Dissertation > Excellent graduate degree dissertation topics show

A Study on Foregrounding Features in The Bluest Eye

Author: JiaoWeiZuo
Tutor: LuoHong
School: Central South University for Nationalities
Course: Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Keywords: Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye foregrounding deviation parallelism
CLC:
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2011
Downloads: 51
Quote: 0
Read: Download Dissertation

Abstract


Toni Morrison, a distinguished writer in contemporary literary world, is the first black female to win the Nobel Prize for literature. In her works, she shows great concern about black women’s plight under the conflicts of double cultures, explores their inner experience and spiritual world. Her virgin novel The Bluest Eye is a classic work of this kind. Myriad of valuable essays have been accomplished revolving around the themes and artistic features of the novel. This thesis aims to explore The Bluest Eye from the perspective of foregrounding theory, so as to provide a more objective interpretation of the work.The concept of foregrounding originates from painting, referring to those outstanding parts against background. It is the de-automatization of an act, the opposite of automatization. In the 1930s, Prague School linguists apply it to linguistic studies, stressing the significance of deviation which creates novelty and freshness. Later on, Leech and Short develop the theory to include both the deviant features and those which are not deviant but striking. Halliday, the initiator of systematic and functional linguistics, advances the theory even further. According to him, foregrounding is“motivated prominence”. Any type of linguistic pattern, no matter deviant or over-regular, once it is closely related to the fulfillment of the functions and meanings of the whole text, then it is a foregrounded one with stylistic value.After critically reviewing representatives of different schools regarding the notion of“foregrounding”, the thesis presents two methods raised by scholars which are used to achieve foregrounding: deviation and parallelism. The former is the intentional departure from the norm of the standard, and the latter is the over-regular use of the norm. The thesis mainly adopts qualitative analysis supplemented by quantitative analysis to examine the foregrounding aspects. Graphologically, there is heavy use of italics, capitalization, and spacing. Semantically, Morrison uses such rhetorical devices as simile, metaphor and paradox. It also discusses the aspect of parallelism in lexical and syntactical level. The overall foregrounding features greatly contribute to attracting reader’s attention, displaying aesthetic effects and highlighting the thematic significance.This paper probes into the linguistic resources that Toni Morrison adopts in the process of constructing the novel. By employing foregrounding theory, the thesis demonstrates the artistic and thematic value from the stylistic point of view. Through the elaboration of the novel, it is proved that foregrounding theory has strong interpretative power in textual analysis. In general, foregrounding is a rational and effective means in illustrating the interplay between linguistic features, theme and aesthetic effects in literary works.

Related Dissertations

  1. Research and Implementation of Exact String Matchiing Algorithms,TP391.41
  2. \,I712.074
  3. Any area on the uniform design and construct,TQ460.1
  4. Quartz Crystal Frequency Trimming Technology Research Based on Ion Etching,TN752.2
  5. Based on Web Log Mining Research and implementation of user,TP311.13
  6. Study on Tourism Climate Comfort in Shuozhou,P49
  7. Regaining the Spiritual Freedom,I712.074
  8. The Art of Narration in Toni Morrison’s Fiction,I712.074
  9. The Impact of Deviation from Expected Cash Level on Corporate Performance,F275
  10. Research on Influence of Wind Power Integration and Countermeasure,TM614
  11. A Functional Stylistic Study of English Advertisements,H315
  12. Research on "Thumb Culture" and the Development of Spiritual Civilization,G206
  13. Transitivity Analysis of Verbal Humors in the Modern American Sitcom Friends,H313
  14. Postmodern Narrative Strategies in Beloved,I712.074
  15. Comprehensive Treatments of Lightning and Windproof Protection of the Coastal Overhead Transmission Line,TM863
  16. Research on Industrial Structure Rationalization,F121.3
  17. A Thematic Study of Toni Morrison’s the Bluest Eye,I712.074
  18. Utilizing Three Coordinate Measuring Machine Gear Profile Data Study on the Calculating Methods of Gear Error,TG86
  19. Socialization Deviation of the Floating Children During the Period of Social Transformantion,B849
  20. Design and Implementation of a Prototype System of Solid State Disk with USB Interface,TP333
  21. GPU-Based Parallel Optimization of Adaptive Gaussian Mixture Background Modeling Algorithms,TP391.41

CLC: >
© 2012 www.DissertationTopic.Net  Mobile