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Metapragmatic Awareness and Relationship Dynamics: A Pragmatic-Discourse Analysis of Gricean Maxims in a Literary Work
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Abstract
This study investigates how the relationship dynamics in a literary work can be constructed by the metapragmatic strategies deployed by the characters. To illustrate the significance and rhetorical functions of metapragmatic awareness, this study conducted a pragmatic-discourse analysis of conversations among the protagonists in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Employing Grice’s Cooperative Principle (CP) as an analytical framework, the study focuses primarily on how the protagonists utilize their metapragmatic strategies during their interactions and how the strategies impact their relationship dynamics. Verbal exchanges between the main characters were systematically analyzed based on the four maxims of the CP: Quantity, Quality, Relevance, and Manner. Instances of both compliance and violation of these maxims were identified and selected as representative examples to illustrate the arguments.
Keywords:
Gricean maxims, cooperative principle, metapragmatics, dynamics of relationship, Pride and PrejudiceReferences
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