A Relevanve-theoretic Analysis Of Misunderstandings Among Heroes In Emma

Verbal communication is one of the most common social phenomena of human beings. As an unavoidable phenomenon in verbal communication, misunderstanding has been increasingly drawing linguistics’attention. However, it is less common to study misunderstanding on the basis of literary works from the angle of Relevance Theory. On this standpoint, the author elaborates on various causes of misunderstanding by analyzing misunderstanding cases between heroes in Emma written by Jane Austen, and makes a further analysis of characteristics of main heroes. All these make a possible contribution to understanding and appreciating the novel better.Relevance Theory is the supporting theory of this study. It is the core theory of cognitive pragmatics and has3key concepts, i.e. ostensive inference, optimal relevance and cognitive context. In the viewpoint of Sperber and Wilson, verbal communication is a process of ostensive inference. And according to the hypothesis of optimal relevance, when we refer to ostensive stimulus, it means the most relevant sentence which is compatible with the speaker’s preference and ability. Context in the framework of Relevance Theory is different from the one in the traditional sense. It is mentally based and is a subset of hearers’conceptions about the world, which is dynamic and developing. All these make phenomenon of misunderstanding accountable within the framework of Relevance Theory.Because of the individual differences in verbal communication, especially the difference in cognitive context and the uncontrollability of natural environment, experiments are not conducted in this study. Instead the author does the study by combining theory elaboration and data analysis, i.e. the conclusion is drawn after a quality analysis of the conversational data has been made. The process is as follows: first, the object of the study is described, and then misunderstanding data are selected from the novel, and finally data selected are analyzed.The study has the following findings:Misunderstanding can be perfectly illustrated within principles of Relevance Theory, even the misunderstanding between heroes in novels. According to Relevance Theory, communication is an ostensive-inferential mental process. If the hearer’s interpretation is not the one intended by the speaker, there is a risk of misunderstanding. Both speakers and hearers are likely to be responsible for it. Besides, failure of searching for optimal relevance will lead to misunderstanding. That is, a hearer has many choices when interpreting an utterance. If the meaning determined is not consistent with the one intended by the speaker, misunderstanding is inevitable. What’s more, context is an indispensable part in comprehending an utterance. So the context used by the speaker to produce an utterance is expected to be shared by the hearer if the speaker wants to be understood. However, the mismatch of context frequently happens in communication, which makes misunderstanding accountable. Nevertheless, due to the complexity of verbal communication, misunderstanding between humans, including misunderstanding between heroes in novels, is not purely aroused by one simple element. It may be the result brought on under the joint influence of society, language and mentality.By analyzing misunderstanding data in Emma from the perspective of Relevance Theory, the study probed into fundamental causes of misunderstanding, which has broadened the applicatory range of Relevance Theory, and helped the readers have a better appreciation of the novel. Meanwhile, it could shed light on verbal communication in daily life and the circumvention of misunderstanding.