Journal of Beijing International Studies University ›› 2017, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (6): 57-68.DOI: 10.12002/j.bisu.096

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A Study on the Interpretation of the Characters in Graham Rawle’s Woman’s World:A Multimodal Cognitive Stylistic Perspective

LEI Qian   

  1. Xi’an International Studies University, Xi’an 710128, China
  • Received:2016-12-05 Online:2018-03-19 Published:2017-12-15

格林海姆• 洛雷拼贴小说《女性世界》人物认知研究——多模态认知文体学视角

雷 茜   

  1. 雷茜,西安外国语大学英文学院
  • 作者简介:雷茜,西安外国语大学英文学院,710128,研究方向:系统功能语言学、多模态文体学。电子邮箱:leiqian@xisu.edu.cn。
  • 基金资助:
    本文系国家社会科学基金项目“外语本科生多元能力培养模式研究”(项目编号:14BYY075)和陕西省社科基金项目“多模态语篇的文体建构研究”(项目编号:2016K019)的阶段性研究成果。

Abstract:  

 Graham Rawle’s paste-up novel Woman’s World successfully develops two vivid main characters—Roy and Norma. The employment of first person point of view of the character Norma ensures readers the actual existence of this female character in the story world; while with the unfolding of the story, readers finally realize the fact that the two main characters are integrated into a double-dressing male character Roy and Norma is imagery even in the fictional world. Based on Culpeper’s comprehensive cognition model for dramatic characters, a character cognition model for multimodal literary works is developed. In the new model, the presentation of characters is no longer the product of only language but the coordination of verbal mode and non-verbal modes such as image, typography, layout and color. To explore readers’ interpretation and appreciation of the two characters, the role of multimodal metaphor in the coordination of verbal mode and non-verbal modes are specifically studied in terms of the naming of the two characters, the description of their appearances, and the presentation of their speeches and thoughts. It is concluded that both verbal mode and non-verbal modes are utilized in the meaning construction and characterization of the novel, scheme questioning and schema reconstruction strategies are needed to obtain an accurate interpretation of such complex characters, and multimodal stylistic features such as the use of pictures from commercial advertisements and the utilization of peculiar typography, layout and color play a significant facilitative role in the accurate interpretation and appreciation of the two main characters.

Keywords: Woman’s World; characters; multimodal metaphor; schema blocking; schema reconstruction

摘要: 格林海姆• 洛雷拼贴小说《女性世界》以第一人称诺玛的视角展开,塑造了两个性格鲜明的兄妹罗伊和诺玛,两人最终被证实是一个有两性着装嗜好的男青年罗伊。本文采用多模态认知文体学的视角,以Culpeper 戏剧人物认知模式为原型,建构了一个多模态文学作品人物认知模型,在此模型的基础上讨论多模态隐喻如何通过图像、印刷版式、色彩和布局在两人命名、外貌描写、言语和思想表达方面与语言隐喻相辅相成建构意义,帮助读者完成图式质疑和重构, 最终达到对诺玛和罗伊两个人物的正确理解。

关键词: 《女性世界》, 人物塑造, 多模态隐喻, 图式阻断, 图式重构

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