Formulaicity and Creativity in Language and Literature

(Author) Ian MacKenzie
Format: Hardcover
Price: £135.00

Formulaicity is pervasive in both spoken and written language. Speakers use a huge amount of prefabricated language including collocations, idioms, fixed and semi-fixed expressions, and verbal creativity often involves combining established word sequences rather than inventing wholly new ones. In literature, formulaicity was long disparaged as the opposite of creativity, and a hallmark of ¿genre fiction¿ of questionable aesthetic value, but a more recent approach sees all writing as intertextual ¿ a tissue of citations and creative reworkings of other texts. The chapters in this book elucidate the nature of semi-fixed formulaic sequences; how the meaning of formulaic expressions can change over time; how readers interpret formulaic expressions in first and second languages; how modern and postmodern authors use traditional genres and tales to challenging effect; and how formulaic patterns involving particular words can underlie the texture and meanings of entire novels. Together, the contributions to this collection provide a convincing reassessment of the potential creativity of the formulaic in a variety of linguistic and literary contexts. This book was originally published as a special issue of the European Journal of English Studies.

Information
Publisher:
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Format:
Hardcover
Number of pages:
None
Language:
en
ISBN:
9781138721579
Publish year:
2017
Publish date:
July 11, 2017

Ian MacKenzie

Ian MacKenzie is a Canadian author known for his novel "Feathers in the Sky," a haunting exploration of love and loss in a small coastal town. His poetic prose and vivid imagery captivate readers, earning him critical acclaim for his ability to evoke raw emotion and profound insight through his writing.

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