A lot of people comment – Terry Pratchett and Michael Gruber particularly leap to mind – that people sometimes expect life to be like a story, or even expect stories to behave like stories. But that only works if people already have stories inside their heads. Maybe, as Terry Pratchett says, the stories exist independently of time and space, and leak into our universe looking for a host. Or maybe they come from a childhood full of reading, TV and movies. Whatever the answer, it certainly makes children's literature a fascinating thing to study.
Reading children’s literature is of great value in language and cultural acquisition and is a pow... more Reading children’s literature is of great value in language and cultural acquisition and is a powerful contributor to academic success. However, the range and volume of children’s literature available in minority languages, either produced within the minority language or translated into it, is usually very limited. Children growing up with minority languages therefore often have few reading choices, and thus, few of the benefits of reading. This paper examines the sociological situations of minority languages, including the sometimes-conflicting pressures of cultural and language preservation, and the perceived merits and demerits of translating children’s litera- ture into a minority language. A reluctance to translate is based on very real con- cerns, but ultimately, it is argued that translation is a necessary and valuable tool for maintaining minority languages and for allowing children the variety of read- ing choices they need for enjoyment, for a positive self-image, and for educational success.
In Julius Caesar Shakespeare reproduces one of the pivotal moments in European history. Brutus an... more In Julius Caesar Shakespeare reproduces one of the pivotal moments in European history. Brutus and Mark Antony, through the medium of their forum speeches, compete for the support of the people of Rome. In the play, as in history, Mark Antony wins this contest of language. Critics are generally agreed that Antony has the better speech, but also that Brutus’ speech is still exceptionally good. Traditionally the question of how Antony’s speech is superior is argued by examining differences between the two speeches, however, this approach has not resulted in any critical consensus. This paper takes the opening lines of the speeches as the only point of direct convergence between the content and the rhetorical forms used by Brutus and Antony and argues that Brutus’ opening tricolon is structurally inferior to Marc Antony’s. Analysis of the following rhetorical schemes in Brutus’ speech reveals further structural weaknesses. Shakespeare gives Brutus a speech rich in perceptually salient ...
ABSTRACT Literary translators and translation, when noticed at all, have a poor public image inco... more ABSTRACT Literary translators and translation, when noticed at all, have a poor public image inconsistent with the evidence of skill and effort shown in translators’ essays, postscripts and interviews, and with the respect shown to literary translation practice in translation studies in general. This article suggests that much of this negativity results from the entailments, or logical implications, of the dominant conceptual metaphors of translation: movement and replacement. Conceptual metaphors powerfully shape perceptions and expectations, but unlike consciously applied metaphors their effects go largely unnoticed. By comparing the current dominant metaphors of translation to an alternative of “translation as performance” we can see that many of the common concepts of translation are entailments of metaphor rather than intrinsic features of translation. The performance metaphor is used as a contrast because it has very different entailments, thus highlighting the effects of the current metaphors and also providing a possible alternative for translators and students of translation.
International Research in Children's Literature, 2012
In three of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories there are brief appearances of t... more In three of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories there are brief appearances of the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of ‘street Arabs’ who help Holmes with his investigations. These children have been re-imagined in modern children's literature in at least twenty-seven texts in a variety of media and with writers from both Britain and the United States. All these modern stories show a marked upward shift in the class of the Irregulars away from the lower working class of Conan-Doyle's originals. The shift occurs through attributing middle-class origins to the leaders of the Irregulars, through raising the class of the Irregulars in general, and through giving the children life environments more comfortable, safe, and financially secure than would have been possible for late-Victorian street children. Because of the variety in texts and writers, it is argued that this shift is not a result of the conscious political or ideological positions of individual write...
The impetus for the incredible variety found in the modern literary dragon is commonly seen to st... more The impetus for the incredible variety found in the modern literary dragon is commonly seen to stem from the creative genius of either E. Nesbit or Kenneth Grahame. However, examination of dragon stories in the late nineteenth century shows that several different authors, on both sides of the Atlantic, were producing similar stories at about the same time, suggesting that the change was part of a general literary and cultural development rather than simply inspired storytelling. This study examines dragon stories of the late nineteenth century and argues that the rediscovery of the Scandinavian dragon, the discovery of the Chinese and Japanese dragons, and possibly the nineteenth-century publication of folktales parodying traditional dragon stories, gave authors new ways of looking at dragons. Traditional St George type dragon stories had already shifted into children’s literature, making books for children the natural environment for the development of the dragon, and it is argued that the combined pressures of the new ideas about dragons, the parody, and the enormous cultural changes of the late Victorian period, were sufficient to stimulate the great change in the literary dragon, which has continued and diversified ever since.
The written text of picturebooks is often deceptively simple. However, as Riita Oittinen (2003) s... more The written text of picturebooks is often deceptively simple. However, as Riita Oittinen (2003) shows in her analysis of Swedish, German and Finnish translations of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963), picturebook text can be more complex, or more carefully written than it at first appears. Oittinen examines sentence length and punctuation in relation to rhythm for reading aloud. This study follows and extends her analysis for the Japanese translation. The Japanese translation is dramatically different from the original text – much more so than the translations studied by Oittinen. The conclusion highlights that the Japanese translation is nonetheless a very popular and long selling text within its target culture.
