "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"

Chapter 8: Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"Cross-fertilizing stylistics, cognitive linguistics, and narrative theory, this interdisciplinary book addresses a number of blind spots in the study of figurative language, characterization, and consciousness representation in literary narrative. Harding’s close readings are an engaging complement to her theoretical discussion." —Marco Caracciolo, University of Groningen, the Netherlands

From the Publisher