BABEL-AFIAL Nº 2

A.F.I.A.L.

Nยบ 2/lnvierno de 1993

A.F.I.A.L.

COMITÉ EDITORIAL Elena de Prada Creo (Universidad de Vigo) Cristina Larlón Galiñanes (Universidad de Vigo) Beatriz Figueroa Revilla (Universidad de Vigo) COMITÉ DE REDACCIÓN Enrique Alcaraz Varó (Universidad de Alicante) Carlos Buján López (Universidad de Santiago de Compostela) José Luis Chamosa González (Universidad de León) Mª Ángeles de la Concha Muñoz (UNED Madrid) Francisco Garrudo Carabias (Universidad de Sevilla) Pedro Guardia Masó (Universidad de Barcelona) Ramón López Ortega (Universidad de Extremadura) Félix Martín Gutiérrez (Universidad Complutense déMadrid) Manuel Míguez Ben (Universidad de Santiago de Compostela) Rafael Monroig Casas (Universidad de Murcia) Catalina Montes Mozo (Universidad de Salamanca) Patricia Shaw (Universidad de Oviedo) José Siles Artés (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

BABEL-AFIAL N· 2, Invierno de 1993 Facultad de Humanidades Depto. de Inglés As Lagoas 32004 Ourense VíA LÁCTEA Avda. das Mariñas, 49.

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Índice Choice of Genre in Aphra Behn's Oroonoko Jorge Figueroa Dorrego

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Story and History: J ane Austen and the Politics of Fiction Carlos J. Gómez Blanco

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The new Indian Novel in English: Narrative Techniques J. Lanero

41

Adaptaciones en español de la «Pamela» de Richardson Eterio Pajares

55

Relevance & Irony: A pragmatic reading of a passage from W. Kennedy: Ironweed (1979) Eduardo Varela Bravo

69

From Narratology to Pragmatics: Narrators, Focalizers and Reflectors in Sorne Works by William Faulkner.

Marta Dahlgren

89

Textos originales, pecados originales (en la crítica de traducciones de obras de teatro) Dr. Raquel Merino Alvarez

101

What's language awareness?

Peter Garret Carl James ,--.

109

~">

:, The Form of the English Present Continuous in the , Interlanguage of Learners of English as a Foreign Language Mª Luz Celaya Villanueva

115

-oEfpapel del input en el proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera: fundamentos teóricos Elena de Prada

123

Reflexiones en torno a la enseñanza del vocabulario en L2 Antonio Miranda García Enrique Lavín Camacho

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Jorge Figueroa Choice of genre in Aphra Behn 's Oroonoko

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Choice of genre in Aphra Behn's Oroonoko Jorge Figueroa Dorrego Universidad de Vigo

Este artículo estudia la cuestión de por qué una escritora de obras de teatro como Aphra Behn (1640-1689) decidió escribir en prosa una historia con tales posibilidades dramáticas cOmo Oroonoko (1688).

En general, los críticos que han tratado el tema de un modo u otro han señalado sus acuciantes problemas económicos y profesionales, así como el hecho de que, al no haber recibido la misma educación que los escritores contemporáneos de ella, podía competir con ellos en términos de mayor igualdad escribiendo una novela, pues se trataba de una forma literaria nueva, libre de cualquier tradición, y abierta a las mujeres tanto como lectoras como escritoras. Pero estos argumentos no parecen enteramente satisfactorios, y hacen preciso un nuevo análisis.

Un estudio comparativo de Oroonoko y la tragedia de Thomas Southerne basada en ella y publicada en 1696 con el mismo título demuestra que, al elegir el género de su obra, Behn se vio influenciada principalmente por sus objetivos, las convenciones literarias vigentes, y los cambios epistemológicos, éticos y estéticos que se estaban desarrollando a finales del siglo diecisiete.

When the Restoration dramatist Thomas Southerne published his tragedy Oroonoko in 1696, he resolved to dedicate it to His Grace William, Duke of Devonshire. In the «Epistle Dedicatory», he acknowledges his debt to Aphra Behn and recognizes not having done the same in another of his playsl. He praises her and writes: «She had a great command of the stage, and 1 have often wondered that she would bury her favourite hero in a novel, when she might have revived hirn in the scene. She thought either that no actor could represent him, or she could not bear him represented. And 1 believe the last when 1 remember what 1have heard from a friend of hers,that she always told his

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story, more feelingly, than she writ it. Whatever happened to him at Surinam, he has mended his condition in England»2.

Leaving aside the question of whether Mrs Behn «buried» Oroonoko on recounting his life in a «novel» or not, 1 think that what underlies Southerne's question is the interesting and difficult problem of genre choice. Why did a dramatist like Aphra Behn write in prose a story with such dramatic possibilities? And, as this was not exceptional in her work, why did she present sorne stories in plays and others in narratives?

It is my opinion that Behn wrote her «History of the Royal Slave» instead of «a Tragedy» because her aims were different from Southerne's, and she surely thought she could «revive» Oroonoko much better in a «novel» than in a heroic tragedy or even in a traditional romance. Either genre would limit her objectives and would mean a different approach to the material, both for her and her publico With a novel she could achieve an impression of authenticity, possibility of editorial comment and judgment, chronological story-telling in a long time span, realism of setting and other descriptive details3 • Besides, narrative prose could depict more realistically the inner nature of the protagonist, so that readers could visualize him and get emotionally involved in the action. According to Michael McKeon, «in an age that far more thoroughly and definitively than ever before identifies truth with the evidence of the senses, the unmediated access to «life» itself that dramatic presentation prornises to provide us is much too vulnerable to disconfirmation»4. Rose A. Zimbardo argues that, at the end of the seventeenth century, a new idiom of representation was required to express a new conception of nature, interior human nature as opposed to schematic cosmic nature5• That is one reason for the decline of drama at the end of the seventeenth century. And , if 1 may add, also a probable reason for Behn to tum to narrative and write one of the landmarks in the transition from romance to the modern conception of the novel.

The question of why Mrs Behn began to write fiction has been answered by many of her critics and biographers in a cool, categorical, although most likely realistic, way by pointing out her pressing financial problems. George Woodcock considers inaccurate Victoria SackvilleWest's argument that Mrs Behn withdrew from dramatic writing due to her troubles over the epilogue to Romulus and Hersilia, and maintains that the reason for this could be the fact that, at the time, play-writing was not a profitable activity and that it was difficult to obtain loans from theatrical managers6 • Kristiaan Aercke, Janet Todd and Paul Salzman also attribute it

Jorge Figueroa Choice of genre in Aphra Behn /s Oroonoko

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to problems in the public theatres7• Dale Spender personalizes this argument and asserts that Aphra Behn turned to novel-writing «after wearing thin her theatrical welcome - (...). In her case, (...), the need to write a story in prose form was no mere matter of finding a ereative outlet: it was financial necessity. If she did not write and publish, she did not eat»8. Maureen Duffy also speculated on Mrs Behn's late coming to fiction - she was 42- and gives the same answer: «She was undoubtedly short of money»9; and quotes a letter to her publisher in 1683 taIking about her financial problems due to being no longer credited at the theatre.

This theory is not difficult to accept as we are dealing with a person who avowedly wrote to earn her bread. But we must remember that in the last five years of her life, 1684-89, Aphra Behn wrote not only fiction, but also poetry, four plays, and several translations. Besides, more than half of her narratives were published posthumously. So, need of money may easily have been the reason why she decided to try fiction and write the first part of Lave Letters Between a Nableman and His Sister (1684), but what about later? Why present Oroonoko's story in a narrative in 1688 if she had been successful again in the theatre with The Lucky Chance two years before? And why move again to drama with The Widow Ranter (1689), a play with a colonial setting as well? And even, why should we think that the novel, which was not an established literary form at that time, was particularly lucrative in comparison with other genres? It would seem that prose fiction offered Mrs· Behn something else apart from money. As has been said before, it was actually another way to present her topics and produce a different effect from the one she had achieved with her plays.

Many critics have pinpointed the fact that Aphra Behn, as a seventeenth-century woman, lacked the education of her «brothers of the pen» and so she could not compete with them on equal terms in genres in which the power of tradition (especially of classicalliterature) was very strong, as happens to be the case in poetry and tragedy. The new forms of fiction developing in the second half of the century and, in particular, the French nouvelle written by women like Mme de la Fayette and Mme de Villedieu, and Mlle de Brilhac, and the anti-romances of Paul Scarron, offered her a new literary form free from any tradition and also open for women to enter significantly both as readers and writers lO • This argument is also acceptable and could be added to the one previously mentioned conceming financial and professional difficulties.

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But what was it that this new «genre» offered pragmatically, that is, what did it contribute to the actual composition of a literary work? If we compare it with drama, and in particular, with a heroic tragedy of the Restoration, we find that prose fiction is freer as far as the unities of time and space are concernedll . A narrative can cover a wider time span than a play and has not its spatiallimitations either. In this way, prose fiction gains in breadth, admits more elements and therefore enjoys the pleasure of variety, though it loses the density and strength of a compact effect on the publico This is something that Aristotle had already pointed out in his Poetics when analysing the differences between epic and tragedy.

However, the intensity and thematic quality of the latter gave rise to the common use of an underplot, which was often comic, to soften it. In the case of the late seventeenth-century tragedies, as Southerne explained in his «Epistle Dedicatory» to The Fatal Marriage, it was introduced to please «the present Humour of the Town». This appears not to be necessary in a narrative, so that there is nothing to divert the reader's attention from the main concern of the author, even though this might not be presented in such an intense way as in a tragedy. The desired effect is achieved by means of the continuous moderate presentation of a topic, not by the balanced contrast betweentwo extremes.

All this can be noticed when comparing Mrs Behn's Oroonoko with Southerne's play of the same name. Her narrative is clearly divided into two parts already announced in the first page: «The scene ofthe last part ofhis (Oroonoko's) adventures Hes in a colony in America, called Surinam, in the West lndies.

But before 1 give you the story of this gallant slave, 'tis fit 1 tell you the manner ofbringing them to these new colonies, (...»>12.

In this way Mrs Behn starts to describe and comment on the people of Coromantien, the country where Oroonoko was a prince, and also to talk about the hero himself, his love story with Imoinda, and how he was made a slave and taken to Surinam, where the second part of the narrative will take place. One could think that the last section is therefore the most important, but such a conclusion would seem erroneous considering the amount ofspace dévoted to the first part - almost half the narrative - and remembering also that the author thought it «fit» to include it as a background of the second section. Thus, Mrs Behn shows an understanding of the relationship between cause and effect which could be better developed better in a narrative than in a play.

Jorge Figueroa Choice of genre in Aphra Behn 's Oroonoko

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Southerne, however, could portray in his tragedy only Oroonoko's adventures in Surinam, because the conventions of the genre, however loosely applied by many, forced him to condense the plotinto a limited period of time, depriving him of the possibility of presenting the hero's story in its historical dimensiono Nevertheless, and as I have said before, this allowed him to achieve greater dramatic intensity, which he had to soften somewhat by the inclusion of a comic underplot. The result was very controversial. In the eighteenth century it was thought absurd as well as detrimental to the tragic plot. However, two contemporary critics, Maximilian E. Novak and David S. Rodes, disagree with this judgement in their introduction to a recent edition of the play: «The underplot is certainly a disappointment as a comedy ofwit, but what Southerne needed as a contrast to Oroonoko's tragic love and outraged honor was a farce in which love was sex and honor contrivance. And in this strange blend of opposites he succeeded very well» 13. In fact, this is probably what Southerne intended, as Congreve noticed and defended in his «Epilogue» to the play: «We weep and laugh, join mirth and grief together, Like rain and sunshine mixed, in April weather»14. Zimbardo disagrees with Novak and Rodes in the need of this farce. For her, the strange blend of opposites is a disaster, not a success15 . Notwithstanding, the comic underplot presents a very interesting topic that Aphra Behn does not deal with in her Oroonoko, though it fitted well in her ideas and writings. By this I mean the parallel between slavery and marriage that the Misses Weldon and Widow Lackitt denounce in the play.

Another difference generally to be found between genres such as drama and prose fiction lies in the presentation of the main character(s).

In tragedy tht; focus is on the protagonist and on the development of his fate, that seems to be the effect of a serious flaw in his character or behaviour. If his personality is complex enough, the desired effect of moving the audience to pity may be achieved. The protagonist must die in a painful but noble manner. The heroic plays of the Restoration presented perfect, exemplary characters with a frustrated passion, facing a dilemma between love and honour, or between natural individualism and civilized society. Apart from pity, they evoked admiration.

Those conventions did not apply to prose fiction: the writer is freer to decide the fate of his or her characters. Southerne changed the end of Oroonoko slightly, his hero had to die with the dignity befitting a heroic tragedy. Thus, Oroonoko stabs himself, having achieved revenge on the Lieutenant Governor. The fate of the hero in the original story is much

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more dreadful. The Royal Slave was exeeuted and dismembered. This was obviously impossible to manage on the stage, but it does represent, on the author's part, a different attitude towards the real eulprits of Oroonoko's death: the villainous English settlers on whom all of Mrs Behn's ruthless eriticism falls throughout the narrative.

Novak and Rodes find her ending too grotesque and barbarie, and prefer Southerne's Spartan hero: «No indecorous realism destroys the noble impact of Oroonoko's private sufferings»16. However, Zimbardo disagrees again with them and states that the «private suffering» of a character is inevitably better imitated in the novel beeause it simulates «real» people and creates the illusion of an internal struggle within them (in the drama there is always an externa! «ShOW»)17. For her, Oroonoko suffers realistically and not heroicaHy. Whatever our preference for one version or th~ other, we must admit that both the authors' aims and the possibilities of the genres were different.

The novel can provide an impression of probability and a more convincing and detailed exploration of the protagonist's thoughts and emotions. Tragedy offers the writer the perfect literary form to present eminent and noble men - and their actions - whose fatal end can prove cathartic for the public, i.e., move them to pity. AH the elements of a Restoration heroie tragedy, and mainly its action, characters, and language are geared to impress the audience and ellicit their compassion towards the protagonist. For that reason, intensity in the presentation of the story is vital.

The kind of prose fiction in vogue in the last decades of the seventeenth century and used by Aphra Behn - the «nouvelle» and related narrative forms - afforded a wider range of interest and aims. A. J. Tieje thinks that one of the main objectives of Pre-Richardsonian prose fiction was to gain the reading public's credence, something «so much more than a mere expressed aim that it is perhaps best described as a striving toward a crude form of realism»18. It had a considerable effect on the content and structure of fiction. Verisimilitude was beginning to be the only limitation for the «nouvelle» writer of the late seventeenth century. Tieje finds three motives governing this veracity: «the wickedness of lying, the utility of verified narrative, and the pleasure which truth affords a reader»19.

Critics are still studying the philosophieal climate of the seventeenth century looking for the epistemological, ethica! and aesthetic changes which

Jorge Figueroa Choice of genre in Aphra Behn /s Oroonoko

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may have heavi1y influenced the development of prose fiction. McKeon asserts in his Origins of the English Novel that «The key to this historical process is the gradual formulation of questions of truth and questions of virtue»20. And for Zimbardo, «The course of development in England between 1660 and 1732 is a transition that runs from imitation of nature as Idea (heroic), through imitation of the interplay between ideational and experimental «reality» (satiric), to imitation of the experiential actual (novelistic)>>21. It is easy to notice the «naive» empiricism in the presentation of setting and characters in Restoration fiction.

Contrary to the instances commented on so far, in which Southerne was more restricted as to the presentation of Orroonoko's story in tragedy form than Mrs Behn, he was much freer with the facts than she was because he did not have to worry about verisimilitude so much, as this was not required in such a form of drama at that time22. However, Mrs Behn had to employ various devices to prove the truth of her story. She had to claim its historical veracity both at the beginning of the story and in the «Epistle Dedicatory», and to present herself as both aneye-witness to sorne of the facts and afriend to the protagonist so as to prove that she could have obtained further reliable information from him. Aphra Behn also made sure she included a careful elaboration of the geographical and social background of the events. As Surinam was a romantic and exotic setting for her contemporaries, she wanted to describe minutely many realistic details of the story, exploiting to the full in a cunning way both its exotism and realismo Detailed description was also used in portraying action, as in the case of Oroonoko's harsh and violent death, for example.

Everything was designed with the purpose of making the story seem credible, authoritative and profitable in the moral sense. In this way, the critical content of the narrative becomes more powerful, as she is actually denouncing a real reprehensible situation.

No doubt this question of credibility must be considered crucial to understand Behn's decision not to write a play but a «history». Her purpose was clearly different fram Southerne's, and she obviously did not think prose fiction an inferior way of writing in comparison with drama.

So, from her point of view, writing a narrative did not mean to «bury» her favourite hero. Rather on the contrary, Oroonoko could never have been taken as real in a tragedy; in a «nouvelle» at least she had a chanceo A. Messenger states it clearly: «1 think she made that choice because she wanted to be believed»23, and aboye all, one would add, because she

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wanted to reflect her ethical, social, and political opinions by means of editorial comments apart from sympathising with the protagonist.

As far as imparting information is concerned, there is no doubt that prose fiction is a much more appropriate genre than drama. Thanks to the tradition of other types of prose, there is a wide range of thematic possibilities and, structurally, a narrative also offers full scope for the presentation of ideas. These can be expressed not only by the characters but also by a figure which did not exist in Restoration drama: the narrator.

Aphra Behn introduces herself in Oroonoko, as in most of her narratives, under the guise of a self-conscious narrator who describes, relates actions, comments on what she shows the reader, or tries Jo vouch for the truthfulness of everything she says. Jane Spencer considers Oroonoko «a novel of ideas as well as action, and the narrator's comments are crucial to the rendering of these»24. As this critic contends, the narrator gets much of her authority from the fact that she is a character in the story who is acquainted with and sympathetic to the hero, as well as being an eyewitness to his last adventures and misfortunes. She is also a person whose nationality, social position and sex give her the chance to comment and criticize freely and significantIy 25.

By the time of Oroonoko's publication, originality was beginning to be valued - and even demanded - in prose fiction. As its name indicates, a «nouvelle» or «novella» (and hence, «novel» in English) should be something «new», or a piece of news. That is why narratives of this kind should deal with unique, new, personal experiences, or be based on items of news or historical information published in contemporary journals, books, or evenregisters. An obvious example of this is Oroonoko, which is supposed to be the account of the life of a person the narrator met in her stay in Surinam26 • However, as no such convention existed in drama, plots could be invented or borrowed from ancient legend, history, fable or other plays, the merit of the new result resting on literary decorum and the quality of the new version. For that reason Southerne could write plays based on Mrs Behn's stories, but not viceversa.

Zimbardo thinks that Southerne's concern for the psychological dimension of human nature led him to the novel and that his debt to Aphra Behn was never fully acknowledged. And comparing both versions of the Royal Slave, she claims: «(...) there is no doubt in my mind that Behn's Oroonoko is far superior to Southerne's. The novel had been badly

Jorge Figueroa .

Choice ofgenre in Aphra Behn 's Oroonoko

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undervalued: in my judgment, among early novels in English it is outranked only by Robinson Crusoe, and, even there, the race is c1ose»27.

Charles Guildon had already noticed and vindicated the male playwright's debt to the female writer, and the quality oí the original version: «(...) it must be confess' d that the Play had not its mighty Success without an innate Excellence, so in my opinion, the necessary regularities a Dramatick Poet is obliged to observe, has left many Beauties in the Novel, which our Author cou'd not transfer to his Poem»28. Conversely, it must be admitted, Southerne's tragedy has «many Beauties» that Mrs Behn's story does not contain.

Whatever the differences between Behn's narrative and Southerne's play, or whatever the possibilities that prose fiction offered to her, it is quite obvious that she profited from herexperience as a playwright when she switched to writing narrative. Zimbardo says that «the design of Oroonoko is the design of heroic tragedy novelistically rendered»29. And Aercke c1aims that Behn intended to give readers the impression of being watching a performance on a stage, and she did it mainly by means of her treatment of the background30 . As there was no «art of the novel», it was logical to resort to the theories and practices of other genres, and drama seemed the most appropriate, especially for writers who were also playwrights. Maximilian Novak denies any infiuence of drama techniques on the «novella» of the period; «In fact the infiuence had been in the opposite direction, romances providing most of the plots for heroic plays, and novellas the plots of Restoration tragedy»31.

Southerne's Oroonoko might be a good case for his thinking thus.

Something similar might be said of sorne of Mrs Behn's plays. The plot of TheAmorous Prince is taken from Cervantes's story in Don Quixote «The Curious Impertinent», and that of The Dutch Lover from the romance The History ofDon Fenise 32 • But there are sorne types of infiuence other than those visible in plots. In the case of Aphra Behn, there is no doubt that her experience as a playwright was infiuential in her presentation of background, her handling of dialogue, in her preference for brisk story-telling full of intrigue, coincidence and confusion, and even her occasional use of a dramatic technique - probably a penchant more for showing than for telling.

Choice of geme is largely a question of aims and conventions.

Even a comparative1y new geme as the «nouvelle» was in the seventeenth

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century, in spite of its attractive freedom from technical constraints, was setting up new conventions of its own, like originality and verisimilitude.

