Conversation Analysis in “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway

Abstract

Conversation may seem chaotic at first sight. Yet, under analysis, it appears to be a highly structured process, which follows specific rules and norms adopted by a given linguistic community. The present article analyzes the conversation interchange between the protagonists of Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills like White Elephants”. The undertaken study reveals the similarities between fictional and natural conversations. It is an attempt to prove that any conversation is centered on a practical necessity. The author aims at highlighting the existence of a literary conversation (i.e. between the writer and the reader), where the literary text appears as a reciprocal discourse based on a literary-communicative intention.

Cuvinte-cheie: conversație, analiză, proces, regulă, comunitate, text

REZUMAT

Aparent haotică, conversaţia este, de fapt, un proces complicat, ce decurge în conformitate cu anumite reguli prestabilite şi acceptate de o anumită comunitate lingvistică. Articolul se axează pe analiza interacţiunii verbale dintre personajele povestirii „Dealurile ca nişte elefanţi albi” de Ernest Hemingway. Această analiză relevă corespondenţa dintre conversaţia naturală şi cea ficţională. Concluzia este că, la baza oricărei interacţiuni verbale, se află o necesitate practică. Autoarea încearcă de a demonstra existenţa unei conversaţii literare (între autor şi cititor), textul literar prezentându-se drept un discurs reciproc, la baza căruia se află o intenţie literar-comunicativă.

LANGUAGE OF PUBLICATION

English

UDC: 821.111(73)”19”(092)

REFERENCES

Carter, R., Simpson, P. (2005). Language, Discourse and Literature. An Introductory reading in Discourse Stylistics. Routledge Publishing House.

Cook, G. (2000). Discourse. Oxford University Press.

Cook, G. (1995). Discourse and Literature. Oxford University Press.

Crystal, D. (1987). Advances in Spoken Discourse Analysis. Loutlege.

Cutting, J. (2002). Pragmatics and Discourse. Routledge Publishing House.

(n.d.). (2005). Literature. A Pocket Anthology. Gwynn Publishing House.

Iceberg Theory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceberg_Theory [= Iceberg].

Received: September 3, 2009 | Reviewed: September 15, 2009 | Accepted for publication: October 5, 2009

Google Scholar cited by