If we are to understand nonsense poetry, we need to look at the overall concept of literary nonse... more If we are to understand nonsense poetry, we need to look at the overall concept of literary nonsense. The first stage for most commentators is to carefully extract the literary use of ‘nonsense’ from the everyday use(eg Thomas, 1985; Kennedy, 1991; Sewell, 1952; Tigges, 1988).In everyday use ‘nonsense’ can simply mean, as its morphological roots suggest, ‘a lack of meaning’. In literary nonsense we have to adapt this to ‘a partial lack of meaning’. In literature a lack of meaning can often be found in broken conventions of language use(grammatical, lexical, meaningful, interactional, in terms of truth, possibility, world knowledge). If we take two of the most famous nonsense poems in the English language, ‘Jabberwocky’ and ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’, we can also clearly see the two most common realisations of this partial lack of meaning. ‘Jabberwocky’ has reduced meaning through the use of non-standard vocabulary with no clear referents(nobody really knows what a mome rath actually is).‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ only uses standard vocabulary(except for ‘runcible’)but it lacks conventional meaning because it describes a series of events which are physically impossible in the real world. Amongst other things, owls and cats don’t go to sea in boats, owls don’t sing, and definitely(considering their lack of fingers)don’t play guitars. Pigs don’t have the dexterity to remove rings from their noses, and nor do they have the capitalist inclination to charge for said ring.
Reading children’s literature is of great value in language and cultural acquisition and is a pow... more Reading children’s literature is of great value in language and cultural acquisition and is a powerful contributor to academic success. However, the range and volume of children’s literature available in minority languages, either produced within the minority language or translated into it, is usually very limited. Children growing up with minority languages therefore often have few reading choices, and thus, few of the benefits of reading. This paper examines the sociological situations of minority languages, including the sometimes-conflicting pressures of cultural and language preservation, and the perceived merits and demerits of translating children’s litera- ture into a minority language. A reluctance to translate is based on very real con- cerns, but ultimately, it is argued that translation is a necessary and valuable tool for maintaining minority languages and for allowing children the variety of read- ing choices they need for enjoyment, for a positive self-image, and for educational success.
The aim of this paper is to introduce a working model of phrasal repetition and to identify diffe... more The aim of this paper is to introduce a working model of phrasal repetition and to identify different varieties or forms of phrasal repetition.
In stating this aim, I have already introduced two basic assumptions that may need attention. First, I have stated, as given, that there is some need or rationale for such a model. Second, I have introduced a term that has the appearance of a technical term (phrasal repetition) but which has no preceding discussion in the literature of linguistic or stylistic study. By introducing such a term I am necessarily pre-forming the expectations of the descriptive model. To justify this seeming circularity, I will endeavour to place the development of the model within existing discussions of language repetition, and to show the steps which have led to the model described below.
The paper therefore, will start with a general discussion of repetition, it will continue with an overview of existing discussion, it will develop from that discussion a descriptive model designed to cover what is not covered in existing models, and finally it will make a brief adventure into the uses of the model for textual analysis or stylistics.
The phonological loop is that aspect of working memory which makes a temporary store of auditory ... more The phonological loop is that aspect of working memory which makes a temporary store of auditory input. The amount of input a person can hear and then report back can be seen as a rough measure of the capacity of the phonological loop. In terms of language acquisition and comprehension, it is natural to assume that the capacity of the phonological loop will have some sort of relationship with learning success, simply by virtue of being a major point of language input and a limiting factor on real time language processing. If a person can only hold a short amount of material in the phonological loop they will necessarily have difficulties in processing longer or more complex strings of language. This paper examines the psychological evidence on the working of the phonological loop in relation to its possible implications for language learning and teaching.
This paper examines the common prevalence for parodic books for children (especially picture book... more This paper examines the common prevalence for parodic books for children (especially picture books) which have parodic references likely to be unknown to child readers. I reject the argument that such texts are simply double audience texts with the parody for the adults and the base story for the children, and instead introduce arguments in favour of a more complex reading experience which retrospectively changes as children gain more and more world knowledge, allowing them to experience a postponed but potentiated experience of the parody.
Kate Thompson, in her 2006 apocalyptic novel, The Fourth Horseman, uses the Japanese martial art ... more Kate Thompson, in her 2006 apocalyptic novel, The Fourth Horseman, uses the Japanese martial art of aikido as an integral part of her narrative. The story is not about aikido, but aikido is one of the strands which bind the narrative together. The use of a particular named martial art in a work of English children’s literature is very unusual, but the choice of aikido in particular, is particularly unusual, and therefore of great interest in terms of its narrative value. This paper attempts firstly, to put Thompson’s choice of aikido into a general perspective, and secondly, to show how aikido is used in this novel as a specific narrative tool. Kate Thompson was kind enough to answer some of my questions, and her answers are included at the end of this paper to give both context to my own discussions, and, most importantly, to do that most valuable but unusual thing in literary discussion, to allow the author’s own voice.
Within speech making and speech writing the term 'rule of three' is used in a rather informal way... more Within speech making and speech writing the term 'rule of three' is used in a rather informal way to talk about the rhetorical technique of making a point memorable and powerful by saying it, explaining it, or exampling it, in three different ways.
So, when you want to say that your political policies are good for every- one, you split 'everyone' into three parts, and claim that you policies are good for the young, the old, and for everyone else too. If you are being a little cynical about politics in general, you might say that, occasionally, if you are lucky, everyone believes in what you are doing, but only occasionally. But, you would do much better to say that you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but that you can't actually fool all of the people all of the time. Or you might (conceivably) be orying to con- vince people of the value of a certain piece of farming machinery, and even though it would be perfectly truthful to say that your one machine is so versa- tile that it can perform all the important duties of harvesting wheat, all to- gether; you would do better to claim that it can thresh, separate and bail, all at the same time. And, if you are an attentive reader, you will have noticed that I described the rule of three with the three part phrase'saying it, explaining it, or exampling it,' and then went on to give three different examples of the rule; and, in order to avoid overstating my case, I shall call enough, enough, and move on to introducing the aim of my thesis.
Is there any link between Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who? On the surface, obviously not. But it i... more Is there any link between Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who? On the surface, obviously not. But it is an occasional and recurring question found on many blogs and web-sites and occasional pieces of print.