Its novelty and liberty al10wed - demanded even - the inf1uence of other genres, in particular, drama. As Michael McKeon puts it, the novel is «the newcomer that arrives upon a scene already articulated into conventional generic categories and that proceeds to cannibalize and incorporate bits of other forms -(...)- in order to compose its own conventionality»33.

Comparing Aphra Behn's Oroonoko with the version that Thomas Southerne did of this story few years later, 1 think to have proved that Behn's choice of genre was not just due to lack of money or education as many critics have pointed out, but to the joint inf1uence of her own objectives, the prevailing literary conventions, and the epistemological, ethical and aesthetic changes developing at the end of the seventeenth century.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9

This refers to The Fatal Marriage; or, ThelnnocentAdultery, 1694, which is based on The History ofa Nun; or, The Fair Vow-Breaker, 1689.

Southerne, T. 1977. Oroonoko; a Tragedy. London: ArnoId, pA. Cfr. Messenger, A. 1986. His and Hers. Essays in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, pp. 66-7.

McKeon, M. 1987. The Origins ofthe English Novel. 1600-1740. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U.P., p.127.

Cfr. Zimbardo, RA. 1986. A Mirrar to Nature: Transformations in Drama andAesthetics. 1660-1732. Lexington: U.P. of Kentucky, p.7.

Cfr. Woodcock, G. 1948. The Incomparable Aphra. London: Boardman & Co., pp. 164-5.

Cfr. Aercke, K.P. 1988. «Theatrical Background in English NoveIs of the Seventeenth Century», in Journal of Narrative Technique; 18,2, Spring: p.124. Todd, J. 1989. The Sign ofAngellica: Women, Writing and Fiction.

1660-1800. London: Virago, p.76. And SaIzman, P., ed. 1991.AnAnthology ofSeventeenth-Century Fiction. Oxford: O.U.P., p.xxiv.

Spender, D. 1986. Mothers ofthe Novel. London: Pandora, pA8.

Duffy, M. 1987. «Introduction» to Aphra Behn. Love Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister. London: Virago, p. viii.

Jorge Figueroa Choice of genre in Aphra Behn 's Oroonoko

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12 13 14 15 16 17

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19 20 21 22

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This has been noted by several critics like Q.D. Leavis (in Fiction and the Reading Publico London: Chatto & Windus, 1965), Charles C. Mish (in «English Short Fiction in the Seventeenth Century», in Studies in Short Fiction. VI, 3, Spring: 1969, pp. 233-330), Paul Salzman (in English Prose Fiction 1558-1700. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), Maureen Duffy (in op. cit.), and Josephine Donovan (in «Women and the Rise of the Novel: A Feminist-Marxist Theory», in Signs. 16,3: 1991, pp. 441-462), for example.

But there was also a close relationship between the unities and fiction in the late seventeenth century. McKeon (in op. cit., p.126) points out that «the insistence on the preservation of the two unities in Restoration dramatic theory and practice should be seen as a formal analogue of the naive claim to historicity in Restoration narrative». And according to Aercke (in op. cit., p.120), a good example of the influence of the poetics of drama on fictional prose was· the introduction of unities in the novel in order to promote verisimilitude. This was already noticed by J. Warshaw in «The Epic-Drama Conception ofthe Novel» (in Modern LanguageNotes. 35: 1920, p.276). He claimed that, apart from enforcing probability and reasonableness, the unities prevented digressions and minimized unnecessary complications. And Congreve openly declared in his preface to <<Incognita» that he wanted to imitate dramatic writing, and for that reasonhe tried to maintain the unities in his narrative (Cfr. P.Salzman, ed., op. cit.,1991, pp. 474-5).

Aphra Behn, «Oroonoko; or, the History of the Royal Slave», in Oroonoko and Other Stories. London: Methuen, 1986, p.27.

Novak, M.E. & Rodes, D.S. 1977. «Introduction» to Southerne, T. op. cit., p. xxviii.

Southerne, T. op. cit., p. 125.

Cfr. Zimbardo, RA 1986. op. cit., p.199.

Novak, M.E. & Rodes, D.S. 1977. op. cit., p. xl.

Zimbardo, RA 1989.»The Late Seventeenth-Century Dilemma in Discourse. Dryden's Don Sebastian and Behn's Oroonoko», in J.D. Canfield & J.P. Hunter, ed. Rhetorics of OrderlOrdering Rhetorics in English Neoclassical Literature. Newark: University of Delaware Press, p. 60.

Tieje, Al 1913. «A Peculiar Phase of the Theory of Realism in PreRichardsonian Fiction», in PMLA. XXVIII, p.213. He believes that the other objectives are: 1) entertain the readers, 2) edify them, 3) impart information to them, 4) depict life for them, and 5) arouse their emotions.

Tieje, A.J. op. cit., p. 215.

McKeon, M. op. cit., p.265.

Zimbardo, RA 1989. op. cit., pA8.

In spite of the efforts for verisimilitude in Restoration drama, heroic tragedy

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Pearson, J. 1991. «Gender and Narrative in the Fiction of Aphra Behn»,in RES. NewSeries. 17,165: pp. 40-56, and 166: pp. 179-190.

Richetti, J. J. 1969. Popular Fiction Before Richardson. Narrative Patterns 17001739. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Rogers, K. M. 1988. «Fact and Fiction in Aphra Behn's Oroonoko», in Studies in theNovel. 20: pp. 1-15.

Sackville-West, V. 1927. Aphra Behn. The Incomparable Astrea. London: G. Howe.

Salzman, P. 1985. English Prose Fiction 1558-1700. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Salzman, P., ed. 1991. An Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Fiction. Oxford: O.U.P. Southerne, T. 1977. Oroonoko: a Tragedy. London: Amold.

Spencer, J. 1986. The Rlse 01 the Woman Novelist. Oxford: Blackwell.

Spender, D. 1986. Mothers ofthe Novel. London: Pandora.

Tieje, A. J. 1913. «A Peculiar Phase of the Theory of Realism in PreRichardsonian Fiction», in PMLA. 28: pp. 213-252.

Todd, J. 1989. The Sign 01 Angellica. Women, Writing and Fiction. 1660-1800.

London: Virago.

Warshaw, J. 1920. «The Epic-Drama Conception of the Novel», in Modern Language Notes. 35: pp.269-79.

Woodcock, G. 1948. The Incomparable Aphra. London: Boardman & Ca. Zimbardo, R. A. 1989. «The Late Seventeenth-Century Dilemma in Discourse.

Dryden's Don Sebastian and Behn's Oroonoko», in J.D. Canfield & J.P. Hunter, ed., Rhetorics of Order / Ordering Rhetorics in English NeoclassicalLiterature. Newark: University ofDelaware Press, pp. 46-67.

Carlos]. Gómez Blanco Story andHistory: JaneAusten and the Politics ofFiction

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Story and History: Jane Austen and the Politics of Fiction Carlos J. Gómez Blanco Universidade da Coruña

Si el poder político del texto narrativo depende de. la capacidad que éste pueda tener para crear empatía, tranferir la experiencia de un personaje al lector y motivar el deseo de imitar a tal personaje, las novelas de Jane Austen pueden ser consideradas, y de hecho suelen serlo, como vehículos ideológicos que subscriben el ideal de feminidad descrito en los conduct-books. Por una parte, tanto su sentido común como su formación ética provocaban su rechazo de todo aquel texto ficcional cuya fábula o mundo posible no estuviese relacionada con la historia o mundo real, de todo texto que promocionase la fantasía de la lectora. Por otra parte, Jane Austen fue capaz de integrar un final feliz e incluso romántico en sus fábulas realistas porque deseaba transmitir a sus lectoras su fe en el ideal burgués de una esfera doméstica y familíar, deseaba convencerlas de la felicidad que dicha esfera podía proporcionar.

Sin embargo, el modo representacional realista utilizado por esta escritora suele deconstruirse a sí mismo, y su reacción en contra de las novelas que provocan cierta evasión de la realidad no señala necesariamente planteamientos conservadores o burgueses. Este trabajo sugiere que Jane Austen advierte sobre el poder de seducción y persuasión de un género literario que a través del realismo crea la ilusión de un mundo posible. Mediante esta representación transparente y supuestamente objetiva la novela adquiere mayor eficacia I?olítica que el viejo discurso político o religioso. Jane Austen prefiere la novela a otros géneros, pero sus textos narrativos llaman la atención sobre su propia ficcionalidad.

Critics ofien interpret Jane Austen's novels as moral guides lI1át support the established hierarchy: Austen is a conservative teacher;)Of prudence, sense, obedience and responsibility, for whom imagination is\an inadequate means of interpreting reality and romances are dangerous beéáüSe

BABEL -AFIAL, 2/1nvierno de 1993

they may encourage women to indulge indreams of passioIl,a.te19ve,pleasure and emotional happiness instead of preparing them for iheir real place in s0c,iety.lMani~ge isthe~entraltheme ofherwork, as ifchoosing the right m~wer~ themost important decisioninawolllan's life. ElizabethBennet ~nd Emma Woodhouse, \\T~?are initial1ynot interested in getting lllarried, le<lll1 sucha lesson; they.reali~ethatDarC)T and I(nightley embody J3nglish.g~~tlemanlin~~s. Emma stops noveljzing theworld. Afier al1~.why s*mld . she\\The~there Js s?muchtrue male heroism around? Theref?~e, A~sten 's n0'lels.seem to vin,dicatF. the traditi?nal 9pposftion ?f th~ sexes:. a woman's placeis in' a man's home.2 Her l'ealist.fiction •. teaches.• \Volllen. to a~cept their.s.()ci~lduties'\\Therea~. rom~nces ~n~ollra.ge ~olipsistic daydreaming..But some of t~e reas9nings that are often. use<i to justify J ane Austen's conservati§m m.ay be rewritten to próveher pro~essive views.

Mr'

..

o ..

o..

.,

""

'.'

.........'

'.

,

EMPÁ:rllYANDTHE TRAN8FERENCE OFEXPERÍÉNCE

11l{

st~tlls bffict~1Ilis?neof thFlllajorsubjFcts ;'of{\usten's first Il0'lel,'N;qrthallge,r Ab~? Both~e ilpl0rant J()lIn Th?rpe~dthe learned JleIllY~ilney, de~~ite .th~ir very differFntattitudes. t?wardsHov~I . reading, '1al~~fictiOIl ~or thepleasurFit Pl'od~ces.Thorpel~es?n1~t~pse.I19velsthat are.. • «am.·.us.. in.g.e.noug.h.».. an . d mal..é~.c.en .. ti.e.d(e.. g.,.T..p.m. J.on.es),.a.ndh.e..·.con.sider.s.

Richaidson'sandcMrs.. Raddiff~'s'fiction.~<so.fu11(~f~9nsense».that Catherine~s away~ththeid~a th~~.«g~Il,tleIDenre,adbe~e~b09ks». Itis ~enryTilne)',.. the .heró .of. tñ~ . ~bvel,WlI? .refute§ •~uchgen<ier-genre e?uations.. Des~ite b~iIIg~7tuall)' ~?nd of moreserious aIld .a.n,d~ocentric sWff suc~ as book~ onhistory, he~as.~ verydiffFrent()Piniop:«[tllIe p~rson, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in goodnovel, must be intolerably stllpid». It is not novels but rather people like Thorpe that are «the stupidest things increation».3 And yet, Henry does not look for anything but entertainment in novel reading. When he realizes that' Catherine is captivated by gothic fiction to the extent that she believes Northanger Abbey may be like Montoni's Udolpho, he mocks her fantasies, but he also encourages her «to use her own fancy in the pemsal of Matilda's woes» (160). It is later, when Catherine reads her own lite as it it were Emily's in lithe villain's abode, that Henry takes the dangers of Quixotic delusion more J¡seriously. He tries to awaken Catherine to reality, to the English and Christian uworld she lives in (197): she has confused gothic story with history, the 'imental world of the book with the material context of her lite. Jane Austen

a

Carlos]. Gómez Bloneo Story aniiiistory: J ane Aústen tmd the Polities afFiction

21

seems to sharelIeIlf)'Tilney' S judgtIlent: the re~~er's~nctmtrqlled faney;l rather thaJ},. fitti~n •its~lf" is wh.üone must""<lfIl'against.Or .toput it ill) Cüleridge's tefills:. th~ j"eader's.temporarysuspeilSion o~ disbeliefhas n?thing todo with acttiáÍ delusiott (Letters,IV, 641-2.).~utdoesthis.llleanthat; provided the transfe~~nce?f~eroic experie~eefrom text t~.readerd~~s no!' get (lutoíhand, J<lIleAusteIl aflpr~vesof novel~~as m~re ~ommoditieS for the) leisuréd?The nárrator ofNA defeIids a: realisi kilidof fictiori . in which the greatest pó\vers()fthérnill.dareCfistHaYéd',·in which thé mosf thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its' varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour are conveyl::d to the world in the best chosen language. (38)

Ac~r1ÍIl~ t? tl1is.passage,.the~Blllep~os~ ?f t~e~ovelistcall1l0t' b(;' t()ente~~,.,e~enth()u~fk~i~Il;<tff?!dS «rrlor~. e~e~si~eand' llllaffected pl~asure» t~aIl<tIlYc.o;t~er literaryRrod~~t,g2!.~ Tll~narrator's~lusionto t,he colluminication of laiowiedge andI-I~Ilf)"syamingii~ainst ~~e e~~~ses of fancy~ugge~tt~at .JaneAttst~~is.ÍIlte!e~ted theideas. ficti?Il fJlar,conveYI not jusf in the affective~()Il;s~<Iu~IlceSOfr~~to~c. The lastP<U"~?r~l'h of the no~el, in \Vhk~theIl<rrrato~«l~aVe~s.] it t?~~sett~e~bywhoe~er it llliiY concem» whethér'the' text. «recolllfJlenq[sJ»',,~IJ~rtkill<U"ide?logie~ attittidé (252)'P9intst? t~e p()ssibility of literatllteas an ideológical vell'il.:le.5

in

'I11~Illain pllrp?,~eof tlris,l'~l'eristQ sIlg~est thatAust~h'S reacti?n

ag~st romance andthe eult of s.eIl~i1J~ity doe~ ~ot ~pringIrom their ~ttbv~r~iye~ns~<IueIlces,butfro~t~~ir teIld~~tY t~ vindicat~ ttadition~

g~Ilder~alll~s .,<lIl~. t0l'eflJetu~teah~storkiilst~~e devoid ?f e§~it<rrianism.

E~en th()ugh~<[t]he~ntÍIlull1gagpe~o~rolllance withinthe",omen's no~el

can be seen ása covert proÚ5st agaÍlist thenegIeet andtedi~ ofwomen's liv~s» (Spente~ 1986: 187),thetemg(l~af)'!eli~ffJ:0lll ~e~lityth~trolllance provides is, als?asáj'~ty~alYcef?r'''''?lll~n'sdoubts an~ delllands. The tr~nsfer~~~6fpleasantandthrillÍllg.~~periencefJ:?1ll the.her~ÍIle to .the womanreader does not necessarily encouragedesire anddiscontent, On the oyehan,d,re~dÍIl~rolllan~smay disrupt t~e«~atura1>~ order becallseW?lllen may conceive expectations a1J?ve. ,aterial tions. r<rr0dies like Charlotte lll LellIlOX'S, TheFe11la le ,Q~i.Y0tewamagain~~.this.• effect: Arabellahas. read tbo many tales of chiValry to comply with Her father' s wisn to ll1arry her to Mr. Glanvill~ and" desgitelivÍIlg in «flerf~~~ret~emeIlt», sheexpe~ts«a crowd of adorers to de and. herof her. father». ~clr~quires heroi~feats' of her suitor.6 Onthe othet hand, letting women fancy while readirig in their

coIldl

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BABEL - AFIAL, 211nvierno de 1993

rqoms is the best way to keep them quiet and easy at home, to alleviate any lfflgerness for active participation in historical decisions. Letting them ePpropriate the story is the best way to keep them off history, man's dQll;lÍllion. Austen's Fanny Price reads travel books and, by making her own ;Wan's experience, -Lord Macartney's account of China-, she is contented ex¡:¡n though she does not travel anywhere. The spirit transcends the body and, although she is the Cinderella of the house and her room is cold, Fanny finds «immediate consolation in some pursuit, or sorne train of thought» (4!P, 151). Still, imagination cannot substitute for material circumstances tllflt well. The mental experience, the lyrical reverie in the East room, is not ~atifying enough and Fanny would like to see Sotherton (56) and be loved

by Edrnund. As Lennard J. Davis points out, reification is lessened by the reader's awareness of the loneliness of reading and of the inaccessibility of t~n-,object she wishes for, which is only «a cluster of signs» (1987: 134). <¡:;!!Jole Fabricant comments that domestic tourism served the interests of the n.Ming classes: visiting the estates of the wealthy satisfied the «voyeuristic cl~}ights and vicarious pleasures» of the people that did not own thern (1987: 25,1). However, the tourism therapy does not work well enough on Fanny \\fIlen she visits Sotherton because, ironically, another k4Id of therapy, r~j:lding,has made her look forward to seeing «something grander» than Mr. ~Hshworth's chapel (MP, 85). Sir Thomas teaches his daughters male stuff, geography and history (18-9), but only the Bertram men travel. The two girls cannot overcome their desires, which have been nourished by the tedium of th¡:¡ family home and by Mrs. Norris's flattery. They are less willing than Fanny to live in a purely mental world because they have not been taught «a sense of duty», «the necessity of self-denial and humility» (463). Sir Thomas, who exiles Fanny to Portsmouth so that she may realize how comfortable living as a polite lady is when compared with the dornestic chaos of the working class, would agree with Keats: «Do you not see how necessary a Wqrldof Pains and troubles is to school an Intelligence and make it a Soul?

A Place Where the. heart must feel and suffer in a thousand diverse ways» (Lettel's, I1, 102). Both Christian virtue and Romantic genius are matters of the soul and depend on the individual's inner lite, on the sacrifice of the body. Terry Eagleton (1983: 26-7) has suggested that the growth ofEnglish studies in the later nineteenth century has much to do with the enfeeblement of religion as a form of ideological control: «[t]he actually impoverished experience of the rnass of people, an impoverishment bred by their social conditions, can be supplemented by literature». Eagleton believes that «you can vicariously fulfil someone's desire fonrfuller lite-by- handing them Pride and Prejudice», probably implying that such a novel embodies the

Carlos J. Gómez Blanco Story and History: J ane Austen and the Politics ofFiction

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bourgeois, liberal dream of the individual's. success in spite of material circumstances (being just a Miss Bennet). But the fact that the Victorian ruling class considered Jane Austen's novels well-written romances appropriate for such an important political mission does not mean that their interpretation of her novels as innocuousto the status quo -the official interpretation for years- should not be questioned. 7 The point is, therefore, whether Jane Austen approves of idealist and essentialist concepts of both history and literature. The feminism that depreciates Jane Austen on the grounds that she centralizes women's lives through a common destiny, marriage, takes for granted a romantic, transhistorical reading of her fiction, the notion that her novels propose ultirnate ideas and universal truths; it does not take into account the fact that the texts are written at a time when many feminist demands concem freedom of choice and equality in marriage, ratherthan question wedlock. 8 Does Austenbelieve that art is disengaged from the historical context to the extent of becoming an autonomous object that transcends the writer's and the reader's .lives, or does she have a concem with historical utility and the materialworld? Does she address a universal woman or the readers of her age? Does she uphold that art and the pleasure of reading can and should replace political action, that the universals oía story are more important than the particular events ofhistory? To what extent does she approve of the Christian promise ofHeaven and the insistence on the world being a passage thatmen and especially women -Eve's daughters- must endure while they are in it? Or does she consider such Christian beliefs, as well as Romantic idealism, a weapon mobilized against social change and historical progress?

Bearing in mirid the development of an eighteenth-century useful literature dedicated to the moral transformation of the audience, critics have ofien considered Jane Austen the most important·successor of Richardson, who in the Preface to Clarissa hopes that readers <<will not enter upon the perusal oí the piece befare them, as if it were designed only to divert and v(lmuse». Thepersonal and particular -a hero or heroine's story- and the social and universal -Christian values- are united in a text that presents iliL_ moral dilemmas of characters with whom readers in similar circumstances will identify. The action reveals the existence of God's designs and the need to be virtuous and prudent. Clarissa, says Richardson in the Preface, will investigate the highest and most important doctrines not only ofmorality, but of christianity, by showing them thrown into action in the conduct of

.

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BABEL - AFIAL: 2/1iÍvíerno de 1993

ihe wÓrthycharacters;whileíhe un~ort~)',·~~osetthose•.dÓdril1es •. aí deJJariCe, are condignly, arid, as may be said, consequentially; punislíed.

