A Diachronic Approach to Representation of Consciousness in English Novels: Historical Development of Free Indirect Thought

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13408
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Tottori University
• Principal Investigator: NAKAO Masayuki 鳥取大学, 地域学部, 講師 (00733403)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 意識描写 / 自由間接思考 / 小説 / 物語論 / 文体論

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examined the historical development of consciousness representation in English novels focusing on diachronic change in the form and meaning of free indirect thought(FIT). It made a stylistic analysis of the novels particularly before and after modernism, which have not yet been fully explored in previous studies. Throughout this study, I found: (1)as the semantic scope of FIT was extended from conceptual level to perceptual level, the interaction between these levels of characters' consciousness tended to be rendered more frequently with the illusion of immediacy, (2) the form of FIT gradually became colloquialized so as to represent unarticulated consciousness of characters.

Free Research Field

文体論、物語論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

小説における意識描写の文体研究は、人間が自分の体験を内面化していくプロセス（自分の内面で起こる出来事を言語化していくプロセス）及びその再現方法を追究する作業である。本研究では、通時的な観点から意識描写の考察を行うことで、小説という言語芸術が、「意識的な意識（ある程度明確に言語化された意識）」を描く初期の段階から「形を整えていない流動的な意識（無意識や断片的な思考）」を再現する段階に至るまでの、言語実験のプロセスの一端を記述した。