Methods ensuring the effect of Foregrounding in a work of fiction

FOREGROUNDING

METHODS ENSURING THE EFFECT OF FOREGROUNDING IN A WORK OF FICTION

Systemic (Systematic) Approach is characteristic to the modern science, i.e. the research not of separate elements but complex systems of correlated and mutually stipulated elements which form an inter- and intra-organized complex unit / oneness (in Stylistic – a coherent text).

To interpret a text as a complete coherent unit it is logically necessary to formulate adequate principles of analysis, understanding and interpretation. The principles are introduced in Decoding Stylistics – the approach that studies not what an author wanted to say but what he did achieve to have said to the reader, the effect the reader got.

The principles are called ‘Principles of Foregrounding’; they refer to a specific level of actualization, and mean formal emphasizing the main phenomena of a text with integrating different linguistic means on different linguistic levels interactively and intra-actively.

Foregrounding as a method (the system of principles) refers to the means of formal organization of a text, which focuses the reader’s attention on definite fragments of a message and which sets up, determines semantically relevant relations between or among the elements of one or different (which is more frequent) levels.

Main functions of Foregrounding:

1) emphasizing the most important units, elements, fragments;

2) stipulate both divisibility of a text and its coherence;

3) order the information, create rhythm, facilitate decoding;

4) form the aesthetic context, create expressivity and emotional and logical amplification (strengthening).

There are three main Principles of Foregrounding: Convergence, Coupling, and Defeated Expectancy (table???).

***Meanings (for help)

Convergence (noun; from the Latin convergens – склоняющийся, сближающийся; схождение, сближение) refers to two or more things coming together, joining together or evolving into one (An example of convergence is when a crowd of people all move together into a unified group.); the moving from different directions towards union or one another; the coordinated turning of attention inward to focus on an object at close range (biology); appearance of common properties as the result of longitude and intensive contacts (languages).

Coupling (in computer science) refers to the degree to which each program module relies on each one of the other modules; one module interacts with another module through a stable interface and does not need to be concerned with the other module's internal implementation; when combined with high cohesion, supports the general goals of high readability and maintainability.

Defeated Expectancy refers to the way of thinking about tension or conflict in a scene. When one character explicitly or implicitly wants or needs something of another character and doesn't get it, they have a new problem to solve or a reason to keep striving for what they haven't quite achieved. The tension between the characters and their own inner tensions are fuelled because their expectations have been defeated.

Table???

The main Principles of Foregrounding

Principle	Reference	Basis	Functions	Examples
Convergence	The ‘bunch’ of devices subordinate to a common stylistic function	Redundancy Semantic redundancy on stylistic level	Foregrounding the most important meaning; Ensuring interference immunity	Puts the emphasis, makes the effect stronger	Alliteration [l] + assonance [o:] + (‘The Raven’ by E. Poe)
Coupling	Similar elements in paradigms, similar syntagmatic relations of syntactic constructions, similar locative positions in textual fragments	Similarity Similar elements that appear in similar positions	Ensuring the unity of the Form and the Content; Facilitating the process of decoding and remembering	The paradigm of images (the Raven:; Lenour); Synonymic repetition (); Morphological () and morphemic forms (); Parallelisms (); Anadiplosis () (‘The Raven’ by E. Poe)
Defeated Expectancy	The reader’s expectations of further developments of the speaking action or further course of subsequent events is violated, broken with an unexpected course of events	Violation of Predictability The contrastive relations of semantic predictability and the violation of predictability	Contrasting, making the most important meanings, textual fragments prominent	‘fell in love’ – ‘fell out of love’ (‘The Escape’ by S. Maugham) ‘My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun…’ (W. Shakespeare)

***The principles refer to each and all linguistic levels of actualization.

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