N1~n)' oth~r eighteel1th-?é~tur)'",titers .C()lI~~ivéfictiO~~s·uséfu1and

tryitomake the'rea~er thirik ?ver c~ttain issues b)' tellinFhinlofh~t a story that is close·tohisor herown·exp7rie~ce.9Na?"~ti~e.is sutta~lefor the

representatio~of i~eology. be~ause; asMi~~áeIMfKe?npu:s.it, ,9u~stions 9~

Vi[tue and social tn06ilitY«h~ve .~. ~er~ntlyna?"atÍ\re focusb~fausethey

ar~, c~nCJ~ed;yith. ge~e~ogical~ucc~ssion ~nd indi~idlíal progr~ss,;yith,

hownllillán ¿;apacity is manifested in~dthr?ug~ time»(212).J~eAristen inhe~tsa didactif ,~aditionthat ~a~ov~t¿o~ellish~rd,son'sneed to v~idate fic1:i()II,' t~at .hase~ol~~d beyo~él.t~e • «pro?atiomur .!a""~3.fdhess~>'·' of' the éirrly stagesofnovelcwiitirtg.lOT~e~()ralistn~~pnbtbew:9rrie<l?Yh,er loss ofpe~so~al c?nt~ct ""itht~e ~dclressee','The ·clai111tofstQrifit)'Ctlie oyett rejectionof the nán:ativ~as stÓry)a?~ itsdevices?fa~th~I1rifanpP,~s well as the presence of111oraIreflecti?~,are,no lo~get~ef~sséll)':verisimili:u~~ ~~ . mimetic .iUusi9?' the~?tion oí. story· astb,é tran~pat~?t,and' O?je9tive reptesentation ofthe refeient (life, thewofld; llistory),grantthereaders' identificatio~;yith the virtpous <lIld, Co?s~q~entl)', th~~acc?pt~ce of~ ideological message.· TheaccoUI11~~the' storyiseffi~ient~nough,' provided the novel supplies ~~au~al~~l?l~ati?~ofev~nts. William ~ay¡¡rguesth~t «the 'novel 's .promotion· as 'a r~pre~entational',v~hipl~ts ,lin~ed,' tp th~ incre~sing convictionth~ttothindivid~~I~hdsoCial ~tlf~J .. :laréibeyo~<l the ·scope'· of· traditionalhistoricaláC~()UntS».ll··,'Ít· i~,~?t ·th~ ,.• d?C1.l~~t1taryr account ofhist?rkal .~v~nts~pt theCaus~itYQf~~risinl~<lieve~ts th~t provides the reád~rswit11, a ·~ef. ?f~alUesa~d· c()d~s ~l.th\Vhífh. t~ey m~y interpret h,istOlYitselt~eading?ove1s i~ •.~~piste~ol?Fic~encounter. Th~ story does not need the suppott· ofm~ditati~e~~co~rse,~ecapse itis, wj-ites th~~arrator -pr?tago?ist. of Mary IIays' • ,fir~fn9vel". «a ,1ll~~e. ~trtking~nd á~eztinF .lesson, th~n .• abst~act p~~oso,phy»o;«c?lddeclalllatio?~>. (E'rnma COl,lr t1l pp.S; 97).J,aneA.uste~,ma.y~riteto ~o~y~?US ~?~~n~eaders withdl1tbeing worried a:bout the cómprofuisebetween ari entertailiing'story ¡fnd.the I1lOl"al lesson.

e;:,

F?n?wingt~is . reas?ning " Jan~. ,A.usten' siro~X' ~~\vit ido; ~ot llude:rIiline the Cnristian values the· tex! eónveys; that IS,. ~neb.¿lasskallove for alllusi?9discourse,d?es ~otaffect the~~~sage suppliedbYithéca~s~ty ofthestory; denotation is not ~ecéss~ry to. dose thé, text fro~l~ndesired interpretat~o~s.~utthere ap~e~sa P3.f~d?xicalSitil~tion:thedeJl0t:em~?to~ the story contradicts tlíediscourse,' for· Elizabeth .Belmet .' and Emma

Cllrlos{ ~Ó,!,~~Bla,!~O

Story andHistory:JariéA.usteriarltilhe Politics o[Fiction

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"\\,?Odh~use,theWittíest~f Al1ste~'sh~roípes,leaÚ1 t~be prude~t.áIld not to speak rashlY. lt Is híghly ironícal thát a wítty writer shduld ask her heroíne to renounce díscourse. Wít, like gossíp and &.a.líclollsta.lk,ísádáIlgerous weap?ntila~ sh0u.1d b~. ¡us~d ,yery . c~eful1y .be.~ause:. thr?ugh th~. ~rony of effeCts,' ít mayh~thespea~e~futh~i 10~~frufi:E1izabeth fánsi~lov~, ~ith. theman.~heonF~ockedFd CanIl?t. bea~. h~rf~y 'ÍI1sll1tín~hiIn, justas NJí~s'B,ín~lrr'an.d Iil~Y Cathe~~e~~cou~age s~chf;m<Úi ~? lúV~.~dp~pth~ ql1estíon.. ~ . seCdn? tírn~to~he\V0rtlantheYdíslike .most aIlu.tilat ther~erb~lr abuse.,e~or~ .hiln:~éSíd~~,Fr~~ Shur~hill' s\\,ord-g~es .an~~r .• Elt~n's fhar~d~. ~~Í1is~afices of theCf~Ilg~rs?f.~oilbI1·~nte~~r1a.n~reveiil·th~ neeu t6follo\\,~o,lÍ1~ ·.~Ild. Ó.f ~afíIh~ ;?f?peIlnes~~d,· . 1iteraIIle·s~ ... M.~.~ltb~'S c~aráde is~roIl~ly~nterpr~ted no,t d~y~~salls~t1le . ad~~sse~ expect~ sótnet~g~íffei~Iltfr?m\Vhattl1~~ter ~e~s,b~t~so' bec~Úseit ís Il~t expli~itl)'; ~dmessédtosmlleb?dyi»pa~iCUl%.~e\VfitteIl teJe!, as; pJ¡üo \V?uldsay,i~dfn~ef?~s: ~I\1f:Elto,IlhadspoK,en his)ov~. to ~m~a,as he ddeslaterín the carriagé,thecoIlfusibh\Volilanot hllve taken place; Atid yet, íf Austen ís fond of verbal explanatíons, how come there ís sorrfuch a~biguity ,ínherfi~t~o,n?OrisheUfonr,~ IIlererhetori~al.de~iceeasily und~~~toOdso\th~t",h~tever'~~~t1is ambigu~us;springs ~om OUr .~sking the te~~ qllestións 'itdoesIlPtexpecfatiill? ~e \Ve as b~dread~~s oí her~ovels as Emrilá is of Mi: Eltoil's charáde? Accordirig to Darre! Mansell, Jane Austen became aware of the dangers of wit through the years and, thérefore, wrote J;fans~eld ¡:>ark.with~~e~o,Il-likestyle.It f~herlonge.~t~?ve1 and the ~l~sest toth~ co,rduct-bo,0k t~adi~i?ri.12For~ionel·~ri!l~g,D,'W.· Harding ~? ~~ítl NJ~dfic*,thedi~c9ufs~isstraight;h~rdlyir(jIlicaI; the weiglIt?f t~e autl1?r',Sth0ral í~ten~io~shas•• ttuidetile~bvelinf~ri0rtopYcideand PreJudice, which is artistic achiev~meirt bec~u,s~'theYcéJane Austen is.•Ie~s ?ep~~d~nt.?~l,.h~~ .. mora¡ .,~p?r~~iIl~; . . .The~~ ·rea~~rs·.· t1i~r .b~.,. dísappoínted be.c.a. tisethe..• y.. : ,.;:,,'>;{;, rreferr:-,;-tlie aesthetlc fó the 'ethíc, paradoxandirony to literalness. .; .. \' t' ::;' ;",":':'/.- ;,.,,c<,. , , ' < h :.:>',': :-.-'>: .'.'':: -, --;' ,'_

an

N~T~VÉVS~LY.RICÁL REVERIE' . '.' From' a' Romantic, bolirgeois perspedive;both ~iting aild readíng ate transéendentál ex¡)eri,tnces. Chatl9tte Brdnte'S aild George Henry Lewes' views' of Jane" Austen, 'hówevet different, refl'éCt Rúinantic ciiteria. Both share ápreferenCefór the 1y¡'¡t~l' imdare intetested fu the affective or áesthetic consequences ofAusten's fictiob. Accórdmg to Brbnte, Jane Alisten is not visionary and does noftranscetÍd hér hUllldmín eXlsiénce; she is good

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BABEL - AFIAL, 2/1nviemo de 1993

at «delineating the surface» but ignores «the unseen seat of Life» and, therefore, does not have «the divine gift». «Can there be a great artist without poetry?», she wonders. Instead, Lewes admires Austen for keeping «the perils» of the geme at bay: though she does not «transcend her own actual experience» and writes only about «her quiet village», Jane Austen achieves «the exquisite art» that only the cultivated will appreciate and charms the reader with «subtle distinctive traits». Despite their realism, her novels are aesthetic objects that have been relieved of «the tedium of reality».13 Up till recently, twentieth-century critics have usually considered art autonomous and transcendent, the story isolated from history. But Jane Austen expects her readers to recognize in the causality and development of the action an ideological stance. Lewes considers Austen's choice of geme an aesthetic decision, but Jane Austen's realism, her portrayal of the cornmonplace, reveals a consciousness ofwomen's compulsory irnmobility.

Janet Todd argues that both reactionary and radical women-writers of the 1790s abhor «escapist, self-indulgent, irnmoral farttasy». While the Romantic poets «move from direct political expression into a realm of the aesthetic», women's fiction is «resolutely not transcendental» (1989: 227-9). Both conservative .and progressive writers believe that the individual may influence the mass by giving example; the former try to infuse old values society may have forgotten, the latter try to inject doubt and scepticism concerning such values. However, conservatives consider rational feminism synonymous with romantic self-centredness and self-indulgence. As Mary Hays' Emma Courtney puts it, people «who are accustomed to consider mankind in masses - who have been used tobend irnplicitly, to custom and prescription - the deviation of a solitary individual from rules sanctioned by usage, by prejudice, by expediency, would be regarded as romantic» (80).

But radical.and feminist discourse is not solipsistic. Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Hays use autobiographical data in their fiction to raise political consciousness, just as conservatives like Hannah More turn the novel into a vehicle oí moral instruction and, through it, of social reformo Jane Austen seems to agree with both conservative and progressive parties: ifwomen are out of political action, at least their stories (autobiographical or not) have sorne power over the material environment, that is, may cause historical change. Neither literature nor a woman's life should be contemplative.

Though Jane Austen is interested in women's subjectivity and emotional struggles, in the stream of thought in moments of solitude, her narrative tends to move outward into dialogue, into comic or dramatic scenes in balls and tea-parties. Social, spoken discourse replaces personal,

Carlos J. G贸mez Blanco Story and History: J ane Austen and the Politics ofFiction

27

mental discourse, as if Jane Austen were afraid of the lyrical. Pointing to the dangers of lyrical reverie, Austen seems to insist that moments of solitude should be employed in reflection and careful examination of social reality.

The thought is to be followed by the spoken word: the Self must always be in touch with the Other. Aune Elliot recovers part of her bloom as soon as she stops crying over spilt milk and becomes the leading voice of the group that atlends the unconscious Louisa, who afier the accident disappears from the main action and falls for gloomy James Benwick. Austen seelIlS to believe in the need of sociability maintained by Plato路 and Shaftesbury: personal satisfaction and social harmony depend on the individual's awareness of both the self and social duties. Many of Marianne Dashwood's misinterpretations are caused by her reluctance路 to talk and listen to her sensible sister Elinor, and her impoliteness to Mrs. Jennings and Colonel Brandon reveals her unawareness of the Other. Marianne has ears only for Willoughby, who, having seduced Eliza, knows how to make a girllike Marianne fall for him and says to her just what she wants to hear. The isolation and retreat epitomized by the Romantic artist leads to derangement or blindness to the social world. For conservatives, women must accept their mission, which is to harmonize a world that has become a market place. For progressives, solipsism implies a different kind of irresponsibility: the individual should not ignore, for his and other people's sake,the oppressive and inegalitarian methods through which, in the name of the common good, the powerful pretend to harmonize society. lf both Hannah More and Mary Wollstonecrafi, though for different reasons, stress the need of an education in virtue and reason and of a kind of fiction not separated from public life, then the politics of Jane Austen'snovels are not easy to interpret. Whose party is she in?14

TAKING SIDES IN MANSFIELD PARK In Mansfleld Park Jane Austen seems to have realized that the hurnour of her previous novels cannot be reconciled with the gravity of the subject. David Monaghan argues that afier writing Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen lost confidence in landed society, and that Fanny is in charge of saving Mansfield Park, of restoring its moral significance (1980: 93-114).

Fanny epitomizes the Evangelical idealof the guardian of the home, of the woman with a moral mission. 15 Therefore, Fanny's rebellious rejection of Henry Crawford may be interpreted as a practical morallesson, rather than

28

BABEL -AFIAL, 2/1nvierno de 1993

as )asign Of emanCÍpation.16 As nobody in Mansfield Park willlisten to her, Fartny i~ forcedto come Out.óf herprotective shell andeven dare, to defy the ¡Jatriarch's",ilt . However,this Christian.redeemer is far froIllbeing the perfe~t ~ngeL Actuillly,shedoesnot wantto red~em, the ·CraWfo~ds, th) blacksheep inthe story,because suchanaction\Vould irnPly her losing Ec!IIlu~d: herego~sminterf~reswithhermissionary role. ShewantsHenry CfaWf?rd tost~y in Ló~d?hS() that ~e may forget h~r, th?u~hshe khows that Ílltown rus ~orillT~ge~eration,whi~h shehas. st~rt~d unconsCÍously, rnaybe s~?iltTheCniwf0~d~rnayberedeerned; but FaIllly;consCÍous of her morill superiofity;isalways'distantfromthemP Itmay be argued that Austen sacrifices thé CraWfoids 'bt:5cause· it is Sir Thonms thatFa11l1Y delivers from theegoi~m of IllarketeCünorny.. Still,. if Jane Austen meant to support the Evangélical ide~l,she co~ld have d?ne it much better. But did she? After iIlI, Fanny's success aseillier redeemeroi happywife at llie end of the novel is h~fdlr ~onv~cinf pough FaIlIlybecomes «the daughter» of the Bertrams, her~istefTepla~esh~rin SirThomas)sE~en:«b~c?rn[ing],perhaps, the m?st b~l~ed,ofthetwo~> (4?:2-3),~nd'~e reader is .nottoldwhe~ Edrnund.gets over~spassi?n f?r~arY ,Cra\Vt0rd(470).· N1o~e?ver,iIlthough «poor Sir T~oma~>;i~no l?~ger ~terestedi~!«rnerce~aryC?IlllectiOIlS»,he is«chiefIy anxi()~s»,tore~t?n~hi~0wn«~om~ort»,~d«domestic felicity», (461-2, 471): thatisthel11ainreas?n'vV~yhe appro~es ÓfJuli~'s and Ednmnd's unprofitable c~oiceofsp?uSe; ~~he,doesn?trn?dify hispatriárchalphilosophy:,though here~~esparent~se~e~tyis· a mistake;he ,stillfoll11ds(hís)do~estic cornforton power relations <ind believe~ tliat the ~dividual must accept the f~ctthat ~ehasbe~r«bom to strtI~gl~ and ~ndure»{462~3,'~73).!In thé same warYatésandthe0theractors are ino~eintere~t~d inth~ir O\vn perf0rm~ce thani~ th~ success· ofthe play itself, Sir,Thoma~isnot~terestedin fue co on good''fhe sIllilll familycirdeof Ñl~sfieldhasreither power and l11l11 morill.rightsto sa~e~ll, nor readiness to trytó save'afew, of the ~rban sinners. While conservatives have faithin the patriarch's domestic sphere, Which is andro~ntric,andbelievdwoínenhave aIlirnI'?rtaht. social roÍe to play,,that ?fgiv~ggood example ~yadheringt0tr,aditional villues, ferninists, on the c?~trary,de~o~ce«therniserr a~doppressio~, p~culiar. towomen, thata~ise out' 9f ., the.partial •. la\Vs. 'and . customs·. of,.sóciety».18 'Mary \V?llsto~ecraft and.MarylIays",am. against the e~cessesofsensiIJilitynot becaus~the~ pniiseaconvention~.ide~l of 'vV0rnen's virtue, butrather becausethey are aware th~t society is on thewatch and will not forgive a woman'smistake: Does JaÍle Austen ask women tobe sensible because she believés,"liké Rousseau; ,. that w'ómenaré .él11otionill' and weakby 'natllre?

That is, does she consider women's education necessary because meninusf

Carlos J. Gómez Blanco Story and History: Ja,ne Austen andJhe Politics ofFiction

29

beprotectedfrom w()~el1 Jjke Maria:ae.rtramand j\Jaryyra\\'ford? Or does sl1ecoIlsider reas0J:l. ad.e.fenc,e against Ulale"d9minateds()ciety? ACtualJy, what tlIldeTIIljnes tl1e conseryative mo~al.of HansfieldP(trk mOst is that both the respec,taqle icha.ra¡;:te.rsanclthe.hedoni~ts ptlrstle. .the.Í1" ()WI1belle.fitand tempt the heroine one way or other. Jane Atlste.p~e'feq1sSp-Thomas's egojsWthr0ughthelllethqdsl1e.usestoperstlacle F'anl1Y': Ina covert way, the novel denounces a patriarchal ideology that, in the name()f social qr~olllystic harmony, asks women to sacrifice their desires. .

TOE LITERARY ARTIFACT

As. plotpattemsa.re. ideologic,q1 vel1jples,ironyneednot be located in theiliscourse: . themessage.ofthestory canlJe awlJi~ous :e"e11 Whe.n .110 yerbalÍ1"onyuIlqe~es . it.MansfieldPark is.ane:l{awPle,otit, since.the ·.story is aI)~ }snot}ike those.of pre",ious.Wdélptic n()vels.But lllanyreaders dq not see.any iroIlisdistanQe.8,.oUleeyen cl1argeJaI)e Al1sten'Yitl1 notbeing COIlsciousoforse.rious .e1l9ugbabpl1t tl1e s()pial proplYUls.of her age, J1er · C91l1eclyisinte.mrete.das· ,!I1e.s¡;:apist .alteWélti",e. tore.ality:I1~W. st9ries.a.re diyorce.d.frPUl.Nstory .19~utescapisUl.is, élsth~spapyr triyS t()pr()v~, (an <lttitucie JaIleAusten, like lllan)' othe.r \':"0Ulen .\VfÍters, goesIlot a,pprpyeqf. .... s.of patriarshy n.ot · B.esi.cie.s" shedoes I1.ottufIlher heroine.s ÍIlto... tragié yjctirn b.ecaus.e.she. is.blindto su2h situ.a.t.ions inreallife, but be2aus~ she beli.. e.·.v.e.s ),<",:'",',;':".,',." ,.. ,., ",,;:..: '.', :,:'.:, .:.: .. :...•.,'.:•. '.: ..'.. '.::' that tragic st0ries pel:J?etuatetheseNP"llentaliUlythofthe pop~vwuous~rlin ·.. distress;20 that.is,.theyturn historical.<;>ppressipn into. aIl FLesthetic, qbject that raises the, emotioIls, upt anyrepairWgastions, 0ftl1e.atlcliel.lGY' Jany~p,sten, un1~eJ;lenry Tilney or: ljtgy R.J.1sséll,.~.oes not try .to cheélt hífr a~~l"eSstyil1to .1?elievillg·. that per .' fictiop i:; •. history.•HerhllpPY; en,~i):lJ~s aré Ry;e.¡otly Gouvemional; they pq~ttothe liter~ llrtgact,thel"efor~ Wal"IlWg;tpel"eél~er ·.ag$stconfusing ,~\,:"ithlge,.the story\,:"ithl1jstory. W¡llter Na,sh writes tbat,.·as. rhetoric .is .«gjstra¡;:tive~~, im()ralists Ulay.~~objéct thatpel"Stlas~ve rhetori¡;: ofteUc oper(lte.sbYc()llxÍIlg pyople into.loo.1QIlgNtltings as thYY<lI"e ·uot'iratl1e.r tpanastheyare» (19~~: 99). ms is. wh(ltrQmanc,e'!P.dpam9Y q1ways do:C()nstructana1te~ative story tpthere.al pny~ pven textstpat, like Austen's 0}Vll req1ist uoyels,are.suppo.se.dto be transparYllt represe.J:1t':lti()ns that .C()nvey .·«the most .tho.rougl:l. kn.owledge., pf .htlll1.anIlature!~.{l'fA, 38) wwritesubjectively the extratexttIal world.Tbey beco¡onedaIlgerouswhen thery is Iloaesthetic distance; .that. is, . when~ve.r the reade.r is .not. ableto distinwshbetweenfiction iso.bliviousto the fic.lion7111aking -, andrealityand . . ......

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30

BABEL - AFIAL, 2IInvierno de 1993

process inherent in any narration of events. AH narratives, inc1uding historical accounts, are subjective and fictional. Although Catherine Morland takes for granted the cognitive value of gothic fiction and novelizes domestic lite in Northanger Abbey, she is conscious of the fictional nature of the discourse of historians. This contradictory attitude shows that any reader, however sensible he or she is, can be seduced by a story sooner or later. 21 History is knowable through subjective interpretation, through stories, since human intervention in the causality of the documented events, the «thoughts and designs» of the protagonists of the past, «must be invention» (NA, 108).

