| This study examines the voices of metalinguistics such as parody, satire, allegory, and sentimentalism by exploring child characters in three of Charles Dickens's novels, and children and women characters in two of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps's literary works. I employ three elements of Bakhtinian dialogism---polyphony, heteroglossia, and carnivalism---as the key elements upon which I explore the issues of education, child labor, and urbanization during the nineteenth century. I then look more deeply into the social and cultural positions of the child and woman characters of this era. In so doing, I describe that the one of each author's ultimate intents can be viewed through the lens of Bakhtin's metalinguistic voice and seen, as such, as efforts to ameliorate social and cultural inequities.; I interpret Dickens's David Copperfield in terms of polyphony, since the dialogic discourses developed through the interactions between David and others are based upon their individual and personal matters. Educational issues are also developed through such interactions. In Oliver Twist, I describe how Oliver's interactions with other characters mirror social and cultural issues. I employ heteroglossia to analyze issues concerning the problems associated with increasing urbanization. I consider how Pip, in Great Expectations, represents as a carnivalesque persona who expresses the voices of polyphony and heteroglossia. In analyzing Phelps's child and woman characters in The Silent Partner and "The Tenth of January," I employ the critical view point of heteroglossia. I perceive that the author's voice throughout each work is precise in respect that her ultimate purpose was to promote the reform of the labor system of that era.; This dissertation distinctly defines polyphony, heteroglossia, and carnivalism as the three primary elements of Bakhtinian dialogic discourse. Further, unifies the vision of carnivalism as the combined voices of polyphony and heteroglossia. Upon this view, I also develop a new perspective useful for examining the historical, social, and cultural issues depicted in nineteenth-century British and American novels. |
