Interpretive Representation: A Relevance-Theoretic Analysis of the Opening Paragraph of Carlyle's Chartism

2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Keeble
Keyword(s):  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Theoretic Analysis ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractThis paper demonstrates the capacity of relevance theory to illuminate the stylistic features of a complex piece of literary prose and in particular to shed light on the level of coherence inherent in the text examined. Taking some independent critical observations of the writer's style as a point of departure, it provides a close analysis of the opening paragraph of Thomas Carlyle's essay

Translation of strategic ambiguity: A relevance-theoretic analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasheed S. Al-Jarrah ◽  
Ahmad M. Abu-Dalu ◽  
Hisham Obiedat
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Ambiguity Resolution ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Theoretic Analysis ◽  
Strategic Ambiguity ◽  
The One ◽  
Point Of Departure

AbstractThe purpose of our current research is to see how Relevance Theory can handle one specific translation problem, namely strategic ambiguous structures. Concisely, we aim to provide a conceptual framework as to how the translator should cope with a pervasive ambiguity problem at the discoursal level. The point of departure from probably all previous models of analysis is that a relevance-theoretic analysis would, we believe, require that a “good” translation benotthe one that representsan interpretationof the text, but the one which leaves the door open for all interpretations which the original text provides evidence for. Hence,the role of translator is not to ‘interpret’ but to ‘translate’. If this is true, ambiguity resolution should not be a viable alternative. In other words, what the translator should do is empower the audience with all it takes to let them work out all the explicatures (linguistically inferred meanings) and entertain themselves with the implicatures (contextually inferred meanings) of the original. Direct Translation, along the lines laid down by Gutt (1991/2000), is the method of translation which can, we believe, bring about the desired results because “it tries to provide readers with contextual information that enables them to draw their own inferences” (Smith 2000: 92).

scholarly journals Siberian punk shall emerge here: Egor Letov and Grazhdanskaia Oborona

Popular Music ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yngvar B. Steinholt
Keyword(s):  
Punk Rock ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Complex Landscape ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractAny study of punk rock in Russia will in some way come into contact with the massive influence of Egor Letov, his band Grazhdanskaia Oborona, and their extensive output during the late 1980s. Academia has thus far been reluctant to study the band because of its leader's involvement with dubious right-wing movements and his many tasteless and provocative media stunts during the 1990s. By taking its point of departure in Letov's songs from four stages of his band's development, this article seeks to shed light on Grazhdanskaia Oborona's contribution to the development of punk in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. When it comes to Letov's extremist views in the latter half of his career it attempts to venture beyond reductionist notions of fascism, into the complex landscape of the paradoxical and often confusing mixture of extreme ideologies that sprang out of the Soviet collapse. It will argue that Letov's work – his songs – come over as a lot less contradictory and ideologically extreme than their author's political stunts would suggest. Their aesthetics and ideology are first and foremost punk.

The outsider and the insider in Tigania Meru

Africa ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 400-409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurg Mahner
Keyword(s):  
Left Hand ◽  
Symbolic Structure ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Point Of Departure

Opening ParagraphThe point of departure for this paper is Rodney Needham's article, ‘The left Hand of the Mugwe: an analytical Note on the Structure of Meru-symbolism’ (Needham, 1960: 20–33). I will not try here to give further evidence for the system of dual classification which he presents in that article in order to prove or disprove it, but will dwell on his suggestion that it might be possible to draw conclusions about the origin of the Meru of Kenya by examining their symbolic structure (ibid: 27). My argument will lead not so much to conclusions about the origin of the Meru, but to conclusions concerning the ‘making’ of a society, particularly that of Tigania, a subtribe of the Meru people. My conclusions are based on a discussion of the theoretical and historical implications of the allocation of distinctive rights and duties to different divisions within Tigania.

scholarly journals A RELEVANCE-THEORETIC ANALYSIS OF YEAH AS A DISCOURSE MARKER

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dam Ha Thuy
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Contextual Effects ◽  
Theoretic Analysis ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Discourse Marker ◽  
Turn Taking ◽  
Intended Interpretation ◽  
Necessary Constraints

The paper attempts to explain English native speakers’ use of the discourse marker yeah from a relevance-theoretic perspective (Sperber & Wilson, 1995). As a discourse marker, yeah normally functions as a continuer, an agreement marker, a turn-taking marker, or a disfluency marker. However, according to Relevance Theory, yeah can also be considered a procedural expression, and therefore, is expected to help yield necessary constraints on the contexts, which facilitates understanding in human communication by encoding one of the three contextual effects (contextual implication, strengthening, or contradiction) or reorienting the audience to certain assumptions which lead to the intended interpretation. Analyses of examples taken from conversations with a native speaker of English suggest that each use of yeah as a discourse marker is able to put a certain type of constraints on the relevance of the accompanying utterance. These initial analyses serve as a foundation for further research to confirm its multi-functionality as a procedural expression when examined within the framework of Relevance Theory.

Fluidity and diversity of Japanese communities in London

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuko Miyake ◽  
Noriko Iwasaki
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language And Identity ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Meiji Era ◽  
History Of ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract This paper explores the reality of ‘Japanese communities’ in London and the interrelation between language and identity. First, we trace the history of the Japanese community to around the beginning of the Meiji Era (1868–1912), when Japan emerged from national isolation. We then focus on one of the ‘communities’ established around the start of the 21st century by work-related and independent relocation. We present the life stories of two women who independently resided in London and shed light on the fluid nature of language maintenance and negotiation of identities. Through the close analysis of these personal experiences, we elucidate the complex reality of individuals who may be otherwise collectively understood as members of Japanese communities. These stories highlight the heterogeneity of the Japanese individuals in London, and therefore lead us to question the discursively constructed images of the ‘Japanese communities’- and the nature and importance of ‘language maintenance’.