Catherine's comment not only subverts the reliability of historical accounts, written by and for men, but also the gender-geure equation itse1f: both women novelists and male historians write stories.

IMAGINATION STIMULATED When Catherine Morland and Emma Woodhouse sit in their rooms and go over the events of the day, most of which are produced by social intercourse, they tum the civilized world of English country-house comedy into a world ofvillainy, melodrama, and romance: General Tilney is a gothic monster, Harriet a gentleman's daughter, and Jane Fairfax a woman desperately in love with a married mano Both heroines are taught to recognize these stories as mere fiction and to come to terms with the «real», of which Henry Tilney and Mr. Knightley are in charge of reminding them through aH the novel. But, however rational they may be, both men make up stories themselves. Mr. Knightley is jealous of Frank because he believes that Emma loves him, and Henry Tilney's parodies of gothic fiction (NA, 157-60) and of the riots of the mob (112-3) are also altematives to the real. In both cases Henry tries to enlighten the heroine, to point out the difference between «such words [that] could relate only to a circulating library» and <<horrors in London» (113), but he makes up a burlesque story with particular elements taken from the historical and real (names of streets and facts associatedwith the Gordon Riots, the furniture in Catherine's room) and, therefore, he trivializes reality.22 His witty discourse suggests that nothing dreadful can ever happen in the story, but domestic reality may be worrisome enough. Instead of looking for skeletons in the c1oset, Catherine had better take into account the General's fits of ill-humour, and Emma, instead of fancying love stories, should look into Mr. Elton and Frank Churchill's discourse and manners much better. Gothic novels may give the reader to

Carlos J. Gómez Blanco Story and History: Jane Austen and the Politics 01Fiction

31

understand that evil is exotic and can be associated only with French, Spanish or Italian narnes, but not all the Tilneys in Austen's world are gentlernanly. For sorne readers, the real circurnstances oí Austen's civilized world are even more drarnatic and worrisome than the heroines' fictions, but rnost critics underrate the subversiveness of this irony. After all, the heroine can overcome the materialism and hypocrisy oí sorne members of the upper and middle classes and marry a nice man; that is, the status quo does not disa1low the individual's c1airn íor happiness. According to Henry Tilney, there cannot be skeletons in any English c10set because there is always «a neighbourhood of voluntary spies» thatprotects people from evil (198). And yet, it seems that General Tilney's coldness to his late wife and his rudeness to Catherine are never gossiped about and, as íar as stories oí seduction and adultery are concemed, it is the woman who suffers from «the public punishment of disgrace», not the man (MP, 468). It seems that gossip, the voice oí society, cannot protect a woman from seduction, but it certainly contributes to her ruin. Male-dominated stories (either written by menor women) are dangerous to women; they persuade, seduce or disgrace them.

Sir Thomas tries to persuade Fanny by making up a story in which he is the victim of an ungrateful protégée (MP, 318-9), and his son Edmund tells her that marrying Crawford is the best way to achieve her mission in life, to prove she is actually «the perfect rnodel of woman» which he believes she was «bom for» (347). Lady Russell is another persuasive story-teller who tries to convince Anne oí marrying Mr. Elliot by providing her with «[t]he idea of becoming what her mother had been» (P, 160). Lady Russell manages to transport Anne into a reverie, and «[flor a few moments her irnagination and her heart were bewitched», but the enchantress stretches Anne's irnagination too much -she suggests «what Anne did not believe»- and her addressee is brought «to composure again». «The charrn» of irnagination disappears because Lady Russell suggests anirnage Anne does not like, that oí Mr. Elliot proposing marriage. Had the irnage been much more pleasant, Lady Russell's magic spell might have been efficient and would have led Aune into a wrong decision.

Women's imagination is also stimulated in arder to satisfy their anxiety: the irnagined story substitutes for the actions necessary to irnprove the material conditions they live in. Catherine Morland does not like history because it is dull and there are «hardly any women at all» (NA, 108), but gothic fiction provides her with the knowledge of the French countryside (106), as if the reader could make the protagonist's experience her OWll. Though Edmund is kinder to Fanny than anybody else, he seems to support

32

BABEL - AfIAL, .7/1nviemo de 1.993

thir- metonymic substitution: «You. in the m~anwhile willbe taking a trip in~o Cl:lina, 1 suppose» (MI', 156). He beli~ye,s th<tt his. cousinmay «sit comfortably», tbo~gIi theroo~ js cOld, anclenjoythetrf\velling. ,Huí, though Fanny is easily contented becaus,e she values things and actions ~bowever trifling or ullfair- for the «iriteresting rernt;:llllmlllct;:.>.> she haslinked to them (152), imaginatión cannot always' make up for the '<;unw~lcome news» of real circumstances: «there was no reading, no China,' no composure for Fanny» (156). Her situatiomeveals the impossibility of actual transcendence through reification; itproves S. Lesst;:r's argument that «[w]hen anxietyor instinctualpressure 'becollles too urgent, ll.mv~ver, no form of fiction, is likely to engage or hold one's interest» (1957: 47). Though FantÍy turos Edmund;s two-line noteinto;a ~<perfecdygratifying~>treasure (265), in a similar wáy Jo lIarriet's «treasuring up» relics (E, 337-40), she still has emotional needs; th<tt,is, tlJ-e Writtell text cannoi sub~titute for the object of her desire. Jane Au~ten neither approves of tIle: stimulation ,of women's imagination nor seems to consider the appropriationof experience through readingactuallypossible. She.seems to agree with John Locke's theory of knowledge as. developed in 4~ Essay Concerning Humar¡' Unders(,anding (1690), .whose' pedagogicconsequences were bn;lught. out. in France by CI~lUd¿ Adden Helvétius and contributed 'to the .French RevoluÜon.

According to Locke, a mantbat has' never eat~n an.oyster ca,nnot'have any idea of its taste, and a man ljvmg in a black aÍld white~oom since his childhood l;ias no idea 01' colour (É9qk 11, Chapte! 1, Sectioll,(i); that is, tlie indiviqual's ideas are IVnited by his' expt;:¡:ience orcóntf\ct ~th ,the material.

Challenging Locke,' Ednmpd Burke states ih.ai a poet bÜnd fram his birth may describe physical objects ancllllove his auclience better than many that have had visual experiences,and a learned ,blind plan may teach others about the theory of colour. 23 Burke;s philosophyelldorr-e~b~!1rgeoisideology: any individual, through genius or work, may rise to the highest levels of society, regardless of the material conditlcms of his existence, Language is powerful because it produces a kind of expeI:ience superior toany tha,t life may prqvide and, even when tht;:writerdo~,not receiye any matt;:rial benefit (for instance, a cure to blmd~;ess), he is gr'arlfied by the aer-thetic experience of writing. Jáne Aústtm seeJl).S to áccept the. notion that language provides women with some power of transcendence:' though, imprisoned in their homes, they rnay write stories ande particjpate in public life.However, she also waÍns. agaihst fantasier- ofpoweI:: Elizabetb,Bennet's xhetorical skill may give ht;:r contro1.over arich, powerful man lik~ parcy, bllt only.the !atter has anY,adual influence on pubJjc affairs:. . . ,

Carlos J. Gómez Blanco Story and History: JaneAusten and the Politics ofFiction

33

The aestheticians of idealism are, whether consciously or not, in league with the conservative insistence on conformity to the world of penance man has fallen too As reality cannot be what the artist sees in his vision, the imagined experience and the pleasure it gives is what really countso When in ElizabethInchbald'sNature andArt (1796) young Henry asks his rich and powerful uncle why this world cannot be as egalitarian as Heaven, the ambitious dean answers that «it isutterly impossible: God has ordained it otherwise». Through Henry's nalve remarks, Inchbald points to the difference between human laws and divine ones: «How! has God ordained a distinction to be made, and will not make any himself?» (325) The status quo, comments Basil Willey, is «the last word of divine wisdom and goodness» and, therefore, to demand changes «is in fact impious»o Willey defines conservative, liberal and revolutionary ideologies depending on their attitude conceming «the degree of human participation which is supposed to be needed to produce the best world»o Por the revolutionary, «the maximum of human action» is necessary (1986: 55, 207). The preference for the lyrical and visionary implies an interest in stasis and universality, since the essence of both story and history, of narratives in general, is their cause-effect temporal progress. William Hazlitt writes that [i]n the ideal there is no fixed stint or limit but the limit of possibility: it is the infinite with respect to human capacities and wisheso Love is for this reason an ideal passion. We give to it our aH of hope, of fear, of present enjoyment, and stake our last chance of happiness wilfully and desperately upon it. 24 According to Mary Poovey, «[o]ne of the most persistent dilemmas of the woman writer during this period proved to be the problem of controlling her own attraction to ideal compensations»oMary Wollstonecraft is «wary of the products of the creative imagination because [o ..] they feed wishful fantasies instead of initiating political action», but her narrator «repeatedly lapses back into sentimental jargon and romantic idealism» (38, 104-6)0 Mary Poovey's interpretation of Wollstonecraft's work is convincing, but her reading ofAusten's reaction to idealism differs from that given hereo Poovey believes that Jane Austen assimilates romantic love to conservative ideology, that she wants to «engage our imaginations by offering us flattering irnages», and that, by «freezing the narratives precisely at the height of emotional intensity», she endorses happiness in a domestic sphere «as compensatory substitute for other kinds of unavailable gratification»; that is, her art provides «a symbolic experience of fulfillment»

34

BABEL - AFIAL, 211nvierno de 1993

(239-40, 244). Rounding off the story, interrupting it just when the wedding bells ring, seems to suggest that Austen converts such a scene into a lyrical or visionary still moment, which actually contradicts the dramatic quality of all the previous scenes in the novel. The narrator's summary of events displaces the dialogical nature of the story, the confrontation between opposing speakers and ideological attitudes, giving to understand that there is eventually, at least as far as the lovers are concemed, peace and harmony.

The reader does not see any scenes of the married couple' s future life, which might undermine the effect; he is left smiling at the happy couple. And yet, Jane Austen's closure of the texts always seems contrived.25 The narrator points out the artificiality of the merry, comic denouement by alluding to the «tell-tale compression of the pages» and the «perfect felicity» of the couple (NA, 250), by mentioning her preference for a happy ending (MP, 461), by insisting that several important facts «need not be particularly told» (SS, 361), and by asking the reader to fill in the rnissing data «at liberty» (MP, 470). If the dramatic development of the action is supposed to lead the reader into believing that «conjugal felicity» (PP, 236) is possible despite the many examples -such as the Bennets - that suggest the contrary, why are there so many loose ends in the final chapters? Moreover, if stories may convince readers of the benefits of moral rectitude only when they are govemed by laws of causality such as the divine laws of providence that order Clarissa, why does the reader feel that chance has taken over? Efficient causes are replaced by final, teleological causes that undermine the representational quality of the story: the reader wonders why the author has chosen a certain denouement, since the heroine's happiness is not the effect of her own behaviour. Besides, ifFanny epitomizes the Angel-of-the-House myth, why does her future happiness as Edrnund's wife seem less desirable than Elizabeth Bennet's or Emma's? Readers that consider Austen conservative may reply that Fanny's story is more realistic or that it promotes self-denial, but then it would seem that Austen does not illustrate the bourgeois dream of social rise that they recognize in her novels. Although in some literary texts «a narrative element becomes desirable whenever a character is observed to desire it» (Jameson 1981: 156), both Edmund's love and life in Mansfield Park, however «perfect» in the heroine's eyes (473), do not seem to encourage the reader's wishfu1 fantasies. If the power of art depends on imitation, Edrnund Burke's term for the illusion of transparent representation, and sympathy, the attraction towards the referent of the representation, then Mansfield Park undermines such power more than any other novel by Austen (see Burke, pp. 49-50).

Carlos J. Gómez Blanco Story and History: Jane Austen and the Politics 01Fiction

35

CONCLUSIONS By closing her texts in a hurry, Jane Austen leaves them more open to the reader's questions. Through self-conscious narration and a subversive and parodic use of the pattems and stock characters of the didactic novel, such as questioning the either/or paradigms with which men tend to judge women (the contrast between the perfect wife and the coquette which Hannah More uses in Coelebs in Search of a Wife), Austen reminds the reader that he or she is reading just another cluster of signs and, therefore, she undermines any mimetic illusion or poetic faiththat might encourage reification and the transference of experience. Though for different reasons, she agrees to the affected reader's statemeñt that «it is only a novel!» (NA, 38), a cultural construct. This does not mean that Jane Austen renounces any guidance ofthe reader's response. As Ross Chambers puts it, «renunciation of one form of narrative seduction may merely mask another form of reader recruitment» (217). ButAusten's own ideological prograrnme is progressive; it denounces the means by which the ruling order secures its hegemony.

Both women's fiction and men's historical records, however transparent and objective, are stories that, through an interpretation of the world, may disseminate the teller's ideas. Though Austen prefers the novel to lyrical poetry, she also wams against the genre by revealing how stories that flatter (Willoughby's, Wickham's), charm (Lady Russell's), teach (Henry Tilney's) or reproach (Sir Thomas's) may seduce and persuade the listener into dangerous lines of action or into mere stasis. Sentimental fiction aestheticizes real seduction into a sublime, attractive image, and didactic fiction upholds the patriarch's right to persuade. The reader should read novels, but also be aware that the narrative object is a powerful polítical weapon that may cast a dangerous magic spell on whoever accepts its message at face value.

36

BABEL - AFIAL, 2/Inviemo de 1993

NOTES 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Others may believe, like J. M. S. Tompkins, that Austen is not that alarmed by the effects of romance reading, since Catherine Morland's «perversion» is just «a phase of adolescence that will not incapacitate her for IJ¡lature life» (1932: 218), which is, after all, the same point: women must come to terms with everyday life. Concerning the reaction against novel reading, see Taylor.

Still, however much we believe that Austen upholds the bourgeois view of marriage, can we imagine Mrs. Knighíley imitating her sister Isabella?

NorthangerAbbey, pp. 48-9, 106. This and aH subsequent references (cited in text by page number) are to Chapman's edition. Abbreviations, used on occasions, are as foHows: NA (Northanger Abbey), SS (Sense and Sensibility), PP (Pride and Prejudice), MP (Mansfield Park), E (Emma), P (Persuasion).

According to Lee Erickson, as books were expensive and most readers considered novels «disposable pleasures to be read once and forgotten» (1990: 578), all kinds of books, but novels in particular, were hardly ever purchased: women borrowed them from circulating libraries. However, as we will see later, not only the novels that bridge the gap with religious guide-books but also those that are tneant to be read once and forgotten may work as political vehicles.

According to John Odmark, Austen mocks the didactic close of romances, in which the moral themes are not well integrated into the story (1981: 119-21). pp. 7, 45. Another parody in the Quixote tradition is E. S. Barrett's The Heroine. See Kelly.

Why should Jane Austen, of the many women-writers of the two opposing discourses of the 1790s, be the chosen one? After aH, if «the cultural monuments and masterworks that have survived tend necessarily to perpetuate only a single voice in this class dialogue, the voice of a hegemonic class» (Jameson 1981: 85), it is not surprising that the dominant class should prefer Austen's fiction to, say, Mary Hays', but why not Hannah More's or Jane West's, whose ethical concerns are more obvious than Austen's? The reason may be, not simply that Jane Austen is more entertaining, but rather that she seems to appropriate and rewrite feminist discouse. If love and selfassertion are the claims of feminist voices, and marriage as duty is the subject of conservative discourse, Austen seems to tum marriage into the epitome ofwomen's felicity. We will come back to this point later.

See Brown (1990) and Steeves (1973).

According to Nancy Armstrong, conduct books and polite novels shifted the struggle for political power from the level of physical force to the level of language and education: reading shaped the individual. Initially novels created «a cultural fantasy» that promised new possibilities for the individual,

Carlos J. Gómez Bloneo Story and History: J ane Austen and the Politics ofFiction

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

37

his or her liberation from the old status distinctions, but by the end of the eighteenth century they «carne to be used as techniques of social control» (1987: 98;concerning Austen: 156-60).

Eagleton 1982: 29. Jameson (155) argues that the presence of a narrator restored «face-to-face storytelling». In McKeon's terms, lhe mind of lhe character was replaced by the mind ofthe author (418-9).

Ray 1990: 4. Ray studies the evolution from personal narration to impersonal, delached narrative bearing in mind the relationship between the Self and collective authority.

Mansell1973: 109-24. For a similar view, see Litz 1965: 112-31. And also Fowler.

Both Lewes and Bronte are cited from Southam 1968: 126-8, 130, 140-1.

Jay Clayton (1987: 72-9) writes that Austen frustrates alllyric expectations: Fanny Price's visits lo the East room or her looking at the sky turn soon from lhe lyrical to the dramatic; that is, they never lead to visionary still moments but .to turning points in the action. Though he sees similarities berween Austen's and Mikhail Bakhtin's preference for narrative motion and casuality, Clayton considers her concern with ethical values a conservative trait.

Conceming the development of such an ideal, see, for example, Spencer, pp.

14-8; and Todd, pp. 215-7.

Several critics have insisted on Fanny's rebellious behaviour. See, e. g., Burroway (1967) and Smith (1983: 111-28).

Fanny is oflen charged with priggishness or egoism. See Fleishman (1970: 78-80) and Brown (1979: 96-100).

Mary Wollslonecraft in her Preface to The Wrongs of Woman: or, Maria (1798); quoted from G. Kelly's edition, p. 73. Conceming Hannah More's advocacy of women's claim to moral authority, see Anderson & Zinsser (1988: II, 125-8).

Arnold Kettle wams readers ofEmma against this attitude. Though he finds Austen's world narrow and her attitude rather complacent,. he eventually praises her for her materialism, for her rejection of «philosophical sanctions».

Al least, she presents us with a concrete society, not Life or «a fundamental truth».The fact that Kettle should recognize Austen's emphasis on the historical and changeable, her rejection of stasis and universality, is very illuminating.

See Johnson (1989). Susan Morgan considers Austen's rejection of traditiona! and sexually defined gender roles -male dominance, female submissionher greatest achievement.

Another example is Elinor's response to Willoughby's sentimental account of his own suffering (SS, 333-5).

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22.

Henry performs what Fredric Jameson defines as «a symbolic action»: through it he encourages «the illusion that the situation itself did not exist before it, that there is nothing but a text» (81-2). Severa! critics have pointed to Henry's pedantic nature and to his not being a reliable teller. For a recent example, see Loveridge.

Burke, Enquiry, Part V, Section V (especially pp. 168-9).

In his essay On the picturesque and the Ideal: A Fragment; quoted from Works, vol. 8, p. 321.

For an interesting discussion ofthe method, seeBrown, Lloyd (1973: 220-9).

23.

24.

25.

REFERENCES Anderson, Bonnie S., & Zinsser, Judith P. 1988. A History ofTheir Own: Women in Europe from Prehistory to the Presento New York: Harper & Row. Armstrong, Nancy. 1987. Desire andDomestic Fiction: A PoliticalHistory ofthe Novel. New York: Oxford U. Press.

Austen, Jane. 1969. The Novels ofJaneAusten, ed. R. W. Chapman, 5 vols., 3rd revised edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Brown, Julia P. 1979. Jane Austen's Novels: Social Change and Literary Form.

Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1979.

---o 1990. «The Feminist Depreciation of Austen: A Polemical Reading», Novel 23, 303-13.

Brown, Lloyd W. 1973. Bits of Ivory: Narrative Techniques in Jane Austen's Fiction. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ. Press.

Burke, Edmund. 1757. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin ofOur Ideas ofthe Sublime and the Beautiful, ed. J. T. Boulton. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987.

Burroway, Janet. 1967. «The Irony of the Insufferable Prig: Mansfield Park», Critical Quarterly 9, 127-38.

Chambers, Ross. 1984. Story and Situation: Narrative Seduction and the Power of Fiction. Minneapolis: U. of Minnesota Press & Manchester U. P. Clayton, Jay. 1987. Romantic Vision and theNovel. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ.

Press.

Coleridge, S. T. 1956-1971. CollectedLetters ofSamuel Taylor Coleridge, ed. E. L. Griggs. 6 vols. Oxford: CIarendon Press.

Davis, Lennard J. 1987. Resisting Novels: Ideology and Fiction. New York: Methuen.

Eagleton, Terry. 1982. The Rape of Clarissa: Writing, Sexuality and Class Struggle in Samuel Richardson. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Carlos J. Gómez Blanco Story and History: J ane Austen and the Politics ofFiction

39

---o 1983. Literary Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Erickson, Lee. 1990. «The Economy of Novel Reading: Jane Austen and the Circulating Library», Studies in the Novel, 1500-190030,573-90.

Fabricant,Carole. 1987. «The Literature of Domestic Tourism and the Public Consumption of Private Property», in F. Nussbaum & L. Brown (eds.), The New Eighteenth Century: Theory, Politics, English Literature. New York & London: Methuen, pp. 254-275.

Fleishman, Avrom. 1970. A Reading of Mansfield Park: An Essay in Critical Synthesis. Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press.

Fowler, Marian E. 1974. «The Courtesy-book Heroine of Mansfield Parb>, University ofToronto Quarterly 44, 31-46.