It is not a surprising question either when we look at the characters themselves. Both have unusually high intelligence, both seem privileged with arcane and unusual knowledge which other people lack, both can make inferences based on observations other people would not have made, neither is prone to romantic connections, but both make firm friends and have loyal assistants, both have mysterious origins and unknown childhoods, neither is concerned with material gain though they both live in reasonable comfort, neither relies on their physical strength to overcome adversaries, and despite martial abilities, both seem remarkably pacifistic, both have faced seemingly fantastic or paranormal problems and have used their knowledge and intelligence to bring them back to a logical, scientific, explicable reality, both have a dangerous opposite number – Moriarty and The Master, both are prone to supplying insufficient explanation to their less sagacious contemporaries – not explaining what they consider obvious, neither is particularly interested in food or drink, except as something to be knowledgeable about, both have fascinated generations of readers and viewers, and both, in a sense very different to the usual use of the word, are superheroes. Also, though it may not seem very important at first, the stories of Sherlock Holmes and of Doctor Who are things which are attractive to both children and adults, and are things which we grow up with – integral parts of our formative years. Naturally, there are also many points of difference between Holmes and the Doctor; Holmes, for example, does not regenerate, and the Doctor does not play the violin, but the many points in common, and their comparably high profile and enduring fame, tend to attract attention and the differences tend to be obscured.
In 1991 Barbara Wall published her highly influential analysis of audience in children’s literatu... more In 1991 Barbara Wall published her highly influential analysis of audience in children’s literature. By applying the narrative concept of implied reader to works in children’s literature she identified a brief typology for the types of audience implied by different texts. Wall describes three main audience types; single audience, dual audience, and double audience. A text where the implied reader is consistently a child can be said to have a single audience; a text where the implied reader is simultaneously both child and adult can be said to have a dual audience; and a text where the implied reader shifts between child and adult can be said to have a double audience.
These categories of audience have proved very useful in the analysis of children’s literature, so much so that they now are commonly and conventionally used throughout the enormous breadth and variety of children’s literature study. They have become so very common that researchers these days rarely even feel the need to cite Wall as a source, and simply use the terms ‘single’, ‘dual’ or ‘double’ audience; correctly assuming that readers will be familiar with the terms.
This enormous usage and acceptance of the terms is an indication of their value in literary analysis, but it also creates problems. The very power and popularity of these concepts leads to the impression that they are complete, true, and adequate, and this in turn can lead to an uncritical acceptance of the terms. As with any discipline, in children’s literature we use a common set of terms to allow us to convey complex ideas with both economy and delicacy. However, as Wittgenstein famously made clear, the utility of technical terms carries a price; that of accepting the pre-suppositions upon which the terms are based (Philosophical Investigations 48-52). Wall’s typology, on the surface, appears very clear, almost self-evident, and this tends to obscure the underlying presuppositions. However, when examined, the pre-suppositions become clear, and as they do so, it also becomes clear that they exhibit serious discontinuities with other areas of children’s literature theory. The pre-suppositions that give the strongest cause for concern are those connected with the general concepts of ‘child’, ‘adult’, and the narrative concepts of ‘implied reader’ and ‘real reader’. The aim of this paper is to examine these pre-suppositions and to show how they stand in relation to other theory of children’s literature.
The study of literature tends towards the serious, even from ancient times. Aristotle, in his poe... more The study of literature tends towards the serious, even from ancient times. Aristotle, in his poetics states clearly that comedy is a lesser art than tragedy, and this perception of comedy, or humour, as being intrinsically lacking in value, persists stron-ely to the present day.
Serious writing is metaphorically 'deep', 'heavy' or 'dark'. The deep and the dark hold secrets that can be hunted out and discovered, and 'wei-eht' is inextricably entwined with the concept of 'value'. Humour, by contrast, is often seen as 'shallow', 'bright' or 'light' (as in lacking weight). Shallow, in literary terns, is as close as you can get to an insult without swearing. 'Bright' can mean 'obvious', 'visible', 'easy to understand'. And 'light' in terms of weight is 'unimportant', 'lacking in value' or 'lacking in substance'. In all academic fields; in philosophy, in psychology, in linguistics as well as in literature, study of humour is noticeably under-developed, and this is perhaps a reflection of the 'lightweight' or 'trivial' status that humour seems to have accrued.
It is no wonder then, that humour in fiction is awarded a lower status than the serious, and that criticism of humorous works is equally lacking. Even within that marginalised area of literary study that is called 'children's literature', an area where a major proportion of the most famous works are praised for their use of humour, humour is not a major point of analysis. Perhaps the old adage still holds, that to explain a joke is not only futile, but is the height of poor taste - an unforgivable social lapse.
Humour may, or may not be, intrinsically of less value or interest than the serious, but this is not a question that needs an answer. It is sufficient to note that humour is an important part of literature, especially in work for children, but also in work for adults, and as such deserves serious attention.
This paper makes a brief and exploratory examination of conversation in literature. It highlights... more This paper makes a brief and exploratory examination of conversation in literature. It highlights some of the features of naturally occurring spoken conversation, and shows conversation in literature to share none of these features. This, of course, is not to argue that conversation in literature is not real conversation, it is rather to argue that it is a very special category of conversation. The paper takes naturally occurring conversation as a baseline, and from that baseline examines conversational extracts from five very different written texts. The analysis of the conversations allows some speculation as to the author's aims in writing the conversations. The paper closes with some observations for the uses of analysis of conversation in literature.
