Dramatic Discourse

This wide ranging and comprehensive study uses the major frameworks of modern discourse studies to analyze dramatic dialogue. Each chapter includes a theoretical section which explains the major concepts of each framework - be it ethnography, ethnomethodology, conversational analysis, pragmatics or gender studies; the relevence of each framework is explored through textual examples - including the work of Shakespeare, Pinter, Osborne, Chekov and Beckett. Written for undergraduates and postgraduates in English studies, linguistics, stylistics as well as in Theatre studies, this study should be of use to anyone specializing in the areas of talk and interaction.

`This book asks us to re-think received ideas about the relations between dramatic and life strategies, between language and subjectivity, bewteen representation and society. That this study should succeed in posing such large questions while paying scrupulous scholarly attention to theories, methodologies and texts in an unusual achievement indeed.' - Keir Elam

'The main strength of the book lies in its exposition of linguistic models, which is both thorough and accessible... I would have no hesitation in recommending the book to undergraduates and fellow researchers alike, and welcome this latest study of literary dialogue.' - Language and Literature

Vimala Herman

Whilst poetry and fiction have been subjected to extensive linguistic analysis, drama has long remained a neglected field for detailed study. Vimala Herman argues that drama should be of particular interest to linguists because of its form, dialogue and subsequent translation into performance. The subsequent interaction that occurs on stage is a rich and fruitful source of analysis and can be studied by using discourse methods that linguists employ for real-life interaction. Shakespeare, Pinter, Osborne, Beckett, Chekhov, and Shaw are just some of the dramatists whose material is drawn upon.Each chapter contains a theoretical section in which major concepts of each framework are explained before the relevance of the framework to dramatic discourse is analyzed and explored using textual examples. This book will be of interest to undergraduates and postgraduates studying in the areas of literary linguistics and stylistics, or anyone specialising in the relationship between the text and performance.

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