Language and World Creation in Poems and Other Texts Textual Explorations Series

Language and World Creation in Poems and Other Texts introduces an interdisciplinary and practical approach to the analysis of poetry which focuses on text worlds, namely the contexts, scenarios or types of reality that readers construct in their interaction with the language of texts. The book demonstrates in detail three ways of approaching poetic text worlds, namely as discourse situations, possible worlds, and mental constructs. Clear and detailed introductions to linguistic theories of definiteness and deixis, possible world theory and schema theory are included, making the book accessible to readers who are unfamiliar with these frameworks.

1. Introduction

Part I: Poetic text worlds as discourse situations
2. Definiteness, indefiniteness and context creation
3. Deixis and context creation

Part II: Poetic text worlds as possible worlds
4. Possible-world theory, fiction and literature
5. Possible-world theory and the analysis of poetic text worlds

Part III: Poetic text worlds as cognitive constructs
6. Schema theory and literature
7. Schema theory and the analysis of poetic text worlds
8. Metaphor, schema refreshment and text worlds

9. Conclusion: the world of Sylvia Plath's 'The Applicant'

References

Index

Elena Semino is a lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Modern English Language at Lancaster University. She has published extensively in the field of stylistics, and was awarded the 1995 Poetics and Linguistics Association Prize for the best article published by a young academic.

• This is the first book in the field which focuses on text worlds in poetry and applies possible-world and schema theory to poetry in a systematic way.
• A wide range of British and American poems in English are analysed.
• Brief sample analyses of non-poetic texts are also included.
• Encourages students to apply the analysis to other genres including novels, short stories, plays, advertisements and jokes.