Reading children’s literature is of great value in language and cultural acquisition and is a pow... more Reading children’s literature is of great value in language and cultural acquisition and is a powerful contributor to academic success. However, the range and volume of children’s literature available in minority languages, either produced within the minority language or translated into it, is usually very limited. Children growing up with minority languages therefore often have few reading choices, and thus, few of the benefits of reading. This paper examines the sociological situations of minority languages, including the sometimes-conflicting pressures of cultural and language preservation, and the perceived merits and demerits of translating children’s litera- ture into a minority language. A reluctance to translate is based on very real con- cerns, but ultimately, it is argued that translation is a necessary and valuable tool for maintaining minority languages and for allowing children the variety of read- ing choices they need for enjoyment, for a positive self-image, and for educational success.
In Julius Caesar Shakespeare reproduces one of the pivotal moments in European history. Brutus an... more In Julius Caesar Shakespeare reproduces one of the pivotal moments in European history. Brutus and Mark Antony, through the medium of their forum speeches, compete for the support of the people of Rome. In the play, as in history, Mark Antony wins this contest of language. Critics are generally agreed that Antony has the better speech, but also that Brutus’ speech is still exceptionally good. Traditionally the question of how Antony’s speech is superior is argued by examining differences between the two speeches, however, this approach has not resulted in any critical consensus. This paper takes the opening lines of the speeches as the only point of direct convergence between the content and the rhetorical forms used by Brutus and Antony and argues that Brutus’ opening tricolon is structurally inferior to Marc Antony’s. Analysis of the following rhetorical schemes in Brutus’ speech reveals further structural weaknesses. Shakespeare gives Brutus a speech rich in perceptually salient ...
ABSTRACT Literary translators and translation, when noticed at all, have a poor public image inco... more ABSTRACT Literary translators and translation, when noticed at all, have a poor public image inconsistent with the evidence of skill and effort shown in translators’ essays, postscripts and interviews, and with the respect shown to literary translation practice in translation studies in general. This article suggests that much of this negativity results from the entailments, or logical implications, of the dominant conceptual metaphors of translation: movement and replacement. Conceptual metaphors powerfully shape perceptions and expectations, but unlike consciously applied metaphors their effects go largely unnoticed. By comparing the current dominant metaphors of translation to an alternative of “translation as performance” we can see that many of the common concepts of translation are entailments of metaphor rather than intrinsic features of translation. The performance metaphor is used as a contrast because it has very different entailments, thus highlighting the effects of the current metaphors and also providing a possible alternative for translators and students of translation.
International Research in Children's Literature, 2012
In three of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories there are brief appearances of t... more In three of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories there are brief appearances of the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of ‘street Arabs’ who help Holmes with his investigations. These children have been re-imagined in modern children's literature in at least twenty-seven texts in a variety of media and with writers from both Britain and the United States. All these modern stories show a marked upward shift in the class of the Irregulars away from the lower working class of Conan-Doyle's originals. The shift occurs through attributing middle-class origins to the leaders of the Irregulars, through raising the class of the Irregulars in general, and through giving the children life environments more comfortable, safe, and financially secure than would have been possible for late-Victorian street children. Because of the variety in texts and writers, it is argued that this shift is not a result of the conscious political or ideological positions of individual write...
The impetus for the incredible variety found in the modern literary dragon is commonly seen to st... more The impetus for the incredible variety found in the modern literary dragon is commonly seen to stem from the creative genius of either E. Nesbit or Kenneth Grahame. However, examination of dragon stories in the late nineteenth century shows that several different authors, on both sides of the Atlantic, were producing similar stories at about the same time, suggesting that the change was part of a general literary and cultural development rather than simply inspired storytelling. This study examines dragon stories of the late nineteenth century and argues that the rediscovery of the Scandinavian dragon, the discovery of the Chinese and Japanese dragons, and possibly the nineteenth-century publication of folktales parodying traditional dragon stories, gave authors new ways of looking at dragons. Traditional St George type dragon stories had already shifted into children’s literature, making books for children the natural environment for the development of the dragon, and it is argued that the combined pressures of the new ideas about dragons, the parody, and the enormous cultural changes of the late Victorian period, were sufficient to stimulate the great change in the literary dragon, which has continued and diversified ever since.
The written text of picturebooks is often deceptively simple. However, as Riita Oittinen (2003) s... more The written text of picturebooks is often deceptively simple. However, as Riita Oittinen (2003) shows in her analysis of Swedish, German and Finnish translations of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (1963), picturebook text can be more complex, or more carefully written than it at first appears. Oittinen examines sentence length and punctuation in relation to rhythm for reading aloud. This study follows and extends her analysis for the Japanese translation. The Japanese translation is dramatically different from the original text – much more so than the translations studied by Oittinen. The conclusion highlights that the Japanese translation is nonetheless a very popular and long selling text within its target culture.
If we are to understand nonsense poetry, we need to look at the overall concept of literary nonse... more If we are to understand nonsense poetry, we need to look at the overall concept of literary nonsense. The first stage for most commentators is to carefully extract the literary use of ‘nonsense’ from the everyday use(eg Thomas, 1985; Kennedy, 1991; Sewell, 1952; Tigges, 1988).In everyday use ‘nonsense’ can simply mean, as its morphological roots suggest, ‘a lack of meaning’. In literary nonsense we have to adapt this to ‘a partial lack of meaning’. In literature a lack of meaning can often be found in broken conventions of language use(grammatical, lexical, meaningful, interactional, in terms of truth, possibility, world knowledge). If we take two of the most famous nonsense poems in the English language, ‘Jabberwocky’ and ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’, we can also clearly see the two most common realisations of this partial lack of meaning. ‘Jabberwocky’ has reduced meaning through the use of non-standard vocabulary with no clear referents(nobody really knows what a mome rath actually is).‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ only uses standard vocabulary(except for ‘runcible’)but it lacks conventional meaning because it describes a series of events which are physically impossible in the real world. Amongst other things, owls and cats don’t go to sea in boats, owls don’t sing, and definitely(considering their lack of fingers)don’t play guitars. Pigs don’t have the dexterity to remove rings from their noses, and nor do they have the capitalist inclination to charge for said ring.
