A Study Of Dialogues In The Novel Pride And Prejudice From The Perspective Of Contextual Adaptation Theory

The present study intends to make a comprehensive analysis of the dialogues in JaneAusten’s novel Pride and Prejudice within the theoretical framework of ContextualAdaptation Theory proposed by Jef Versehueren. It studies how various factors likephysical, social and cultural ones influence the linguistic choices made by characters in thelight of adaptation to the mental world, social world and physical world. It aims to provethe great explanatory power of Contextual Adaptation Theory on dialogues in novels andclarify the feasibility of employing Contextual Adaptation Theory into literary criticism.Dialogue is a main measure taken by characters in novels for communication. It playsa vital role in shaping lively characters, developing plots and helping writers present thepersonalities of characters to the readers. Characters can communicate information bydialogues. Only when readers take into consideration the factors like language rules,psychology, society and culture can they better understand and appreciate the linguisticchoices made by characters. Guided by Adaptation Theory, Jef Verschueren proposes thatpragmatics is a general cognitive, social and cultural view on linguistic phenomenon inrelation to their usage in forms of behavior. Adaptation Theory thinks that language use canbe taken as a process of continuous making of linguistic choices by adapting to the relevantcontextual elements. And the reason why language users can make proper choices is thethree properties of language, namely, variability, negotiability and adaptability.Adaptability is the core of language use, and using every language should make dynamicadaptation according to the context. The context is not given in advance, but changes withthe continuous development of communication process. In order to achieve particular goals,characters in the novel Pride and Prejudice employ various linguistic choices to beinteradaptable with different communicative contexts.In conclusion, the case study of Pride and Prejudice proves that Contextual Adaptation Theory can be applied to analyze dialogues in novels. Meanwhile, the presentstudy provides a new perspective for literary text understanding and appreciation, making asignificant attempt to the combination of pragmatics and literary criticism.