Analyzing characterization techniques as a tool to produce discursive meaning: Insight from the interaction of pragmatics and stylistics in literary discourse

Articles in Press

Document Type : مقالات علمی پژوهشی

Author
R. rezaei
Assistant professor of linguistics- department of English language and literature-Faculty of Humanities- Yasouj University
Abstract
Besides the main elements such as setting, theme, plot, and conflicts, any narrative or story requires another key element called character. It is the character that adds meaning and life to each of these elements, transforming a narrative into a compelling story. Characterization is essentially the process of bringing life and creating human figures from the elements of a narrative discourse. Creating and developing characters in the realm of storytelling and art is a delicate and novel task referred to as “characterization.” This process results in the creation of characters that are believable, engaging, and understandable for the audience. Characterization establishes a bridge of communication between the reader’s or viewer’s mind and the world of the story, enabling them to empathize with the characters, understand their emotions, and become curious about their actions and motivations, thereby increasing audience engagement.The corpus of this research consists of short stories by the Afghan author Mohammad Asef Soltanzadeh. The present study, relying on Soltanzadeh’s ability to utilize and develop story characters, is conducted in a descriptive-analytical manner. The aim has been to analyze the use of the element of characterization and the interaction between pragmatics and stylistics in three short stories from the collection “Nowruz is Only Splendid in Kabul,” considering Culpeper’s theoretical framework (2017). The results of this study indicate that characterization consistently follows three elements: the degree of narrative control, the dialectic of self and other, and explicit and implicit meanings within the overall narrative discourse, which the author skillfully employs.

Keywords

Subjects

• احمدی چناری، علی اکبر. (1394). شخصیت و شخصیت پردازی در داستان های کوتاه مجموعه "العواصف" جبران خلیل جبران. زبان و ادبیات عربی، 7(12/2/170)، 1-29.
• اسد الله زاده گودرزی، بیتا و ابراهیم تبار، ابراهیم. (1392). شخصیت و شخصیت پردازی در رمان «ملکوت». مطالعات نقد ادبی (پژوهش ادبی)، -، 31، 119-144.
• بارانی، محمد، و جعفری قورتانی، زهره. (1391). شخصیت پردازی در داستان کوتاه «گرگ» از هوشنگ گلشیری. پژوهش های ادبی و بلاغی، 1(1)، 1-20.
• دادور, ایلمیرا. (1383). ویژگی ها و راهبردهای نگارش داستان کوتاه. پژوهش ادبیات معاصر جهان، 9(17).
• شکروی، ش.، و نوروزیان، م. (1387). تطبیق شخصیت پردازی در داستان های کوتاه ایرانی و خارجی. ادبیات تطبیقی جیرفت، 8، 1-26.
• شوهانی، علیرضا. (1382). داستان پردازی و شخصیت پردازی مولوی در مثنوی معنوی. پژوهشهای ادبی، 2، 143-162.
• ممیزی، فاطمه، و تجلیل، جلیل. (1394). شیوه های شخصیت پردازی در داستان های قابوس نامه. بهارستان سخن (ادبیات فارسی)، 12(30)، 155-176.
• میرصادقی، ج. (1376). عناصر داستان: ادبیات داستانی، داستان [ویرایش 3]. سخن.
• ناصری مشهدی، ن.، و صفری کنگ، س. (1397). بررسی ارتباطات غیر کلامی در شخصیت پردازی داستان پدر. پژوهش های ادبی و بلاغی، 6(4)، 155-172.
• هاشمیان، لیلا و صفایی، صابر رضوان. (1389). «شخصیت پردازی» در شش داستان کوتاه از «هوشنگ گلشیری». پژوهش های نقد ادبی و سبک شناسی، 1(2)، 169-191.
References:
• Abbas, N. F., & Khaleel, J. A. (2018). Characterization in literary discourse: A pragmatic study. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Social Sciences (Vol. 2). Leuven, Belgium.
• Austin, J. L. (1975). How to do things with words. Harvard university press.
• Connolly, N.(2023). Fictional Characters and Characterisations. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 104 (2):348-367.
• Culpeper, J. (2001). Language and characterisation: People in plays and other texts. Pearson Education.
• Culpeper, J. (2009). Reflections on a cognitive stylistic approach to characterisation. In G. Brône & J. Vandaele (Ed.), Cognitive Poetics: Goals, Gains and Gaps (pp. 125-168). Berlin, New York: De Gruyter Mouton.
• Culpeper, J. & Fernandez-Quintanilla, C. (2017). 4. Fictional characterisation. In M. Locher & A. Jucker (Ed.), Pragmatics of Fiction (pp. 93-128). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.
• Culpeper, J., & McIntyre, D. (2010). Activity types and characterisation in dramatic discourse. Characters in fictional worlds: Understanding imaginary beings in literature, film, and other media, 176-207.
• Downes, W. (1988) ‘King Lear’s question to his daughters’.In van Peer, W. (ed.), The Taming of the Text: Explorations in Language, Literature and Culture, London: Routledge, 225-257.
• James, H. (1884). The Art of Fiction. Longman's magazine, 1882-1905, 4(23), 502-521.
• Margolin, U. (1983) Characterization in narrative: Some theoretical prolegomena,
Neophilologus, 67, 1-14.
• Genette, G.(1988). Narrative discourse revisited. Cornell University Press.
• Reams, J. (2015). Characterization in fiction (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.
• Solodkoff, T. (2019). Explaining Fictional Characters. Ergo: An Open Access Journal of Philosophy 6.
• Srieh, A. T., & al-Utbi, M. I. K. (2021). A Cognitive Stylistic Analysis of Characterization in Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Alustath, 60(1).
• Thomasson, Amie L. (2003). Fictional characters and literary practices. British Journal of Aesthetics 43 (2):138-157.
Language Related Research

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 July 2025