Reading children’s literature is of great value in language and cultural acquisition and is a pow... more Reading children’s literature is of great value in language and cultural acquisition and is a powerful contributor to academic success. However, the range and volume of children’s literature available in minority languages, either produced within the minority language or translated into it, is usually very limited. Children growing up with minority languages therefore often have few reading choices, and thus, few of the benefits of reading. This paper examines the sociological situations of minority languages, including the sometimes-conflicting pressures of cultural and language preservation, and the perceived merits and demerits of translating children’s litera- ture into a minority language. A reluctance to translate is based on very real con- cerns, but ultimately, it is argued that translation is a necessary and valuable tool for maintaining minority languages and for allowing children the variety of read- ing choices they need for enjoyment, for a positive self-image, and for educational success.
The aim of this paper is to introduce a working model of phrasal repetition and to identify diffe... more The aim of this paper is to introduce a working model of phrasal repetition and to identify different varieties or forms of phrasal repetition.
In stating this aim, I have already introduced two basic assumptions that may need attention. First, I have stated, as given, that there is some need or rationale for such a model. Second, I have introduced a term that has the appearance of a technical term (phrasal repetition) but which has no preceding discussion in the literature of linguistic or stylistic study. By introducing such a term I am necessarily pre-forming the expectations of the descriptive model. To justify this seeming circularity, I will endeavour to place the development of the model within existing discussions of language repetition, and to show the steps which have led to the model described below.
The paper therefore, will start with a general discussion of repetition, it will continue with an overview of existing discussion, it will develop from that discussion a descriptive model designed to cover what is not covered in existing models, and finally it will make a brief adventure into the uses of the model for textual analysis or stylistics.
The phonological loop is that aspect of working memory which makes a temporary store of auditory ... more The phonological loop is that aspect of working memory which makes a temporary store of auditory input. The amount of input a person can hear and then report back can be seen as a rough measure of the capacity of the phonological loop. In terms of language acquisition and comprehension, it is natural to assume that the capacity of the phonological loop will have some sort of relationship with learning success, simply by virtue of being a major point of language input and a limiting factor on real time language processing. If a person can only hold a short amount of material in the phonological loop they will necessarily have difficulties in processing longer or more complex strings of language. This paper examines the psychological evidence on the working of the phonological loop in relation to its possible implications for language learning and teaching.
This paper examines the common prevalence for parodic books for children (especially picture book... more This paper examines the common prevalence for parodic books for children (especially picture books) which have parodic references likely to be unknown to child readers. I reject the argument that such texts are simply double audience texts with the parody for the adults and the base story for the children, and instead introduce arguments in favour of a more complex reading experience which retrospectively changes as children gain more and more world knowledge, allowing them to experience a postponed but potentiated experience of the parody.
Kate Thompson, in her 2006 apocalyptic novel, The Fourth Horseman, uses the Japanese martial art ... more Kate Thompson, in her 2006 apocalyptic novel, The Fourth Horseman, uses the Japanese martial art of aikido as an integral part of her narrative. The story is not about aikido, but aikido is one of the strands which bind the narrative together. The use of a particular named martial art in a work of English children’s literature is very unusual, but the choice of aikido in particular, is particularly unusual, and therefore of great interest in terms of its narrative value. This paper attempts firstly, to put Thompson’s choice of aikido into a general perspective, and secondly, to show how aikido is used in this novel as a specific narrative tool. Kate Thompson was kind enough to answer some of my questions, and her answers are included at the end of this paper to give both context to my own discussions, and, most importantly, to do that most valuable but unusual thing in literary discussion, to allow the author’s own voice.
Within speech making and speech writing the term 'rule of three' is used in a rather informal way... more Within speech making and speech writing the term 'rule of three' is used in a rather informal way to talk about the rhetorical technique of making a point memorable and powerful by saying it, explaining it, or exampling it, in three different ways.
So, when you want to say that your political policies are good for every- one, you split 'everyone' into three parts, and claim that you policies are good for the young, the old, and for everyone else too. If you are being a little cynical about politics in general, you might say that, occasionally, if you are lucky, everyone believes in what you are doing, but only occasionally. But, you would do much better to say that you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but that you can't actually fool all of the people all of the time. Or you might (conceivably) be orying to con- vince people of the value of a certain piece of farming machinery, and even though it would be perfectly truthful to say that your one machine is so versa- tile that it can perform all the important duties of harvesting wheat, all to- gether; you would do better to claim that it can thresh, separate and bail, all at the same time. And, if you are an attentive reader, you will have noticed that I described the rule of three with the three part phrase'saying it, explaining it, or exampling it,' and then went on to give three different examples of the rule; and, in order to avoid overstating my case, I shall call enough, enough, and move on to introducing the aim of my thesis.
Is there any link between Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who? On the surface, obviously not. But it i... more Is there any link between Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who? On the surface, obviously not. But it is an occasional and recurring question found on many blogs and web-sites and occasional pieces of print.
It is not a surprising question either when we look at the characters themselves. Both have unusually high intelligence, both seem privileged with arcane and unusual knowledge which other people lack, both can make inferences based on observations other people would not have made, neither is prone to romantic connections, but both make firm friends and have loyal assistants, both have mysterious origins and unknown childhoods, neither is concerned with material gain though they both live in reasonable comfort, neither relies on their physical strength to overcome adversaries, and despite martial abilities, both seem remarkably pacifistic, both have faced seemingly fantastic or paranormal problems and have used their knowledge and intelligence to bring them back to a logical, scientific, explicable reality, both have a dangerous opposite number – Moriarty and The Master, both are prone to supplying insufficient explanation to their less sagacious contemporaries – not explaining what they consider obvious, neither is particularly interested in food or drink, except as something to be knowledgeable about, both have fascinated generations of readers and viewers, and both, in a sense very different to the usual use of the word, are superheroes. Also, though it may not seem very important at first, the stories of Sherlock Holmes and of Doctor Who are things which are attractive to both children and adults, and are things which we grow up with – integral parts of our formative years. Naturally, there are also many points of difference between Holmes and the Doctor; Holmes, for example, does not regenerate, and the Doctor does not play the violin, but the many points in common, and their comparably high profile and enduring fame, tend to attract attention and the differences tend to be obscured.