Harding, D. W. 1963. «Regulated Hatred: An Aspect ofthe Work ofJane Austen», in lan Watt (ed.), JaneAusten: A Collection ofCritical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, pp. 166-79.

Hays, Mary. 1987. Memoirs of Emma Courtney, introduced by Sally Cline.

London & New York: Pandora Press.

Hazlitt, William. 1930-4. Works, ed. P. P. Howe. London: Dent.

Inchbald, Elizabeth. 1852. Nature and Art, ed. (with A Simple Story) Richard Bentley. London.

Jameson, Fredric. 1981. The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act. Ithaca: Comell U. Press.

Johnson, Claudia L. 1989. «A 'Sweet Face as White as Death': Jane Austen and the Politics of Female Sensibility», Novel 22, 159-74.

Keats, John. 1958. The Letters of John Keats, 1814-1821, ed. H. E. Rollins.

Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press.

Kelly, Gary. 1990. «Unbecoming a Heroine: Novel Reading, Romanticism, and Barrett's The Heroine», Nineteenth-Century Literature 45, 220-41.

Kettle,Arnold. 1967 [1951]. «Jane Austen: Emma»,Anlntroduction to the English Novel. London: Hutchinson, vol. 1, pp. 86-98.

Lennox, Charlotte. 1752. The Female Quixote, or The Adventures of Arabella, introduced by Sandra Shulman. London & Boston: Pandora Press, 1986.

Lesser, Simon O. 1957. Fiction and the Unconscious. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Litz, A. Walton. 1965. JaneAusten: A Study ofHerArtistic Development. London: Chatto & Windus.

Locke, John. 1961.An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, ed. J. W. Yolton.

London: Dent.

Loveridge, Mark. 1991. <<Northanger Abbey; or, Nature and Probability», Nineteenth-Century Literature 46,1-29.

Mansell, Darrel. 1973. The Novels of Jane Austen: An Interpretation. London: Macmillan.

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McKeon, Michael. 1987. The Origins ofthe English Novel, 1600-1740. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Monaghan, David. 1980. Jane Austen: Structure and Social Visiono London: Macmillan.

Morgan, Susano 1989. «Why There's No Sex in Jane Austen's Fiction», Sisters in Time: Imagining Gender in Nineteenth-Century British Fiction. New York & Oxford: Oxford U. Press, pp. 23-55.

Mudrick, Marvin. 1952. Jane Austen: Irony as Defense and Discovery. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton Univ. Press.

Nash, Walter. 1989. Rhetoric: The Wit ofPersuasion. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Odmark, John. 1981. An Understanding of Jane Austen's Novels: Character, Value and Ironic Perspective. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Poovey, Mary. 1984. The Proper Lady and the Woman Writer: Ideology as Style in the Works of Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, and Jane Austen.

Chicago & London: The Univ. of Chicago Press.

Ray, William. 1990. Story and History: Narrative Authority and SocialIdentity in the Eighteenth-Century French and English Novel. Cambridge, Mass.: Basil Blackwell.

Richardson, Samuel. 1932. Clarissa, Introduction by John Butt. London: Dent.

Smith, LeRoy W. 1983. Jane Austen and the Drama of Woman. Basingstoke & London: Macmillan.

Southam, B. C. (ed), 1968. Jane Austen: The Critical Heritage, 1811-1870.

London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Spencer, Jane. 1986. The Rise of the Woman Novelist: From Aphra Behn to Jane Austen. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Steeves, Edna L. 1973. «Pre-Feminism in Some Eighteenth-Century Novels», Texas Quarterly 16: 3, 48-57.

Taylor, John T. 1943. Early Opposition to the English Novel: The PopularReaction from 1760 to 1830. Morningside Heights, N. Y.: King's Crown Press.

Todd, Janet.1989. TheSignofAngellica: Women, WritingandFiction, 1660-1800.

London: Virago Press.

Tompkins, J. M. S. 1932. The Popular Novel in England, 1770-1800. London: Constable.

Trilling, Lionel. 1963. <<MansfieldPark», in Watt (ed.),JaneAusten: A Collection 01 Critical Essays. Englewood Clíffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, pp. 124-40.

Willey, Basil. 1986 [1940]. The Eighteenth Century Background: Studies in the Idea of Nature in the Thought of the Periodo London & New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. 1980. Mary and The Wrongs of Woman, ed. Gary Kelly.

Oxford & New York: Oxford U. P.

J.Lanero The new lndian novel in English: narrative techniques

41

The new Indian novel in English: narrative techniques

J. Lanero Universidad de León

Midnight's Children (1981), de Salman Rushdie, es la obra innovadora de la técnica narrativa en la novela anglo-india. Con ella Rushdie inició la experimentación en el uso de la lengua inglesa.

La característica principal de la técnica de Rushdie reside en que Midnight's Children es un libro difícil porque no sólo es historia política, también contiene elementos fantásticos.

Anteriormente, la novela anglo-india era de corte realista. Con Midnight's Children se rompe este patrón para dar entrada a elementos enigmáticos y expresiones misteriosas, siempre a punto de ofrecer una explicación importante al llegar a la conclusión, pero dando una respuesta final ambigua. La posibilidad de interpretar la novela de varias formas permite que el lector pueda ver las cosas desde una perspectiva muy diferente de la del autor.

La nueva novela india en inglés es un fenómeno de la década de 1980. Rushdie modificó la narrativa. Desechó la novela realista y cronológica por ser incapaz de reflejar la inmensidad de la experiencia y la complejidad de la vida. Alegoría, fantasía, realismo mágico, narración fluctuante en el tiempo, usos del narrador y significados múltiples han pasado a ser el modo de escribir.

Salman Rushdie's second book Midnight's Children (1981) heralds innovatory narrative techniques in Indo-Anglian fiction. It is Rushdie who set the trend for uninhibited experimentation with narrative tedmiques and usage of the English language. He provided the genre of Irrdo-Anglian novels with a new direction and renewed confidence. Not surprisingly, the complexity ofhis narrative technique has been praised in glowing terms by a renownedcritic iike William Walsh, who says:

Combining the elements of magic und ifantasy, the grimmest reaZism, extravagant farce, multimirrored analogy and a potent symbolic structure, Salman Rushdie has captured the astonishing

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energy of the novel unprecedented in scope, manner and achievement in the hundred and fifty year old tradition of the Indian novel in English 1.

Prior to Rushdie, technical innovations by Indian novelists in English were limited, restricted and in the embryonic formo Raja Rao was the first to experiment with new narrative techniques in Kanthapura (1938). He used a grandmother as a narrator. The old lady had herself participated in the freedom struggle and like many ageing people tended to be very garrulous. Using the first person narrative, the grandmother rapidly moves from episode to episode, with eagerness and anxiety. A similar technique is adopted by Kamala Markandaya in her Nectar in a Sieve (1954) where the narrator is again a grandmother who tells the story of her life without showing any rancour at her frequent misfortunes. However, unlike the effervescent narrator of Kanthapura, Rukmani, the narrator in Kamala Markandaya's novel is often sad and depressed: For this 1 have given you birth, my son, that you should lie in the end at my feet with ashes in your face and coldness in your limbs and yourself departed without trace, leaving this huddle of bones and flesh without meaning 2 â&#x20AC;˘

In Raja Rao's second novel, The Serpent and the Rope (1960), the narrator is an unruffled, unhurried young intellectual who does not just unfurla story but tends to generalise every observation. A minor technical innovation, which tends to make the narrative either pedantic (very philosophical) or sentimental.

RK.Narayan in The Cuide (1958) performed a more daring technical feat. The novelist discards the method of the straightforward narrative, whilst telling the story of Raju the guide, before and after his release from jail. RK.Narayan uses flashback and the montage technique so often applied in cinematography. For instance whilst getting shaved, Raju unwitting1y blurts out the secret of his arrest and conviction. Another instance is when Raju is alone in the temple, before Ve1an comes to see him. He makes a mental contrast of his present situation with the days spent with Rosie. The narrative swings back in time. The author narrates Raju's first meeting with Rosie and the development of his enchantment with her. The narrative then transits again from the past to the present, as Velan poses the problem about his sister's refusal to marry the man of his choice.

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The technique of point of view or mu1tiple narrator is used first by Chaman Nahal in Azadi (1975), a second generation novelist. Instead of an omniscient author, the reader gets the illusion of reality from a character within the framework of the novel. Joseph Conrad in his political novel Nostramo uses numerousnarrators so that a wider grasp of reality is conveyed. Similarly Chaman Nahal, presents a major historical event of the sub-continent, the Partition, with aH its human implications through the points of view of two characters. They are the father and the son, Lala Kanshi Ram and Arun, who are the centres of consciousness. Lala Kanshi Ram, benumbed by the news of the death of his daughter, Madhu Bala, and the privations of the refugee camp gains a heroic endurance: Many parts of him had died, but there were others still alive, forcefully and affirmatively alive, and he knew he was not defeated 3.

The action in the novel alternates between Lala Kanshi Ram and Arun as centres of consciousness. The point of view of youthful dynamism, romance with Nur and Chandni and an alternate perspective of youth to the holocaust and the traumatic impact oĂ­ partition is provided through Arun's consciousness. The varying reactions of Lala Kanshi Ram and Arun to events and their interaction, highlight the inner tension between diverse points of view and raise numerous socio-moral, ethical and eternal human questions. It is the use of the narrative technique, the multiple point of view, which made Azadi different from and more complex than other novels on the theme ofpartition written up to the 1970s.

Salman Rushdie's narrative in Midnight's Children (1981) goes beyond anything attempted in Indo-Anglian fiction till then. The impetus for such a complex narrative technique stems from the author' s realisation that the story of the Indian subcontinent cannot be easily and simplistically rendered. By recognising the complex nature of experience of the Indian subcontinent and by making Indian characters function as centres of consciousness, Rushdie is able to authenticate their experience. The emphasis on the social, political and historical realities oĂ­ the subcontinent is paralleled by an awareness of the world of magic and spirituality which defies logical narrative. The dilemma of narrative had puzzled E.M. Forster also when he wroteA Passage to India (1924). Forster realised the need to deviate from an older narrative tradition that emphasised story and plot, to an awareness ofthe chaotic and complex nature of experience.

This led him to evolve a new theory of the novel, which he expounds in Aspects ofthe Novel:

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Expansion. That is the idea the novelist must cling too Not completion. Not rounding off but opening out 4.

So Forster's suggestion that the novelíst attempt to communicate through expansion rather than any decisive, conclusive statement, is deployed by Salman Rushdie in his open-ended narrative. Rushdie dispenses with linear narrative and the omniscient author tradition as he provides a buoyant account of over seventy-five years of the history ofthe Indian subcontinent.

The highlíght of Rushdie's narrative technique is that Midnight's Children cannot be easily categorised. It can be classified as a significant polítical history, similar to Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan (1956), Manohar Malgaonkar's A Bend in the Ganges (1964), Attia Hussain's Sunlight on a Broken Column (1961) and Chaman Nahal'sAzadi (1975).

In each book the respective author transmuted facts of history into significant works of arto However Rushdie's book is not just polítical history; the realm of fantasy also exists. Ashutost Banerjee says that «Midnight's Children achieves a singular synthesis between the recent Anglo-American genre of 'Non-fiction Novel' and the far older one of Polítical allegory»5. This is a very astute and relevant observation, as Rushdie's relígious allegory is absorbed into the political, as in India religion has always been used to maintain the status qua by the ruling class. Midnight's Children also fits into the mode of postmodernist fantasy, based on uncertainty of perception and meaning. There are no easy notions of objective realíty. Rushdie's novel is at once experimental, interrogative, confessional, polemical and subjective. There are certain obvious chronological continuities, in the autobiographical and sociohistorical dimensions of the narrative. However the book's narrator, Saleem Sinai, is eccentric, with frequent shifts of perspective and drifts of the narrative into dream, nightmare and marginally related incidents.

Saleem the narrator tends to see himself schizophrenically, in both the first and third person, so the reality of the character as a separate entity is also marred. So Rushdie's narrative technique blurs clear chronological outlines. The unities of time and place are, for most of the novel, unstable.

Salem Sinai, adopts various narrative modes to convey experience.

Yet the erratic but perceptive Saleem admits his inadequacy as a narrator: There are so many stories to tell... such an excess on intertwined lives, events, miracles, places, rumours, so dense a commingling of the improbable and the mundane 6.

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At times, the narrative voice presents an assortment and crosssection of dates, facts and figures related to public and private issues. In sharp juxtaposition, there are also instances when the reader is shuffled between the future, present and the past in a deliberately unchronological manner. This facet of the novel's narrative technique bolsters Rushdie's attempts to vividly present the variety and multitudinousness of India and her people.

As a chronicler, Saleem provokes much of the history he records.

In his personal heritage the identity of India itself emerges. The interplay of personal and national histories is the most significant feature of Midnight's Children. The interaction of historical and individual forces gives unity to the novel and shapes the narrator. In the later stages of the novel, Saleem Sinai raises a pertinent query about his identity.

Who, what am l? My answer: l am the sum total of everything that went before me, of al! l have seen been done, of every time done-to-me. l am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine. l am anything that happens after I've gone which would not have happened ifl had not come (p.457).

Such a viewpoint arises because Rushdie evinces a mature historical sense. The influence of T.S.Eliot's poem, Four Quartets is obvious. Rushdie does not minimise the value of the past. His interpretation of history bears similarity to the opening lines of the Burnt Norton section, Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in the past 7.

The consciousness of history, the awareness of oneself as a blend of past and present, makes the narrator Saleem realise that ÂŤhistory operates on a grander scale than any individualÂť. Saleem is depicted as enslaved by his environment, the perennial victim, doomed to bear the burden of history: Why, owing to accidents ofbirth, prophecy etcetera, mustl be responsible for language riots and after Nehru who, -Why alone ofal! the more-thanjive-hundred-million, shouldl have to bear the burden ofhistory? (p.457).

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Saleem Sinai raises a fundamental question, the universal mystery of unmerited suffering. «Why me?», he asks, very similar to Job in the Old Testament who also tried to solve the global puzzle of suffering. Job, after protracted suffering and debate, realises that struggle is the keynote even if problems remain unsolved.

Saleem's life is shown as ruled by historical «destiny», inevitabiliy, and limited choice: No choice? -None; when was there ever? There are imperatives, and logical consequences and inevitabilities, and recurrences;... When options? When a decision freely-made, to be this or that or the other? (pp.S03-4).

It is difficult to understand logically the unfolding scheme of events in Midnight's Children. Events in the novel zigzag from one matter to another. Sorne events in India's chequered history, like the partition riots, the wars with China and Pakistan, the trauma of the Bangladesh war, the death ofL.N.Mishra, communal hostility and the impositions of sterilisations during the emergency, the Bombay Language riots of 1957, the liberation of Ooa, the problem of untouchability, the acquisition of large-scale U.S. aid

by Pakistan and the elections of 1962 are represented realistically. However Rushdie's novel is a memory novel and therefore a semi-fantasy, dealing with stark realities. «Memory's truth, because memory has its own special kind. It selects, eliminates, alters, exaggerates,· minimises, glorifies and vilifies also: but in the end it creates its own reality» (p.253).

Such a historical perspective enables Rushdie to reminisce backwards and forwards reimagining himself in the persona of the extravagant Muslim, Saleem Sinai, who was born on the stroke of midnight, bringing in India's independence. Saleem Sinai, a highly selfconscious narrator oscillates between the apocalyptic and the expansive.

He assumes many identities. He is at the crease with Polly Umrigar at the Brabourne Stadium, he unravels the seamy gossip in Filmfare about the dancer Vyayantimala, he is a Congress party worker, a Kerala peasant who votes for the Communists, a landlord in Uttar Pradesh ordering his peasants to set his surplus grain on fire and starve to death. Saleem becomes the consciousness of the whole country, experiencing the life and times of the multitudes. He is also Rushdie's fictional alter ego.

Saleem, like Rushdie, was born at the precise hour of the end of the British Raj. Rushdie's complex narrative technique enables him to sustain the simultaneous identities of Saleem Sinai as a human being and narrator-

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protagonist of the novel, capturing within his person the euphoria, expectations, tensions and traumas of Independence. The author's historical perspective and technique of reminiscing backwards and forwards in time enable him to tackle political themes and the ramifications of political decisions, more decisively than ever attempted before in Indo-Anglian fiction.

The vast, sprawling narrative of a nation's, at times three nations', history for a span of about sixty-two years (1915-1977) has been made compact because of sorne special devices. There are frequent summaries of previous events to refresh the reader's memory. There is use of repetitive imagery and fortuitous parallelisms. The passage which narrates the fight of Saleem's Sister (nicknamed Brass Monkey) with Evie Burns is an example of the use of parallelisms in Rushdie' s technique. The blood on Evie Bums' face is linked to the blood spilled on the street of Bombay by rioters. In such a manner, Rushdie imposes integrity on disparate material. The stained and perforated bridal sheet of Naseem Aziz, symbolising the Purdah, Prime Minister lawaharlal Nehru's letter to Saleem, the latter's umbilical cord preserved in brine, the spittoon and the washing chest are sorne of the innumerable objects Rushdie uses as symbols binding together people and situations, otherwise wide apart in time and space.

It is such experimentation in technique which makes Midnight's Children a radical departure from what had been previously written by Indian novelists in English. Earlier Indo-Anglian fiction, had been mostly realistic fiction, adapted to local requirements. In Midnight's Children the older forms of fiction are broken. The novel is full of cryptic clues and arcane utterances, always on the verge of uttering sorne important explanation or of reaching a decisive conclusion but the final answer is ambiguous. The presence of several modes of interpretation in the novel allows the reader to identify with a perspective on the subcontinent very different from that of the author.

Salman Rushdie's third novel Shame (1983) is about the life of men and women, and the quasi religious-political indictment and handling of political themes in Shame is even sharper and more pronounced than in Midnight's Children. Experimentation in technique is not as uninhibited as in his previous novel. Shame is a combination of a free-flight fairy tale and a savage political indictment. To expose the murky political history of Pakistan, the narrator-persona and the fictional hero Ornar Khayyam Shakil are forms of the projected alter ego. The ambivalence between the real and the imaginary, author and persona is very veiled and thin. The narrator is almost Rushdie himself. The political allegory is severe as

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Rushdie wants to expose the late Zia-Ul-Haq's Pakistan. Using a fairy tale analogy, he creates a convenient facet to analyse the gloating absurdities taking place in the progressive 20th Century. The happenings are supposedly taking place in the fourteenth century.

Political allegory exists throughout the novel. Many characters in Shame are recognised as important names in the recent politics of Pakistan.

Iskandar Harappa is Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Raza Hyder is Zia-Ul-Haq, Rani Harappa is Nursrat Bhutto, Arjumand Harappa, the «virgin lronpants» is Benazir Bhutto, General Shaggy Dog is former President Yahya Khan and Sheikh Bismillah is Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The fairy tale story and contemporany politics are judiciously juxtaposed in the novel. The lyrical outpourings of the persona often reflect the feelings of Salman Rushdie, especially the shame of «sharam», of the murky politics of Pakistan and the social nuances of a feudal, superstitious Islamic society. To ensure sorne distancing between his subjective feelings and the reflections of the persona, Rushdie uses an experimental technique. His narrator explains at length the form of his story. It is emphasised that it is not a realistic story.

The narrator says: The country in this story is not Pakistan, or not quite. There are two countries, real and fictiona~ occupying the same place. My story, my fictional country exists, like myself, at a slight angle to reality.... 1 have not given the country a name. And Q, is not really Quetta at alls.

In spite oí this charade, Pakistan is revealed as the fictional country of Q. Under the guise of a suspense thriller and of fairy tale fantasy, Shame exposes the bleak and sordid society in Pakistan, the corruption of both army and civilian rule, neo colonialism, the dependence on foreign aid, religious fundamentalism as chauvinist political strategy, US support of Islamic fundamentalism, the projection of Pakistan in the Western media and the festering violence leading to a kind of horror at Pakistan's impending break up.

Rushdie expresses his version of the reality of Pakistan by the method of indirection. Like Joseph Conrad and Franz Kafka, in Shame Rushdie uses the oblique method of expression. Though dealing with historical facts more contemporary than in Midnight's Children, the novel is not written in chronological order. The zig-zag movements in time are deliberate. To debunk the political and theological dictators and female dictators in Burqua in provincial Pakistan, Rushdie resorts to explosive visions of protest. The end of the novel is like a fantasy. Rushdie's own

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passion seems predominant as he dreams the end of dictatorship in Pakistan. The Head of state flees the country at the fall of the government, hiding his face in one of the macabre veils his own tormented wife had sewn. The fictional heroine Sufiya Zenobia Hyder highlights Rushdie's premise that the wages of extreme repression are violent retributions beyond calculation. She is a weird creature, a child's mind in a grown up attractive woman's body which enamours Shakil strongly so that he marries her. Yet there is a fiend lurking within her and she is associated with the uncanny, lurking mythicalleopard of destruction. Towards the end of the novel there is a deterioration in Sufiya Zenobia. She becomes a symbol of disorder. The me10dramatic violence of killing four slum youths after raping them is a devastating comment on conservative Muslim sexual repression and the sexual hypocrisy in Zia's regime. The macabre ending is seen as an inevitable conclusion in a repressed society.

