Pragmatics, stylistics and discourse studies

Stylistics, Pragmatics and Discourse Studies

Our research in Pragmatics encompasses both the theory and the practice of the study of meaning in use. Members of the group are engaged in the analysis of a variety of types of data, including both spoken interaction and literary texts from a range of historical periods. Our work in this area shares a common concern for developing a fuller understanding of the ways in which both linguistic and contextual factors contribute to human communication.

Our research in Stylistics is situated broadly at the interface between linguistics and literary studies,  and members of this group work in a range of recognised literary-linguistic sub-disciplines. Our work embraces more traditional stylistic research where models from core areas of linguistic description (such as syntax, semantics and pragmatics) are applied to  a variety of literary texts, genres and contexts. We also have specialist interests in cognitive poetics, corpus stylistics and historical stylistics. Recent book-length publications by members of the group include studies of rhetoric and creativity, pragmatics and literature, dialect in literature, and literature and second language acquisition. 


Members of this Research Cluster include:

Cluster Lead: Siobhan Chapman