Sôma, technê and the Somatechnics of Sexual Difference

Somatechnics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Sampson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Difference ◽  
Luce Irigaray ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
The Third ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Shed Light

This article investigates what may be called a somatechnics of sexual difference by way of making a detour through the classical Greek notions of sôma and technê. An emphasis is put upon a tension between different figurations of these notions within an ancient Greek context, exemplified through a contrast, or counterpoint, between a later Platonic and earlier pre-Platonic significance of these words. Taking some of the various denotations that sôma and technê carry within early Greek thinking both as a point of departure and as a means of providing an outside to more contemporary ways of conceptualizing and understanding corporeality and technology, the article attempts to use this as a background in order to shed light upon sexual difference. That is to say, I am addressing three different contexts in this article: The first is a pre-Platonic context. The second is a later, classical context: the context of Plato, if you will. These two constitute a background in order to shed light upon the third contemporary one, where the concept of somatechnics as well as the notion of sexual difference as conceived by Luce Irigaray belong.

Representasjon i nye storkommunar: Forgubbing og sentrumsdominans eller status quo?

2021 ◽  
pp. 201-228
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Bakke ◽  
Bjarte Folkestad
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Combined Effect ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Time Geography ◽  
Age Bias ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Gender Balance ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Shed Light

The 2019 local elections in Norway were the first elections to be held in 47 amalgamated municipalities. Earlier research has shown that geography is an important list-balancing criterion in national elections, yet it is an under-researched aspect of descriptive representation in local elections. In this chapter we set out to fill this gap. Using the representation literature as a point of departure, we study the effect of merger on geographic representation and investigate whether stronger emphasis on geography increased the gender or age bias of the municipal councils in newly merged municipalities. To this end, we use candidate data from all local candidates in the 2019 local elections (N = 54254) as well as historic candidate data for previous elections. We combine this with qualitative party interviews to shed light on the parties’ nomination processes. We find that candidates from the smaller municipalities are overrepresented on the party lists as well as in the municipal councils of the 47 municipalities. This is the combined effect of party nomination practices and voters’ preferences. However, somewhat surprisingly, increased emphasis on geography did not affect age or gender balance to any great extent. The results for the newly merged municipalities fit well into the national trend, featuring slightly older and more gender-equal candidate lists across time. Geography thus seems to have been an additional list-balancing criterion, on top of, and not instead of, gender and age.

scholarly journals Hegemony and the internalisation of homophobia caused by heteronormativity

2007 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Sexual Minorities ◽  
Personality Types ◽  
Social Construct ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Shed Light

The aim of the article is to focus on hegemony as it relates to the issue of sexuality and the trauma imposed on sexual minorities. A point of departure is that social identity theories can shed light on homophobia. The article argues that an empathic approach to those traumatised by internalised homophobia calls for a gay-friendly psychotherapy/analysis. The article reflects particularly on how heteronormativity maintains homophobia. It also illustrates the relationship between homophobia and social scientific insights regarding personality types and gender. The concepts homophobia and the internalisation of homophobia are discussed by focusing on aspects such as personality types and violence. The article finds that blind submission to heteronormativity, an outdated social construct, traumatises those who do not conform to the hetero norm, in two ways: hegemony is one consequence, and internalised homophobia is another.

A Relevance–Theoretical Account of Three Arabic Pragmatic Operators of Concession in a Political Discourse

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasheed S. Al-Jarrah ◽  
Ahmad M. Abu Dalu ◽  
Marwan Jarrah
Keyword(s):  
Ambiguity Resolution ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Viable Alternative ◽  
Jordanian Arabic ◽  
Theoretical Account ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
Viable Approach ◽  
Discourse Connectives ◽  
Point Of Departure

AbstractThe present study aims at explaining how the Relevance Theory could be a viable approach to weigh up the main functions of some concessive Pragmatic Operators (henceforth POs) in Jordanian Arabic at the production and interpretation levels. A sample of twenty-two speeches delivered by members of the Jordanian Parliament the 16th was randomly selected for scrutiny. Three POs (namely, laakin, bal and wa) detected in their speeches were analyzed at the token level in light of three elementary RT assumptions about discourse connectives in general, namely connectivity (Fraser 1996), the conceptual-procedural distinction (Blakemore 1987, 1988, 1992, 2002; Wilson and Sperber 1993; Grice 1989), and monosemy (Fretheim 2000; cf. Borderia 2008). The major finding of this study was that concessive POs, as a subset of contrastives, are used to optimize relevance: highlight certain dimensions and/or suppress others of the scenario to the background. However, the point of departure from possibly all previous treatments is that the speakers, as politicians, still used them more strategically because total ambiguity resolution should not be a viable alternative in social settings laden with politics.

Mediating Music: materiality and silence in Madonna's ‘Don't Tell Me’

Popular Music ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNE DANIELSEN ◽  
ARNT MAASØ
Keyword(s):  
Popular Music ◽  
Electronic Media ◽  
Medium Specificity ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Recording Process ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Digital Sound

AbstractThis article investigates how the concrete sound of and recording process behind a pop tune relate to the possibilities and constraints of its electronic media. After a brief presentation of some theoretical issues related to the question of mediation and materiality, we address the claim that digitisation erases the material aspects of mediation through an investigation of contemporary popular music. Through a close analysis of the sound (and the silence) in Madonna's song ‘Don't Tell Me’, from the album Music (2000), as well as in a handful of related examples, we argue that one can indeed identify specific aural qualities associated with digital sound, and that these qualities may be used to achieve different aesthetic effects as well as to shed light on mediation and medium specificity as such.

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