Stylistic analysis and relevance theory

A methodology is constructed for the analysis of communicative texts via the precepts of relevance theory, drawing on an analysis of Raymond Carver's short story "Little Thing" (1986). Because relevance theory assumes that a principle of relevance imposes limits on the extent to which linguistic forms may contribute to interpretations of ostensive communications, a methodology based on this theory must begin by considering the kinds of inferences a reader might make of a specific utterance. This inferential method is described as consisting of three stages: (1) a listing of any inferential conclusions that might be reached, (2) searching for evidence in the text for particular conclusions regarding inferences, & (3) using relevance-theoretic assumptions to determine the best supported inferences obtainable from a given text. Included in the activities of (3) are deciding whether possible inferences are explicatures derived from developing logical forms encoded in the text, whether they are implicatures that the author intended to convey, or whether they are mere implications that the principle of relevance excluded from the overall interpretation. The end product of this analysis is a set of explicatures &/or implicatures that represent an aspect of an interpretation of a text. 7 References. Adapted from the source document