In 1991 Barbara Wall published her highly influential analysis of audience in children’s literatu... more In 1991 Barbara Wall published her highly influential analysis of audience in children’s literature. By applying the narrative concept of implied reader to works in children’s literature she identified a brief typology for the types of audience implied by different texts. Wall describes three main audience types; single audience, dual audience, and double audience. A text where the implied reader is consistently a child can be said to have a single audience; a text where the implied reader is simultaneously both child and adult can be said to have a dual audience; and a text where the implied reader shifts between child and adult can be said to have a double audience.
These categories of audience have proved very useful in the analysis of children’s literature, so much so that they now are commonly and conventionally used throughout the enormous breadth and variety of children’s literature study. They have become so very common that researchers these days rarely even feel the need to cite Wall as a source, and simply use the terms ‘single’, ‘dual’ or ‘double’ audience; correctly assuming that readers will be familiar with the terms.
This enormous usage and acceptance of the terms is an indication of their value in literary analysis, but it also creates problems. The very power and popularity of these concepts leads to the impression that they are complete, true, and adequate, and this in turn can lead to an uncritical acceptance of the terms. As with any discipline, in children’s literature we use a common set of terms to allow us to convey complex ideas with both economy and delicacy. However, as Wittgenstein famously made clear, the utility of technical terms carries a price; that of accepting the pre-suppositions upon which the terms are based (Philosophical Investigations 48-52). Wall’s typology, on the surface, appears very clear, almost self-evident, and this tends to obscure the underlying presuppositions. However, when examined, the pre-suppositions become clear, and as they do so, it also becomes clear that they exhibit serious discontinuities with other areas of children’s literature theory. The pre-suppositions that give the strongest cause for concern are those connected with the general concepts of ‘child’, ‘adult’, and the narrative concepts of ‘implied reader’ and ‘real reader’. The aim of this paper is to examine these pre-suppositions and to show how they stand in relation to other theory of children’s literature.
The study of literature tends towards the serious, even from ancient times. Aristotle, in his poe... more The study of literature tends towards the serious, even from ancient times. Aristotle, in his poetics states clearly that comedy is a lesser art than tragedy, and this perception of comedy, or humour, as being intrinsically lacking in value, persists stron-ely to the present day.
Serious writing is metaphorically 'deep', 'heavy' or 'dark'. The deep and the dark hold secrets that can be hunted out and discovered, and 'wei-eht' is inextricably entwined with the concept of 'value'. Humour, by contrast, is often seen as 'shallow', 'bright' or 'light' (as in lacking weight). Shallow, in literary terns, is as close as you can get to an insult without swearing. 'Bright' can mean 'obvious', 'visible', 'easy to understand'. And 'light' in terms of weight is 'unimportant', 'lacking in value' or 'lacking in substance'. In all academic fields; in philosophy, in psychology, in linguistics as well as in literature, study of humour is noticeably under-developed, and this is perhaps a reflection of the 'lightweight' or 'trivial' status that humour seems to have accrued.
It is no wonder then, that humour in fiction is awarded a lower status than the serious, and that criticism of humorous works is equally lacking. Even within that marginalised area of literary study that is called 'children's literature', an area where a major proportion of the most famous works are praised for their use of humour, humour is not a major point of analysis. Perhaps the old adage still holds, that to explain a joke is not only futile, but is the height of poor taste - an unforgivable social lapse.
Humour may, or may not be, intrinsically of less value or interest than the serious, but this is not a question that needs an answer. It is sufficient to note that humour is an important part of literature, especially in work for children, but also in work for adults, and as such deserves serious attention.
This paper makes a brief and exploratory examination of conversation in literature. It highlights... more This paper makes a brief and exploratory examination of conversation in literature. It highlights some of the features of naturally occurring spoken conversation, and shows conversation in literature to share none of these features. This, of course, is not to argue that conversation in literature is not real conversation, it is rather to argue that it is a very special category of conversation. The paper takes naturally occurring conversation as a baseline, and from that baseline examines conversational extracts from five very different written texts. The analysis of the conversations allows some speculation as to the author's aims in writing the conversations. The paper closes with some observations for the uses of analysis of conversation in literature.
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Papers by Dominic Cheetham
If we take two of the most famous nonsense poems in the English language, ‘Jabberwocky’ and ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’, we can also clearly see the two most common realisations of this partial lack of meaning. ‘Jabberwocky’ has reduced meaning through the use of non-standard vocabulary with no clear referents(nobody really knows what a mome rath actually is).‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ only uses standard vocabulary(except for ‘runcible’)but it lacks conventional meaning because it describes a series of events which are physically impossible in the real world. Amongst other things, owls and cats don’t go to sea in boats, owls don’t sing, and definitely(considering their lack of fingers)don’t play guitars. Pigs don’t have the dexterity to remove rings from their noses, and nor do they have the capitalist inclination to charge for said ring.
In stating this aim, I have already introduced two basic assumptions that may need attention. First, I have stated, as given, that there is some need or rationale for such a model. Second, I have introduced a term that has the appearance of a technical term (phrasal repetition) but which has no preceding discussion in the literature of linguistic or stylistic study. By introducing such a term I am necessarily pre-forming the expectations of the descriptive model. To justify this seeming circularity, I will endeavour to place the development of the model within existing discussions of language repetition, and to show the steps which have led to the model described below.