Unlike the «terrible beauty» of Yeats' Second Coming, Sufiya Zenobia is reduced to a macabre whore, associated with images of dirt and squalor.

Why does Rushdie have to resort to dream fantasy and zig-zag movements of time to tell his tale? The answer is provided by the narrator's monologue about a poet friend in Karachi: Since my last visit to Karachi, my friend the poet had spent many months in jail, for social reasons. That is to say, he knows somebody who knows somebody who was the second cousin by marriage of the step uncle of somebody who might or might not have shared a flat with someone who was running guns to the guerrillas in Baluchistan. You can get anywhere in Pakistan ifyou knowpeople, even into jail (p.28).

This seemingly humorous monologue aptly reveals the repression in Zia's regime and the necessity for oblique expression. In the «Acknowledgements» section at the end of the book, Rushdieexpresses his concem for his benefactors, as the main reason for such caution. With grim irony he says, It [this book] owes a good deal to the entirely non-financial assistance of many others, my gratitude to whom will perhaps best be expressed by leaving them unnamed (p.287) 9.

Parody is an effective technique used by Rushdie in his exposure of political history both in Shame and Midnight's Children. Zia-Ul-Haq CMLA (Chief Martial Law Administrator) is parodied into Cancel My

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Last Announcement. Zia himself is parodied as «Razor Guts» General Hyder Raza. Benazir Bhutto is referred to as «Virgin lronpants» and Nusrat Bhutto as «Penelope-like Rani Harappa». Former President Yahya Khan becomes President Shaggy Dog. There are even parodies through literary allusions. Many of Saleem Sinai's soliloquies in Midnight's Children parody lines of T.S.Eliot's poetry. For example: «No: I'm no monster. Nor have I been guilty of trickery. I provided c1ues», (p.136) echoes The Love Song off.Alfred Prufrock: No; 1 am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do to swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advice the .

10 prznce... .

In Shame the narrator's striking phrase describing Rani Harappa's artistry in her shawl, as «the portrait of the artist as an old crone» (p.194) effectively parodies James Joyce's titleA Portrait oftheArtist as a Young Man.. The smutty dialogue between Omar Khayyam and Farah Zoroaster is a parody of a courtship, not a real one. The use of parody adds to the guise of fantasy writing, is used for oblique political comments, facilitates story-telling and is yet another example of uninhibited experimentation of technique by Salman Rushdie.

Nina Sibal's first novel Yatra is much infiuenced by Salman Rushdie's technique. Published in London in 1987 and in Delhi in 1988, Yatra also experiments with narrative technique. The infiuence of Rushdie is obvious, as Nina Sibal traces transition and change in contemporary India. Just like in Rushdie's novels, the narrative hurtles back and forth in time andplace. Ancestral history and political events are juxtaposed throughout the novel. Yatra is also the voyage of discovery of one woman, Krishna Chahal.

In Shame the narrator and fictional hero, Omar Khayyam Shakil, is almost Rushdie himself. In Midnight'sChildren Saleem Sinai is Rushdie's alter ego. The heroine ofYatra, Krishan Chahal is half-Greek, half-Indian, like Nina Sibal herself. Yet the novel is not a fictionalised autobiography, but a mixture of daring imagination, concrete reality and magical realismo Nina Sibal aptly delineates a parallel between Krishna's history and the history of the nation. In this aspect, her handling of technique is similar to Rushdie's. In Midnight's Children Saleem Sinai, born at the hour which ends the British Raj, sustains the identities of a narrator and becomes the consciousness of the whole country. Saleem Sinai, however, assumes many identities. In Yatra, Nina Sibai concentrates on the use of metaphor.

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The darkening skin of Krishna Chahal is an apt metaphor for the increasingly murky politics of India. Krishna's «padyatra», becomes a Gandhian metaphor. Like Gandhi's Dandi march, it is a movement with a purpose. Walking becomes a metaphor of life, a joumey, a quest to understand the feminist movement.

Like Rushdie, her mentor, Nina Sibal also refers to contemporary political events. There is reference to the ecological movement, the «Chipko» movement. Krishna's involvement in the «Chipko» mbvement reveals several facets of Nina Sibal's technique. Her use of symbolism is revealed.

The Chipko women with Krishna, known piously as Krishnaji, are symbolic of an overwhelming desire for self-preservation and self-liberation. In this episode, layers and layers of meaning emerge, characteristic of Nina Sibal's style and technique. Krishna's darkened skin becomes a metaphor for terrestrial devastation, soil erosion, landslides and deforestation. Known as «the woman of trees», Krishna becomes symbolic of the destruction of ecology due to human greed and carelessness. The mystical element is also revealed. Krishna becomes a deity because of her involvement in this movement. Such an image makes her a potential candidate for the Tehri seat for Parliament, a potential politician. It is also an oblique reference to the interplay of religion and politics in contemporary India. Finally Krishna and the Chipko movement become symbolic of Indian women, searching for a new identity. With an effective use of image, symbol and poetic evocation, Nina Sibal aptly handles complex contemporary politics, the problem of ecology, and feminist identity. Historical events in India, since Partition are referred to obliquely and directly, without distracting from the overal1 story of Krishna Chabal.

The use of magical realism, due to the influence of García Márquez and Rushdie, is also very obvious and effective in Nina Sibal's Yatra. The beautiful green-eyed boy Prakash, incestuous lover to his aunt Kailash Kaur, the slaughtered lovers locked lovingly together, Rai Bahadur Bhim Lal, cal1ed the snake, as he dodges invaders and crawls up mountain paths, to reach the safety of Srinagar during the Partition riots, and the blood of brother Manmohan Singh, flowing across the courtyard to the room where sister Swaranjit Kaur sits weaving her «Khes» are aH whimsical but effective images with a distinct García Márquez and Rushdie touch.

The Circle of Reason (1986) by Amitav Ghosh is specifically a contemporary work. Like Garcia Marquez and M.Vargas Llosa, a facility for story telling is the hal1mark of Amitav Ghosh's novel. The basic technique used in this novel is the wel1-told story, a tradition as old as

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Homer's epics. Around the bare outlines of the plot which moves over continents, are clustered an infinite number of stories ranging back and forth in time. Each story, whether it moves backwards or forwards in time, continues and subtly explains any ambiguities in the previous story.

Story telling is Arnitav Ghosh's main narrative technique. The stories interplay with time, enabling the author to achieve an original synthesis of different concepts of time.

Arnitav Ghosh does not use the conventional, chronological narrative or dissolve time into a kind of duration, where past and present are indistinguishable. Instead the novel starts in the past with Balaram's excitement at exploring the shape of the skull of his nephew, popularly known as Alu. It then moves further back in time, exploring Balaram's relationships with his group of friends, all in their mid-thirties, and returns again to Balaram's relationship with Alu. The novel then moves forward to the present with Inspector Das interviewing Gopal, a friend of Balaram's and then narrates the early years of Balaram's life, including his years at Presidency College. Each story is a distinct episode and yet unfolds in linear time, creating an overall final experience. Connections are made subtly, episodes being linked by a certain vision of life and process of understanding. The final experience is an extraordinary achievement in which past and present co-exist, whilst constantly asserting their difference.

Like Salman Rushdie, even Arnitav Ghosh displays a mature historical sense. The Circle of Reason presents history as a collective memory, a link between past and present. The past, a reference point for understanding what is happening, is equally dependent on the present to determine the perspective. For instance, Dantu, one of Y.Balram's friends, a secondary character in the first part of the novel, emerges again as Hem Narain Mathur, in the third section. An understanding of the history of Dantu leads to a better grasp of the irnmediate concerns of his part in section three. Everything is seen in relationship, both internally and with other areas. The final picture that emerges is dependent on the way the novelist looks at lite. History is fashioned by the way people collectively perceive their inheritance. For example, Balram, the idealist bhadralok is representative of an important historical outlook, just as Bhudev, the lumpen Congressman, represents another historical tendency. There is fluidity in time and history. Thus there are no absolutes for Arnitav Ghosh, which enables him to break away from the constrains of conventional realismo So The Circle of Reason does not create any symmetrical patterns or designs or evolve any overall theory. Instead it

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organises VlSlOns of life, by exploring connections, distinctions and possibilities. This is a daring technique adopted by Amitav Ghosh, which helps the fiow of the story.

The infiuence of García Márquez and Rushdie on Amitav Ghosh is distinct. However, Amitav Ghosh with his freshness in story telling, is more concemed with intellectual curiosity than lyricism of style. The technique is noí one of unveiling layers of meaning, but an overa11 curiosity is created beyond the «what nextism» of Rushdie. There are always fresh disdosures and subtle connections between the numerous stories. Overall the novel has three stories, evolving around three characters. In the first section, «Satwa: Reason», the story of Balram the idealist entranced by the Life of Pasteur and his entanglement with the Congressman Bhudev is toldo The second part, «Rajas: Passion», revolves around Zindi, the practical trader who is the focus· of a community of Indians in the Middle East and Alu, the nephew and only survivor of Balaram's family. In the third section, «Tamas: Death», Mrs. Yerma defies rational scepticism to create an Indian community life in the desert.

Finally, Alu, Zindi and Jyoti Das, the Police officer who considers Alu a terrorist and trails him fram the first part, leave Mrs. Yema in search of destinations of hopeo The story of Alu and Jyoti Das is the main source of continuity. Thus the scope ofthe novel is formidable, but Amitav Ghosh's narrative technique, his freshness of ideas and the genius of his stylistic concems and unrestrained experimentation in narrative technique is an indication of development in Indo-Anglian fiction. The new Indian novel in English is a phenomenon of the 1980s. The trend setter was Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. The narratology has altered. Realistic fiction and the chranological narrative have been discarded as being insufficient to convey the vastness and complexities of experience and life. Allegory, symbols, fantasy, magical realism, narrative fiuctuating backwards and forward in time, the compelling use of narrators, fiuency in story telling and the unveiling of layers and layers of meaning have a11 become a mode of writing. Experimentation with theEnglish language, the use of parody and sheer invention have resulted in the formation of a new language, of rhythms which increase the humour and multitudinousness of the new Indian novels in English. Inserting vemacular language habits into sentences intoned in flawless English is also effectively used in the narrative. Salman Rushdie in Shame says: «oo. would not get away with their whistling-shistling» (p.61) and Amitav Ghosh in The Circle o[ Reason writes about how ASP Dubey tells inspector Jyoti Das, «Why a11 this reading - sheading?» (p.153). Salman

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Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, and even new novelists like Nina Sibal, Wikram Seth, Pratap Sharma, Alan Sealy, Upamanyu Chatterjee have aH experimented with narrative techniques to present new sensibilities, meanings and themes. Slick craftsmanship and continuous experimentation with narrative technique have created new dimensions and possibilities for the Indian novel in English.

NOTES AND REFERENCES 1.

William Walsh 1983, «India and the Nove!», The New Pelican Cuide to English Literature, ed. Borls Ford, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, p. 258.

2.

Kamala Markandaya 1968, Nectar in a Sieve, Delhi: Sagar Publications, p.124.

3.

Chaman NahalI975,Azadi, Delhi: Orlent Paperbacks, p.269.

4.

E. M. Forster 1962, Aspects 01 the Novel, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, p.170.

5. Ashutosh Benerjee 1985, «Narrative Techniques in Midnight's Children», Three Contemporary Novelists, ed.Dr.R.K.Dhawan, Delhi: Classical Publishing Co., p.195.

6. Salman Rushdie 1980, Midnight's Children, New York: Avon Books, pA. Subsequent quotations are from this edition.

7.

T. S. Eliot 1974, Four Quartets, Oxford University Press, Burnt Norton, Li. 1-3.

8.

Salman Rushdie 1983, Shame, Ca1cutta: Rupa Paperback, p.29. Subsequent quotations are from this edition.

9.

Such an acknowledgement and Rushdie's expression of gratitude to journalists and writers, both Western and Easten, reveal that Shame is at once more allegorical and more non-fictional than Midnight's Children.

10. T. S. Eliot 1960, The Love Song 01J;Alfred Prufrock, published in Selected Poems, London: Faber and Faber Ltd., p.15.

Eterio Pajares Adaptaciones en español de la «Pamela» de Richardson

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Adaptaciones en español de la «Pamela» de Richardson Eterio Pajares Universidad del País Vasco

This paper is an attempt to illustrate the influence of Richardson's Pamela, through several dramatic versions, in eighteenth century

Spain, as well as to get to1rnow these dramatic adaptations the Spanish public was familiar with.

Although it is important to recognize the decisive part played by the French language as a stepping stone berween English and Spanish, in this case, it was a company of Italian actors who introduced Pamela to the Spanish public in 1761. (Fifty-four years after its appearance in English). Goldoni's versions of the English novel were successfully perfomed on the stage in several Spanish cities both in Italian and in its Spanish translations.

It is surprinsing that none of the French dramatic versions of this novel were translated into Spanish. This fact can only be understood taking into account the enormous success that these Italian's comedies had in France too.

1.- Introducción.

Fue tan grande la fama de Samuel Richardson en la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII y primera del XIX como lo fue después su olvido; de ahí que se adaptaran, imitaran o parodiaran sus obras en Europa. España no fue una excepción, y, si bien no se produjo ninguna adaptación o imitación netamente original en español, sí se tradujeron algunas de las muchas que hicieron los franceses e italianos. Además, y a juzgar por los ejemplares localizados en diferentes bibliotecas públicas y privadas, circularon bastante aquí los originales en el idioma propio de dichas adaptaciones.

Son estas versiones traducidas las que vamos a ofrecer, limitándonos, en la medida de lo posible, a establecer su procedencia.

Recordemos como en Noviembre de 1740 se publicó en Inglaterra la primera parte de Pamela, y a los pocos meses la segunda. Tuvo una

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gran aceptación entre el público inglés. Sólo en su primer año se hicieron cinco ediciones. En 1741 se traduce por primera vez al francés; en el 42 al holandés y al alemán; al año siguiente al danés; en el 44 al italiano y en el 87 al ruso. ¿Qué sucede con la versión en castellano? La primera traducción íntegra de Pamela se realizó en 1794, año en el que también se llevó a cabo la de Clarissa. Ambas se conocían ya en España por el original, pero sobre todo, y fundamentalmente, por las versiones francesas.

La cultura española del XVIII muestra gran dependencia de Francia. Se traduce al castellano principalmente del francés, y las adaptaciones se realizan según el gusto y moda franceses, debido a que en España se respiran los aires culturales del vecino país. Pero a pesar de la atmósfera gala que empaña nuestro siglo XVIII, es una compañía de actores italianos la que da a conocer Pamela al público español representando en Barcelona, en 1761, la adaptación que realizó Goldoni con el título de Pamela nubile.

El famoso sainetista Ramón de la Cruz traduce la versión de Goldoni en 1762 y, aunque publicada anónima, es representada en Sevilla con el título: La bella Pamela Inglesa o, simplemente, La Pamela. La adaptación gozó del favor del público a juzgar por las representaciones que durante estos años y hasta fin de siglo se sucedieron en España.

Cotejada la prensa del período que nos ocupa, y siguiendo la catalogación hecha por Ada M. Coe1 de las comedias de esta época publicadas en los periódicos de Madrid, podemos citar las representaciones que figuran al final de este ensayo.

2.- Adaptaciones dePamela. 2

El sentimentalismo que impregna las novelas de Richardson y, fundamentalmente, el caracter dramático de las mismas, motivó el que, en una época especialmente receptiva a lo lacrimoso, se aceptase a estas heroínas de clase media, empeñadas en una incruenta batalla de los sexos frente a ricos y malvados don juanes a quienes, en muchos casos, terminan reduciendo. Hoy, que se está revitalizando a Richardson, como autor . importante en el resurgir y desarrollo de la novela, es precisamente la esencia de la forma dramática que se registra en sus obras, uno de los

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aspectos más destacados que señalan los estudiosos. En la práctica, dicha valoración no es nueva. Sus contemporáneos también supieron observarla y tanto Pamela, como Clarissa, y en menor medida Grandison, sirvieron de modelo a muchas adaptaciones e imitaciones extranjeras. De las adaptaciones teatrales, es Pamela la más favorecida de las tres.

Pamela ofrece múltiples recursos dramáticos; quizá menos trascendentes que los de Clarissa, pero, por lo mismo, más fáciles de adaptar.

Toda la serie de disputas entre Pamela y MB, en la lucha de ésta por preservar su virginidad y su continua demanda de libertad,· todo 'ello dentro de los cánones de la ortodoxia richardsoniana, constituye una fuente de recursos de fácil adaptación a la escena. El uso de la carta no sólo como medio de comunicación; sino también como' medio de acción (éstas se plagian, roban, etc.), es otro recurso dramático de fácil imitación.

Melodrama y comedia tienen su acomodo en esta obra ya que, por un lado, se apela al s.entimiento del espectador en favor de la heroína, y, por el otro, se evidencia el hecho de que muchas de las conversaciones, monólogos a veces, entre la doncella y su señor, rayan en el disparate.

El dramaturgo italiano Carlo Goldoni, gran admirador de Richardson, realizó algunas adaptaciones teatrales de las novelas richardsonianas.

La más completa y extensa tiene por título Pamela Fanciulla y Pamela Maritata. Son dos partes independientes basadas en la obra homónima del inglés, Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded y Pamela in her Exalted Condition.

Cada una de las partes de la comedia italiana se divide en tres actos, con 53 escenas la primera y 45 la segunda. La copia que obra en mi poder está impresa en 17 cms., con una extensión de 98 y 65 páginas respectivamente. Es interesante conocer los datos precedentes, pues de ambas Pamela(s) se harán traducciones y adaptaciones al castellano. Pero, además, Goldoni, a partir de la adaptación de Pamela Fanciulla y Pamela Maritata, elaboró unas reducciones destinadas a ser representadas en italiano por los teatros de Europa. Me interesa destacar ambas reducciones italianas por dos razones: primero porque, aunque en un idioma diferente al nuestro, se representaron en España; y segundo porque también estas reduccionesse tradujeron al castellano.

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2.1.- Pamela Nubile, Drama de Mezzo-Carattere, Per Musica, D'un Atto solo, con permissione, Madrid: Nella Stamperia di Repullés, plazuella dell'Angel, Impresso L'anno de 1814.

Observemos cómo GoldonP modifica el título con respecto a la adaptación más extensa. Este arreglo consta de un solo acto y 23 escenas (a diferencia de Pamela Fanciulla que tenía 3 actos y 53 escenas). La copia que yo poseo está impresa en 17 cms. y comprende un total de 40 páginas. Como cabría esperar, los cambios entre la pieza actual y su homónima adaptación más amplia, son muchos. La primitiva obra de Goldoni recoge toda la trama argumental de la novela del inglés y mantiene su secuencia. En la adaptación de Madrid no se da esta correlación con la novela fuente y se mantienen los mínimos hechos argumentales para que la pieza tenga coherencia: Se inicia directamente con el amor de MB (Bonfil en este caso) por Pamela, la oposición de sus parientes y amigos nobles, y los obstáculos que ambos han de sortear hasta triunfar en el amor. Baste decir, como hecho muy significativo, que en este drama se suprime, entre otros, un personaje tan importante en el devenir de Pamela como es el de Mrs Jervis, que sí aparece en Pamela Fanciulla.

2.2.- Pamela Maritata, Drama per musica, di un atto, da rapresentarsi nel teatro della molto IlIustre Citta di Barcelona, L'anno 1806, Con Permesso, Appresso Francesco Genéras.

Consta de un solo acto con 17 escenas y 32 páginas de 14,5 cms.

La otra Pamela Maritata del mismo autor se componía de 3 actos, 45 escenas y 65 páginas de 17 cms. En ambas reducciones, se han suprimido personajes con respecto a la adaptación más completa ya mencionada y se ha limitado su extensión a algo menos de la mitad. Las reducciones llevadas a cabo en el presente drama, con respecto a su homónimo en tres actos, corren parejas a las realizadas en Pamela Nubile.

Como ya hemos mencionado, tanto de las primitivas adaptaciones que realizara Goldoni de las novelas de Richardson, como de las reducciones que elaborara, también en italiano, para ser representadas en España, de ambas, se hicieron traducciones más o menos libres al español.

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2.3.- Pamela Casada, Opera, en un acto, 2º Apunte, traducida del italiano.

Opera manuscrita en formato de 25 cms. No se hace constar ni el nombre del traductor ni el año de publicación. Con respecto al primero, D. Leandro Fernández de Moratín4 y Emilio Cotarel05, la han atribuido a Félix Enciso Castrillón. Con respecto al año, se ha determinado el de 1806, el señalado por el Diario de Madrid como representada los días 5-8, 17, 18 Y 20 de diciembre. Máiquez, no obstante, opina que se estrenó en 1807. Nosotros podemos confirmar el año de 1806 como el correcto porque así consta en el informe de censura civil que hemos logrado localizar adjunto al texto de la obra y firmado por Joseph Manuel Quintana.

