Part of
Scientific Approaches to Literature in Learning EnvironmentsEdited by Michael Burke, Olivia Fialho and Sonia Zyngier
[Linguistic Approaches to Literature 24] 2016
► pp. 227–252
Edited by Michael Burke, Olivia Fialho and Sonia Zyngier
[Linguistic Approaches to Literature 24] 2016
► pp. 227–252
Chapter 12. Empirical stylistics as a learning and research tool in the study of narrative viewpoint
This chapter reports a study on students’ responses to a passage by Virginia Woolf which displays frequent shifts in viewpoint and a variety of speech and thought presentation modes. The students were asked to attribute the viewpoint in the passage and to demarcate the boundaries of individual viewpoints. The aims of the study are: to (1) assess the agreement among readers on how to assign viewpoint; (2) test the differences in interpretation between more experienced and less experienced readers; (3) expose students to the empirical investigation of literature in an experimental setting; and (4) reflect on the usefulness of incorporating empirical studies in the learning process. The findings demonstrate the level of readerly agreement on the attribution of viewpoint and the boundaries of individual viewpoints in an experimental text. The use of empirical methods as a learning tool in the stylistics classroom is assessed.
References
Adamson, S.M
(1999) Literary language. In S. Romaine (Ed.), The Cambridge history of the English language, Volume 4: 1776-1997 (pp. 591-690). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
Andringa, E
(1996) Effects of ‘narrative distance’ on readers’ emotional involvement and response. Poetics, 23, 431-452.
Banfield, A
(1982) Unspeakable sentences: Narration and representation in the language of fiction. Boston, MA: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Bellard-Thomson, C
(2010) How students learn stylistics: Constructing an empirical study. Language and Literature, 19(1), 35-57.
Bray, J
(2007) The ‘dual voice’ of free indirect discourse: A reading experiment. Language and Literature, 16(1), 37-52.
Dixon, P., Bortolussi, M., Twilley, L.C., & Leung, A
(1993) Literary processing and interpretation: Towards empirical foundation. Poetics, 22, 5-35.
Dorfman, M
(1996) Evaluating the interpretive community: Evidence from expert and novice readers. Poetics, 23, 453-470.
Fludernik, M
(1993) The fictions of language and the languages of fiction. London: Routledge.
Herman, D
(1993) Towards a pragmatics of represented discourse: Narrative, speech and context in Woolf’s Between the Acts
. Poetics, 21, 377-409.
László, J
(1986) Same story with different point of view. SPIEL, 5, 1-22.
Leech. G., & Short, M
(2007[1981]) Style in fiction. London: Longman.
Miall, D
(1996) Empowering the reader: Literary response and classroom learning. In R. Kreuz & M. MacNealy (Eds.), Empirical approaches to literature and aesthetics (pp. 463-478). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Palmer, A
(2002) The construction of fictional minds. Narrative, 10(1), 28-46.
(2004) Fictional minds. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press.
Sanders, J., & Redeker, G
(1993) Linguistic perspective in short news stories. Poetics, 22, 69-87.
Simpson, P
(1993) Language, ideology and point of view. London: Routledge
Sotirova, V
(2006) Reader responses to narrative viewpoint. Poetics, 34, 108-133.
(2007) Woolf's Experiments with Consciousness in Fiction. In M. Lambrou & P. Stockwell (Eds.), Contemporary Stylistics (pp. 7-18). Continuum.
(2011) D.H. Lawrence and narrative viewpoint. London: Continuum.
(2013) Consciousness in modernist fiction: A stylistic study. Houndmills: Palgrave.
Toolan, M
(2001) Narrative: A critical linguistic introduction. London: Routledge.
(2009) Narrative progression in the short story: A corpus-stylistic approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Vandelanotte, L
(2009) Speech and thought representation in English: A cognitive-functional approach. Berlin: De Gruyter.
van Peer, W., & Pander Maat, H
(1996) Perspectivation and sympathy: Effects of narrative point of view. In R. Kreuz & M. MacNealy (Eds.), Empirical approaches to literature and aesthetics (pp. 143-154). Norwood, NJ Ablex.
(2001) Narrative perspective and the interpretation of characters’ motives. Language and Literature, 10(3), 229-242.
Zunshine, L
(2003) Theory of mind and experimental representations of fictional consciousness. Narrative, 11(3), 270-291.
Zyngier, S., & Fialho, O
(2010) Pedagogical stylistics, literary awareness and empowerment: A critical perspective. Language and Literature, 19(1), 13-33.
Cited by
Cited by 8 other publications
Cui, Yaxiao
2017. Reader responses to shifts in point of view: An empirical study. Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 26:2 ► pp. 122 ff. 
Cushing, Ian
2018. Stylistics goes to school. Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 27:4 ► pp. 271 ff.
Grisot, Giulia, Kathy Conklin & Violeta Sotirova
2020. Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Readers’ responses to experimental techniques of speech, thought and consciousness presentation in Woolf’sTo the LighthouseandMrs Dalloway. Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 29:2 ► pp. 103 ff.
Jaashan, Hasan Mohammed
2020. The Impact of Incorporating Stylistic Models of Inversion in Teaching Grammar on Students’ Comprehension of Literary Text. Issues in Language Studies 9:2 ► pp. 126 ff.
Lugea, Jane
2017. The year’s work in stylistics 2016. Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 26:4 ► pp. 340 ff.
van Krieken, Kobie
2018. Ambiguous Perspective in Narrative Discourse: Effects of Viewpoint Markers and Verb Tense on Readers’ Interpretation of Represented Perceptions. Discourse Processes 55:8 ► pp. 771 ff.
Viana, Vander & Sonia Zyngier
2017. Exploring new territories in pedagogical stylistics: An investigation of high-school EFL students’ assessments. Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 26:4 ► pp. 300 ff.
Wirag, Andreas
2020. The scope of empirical narratology. Frontiers of Narrative Studies 6:1 ► pp. 113 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.