The paper therefore, will start with a general discussion of repetition, it will continue with an overview of existing discussion, it will develop from that discussion a descriptive model designed to cover what is not covered in existing models, and finally it will make a brief adventure into the uses of the model for textual analysis or stylistics.
So, when you want to say that your political policies are good for every- one, you split 'everyone' into three parts, and claim that you policies are good for the young, the old, and for everyone else too. If you are being a little cynical about politics in general, you might say that, occasionally, if you are lucky, everyone believes in what you are doing, but only occasionally. But, you would do much better to say that you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but that you can't actually fool all of the people all of the time. Or you might (conceivably) be orying to con- vince people of the value of a certain piece of farming machinery, and even though it would be perfectly truthful to say that your one machine is so versa- tile that it can perform all the important duties of harvesting wheat, all to- gether; you would do better to claim that it can thresh, separate and bail, all at the same time. And, if you are an attentive reader, you will have noticed that I described the rule of three with the three part phrase'saying it, explaining it, or exampling it,' and then went on to give three different examples of the rule; and, in order to avoid overstating my case, I shall call enough, enough, and move on to introducing the aim of my thesis.
It is not a surprising question either when we look at the characters themselves. Both have unusually high intelligence, both seem privileged with arcane and unusual knowledge which other people lack, both can make inferences based on observations other people would not have made, neither is prone to romantic connections, but both make firm friends and have loyal assistants, both have mysterious origins and unknown childhoods, neither is concerned with material gain though they both live in reasonable comfort, neither relies on their physical strength to overcome adversaries, and despite martial abilities, both seem remarkably pacifistic, both have faced seemingly fantastic or paranormal problems and have used their knowledge and intelligence to bring them back to a logical, scientific, explicable reality, both have a dangerous opposite number – Moriarty and The Master, both are prone to supplying insufficient explanation to their less sagacious contemporaries – not explaining what they consider obvious, neither is particularly interested in food or drink, except as something to be knowledgeable about, both have fascinated generations of readers and viewers, and both, in a sense very different to the usual use of the word, are superheroes. Also, though it may not seem very important at first, the stories of Sherlock Holmes and of Doctor Who are things which are attractive to both children and adults, and are things which we grow up with – integral parts of our formative years. Naturally, there are also many points of difference between Holmes and the Doctor; Holmes, for example, does not regenerate, and the Doctor does not play the violin, but the many points in common, and their comparably high profile and enduring fame, tend to attract attention and the differences tend to be obscured.
These categories of audience have proved very useful in the analysis of children’s literature, so much so that they now are commonly and conventionally used throughout the enormous breadth and variety of children’s literature study. They have become so very common that researchers these days rarely even feel the need to cite Wall as a source, and simply use the terms ‘single’, ‘dual’ or ‘double’ audience; correctly assuming that readers will be familiar with the terms.
This enormous usage and acceptance of the terms is an indication of their value in literary analysis, but it also creates problems. The very power and popularity of these concepts leads to the impression that they are complete, true, and adequate, and this in turn can lead to an uncritical acceptance of the terms. As with any discipline, in children’s literature we use a common set of terms to allow us to convey complex ideas with both economy and delicacy. However, as Wittgenstein famously made clear, the utility of technical terms carries a price; that of accepting the pre-suppositions upon which the terms are based (Philosophical Investigations 48-52). Wall’s typology, on the surface, appears very clear, almost self-evident, and this tends to obscure the underlying presuppositions. However, when examined, the pre-suppositions become clear, and as they do so, it also becomes clear that they exhibit serious discontinuities with other areas of children’s literature theory. The pre-suppositions that give the strongest cause for concern are those connected with the general concepts of ‘child’, ‘adult’, and the narrative concepts of ‘implied reader’ and ‘real reader’. The aim of this paper is to examine these pre-suppositions and to show how they stand in relation to other theory of children’s literature.
Serious writing is metaphorically 'deep', 'heavy' or 'dark'. The deep and the dark hold secrets that can be hunted out and discovered, and 'wei-eht' is inextricably entwined with the concept of 'value'. Humour, by contrast, is often seen as 'shallow', 'bright' or 'light' (as in lacking weight). Shallow, in literary terns, is as close as you can get to an insult without swearing. 'Bright' can mean 'obvious', 'visible', 'easy to understand'. And 'light' in terms of weight is 'unimportant', 'lacking in value' or 'lacking in substance'. In all academic fields; in philosophy, in psychology, in linguistics as well as in literature, study of humour is noticeably under-developed, and this is perhaps a reflection of the 'lightweight' or 'trivial' status that humour seems to have accrued.
It is no wonder then, that humour in fiction is awarded a lower status than the serious, and that criticism of humorous works is equally lacking. Even within that marginalised area of literary study that is called 'children's literature', an area where a major proportion of the most famous works are praised for their use of humour, humour is not a major point of analysis. Perhaps the old adage still holds, that to explain a joke is not only futile, but is the height of poor taste - an unforgivable social lapse.
Humour may, or may not be, intrinsically of less value or interest than the serious, but this is not a question that needs an answer. It is sufficient to note that humour is an important part of literature, especially in work for children, but also in work for adults, and as such deserves serious attention.
If we take two of the most famous nonsense poems in the English language, ‘Jabberwocky’ and ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’, we can also clearly see the two most common realisations of this partial lack of meaning. ‘Jabberwocky’ has reduced meaning through the use of non-standard vocabulary with no clear referents(nobody really knows what a mome rath actually is).‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ only uses standard vocabulary(except for ‘runcible’)but it lacks conventional meaning because it describes a series of events which are physically impossible in the real world. Amongst other things, owls and cats don’t go to sea in boats, owls don’t sing, and definitely(considering their lack of fingers)don’t play guitars. Pigs don’t have the dexterity to remove rings from their noses, and nor do they have the capitalist inclination to charge for said ring.