Después de la portada aparece una página con los nombres de los personajes y almargen los de los actores que los encarnaron. Se añaden también en toda la obra indicaciones varias a los actores. Es traducción de la Pamela Maritata arreglada para representarse en Barcelona. El adaptador se ha tomado ciertas libertades suprimiendo algunos versos, modificando la división de escenas y cambiando el nombre del criado, Isaac por Guillermo. Pero la dependencia de la versión española con respecto a la italiana es total, como muestra esta media docena de versos con la que se inicia la obra.

Art. Ern. Art. Ern. Art.

Ma voi troppo v'avanzate e soffrir piu non poss'io..., Ha viaggiato amico mio e so il mondo come vil.

E' Pamela Dama onesta.

Ma lá soli a testa, a testa...

Che ardireste sospettare?

Artur. Es sospecha temeraria aguantar no puedo yá.

Ernold. He viajado amigo mío, y sé el mundo como vá.

Artur. Es Pamela muy honesta.

Ernold. Mas tu solo alli con élla...

Artu!. Que pronuncias temerario?

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Comedio en prosa. La Pamela. En tres actos. Compuesta en italiano por el señor Goldoni y traducida al idioma castellano.

Al fin: Barcelona, Carlos Gibert y Tutó.

Esta obra aparece inserta en una colección con otras del mismo autor que se tradujeron al castellano. Consta de 40 páginas en 4º y es traducción fiel e íntegra de Pamela Fanciulla. No se ha modificado nada, por lo que la división en escenas y actos es la misma. No se hace constar el año ni el nombre del traductor. Puede que sea ésta la traducción que, según Cotarel06, realizó Don Ramón de la Cruz en 1765. Aunque en prosa, la comedia es dialogada, con indicación respectiva de la intervención de cada uno de los personajes.

El Memorial literario de 1784 nos ofrece con singular retraso una síntesis del argumento de la adaptación que reseño para que apreciemos los cambios temáticos y de caracteres que experimentó la novela de Richardson en la pluma del italiano. Esta misma base argumental se mantiene en el resto de las adaptaciones realizadas sobre esta parte de la obra.

«De Pamela, Camarera mayor ó criada de las principales de la casa de Lord Bonfil, hija de un pobre labrador de Escocia, estaba perdidamente enamorado este Milord: los deudos y los amigos le llevaban á mal temiendo, ó que contrastase su honor ó se casase con ella. Miladi (sic) Daure, hermana del Lord, propuso llevársela á su casa para que la sirviera; concedióselo Bonfil, pero despues se arrepintió: enojada su hermana quiso aprovecharse de una corta ausencia del Lord, y no queriendo Pamela irse con ella la maltrató ésta y su sobrino Hemold, caballero vano, á quien le parecia permitida qualquier licencia con achaque de que había viajado, y venía instruído. A buen tiempo volvió por cierto accidente Milord: pues habiendo venido el padre de Pamela á llevársela á su rústica Aldea, Milord, sintiendo que se ausentase se la niega; entre la desesperacion hallando de .boca del mismo padre que es el Conde de Hausping, y que Pamela es ilustre, se casa con ella>'?

El anuncio de venta de la traducción de esta adaptación de Goldoni aparece por primera vez en el Diario de Madrid del 30 de junio de 1787 y en el Correo de los Ciegos del mismo año, figurando la obra anónima8• La primera traducción de la novela como tal no se llevó a cabo hasta 1794.

Eterio Pajares Adaptaciones en español de la «Pamela» de Richardson

2.5.-

61

Comedia nueva, La Bella Inglesa Pamela en el estado de soltera, escrita en prosa italiana por el Abogado Goldoni y puesta en verso castellano. Primera parte. / Al fin: Barcelona, Por Carlos Gibert y Tutó.

La presente comedia, en la que no se hace constar el año de impresión ni el nombre del traductor, consta de 42 páginas en 4º. Es, igualmente, traducción fiel e íntegra de Pamela Fanciulla, con los mismos personajes e idéntica división en actos. Puede que el traductor sea el mismo que realizó la versión anterior y que publicó también Gibert y Tutó. No obstante, y observando la casi total identidad de contenido entre esta versión y la que hemos comentado como realizada por Don Ramón de la Cruz, me inclino a pensar que el traductor de la actual adaptación fuese alguien que se basó en la anterior traducción en prosa, poniéndola él en verso.

2.6.-

Comedia: La Bella Pamela en el estado de soltera, escrita en prosa italiana por el Abogado Goldoni y puesta en verso castellano. Primera parte.

Como puede observarse, el título es prácticamente igual al de la adaptación anterior, como idéntico lo es el contenido. Realmente no es una nueva adaptación, sino otra reimpresión de la comedia anterior realizada, también, en Barcelona, pero siéndolo ahora por la viuda de Piferrer.

Se conocen otras tres ediciones de esta pieza: dos realizadas en la librería de Quiroga (Madrid) en 1787 y 1796 respectivamente, y otra que publicó Joseph de Orga (Valencia) en 1796.

2.7.- Comedia famosa. La Bella Inglesa Pamela en el estado de casada. Escrita en prosa italiana por el Abogado Goldoni y puesta en verso castellano. Segunda parte. / Al fin: Valencia, Imprenta de Josepb de Orga, 1796.9 Consta de 3 actos y 38 páginas. Es traducción-adaptación de Pamela Maritata, pero no de la versión reducida destinada a representarse en España y comentada en el punto 2.2., sino de la más completa que elaborara Goldoni y que ya hemos mencionado en este apartado. Como esta última, la española consta de tres actos pero carece, a diferencia del

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modelo italiano, de división en escenas. La dependencia de la traducción castellana con respecto a su homónima italiana es total.

2.8.- Pamela, Comedia en tres actos y en prosa, original de C. Goldoni, traducida libremente al español por Francisco García Vivan· co, 3ª edición, Madrid, Establecimiento tipográfico de I.M., 1890.

Más que una traducción es un resumen argumental en prosa de Pamela Fanciulla. Consta tan sólo de 16 páginas de 15 cms., portada y nombres de los personajes incluidos. La «traducción» no es tal, sino propiamente un arreglo en el que, omitiendo todo diálogo, se recogen los hechos fundamentales de la comedia.

Podemos determinar que García Vivanco lo tomó de Pamela Fanciulla y no de Pamela Nubile, dado que se enumeran los personajes exactamente igual que en la primera (once en total por siete de la segunda); porque divide la comedia en tres actos como lo hiciera Goldoni con Pamela Fanciulla por uno de Pamela Nubile.

Asimismo, en el texto de esta «traducción libre» se alude a personajes que no aparecen en la destinada a representarse en Madrid y sí en Pamela Fanciulla. En esta última, el nombre del padre de la heroína aparece como «Andreuve» y así figura en la traducción de Vivanco. En la versión italiana de Madrid, por el contrario, figura como «Anderson». Es imposible determinar si García Vivanco hizo este arreglo directamente del italiano o de La Pamela a la que he aludido en el punto 2.4. Fuera de este interrogante, cabe destacar el estilo fluido y notable de esta síntesis argumental. La copia que poseo pertenece al año 1890 -tan alejado ya del fervor richardsoniano- y es la tercera edición. La síntesis del argumento del mismo responde, igualmente, al que apareció en el Memorial Literario y que ya hemos expuesto.

2.9.- Cancion nueva. La Pamela. Seguida de la cancion el Ya Ya de Pascual. Al fin: Barcelona, Imprenta de F. Vallés, calle del Pino, 1846.

La presente imitación, constituye una prueba más del resurgir de Richardson en España allá por los años cuarenta del siglo pasado. No

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tiene otro mérito que el de atestiguar la fama de unas novelas, las de Richardson, que seguían satisfaciendo la nostalgia de mucha gente. Por su brevedad la incluimos aquí.

CORO. Soy la PAMELA hermosa, Que todas las modas sigo Dando el brazo á mi querido Que me quiere por esposa.

Observo en el mundo, Ramon muchas cosas, que nuestros abuelos tuvieron por locas, por malas é indignas, de gentes de honra: en todito piensan mas ni una sola hora en llenar deberes, que por ley forzosa cumplir deverian: y los niños lloran, y el esposo sufre! y cantan victoria los que las pervierten con vanas lisonjas: Pero: ¿Que remedio?

Son cosas de moda.

Yo veo á las niñas, (antes laboriosas ingenuas, modestas) ahora gazmoñas, tal vez descocadas, siempre caprichosas; sólo en bayles piensan, paseos y modas; en leer novelas

las mas peligrosas; y en todito el dia ni cosen, ni bordan, ni remendar saben las calectas rotas: Pero: ¿Que remedio?

Son cosas de moda.

y jóvenes observo, que á la patria gloria, y honor dar pudieron, y en lucir sus botas, sus largas lebitas, y otras gerigonzas, tan solo se ocupan: baylan la POLKA, cantan arietas, y el francés destrozan y nunca leyeron de España la Historia de la fe ignorando acaso los dogmas.

Pero: ¿Que remedio?

Son cosas de moda. y tambien observo jóvenes esposas, que de sus caprichos hacen banagloria:

Pero: ¿Que remedio?

Son cosas de moda.

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Jóvenes casados que en cafes peroran, faltas publicando que callar les toca, y de sus consortes denigran la honra: del vicio hacen gala, de la virtud mofa; tal vez mantienen (!que horror!) á sus costas viles mugercillas; y á su triste esposa, y á sus tiernos hijos duros abandonan.

Pero: ¿Que remedio?

Son cosas de moda.

que el sensato mira con horror; que todas querer referirlas no es fácil ahora del vicio do quiere cunden la panzoña: y la patria llora al ver cual sus hijos su nombre desoman sus lauros marchitan denigran sus glorias pero: ¿que remedio? calla......esto importa que en boca cerrada jamas entran moscas...

Mas si es moda amigo, maldigo tal moda.

Ay amigo mio! son tantas las cosas,

2.10.- Juan Perucho: Pamela, Barcelona, 1983.

Perrnítasenos, por fin, aludir a la obra de un novelista moderno, cuyo único contacto con Richardson es tomar la historia de Pamela como arranque argumental y ofrecernos una narración histórica en la que la fantasía y el humor juegan un papel decisivo en la pluma certera y mordaz de este escritor.

Presenta Perucho dos historias paralelas: La Pamela Andrews de Richardson, viuda ya de M.B. y rica, ingresa en una logia masónica y pacta con el diablo para lograr mantenerse eternamente joven y seducir con su belleza y encanto a cuantos hombres le interese. Durante la guerra de la Independencia española vive en España y actua como espía prominente de lord Holland. Establece contacto con los marqueses del Paular y en sus recorridos describe con profusión las ciudades que visita (Madrid, Lisboa, Sevilla, Cádiz, Barcelona, Palma y Valencia), criticando, asimismo, las costumbres de sus vecinos. En su correspondencia epistolar con lord Holland, pone de manifiesto sus ardides y estratagemas para influir

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en el Consejo de Regencia de Cádiz, considerándosela la redactora de los seis famosos puntos del decreto de 24 de septiembre de 1810 que informó la Constitución de 1812. Con el arribo al poder de Fernando VII, y su\giro absolutista, Pamela Cae en desgracia, es encarcelada en el castillo de Bellver (en la misma celda que alojó a Jovellanos), y, por error, es fusilada por las huestes de Fernando VII. Combina el autor esta historia dieciochesca con otra de la Restauración cuando, por azar, don Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo descubre la correspondencia epistolar de Pamela. Colabora con él un joven discípulo suyo, Ignacio de Siurana, sobrino de Milá i Fontanals, a quien encarga que siga los mismos pasos que dio Pamela a fin de descubrir la participación de ésta en las ideas liberales de principios de siglo. Ignacio se enfrentará a estas ideas y defenderá el tradicional catolicismo de su maestro. Cuando por fin logran culminar la investigación, reconoce en la dama que últimamente y en silencio se le venía apareciendo placenteramente, a la misma Pamela.

Juan Perucho hace desfilar por su novela a los personajes más variados de todas las épocas como Aribau, Rivadeneira, Meléndez Valdés, Estala, Melón, Moratín, Lista, Reinoso, Conde, Goya, Marchena, Mazarredo, George Brown, Lope de Vega, Browning, Otway, Voltaire, Diderot, D'Alembert, Dupuis, Scarlatti, reyes, emperadores, etc. Mezcla este escritor el humor y la fantasía con gran acierto; su arranque argumental parte de Richardson pero su sátira mordaz está en el más puro estilo de Cervantes o Fielding. Critica tanto el progresismo de Pamela como el maniqueísmo del autor de los heterodoxos.

En este caso no es posible hablar de imitación y propiamente tampoco de influencias, ya que aparte de la común heroína no hay sino detalles menores que coaliguen a <:tmbos escritores. Perucho, como el inglés, suele describir los interiores con profusión. En un caso concreto la Pamela del español «recurre» al desmayo, del que se recupera oliendo sales, como con tanta frecuencia les sucedía a las heroínas richardsonianas. Perucho nada tiene que ver con lo lacrimoso, sus lágrimas son la ironía y el desenfado y no es presunción imaginar al ávido escritor catalán leyendo Pamela Andrews, y posiblemente Joseph Andrews, del que, parodiando su proceder, tomaría unas notas que le darían pie para crear esta mezcla de realidades y ficciones donde el humor, el suspense y la sátira ofrecen un conjunto divertido y original.

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Conclusión.

f Observamos, pues, cómo en España no se realizó ninguna adaptación netamente original (si exceptuamos esa cancioncilla de nulo valor literario). Llama también nuestra atención el hecho de que no se conociese aquí ninguna de las diversas adaptaciones de Pamela que hicieron los franceses, máxime cuando nuestra dependencia cultural del vecino país era casi total. La explicación posiblemente resida en que, si bien es cierto que se hicieron diversas adaptaciones francesas de la primera novela de Richardson, éstas carecieron de éxito y, al igual que sucedió en los principales países europeos, fueron las adaptaciones de Goldoni las que se representaron con asiduidad y gozaron del aplauso de sus contemporáneos.

Si valoramos la penetración del sentimentalismo richardsoniano por las adaptaciones de Pamela que se conocieron en España, y por las representaciones que se llevaron a cabo, podríamos decir, que la aceptación de este tipo de comedia en nuestro país fue notoria. Probablemente así sea, lo que no excluye que seamos cautos y valoremos otros hechos. Si ciertamente las representaciones que señalo no son pocas (máxime teniendo en cuenta que habría otras más en provincias y que no he logrado localizar), los ingresos que conozco de tres días de invierno (época bien propicia), arrojan un saldo medio de dos mil y pico reales que, comparados con los cinco mil de otras obras españolas que se representaron los mismos días, y que no son de las más conocidas de nuestra literatura, nos obligan a moderar nuestro optimismo. Además, para el estudioso richardsoniano es obvio que el conocimiento directo o indirecto de la obra de Samuel Richardson, era bastante· superior en Francia y en Italia que en España. Richardson penetró tarde en España, a pesar de lo cual su obra gozó de no pocos elogios, aprecios e influencias, sobre todo entre los escritores de segundo orden. Francia, fue, una vez más, el puente entre las culturas inglesa y española. Pero ciertamente no fue el único. En el caso de las adaptaciones de Pamela fue Italia la que jugó un papel preponderante y decisivo, además de ser la primera en dar a conocer al autor inglés al público español.

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REPRESENTACIONES CONOCIDAS DE LAS ADAPTACIONES DE PAMELA Título

Fechas

Lugar

La bella Pamela inglesa

Febrero, 9 al 13, 1784

Madrid

La bella Pamela

Octubre, 1 y 2, 1785

Barcelona

La bella Pamela

Febrero, 3 al 6, 1790

Madrid

La bella inglesa Pamela

Noviembre, 29 y 30

Madrid

La Pamela, 1ª Y2ª partes

Septiembre, 16 al 25, 1793

Barcelona

La Pamela, 1ª Y2ª partes

Enero, 21, 1794

Barcelona

La bella ynglesa Pamela

• ?

(,.

,1799

Valladolid

La Pamela

Mayo,6al9,1800

Madrid

La bella ynglesa Pamela

Julio, 20 y 24, 1800

Sevilla

La Pamela

Octubre, 5 al 7, 1801

Madrid

Pamela casada, ópera

Diciembre, 5-8, 17, 18, 20, 1806

Madrid

Pamela núbile, farsa

Enero, 16, 1806

Barcelona

Pamela núbile, farsa

Diciembre, 23, 1817

Barcelona

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NOTAS 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Cae, A. M.: Catálogo Bibliográfico y Crítico de las Comedias anunciadas en los periódicos de Madrid desde 1661 hasta 1819, Baltirnore, 1935.

Goldoni basó, también, su La Buona Figliuola en la Pamela de Richardson.

A pesar de- ello, no es objeto de mi estudio por considerarla una obra totalmente distinta e independiente de la Pamela del dramaturgo italiano, que es la que aquí nos concierne.

En opinión de Rogers, P.P.: Goldoni in Spain, Oberlin, Ohio, 1941, esta adaptación, y la que comentamos en el punto 2.2., no fueron realizadas por el propio Goldoni, sino por otro dramaturgo. Ciertamente, el nombre del autor no consta en las copias que obran en mi poder, pero de lo que sí damos fe es de la total dependencia de estas adaptaciones con respecto a Pamela Fanciulla y Pamela Maritata respectivamente.

Obras de Nicolás y Leandro Fz. de Moratín, Madrid: B.A.E., 1846 p.333, n.39 / Cae, Hispanic Review,I1I, 18(1935),p.58 Cotarelo, Isidoro Máiquez, p.246, n.1 /Coe, Hispanic Review, p.58.

Sainetes de D. Ramón de la Cruz, Madrid: Nueva Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, 1915, p.x.

9 de febrero de 1784, p.109.

La bella inglesa Pamela en el estado de soltera, primera parte: idem, en el estado de casada, segunda parte: comedias escritas en prosa en italiano por el abogado Carlos Goldoni, y traducidas en verso castellano. Libreria de Quíroga. / Cae, Hispanic Review, p.56.

En el British Museum consta una copia de Pamela, pero «en el estado de soltera», realizada el mismo año de 1796 y por el mismo impresor. No he logrado consultar dicha pieza.

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Relevance & Irony: A pragmatic reading of a passage fro\D W. Kennedy: Ironweed (1979) Eduardo Varela Bravo Universidad de Vigo

En este trabajo pretendemos estudiar el valor sigllificativo de los enunciados irónicos de un pasaje dialogado de W. Kennedy: Ironweed dentro de nuestra elaboración personal de un modelo pragmático de análisis de textos literarios. A las ideas de Sperber y Wilson (1986,1988) sobre relevancia, eco, ironía, y características pragmáticas de los enunciados con valor literario, hemos unido nuestras propias consideraciones sobre la necesidad de distinguir niveles de narración para alcanzar nuestros objetivos, tal y como discutimos en nuestro grupo de investigación sobre Pragmática y Literatura (Universidad de Vigo 1992-93). El resultado ha sido: 1) alcanzar conclusiones importantes sobre la naturaleza de los enunciados irónicos desde una perspectiva pragmática, 2) entender mejor cómo éstos operan en un texto de calidad literaria, 3) dejar como problema pendiente, más allá de la distancia del enunciado su posible actitud proposicional a la hora de conStruir una interpretación coherente y relevante del pasaje. La Pragmática, más allá de las modas, se consolida como enfoque útil para estudiar las construcciones literarias.

1.. Goals.

In this paper we intend to develop sorne ideas put forward by Sperber & Wilson (1986, 1988) and their pragmatic schooI on the nature of ironical utterances and test them in a literary text. Our main goal is to show that Pragmatics is useful as an analytic tooI to study this kind of Ianguage. However, due to the complexity of literature -a narration in this case- we have to combine the principIes of Relevance Theory with our own view of how to handle literary texts. Once the principIes of Relevance Theory have been examined, we will propose the frame of analysis we

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have designed in the meetings of the Research Group on Pragmatics & Literature (Universidad de Vigo 1992-93) to achieve our purposes. We have to thank Marta Dahlgren, Beatriz Figueroa and Cristina Larkin for their invaluable suggestions. We started to deal with Pragmatics and literature in 1988 and the more convinced we are that this approach is valid beyond trendy fashions the more complex the task appears to be .

We can only offer work in progress and we have to suggest that aH objections and remarks on this subject will be very welcome.

2.- Relevance Theory.

Sperber & Wilson (1986) give this definition of the PrincipIe of Relevance: «Every act oí ostensive communication communicates the presumption oí its own relevance.» (158)

The view of human communication -and Pragmatics- that led them to the formulation of this principIe can be schematicaHy described in the foHowing points:

2.1.- Pragmatics/Relevance is based on Intentionality (Searle 1969).

Beyond the linguistic message, what is important is the Speaker's Communicative Intention, what he/she means (Grice 1957) by uttering something in contexto

2.2.- The listener's task is based on a deductive-inferential process in order to understand the speaker's communicative intention and to speak and act in consequence.

2.}- This deductive inferential process works this way:

2.3,1.- The listener understands the speaker's utterance in context.

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2.3.2.- The listener uses the propositional content of the utterance to start his/her deductive process. The propositional content of the utterance has to be fulIy meaningful i.e. enriched. Problems like deixis, tense and Propositional Attitude have to be solved by or while processing.

2.3.3.- Taking into account that we a1ways presuppose:

2.3.3.1.- that a speaker always says something relevant for the conversation.

