Pragmatics of Fiction

Miriam A. Locher is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Basel in Switzerland. Andreas H. Jucker is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Zurich in Switzerland

• List of figures and tables; To readers; Acknowledgments　Part I: The pragmatics of fiction as communication1. Fiction and pragmatics1.1 Introduction1.2 The scope of fiction1.3 The scope of pragmatics1.4 The levels of communication in fiction1.5 Fictional data for pragmatic research1.6 The aims of this textbookKey concepts; Exercises; Further reading2. Fiction and non-fiction2.1 Introduction2.2 Fictional utterances as ‘non-serious’ speech acts2.3 Literary models of fiction2.4 A pragmatic model of fiction2.5 Fictitious worlds and their extensions2.6 ConclusionsKey concepts; Exercises; Further reading3. Literature as communication3.1 Introduction3.2 Communicating literature3.3 Participation structure: The recipients3.4 Participation structure: The creators3.5 The complexities of performed fiction3.6 The audience talking back3.7 ConclusionsKey concepts; Exercises; Further reading　Part II: The pragmatics of story worlds4. Genres of fiction4.1 Introduction4.2 Structures of expectation in face-to-face communication4.3 Structures of expectation in written communication4.4 Structures of expectation in fiction4.5 Frames within frames: intradiegetic and extradiegetic4.6 ConclusionsKey concepts; Exercises; Further reading5. The narrative core5.1 Introduction5.2 Stories as fundamental meaning making units in discourse5.3 Stories in fiction: from starting point to intertextuality5.4 Stories in fiction: story world and narratorial voice5.5 ConclusionsKey concepts; Exercises; Further reading6. Character creation6.1 Introduction6.2 Multimodal cues in character creation6.3 Contrasts: Regional, social and ethnic variation in past and present6.4 Multilingualism in fictional character creation6.5 Alienation effects: past and future6.6 Translation challenges for character positioning6.7 ConclusionsKey concepts; Exercises; Further readingPart III: Themes in the pragmatics of fiction7. The performance of fiction7.1 Introduction7.2 The role of dialogue in fiction7.3 Planning, production and interaction 7.4 Features of orality7.5 ConclusionsKey concepts; Exercises; Further reading8. Relational work and (im/politeness) ideologies 8.1 Introduction8.2 Relational work and (character) identity construction8.3 Relational work in fiction8.4 Fiction as locus for discursive im/politeness ideologies8.5 Censuring and manufacturing8.6 ConclusionsKey concepts; Exercises; Further reading　9. The language of emotion9.1 Introduction9.2 The nature of emotions9.3 Two modes of presenting emotions in fiction9.4 Emotion cues in fiction9.5 The paradox of fiction: Real and fake emotions9.6 ConclusionsKey concepts; Exercises; Further reading10. Poetic language10.1 Introduction10.2 Poetic effects10.3 Metaphors10.4 Irony10.5 ConclusionsKey concepts; Exercises; Further reading　11. Fiction, pragmatics and future research11.1 Introduction11.2 Fact, fiction and the fictional contract11.3 Distinctive pragmatic features of fiction11.4 Outlook and future researchKey concepts; Exercises; Further readingAppendices

Overall, this book is well structured, convincingly argued and comprehensibly written. As Locher and Jucker state, The Pragmatics of Fiction: Literature, Stage and Screen Discourse has successfully concepturalised itself such that “any student interested in fiction and pragmatics in general can benefit from it”.