In stating this aim, I have already introduced two basic assumptions that may need attention. First, I have stated, as given, that there is some need or rationale for such a model. Second, I have introduced a term that has the appearance of a technical term (phrasal repetition) but which has no preceding discussion in the literature of linguistic or stylistic study. By introducing such a term I am necessarily pre-forming the expectations of the descriptive model. To justify this seeming circularity, I will endeavour to place the development of the model within existing discussions of language repetition, and to show the steps which have led to the model described below.
The paper therefore, will start with a general discussion of repetition, it will continue with an overview of existing discussion, it will develop from that discussion a descriptive model designed to cover what is not covered in existing models, and finally it will make a brief adventure into the uses of the model for textual analysis or stylistics.
So, when you want to say that your political policies are good for every- one, you split 'everyone' into three parts, and claim that you policies are good for the young, the old, and for everyone else too. If you are being a little cynical about politics in general, you might say that, occasionally, if you are lucky, everyone believes in what you are doing, but only occasionally. But, you would do much better to say that you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but that you can't actually fool all of the people all of the time. Or you might (conceivably) be orying to con- vince people of the value of a certain piece of farming machinery, and even though it would be perfectly truthful to say that your one machine is so versa- tile that it can perform all the important duties of harvesting wheat, all to- gether; you would do better to claim that it can thresh, separate and bail, all at the same time. And, if you are an attentive reader, you will have noticed that I described the rule of three with the three part phrase'saying it, explaining it, or exampling it,' and then went on to give three different examples of the rule; and, in order to avoid overstating my case, I shall call enough, enough, and move on to introducing the aim of my thesis.
It is not a surprising question either when we look at the characters themselves. Both have unusually high intelligence, both seem privileged with arcane and unusual knowledge which other people lack, both can make inferences based on observations other people would not have made, neither is prone to romantic connections, but both make firm friends and have loyal assistants, both have mysterious origins and unknown childhoods, neither is concerned with material gain though they both live in reasonable comfort, neither relies on their physical strength to overcome adversaries, and despite martial abilities, both seem remarkably pacifistic, both have faced seemingly fantastic or paranormal problems and have used their knowledge and intelligence to bring them back to a logical, scientific, explicable reality, both have a dangerous opposite number – Moriarty and The Master, both are prone to supplying insufficient explanation to their less sagacious contemporaries – not explaining what they consider obvious, neither is particularly interested in food or drink, except as something to be knowledgeable about, both have fascinated generations of readers and viewers, and both, in a sense very different to the usual use of the word, are superheroes. Also, though it may not seem very important at first, the stories of Sherlock Holmes and of Doctor Who are things which are attractive to both children and adults, and are things which we grow up with – integral parts of our formative years. Naturally, there are also many points of difference between Holmes and the Doctor; Holmes, for example, does not regenerate, and the Doctor does not play the violin, but the many points in common, and their comparably high profile and enduring fame, tend to attract attention and the differences tend to be obscured.
These categories of audience have proved very useful in the analysis of children’s literature, so much so that they now are commonly and conventionally used throughout the enormous breadth and variety of children’s literature study. They have become so very common that researchers these days rarely even feel the need to cite Wall as a source, and simply use the terms ‘single’, ‘dual’ or ‘double’ audience; correctly assuming that readers will be familiar with the terms.
This enormous usage and acceptance of the terms is an indication of their value in literary analysis, but it also creates problems. The very power and popularity of these concepts leads to the impression that they are complete, true, and adequate, and this in turn can lead to an uncritical acceptance of the terms. As with any discipline, in children’s literature we use a common set of terms to allow us to convey complex ideas with both economy and delicacy. However, as Wittgenstein famously made clear, the utility of technical terms carries a price; that of accepting the pre-suppositions upon which the terms are based (Philosophical Investigations 48-52). Wall’s typology, on the surface, appears very clear, almost self-evident, and this tends to obscure the underlying presuppositions. However, when examined, the pre-suppositions become clear, and as they do so, it also becomes clear that they exhibit serious discontinuities with other areas of children’s literature theory. The pre-suppositions that give the strongest cause for concern are those connected with the general concepts of ‘child’, ‘adult’, and the narrative concepts of ‘implied reader’ and ‘real reader’. The aim of this paper is to examine these pre-suppositions and to show how they stand in relation to other theory of children’s literature.
Serious writing is metaphorically 'deep', 'heavy' or 'dark'. The deep and the dark hold secrets that can be hunted out and discovered, and 'wei-eht' is inextricably entwined with the concept of 'value'. Humour, by contrast, is often seen as 'shallow', 'bright' or 'light' (as in lacking weight). Shallow, in literary terns, is as close as you can get to an insult without swearing. 'Bright' can mean 'obvious', 'visible', 'easy to understand'. And 'light' in terms of weight is 'unimportant', 'lacking in value' or 'lacking in substance'. In all academic fields; in philosophy, in psychology, in linguistics as well as in literature, study of humour is noticeably under-developed, and this is perhaps a reflection of the 'lightweight' or 'trivial' status that humour seems to have accrued.
It is no wonder then, that humour in fiction is awarded a lower status than the serious, and that criticism of humorous works is equally lacking. Even within that marginalised area of literary study that is called 'children's literature', an area where a major proportion of the most famous works are praised for their use of humour, humour is not a major point of analysis. Perhaps the old adage still holds, that to explain a joke is not only futile, but is the height of poor taste - an unforgivable social lapse.
Humour may, or may not be, intrinsically of less value or interest than the serious, but this is not a question that needs an answer. It is sufficient to note that humour is an important part of literature, especially in work for children, but also in work for adults, and as such deserves serious attention.