Language and Literary Structure: The Linguistic Analysis of Form in Verse and Narrative

by Nigel Fabb

Overview

This theoretical study of linguistic structure in literature focuses on verse and narrative from a linguistic perspective. Nigel Fabb provides a simple and realistic linguistic explanation of poetic form in English from 1500-1900, drawing on the English and American verse and oral narrative tradition, as well as contemporary criticism. He offers a new linguistic approach to how metre and rhythm work in poetry, based on pragmatic theory. He provides a pragmatic explanation of formal ambiguity and indeterminacy and their aesthetic effects.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521792943
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2002
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

1. Literary form; 2. Generated metrical form; 3. Communicated form; 4. The communication of metre; 5. Lines; 6. Line-groups in metrical verse and in narrative; 7. Complexity.

Editorial Reviews

'This book presents a highly original linguistic approach to literary structure, and especially to English metrical verse.' Journal of Literary Semantics

'… an interesting addition to the linguistic study of verse … Language and Literary Structure is a significant contribution to the linguistic analysis of literature. It describes and analyzes a broader set of English verse than previous generative accounts … The writing is clear throughout the book … Language and Literary Structure could easily serve as the textbook in an advanced course on metrics … the ongoing and active debate over t his makes Fabb's work both timely and relevant … Language and Literary Structure will prove useful to both the linguist and the literary scholar … The book poses interesting answers to provocative questions …' Journal of Linguistics

From the Publisher