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  • Pragmatic_failure_in_fiction_about_autism_Revised

    Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Language and Literature, 23 (2), 2014, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2014 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Language and Literature page: http://lal.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/

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Pragmatic failure, mind style and characterisation in fiction about autism

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Pragmatic failure, mind style and characterisation in fiction about autism. / Semino, Elena.
In: Language and Literature, Vol. 23, No. 2, 08.05.2014, p. 141-158.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Semino, E 2014, 'Pragmatic failure, mind style and characterisation in fiction about autism', Language and Literature, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 141-158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947014526312

APA

Semino, E. (2014). Pragmatic failure, mind style and characterisation in fiction about autism. Language and Literature, 23(2), 141-158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947014526312

Vancouver

Semino E. Pragmatic failure, mind style and characterisation in fiction about autism. Language and Literature. 2014 May 8;23(2):141-158. doi: 10.1177/0963947014526312

Author

Semino, Elena. / Pragmatic failure, mind style and characterisation in fiction about autism. In: Language and Literature. 2014 ; Vol. 23, No. 2. pp. 141-158.

Bibtex

@article{91fedb4ba7324709ae459e0439bd6210,
title = "Pragmatic failure, mind style and characterisation in fiction about autism",
abstract = "This paper presents an analysis of different types of pragmatic failure in the interactional behaviour of the {\textquoteleft}autistic{\textquoteright} protagonists of three recent novels. Three main types of pragmatic failure occur across all three novels: problems with informativeness and relevance in conversational contributions; problems with face management resulting in unintentional impolite behaviours; and problems with the interpretation of figurative language. These problems are salient and frequent enough to contribute to the projection of distinctive mind styles, and more generally to the characterisation of the protagonists as individuals with communication and socialisation difficulties that are likely to both reflect and reinforce general perceptions of autism-spectrum disorders. It is also argued that pragmatic failure contributes to the potential defamiliarisation of {\textquoteleft}normal{\textquoteright} communication, which is presented as being fraught with obscurity, ambiguity and insincerity. ",
keywords = "Autism , characterisation , fiction, figurative language , Grice , impoliteness , metaphor, mind style, pragmatic failure, Theory of Mind",
author = "Elena Semino",
note = "The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Language and Literature, 23 (2), 2014, {\textcopyright} SAGE Publications Ltd, 2014 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Language and Literature page: http://lal.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/ ",
year = "2014",
month = may,
day = "8",
doi = "10.1177/0963947014526312",
language = "English",
volume = "23",
pages = "141--158",
journal = "Language and Literature",
issn = "0963-9470",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pragmatic failure, mind style and characterisation in fiction about autism

AU - Semino, Elena

N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Language and Literature, 23 (2), 2014, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2014 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Language and Literature page: http://lal.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/

PY - 2014/5/8

Y1 - 2014/5/8

N2 - This paper presents an analysis of different types of pragmatic failure in the interactional behaviour of the ‘autistic’ protagonists of three recent novels. Three main types of pragmatic failure occur across all three novels: problems with informativeness and relevance in conversational contributions; problems with face management resulting in unintentional impolite behaviours; and problems with the interpretation of figurative language. These problems are salient and frequent enough to contribute to the projection of distinctive mind styles, and more generally to the characterisation of the protagonists as individuals with communication and socialisation difficulties that are likely to both reflect and reinforce general perceptions of autism-spectrum disorders. It is also argued that pragmatic failure contributes to the potential defamiliarisation of ‘normal’ communication, which is presented as being fraught with obscurity, ambiguity and insincerity.

AB - This paper presents an analysis of different types of pragmatic failure in the interactional behaviour of the ‘autistic’ protagonists of three recent novels. Three main types of pragmatic failure occur across all three novels: problems with informativeness and relevance in conversational contributions; problems with face management resulting in unintentional impolite behaviours; and problems with the interpretation of figurative language. These problems are salient and frequent enough to contribute to the projection of distinctive mind styles, and more generally to the characterisation of the protagonists as individuals with communication and socialisation difficulties that are likely to both reflect and reinforce general perceptions of autism-spectrum disorders. It is also argued that pragmatic failure contributes to the potential defamiliarisation of ‘normal’ communication, which is presented as being fraught with obscurity, ambiguity and insincerity.

KW - Autism

KW - characterisation

KW - fiction

KW - figurative language

KW - Grice

KW - impoliteness

KW - metaphor

KW - mind style

KW - pragmatic failure

KW - Theory of Mind

U2 - 10.1177/0963947014526312

DO - 10.1177/0963947014526312

M3 - Journal article

VL - 23

SP - 141

EP - 158

JO - Language and Literature

JF - Language and Literature

SN - 0963-9470

IS - 2

ER -