2.3.3.2.- that a speaker a1ways relies on context to mean more than what he/she says, the listener will start his/her deductive process by making the propositional set oC entailments inc1uded in the original utterance interact with the set oC propositions available in his/her context so that he/she can understand not only what the speaker has said but what he/she has implied. The deductive process is controlled by the principie oC Relevance.

2.3.4.- The principIe of Relevance states:

2.3.4.1.- that an utterance is always relevant (in a normal conversation).

2.3.4.2.- that the relevance is flexible. Optimal relevance is simply the highest number of implicatures a listener can deduce within a reasonable Processing cost in a context. The system works this way: a listener first checks the situational and discursive context. If the result is not satisfactory, he/she will enhance the context to inc1ude encycIopaedic information. But, by doing so the processing effort will be bigger and the relevance will be weaker. In other words: we do not spend hours in finding the meaning of an utterance to achieve optimal relevance in normal everyday conversation. Relevance is flexible; once we have reached a satisfactory conc1usion we stop processing.

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Now, this is what normally happens in normal everyday exchanges.

Literary language works in a different way. The first thing that we have to take into account about literature is that we are dealing with fiction (Ohmann 1986) not with reality. This does not mean, for us, that we use a different deductive process, but that reality is once removed.

The most important point we have to take into account in the study of a literary text using Relevance Theory is: When involved in the deductive inferential process as readers of a literary text we give ourselves an amount of time and processing effort in deducing weak implicatures that we cannot normally afford in everyday conversation: we exploit Relevance at no matter what cost. We can spend hours and hours on a text «playing» with possible meanings. To make this activity possible it is, of course, necessary to have a good handling of the linguistic material by the writer so that a potential reader can exploit weak implicatures. In Blakemore's (1991) words: «Some speakers do indeed produce utterances in the expectation that the hearer will recover a specific set of propositions. But a speaker may produce an utterance with no expectation at aH about the way in which it will be understood. In between these two extremes there is a whole range of intermediate cases... In other words, there may be a range of acceptable contexts and contextual effects for the hearer to choose from. :rhe exact extent of the range will vary according to how tightly the speaker constrains the hearer's interpretation. A speaker who constrains the interpretation of his utterance so that the hearer takes very little responsibility in the choice of contextual assumptions and contextual effects is said by Sperber & Wilson to be engaging in «strong communication». The greater the responsibility the hearer has in the selection of contextual assumptions and effects the «weakef» the communication.

Sperber & Wilson suggest that the effect of an utterance which achieves most of its relevance through a wide array of weak implicatures can be terrned a «poetic effecÍ». This is not to suggest that such effects can be achieved only by poets. We have aH produced ironic or metaphorical utterances. You may not want to caH these everyday figurative utterances poetry, but they exhibit the charactersitic of indeterrninacy and vagueness just the same.» (156-57)

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Therefore: A) A writer communicates weakly to achieve literary effects in a way not different in nature from normal everyday conversation.

B) A reader recognizes this communicative intention allowing him/herself more deductive effort in his/her search for Relevance.

In fact, we are not so far away from the symbolic nature of literature and the interpretive role oC the imagination in its study as . conceived by the English Romantics. In Bowra's (1961) words: «... the English romantics pursued their lives of imaginative enquiry until they fOl;llld answers which satisfied them. Their aim was to convey the mystery of things through individual manifestations and thereby to show what it means. Tbey appeal not to the logical mind but to the complete self, to the whole range of intellectual facuIties senses and emotions. Only individual presentations of imaginative experience can do this. In them we see examples of what cannot be expressed directly in words and can be conveyed only by hint and suggestion. The powers which Wordsworth saw in nature or Shelley in love are so enormous that we begin to understand them only when they are manifested in single, concrete examples. Then, through the single cases, we apprehend something of what the poet has seen in visiono The essence of the Romantic imagination is that it fashions shapes which display these unseen forces at work, and there is no other way to display them, since they resist analysis and description and cannot be presented except in particular instances.» (10)

If we see this idealism in historical perspective and we substitute «formal semantics» for «logical mind» and «Pragmatics» for «hint and suggestion»oo. and we sincerely believe that there is a way to formalize what a discourse «connotes», we see ourselves very near the romantics ... and in the middle of the controversy about literary language. But this is a subject for further study and the subject matter of a possible future paper.

The most valuable aspect in Sperber & Wilson's theory is that it supplies us with a communicative principie: Relevance, and with a formal model-proposition,implicature, context- which al10ws liS to explain how we reach certain conclusions about a message and how we discard others.

Further, they give us a characterization of literary language that at the same

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time connects it with and differentiates it from normal everyday language in a continuum in which everyday irony and metaphor playa central role. We will come back to these concepts later on in this paper, together with another important concept: propositional attitude. But, to be coherent, we have to handle first the crucial problem of levels in narration.

3.-Levels in Narration.

When we face the task of analysing a narrative text, a problem inmediately springs up: that of levels of narration... and interpretation.

While in normal everyday language there is typically a speaker and a listener, in el narration there may be many speakers and, even worse, the listener is not present or defined. We are not going to deal with the problem of the narrator or with the problem of the ideallistener/reader of a narration (Adams 1985). We are only interested in studying what the mechanism is that allows us a comprehensive and consistent interpretation of our text in our search for maximal relevance, i.e. how we build up an interpretation of a text. For the moment, we have only attempted this task in Iiterary dialogues where the similarity, at least in form, with normal everyday conversation is higher. We are conscious that by making reference to this problem we have entered one of the more difficult and controversial aspects of literary theory. This is the reason why we want to be very humble in our proposal.

This proposal is to expand Relevance Theory as described here in the following way:

3.1.- We will distinguish tentatively three Iinguistic levels that will interact and combine in an inclusive way to allow us , in our descriptive inferential process, to build up an interpretation. This interpretation is neither the «true» one nor the «only» one . It is simply that which, for us, is IDost relevant, based on the same principie which applies when somebody utters «it is cold in here» and we infer that the speaker wants the heater to be turned on. We can be «right» or «wrong», as we can be «right» or «wrong» in our everyday conversational exchanges, but we have been consistent with our method of reasoning.

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3.2.- We will maintain and use the frame: proposition-implicature-context in the way suggested by Sperber and Wilson.

3.3.- We will allow ourselves to use as our guide the PrincipIe of Relevance. This means that we can «enjoy» inferring «weak» implicatures as far as the interaction propositional content-context permits us to do so.

In principIe «open» «arbitrary» interpretations lie outside this frame of analysis.

3.4.- We will see the literary work from the pointofview ofthe reader.

We wilI not focalize aIternatively on the writer-narrator-reader and the like, something for us confusing and prone to inconsistency.

By distinguishing levels of narration we are not that far away, in principle,from Structuralist Poetics. The term «levels of analysis» comes from this source. Todorov (1971), for example, uses the labels: «level» and «layer»: «A certain destruction we said, for to destroy does not mean to ignore.

The apparent order is not the onIy one and our task wilI be to make evident «aH» the orders of the text and to specify their interrelation. A literary reading cannot, therefore, be modelled on the image ofmyths, concerning which Levy Strauss observed: «considered in the crude state, any systematic chain must be regarded as having no meaning: either because no signification appears at the outset or because we suppose we perceive a rneaning but without knowing if it is the right one». The same gesture, which is the refusal to be content with the perceptible organization of a text, assumes difierent significations in these two cases: in the perspective ofreading, each layer ofthe text has a meaning.» (241-42)

Our conception of «layen> or«leveI» is similar and different at the same time. Similar because we accept the view of structured different possible readings. Different because we integrate this idea in Relevance Theory in the foIlowing way: 1.- each level is going to interact with the other levels, 2.- they are going to be part of the deductive inferential process oC the reader in his/her search for Relevance.

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The frame we propose is: INTERPRETATION: Conversation + Description + Context: Relevant to: Story Novel DISCOURSE READING2: Conversation + Description + Context Relevant to: Situation Story DESCRIPTION READING1: Conversation + Context Relevant to: Character Situation Story

I CONVERSATION I Interpreted by: Character Narrator Reader Interpreted by: Narrator Reader Interpreted by: Reader

Thisis our tentative proposal for the analysis of dialogues. We have, we hope, shown that our use of the structuralist concept level is not mechanical but an enlargement of Relevance Theory to allow for a coherent interpretation of a texto

4.- Irony and Propositional Attitude.

We had to state our working principIes and ideas to tackle the point which is essential to this paper: the study of irony in a passage from

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Kennedy's Ironweed. Before starting the anaIysis we have to draw on Sperber & Wilson again to find a theoretical basis for our study..

The problem of irony as a figure of speech is a leit-motif in Philosophy, Logic, Literary Criticism, Rhetoric and Pragmatics. Therefore we are not going to be so bold or naive as to formulate an explanation in a few lines. We are interested in examining how Sperber & Wilson's (1988) ideas on irony can be operative in our framework to help us find a consistent interpretation of a literary text. In a nutshell: as another step to examine the potentiality of Pragmatics as a tool for literary analysis we are going to use a definition of irony which focuses on the concepts of «echoic utterance» and «propositional belief» in order to study the contribution it makes to relevance in a specific text.

For Sperber & Wilson, the essential nature of an utterance used ironically is that it is echoic. That is, we utter what we or somebody else would have uttered «seriously» in a different situational context. Apart froro the fact that we use this utterance in a context where the propositional belief is not the same, we interpret the original thought because its propositional meaning is once removed from the original use. At first, that utterance would have been , theoretically, a reflection of a thought in such a way that the speaker would have believed it. The fact of quoting -more or less literaIly- somebody frees us froro the need to roanifest our belief in the propositional content of the utterance. The actual speaker can show a different propositional attitude which will be relevant by context.

He/she need not believe it. It is not a question of truth-values any more but, as Sperber and Wilson (1988) put it, a question of faithfulness.

Commenting on Mary reporting on her interview with an agent: «(6) a). I met an agent lastnight. b)He can make me rich and famous»: «Free indirect speech, like direct quotation, can be used for two main purposes: to inforrn an audience about the content of the original, or for the expression of attitude. By speaking in a manifestIy smug, surprised, approving or sceptical tone, Mary· [reference to a previous example] may simuItaneously inforrn Peter of what the agent told her, and express her reactions to what she has been toldo Where interpretive representation involves such an expression of attitude, let us call the utterance echoic, and say that Mary echoes the agent's views.

The interpretive use of utterances, like the use of direct quotations, presents problems for a framework with a maxim of truthfulness. When Mary uses (6) to echo the agent's utterance, she does not commit herself to the

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existence of a state of affairs described; nor does she appear to flout that maxim of tmthfulness. Rather, her utterance is accompanied by a different type of guarantee -a guarantee of faithfulness, not of tmth. Mary guarantees that her utterance is a faithful enough representation of what the agent said. Moreover, since her utterance is chosen for its propositional form, this example cannat be dismissed as falling outside the domain of verbal communication proper.» (138-39)

Before reaching the next step: irony, let's see Sperber & Wilson's definition of propositional attitude, a concept that, beyond philosophy (Anderson & Owens 1990, Quine, 1970) plays a central role in their work: «Let us assume that there is a basic memory store with the following property: any representation stored in it is treated by the mind as a tme description of the actual world, a fact. What this means is that a fundamental propositional attitude of belief or assumption is pre-wired into the very architecture of the mind. As a result, a representation can be entertained as an assumption without the fact that it is an assumption being explicitly expressed. Such basic assumptions, entertained as tme descriptions of the world but not explicitly represented as such, we will call factual assumptions.» (74)

That is, there are facts and there are beliefs, desires and the like «that facts» (Pxp). We can distinguish these two aspects in an utterance.

The most important feature of an echoic utterance is that it allows the speaker to disengage from the propositional attitude of belief and/or his/ her commitment to the truth of the proposition expressed. By means of this disengagement and the uttering of the sequence in a context other than the one where we would normally have used it we achieve an ironie effect, which is shown in a characteristie propositional attitude by the c1ash proposition-context. According to Sperber & Wilson (1988): «Ironical utterances, we would argue... The speaker echoes a thought she attributes so someone else while dissassociating herself from it with ridicule or scorn.» (146)

Therefore, the key concepts are: echo, propositional attitude and context. By means of them we can characterize an utterance as ironic.

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5.- Irony and levels of analysis.

Sperber & Wilson do not extend their analysis beyond utterances.

The problem is now to handle it A) in discourse, B)In a literary dialogue.

In other words, we have to examine the interaction proposition-context to infer relevant consequences which will help us in building up our interpretation. We think that to achieve this goal it is completely necessary to take into account the working framework we have proposed. Unless we know who is being ironic (writer/narrator/character), about what (discourse, situational context, further context) and who it is he/she is making fun of, we will not be able to achieve a coherent interpretation.

This is what we plan to do now. First we will present the text and then we will comment on those ironies which are relevant to uso We have to emphasize that we are not going to work out a ful1 interpretation because: 1) we are going to examine irony only, not the wholemeaning of the passage, 2) we are going to deal with two levels of analysis: those of character and narrator. To see the passage from the point of view of the writer we would have to take into account the whole work, which is beyond our scope. We willlimit ourselves to the brief examination of how irony works inside the proposed framework and to advancing a couple of questions for further study.

6.- Tbe Passage.

WILLIAM KENNEDY: IRONWEED (1979).

Francis had coffee and bread with the bums who'd dried out, and other bums passin' through, and the preacher there watchin' everybody and playin'grabass with their souls. Never mind my soul, was Francis's lineo Just pass the coffee. Then he stood out front killin'tirne and pickin'his teeth with a matchbook cover. And here carne Rudy.

Rudy was sober too for a change and his gray hair was combed and trimmed. His mustache was clipped and he wore white suede shoes, even though it was October, what the hel1, he's just a bum, and a white shirt and a crease in his pants. Francis, no lace in one of his shoes, hair mattedand uncut, smelling his own body stink and ashamed of it for the first time in memory, felt deprived.

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«You lookin' good there, bum,» Francis said.

«1 been in the hospital.»

«What for?»

«Cancer.»

«No shit. Cancer.»

«He says to me you're gonna die in six months. 1 says I'm gonna wine myself to death. He says it don't make any difference if you wined or dined, you're goin'. Goin' out of this world with a cancer. The stomach, it's like the pits, you know what 1 mean? 1 said I'd like to make it to fifty.

The doc says you'll never make it. 1 said all right, what's the difference?»

«Too bad, grandma. y ou got a jug?»

«1 got a dollar.»

«Jesus, we're in business, « Francis said.

But then he remembered his debt to Marcus Gorman.

«Listen, bum,» he said, «you wanna go to work with me and make a few bucks? We can get a couple of jugs and a flop tonight. Gonna be cold.

Look at that sky.»

«Work where.»

«The cemetery. Shoveling dirt.»

«The cemetery. Why not? 1 oughta get used to it. Wharre they payin'?»

«Who the hell knows?»

«1 mean they payin'money, or they give you a free grave when you croak?»

«If ain't money, forget it,» Francis said, «1 ain't shovelin' out my own grave.»

«There's seven deadly sins,» Rudy said.

«Deadly? What do you mean deadly?» Francis said.

«1 mean daily,» Rudy said. «Every day.»

«There's only one sin as far as I'm concerned,» Francis said.

«There 's prejudice.»

«Oh yeah. Prejudice. Yes.» «There's envy.»

«Envy. Yeah, yup. That's one.»

«There's lust.»

«Lust, righi. Always liked that one.»

«Cowardice.»

«Who's a coward?»

«Cowardice.» <<1 don't know what you mean. That word 1 don't know.»

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«Cowardice,» Rudy said.

«1 don't like the coward word. What you're sayin' about coward?»

«A coward. He'll cower up. You know what a coward is? He'll run.»

«No, that word 1 don't know. Francis is no coward. He'll fight anybody.

Listen, you know what 1 like?»

«What do you like?»

«Honesty,» Francis said.

«That's another one,» Rudy said.

«Hey,» Rudy said, wasn't you with a woman the other night 1 saw you?»

«What woman?»

«1 don't know. Helen. Yeah, you called her Helen.»

«Helen. You can't keep track of where she is.»

«What'd she do, ron off with a banker?»

«She didn't run off.»

«Then where is she?»

«Who knows? She comes, she goes. 1 don't keep tabs.»

«You got a million of 'em.»

«More where she carne from.»

«They are aH crazy to meet you.»

«My socks is what gets 'em.»

Francis lifted bis trousers to reveal his socks, one green, one blue. «a reg'lar man about town.» Rudy said.

Francis dropped bis pantlegs and walked on, and Rudy said. «Hey, what the hell was aH about the man from Mars last night? Everybody was taIkin' about it at the hospital. You hear about that stuff on the radio?»

«Oh yeah. They landed.»

«Who?» «The Martians.»

«Where'd they land?» «someplace in Jersey.» ~Whathappened?»

«They didn't like it no more'n 1 did.»

«No joke,» Rudy said. «1 heard people saw them Martians comin' and ran outa town, jumped outa windows, everything like that.»

«Good,» Francis said. «What they oughta do. Anybody sees a Martian oughta jump out two windows.

«You don't take things serious,» Rudy said. «You have a Whatayacallit, a frivolous way about you.»

«A frivolous way? A frivolous way?»

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«That's what 1said. A frivolous way.»

«What the hel1's that mean? You've been readin' again, you crazy kraut? 1 told you cuckoos like you shouldn't go around readin', callin' people frivolous.»

«That ain't no insulto Frivolous is a good word. A nice word.»

«Never mind words, there's the cemetery.» And Francis pointed to the entrance-road gates. «1 just thought of somethin'.»

«What?»

«That cemetery's full of gravestones.»

«Right.»

«1 never knew a bum yet had a gravestone.» (7-12)

7.- Ironies in the texto This passage depicts a gloomy atmosphere in which the idea of death is overwhelming. However, besides this, we perceive that, beyond the negativeness, the situation, the characters and the conversation described, there is a place for distance and irony. In sorne cases the narrator makes fIln of the characters, in sorne other cases they make fIln of each other or of themse1ves: they are bums. For us, paradoxically, the use of irony makes the passage even more desperate, more pessimistic and at the same time forces the reader to feel sympathy for these two losers. We are going to restrict ourselves to the «technicalities» we have been discussing until now, but we have to advance what is going to be our final concern: does irony stop at the reader's understanding of the mockery and scorn of the passage'? Is the narrator's distance part of a communicative intention which is based on scorn? We would say that Kennedy is a very good writer because of his cautious handling of the language and the ironic effects as opposed to contexto He is able to provoke a c1ash that stirs our feelings. But let's leave this point here and examine the ironic utterances:

7.1.- Situation.

The narrator describes a gloomy setting. We would have to pay attention to register (Quirk et alii 1985) in so far as the degree of faithfulness of the representation to the original utterances from a bum is

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relevant in meaning. We would have to pay attention also to his jokes (<<playing grabass with their souls»). However, not to be too ambitious, let's go to the dialogue:

7.2.- Dialogue.

7.2.1.- «You looking good there, bum,» Francis said.

«1 been in the hospital.»

«What for?»

«Cancer.»

«No shit. Cancer?»

The irony here has nothing to do with the characters. Neither of them means to be ironic. It springs up from the situation which transforms a greeting into something different in contexto The irony here is on the level ortbe narrator. It is an irony provided by life -the plot- and echoed by the narrator. There is distance, but, is there scorn? What is the narrator's propositional attitude? We should think about it in arder to build up an interpretation of the novel.

7.2.2.- «He says to me you're gonna die in six months. 1 says I'm gonna wine myself to death. He says it don't make any difference if you wined or dined, you're goin'.»

The first irony is by Rud(d)y: «1'm gonna wine myselfto death» in which the cb'aracter makes fun of the doctor'g serious message. The second irony is by tbe Doctor. It has the form of a pun: «wined or dined» is used to mean to treat somebody very well (Simon & Schuster's 1973) in a normal context. Using the utterance here , in this context, it challenges Rudy's irony with another irony, grammatically reinforced by the use of the expression in a subordinate clause followed by a metaphoric: «you are going».

Here we have an interesting series of steps: - wine and dine used in its appropriate context.

- wine and dine echoed by the doctor (irony)

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- wine and dine echoed by Rudy (self-inflicted irony) - wine and dine echoed by the narrator (irony on a tragic situation). It is up to the reader now.

7.2.3.- «The cemetery. Why not? I oughta get used to it.»

It is easy to see Rudy's self-irony. A character is making fun of himself and his desperate situation.

7.2.4.- «1 mean they payin' money, or they give you a free grave when you croak?»

First, we would like to note the construction: «They are paying you money or they· give you a free _ _ when you _ _?» Echoic frame that could be used in a kind of linguistic transaction not as gloomy as this one. Once we insert the two lexical items: «grave», «croak» the sentence becomes ironic in a double sense. First because of the clash with the context, second because of the nature of the metaphorical items used. " Once we have the joke we could consider it a piece of black humour.

Once we know Rudy's situation it becomes ironic. He makes fun of himself.

7.2.5.- «Deadly-daily.»

In aH this exchange, the mistakes are not made on purpose by the characters. The narrator is the one who is being ironic. He is the one who builds up the dialogue and who echoes what his characters are saying. His propositional attitude is clear (?): scom at the characters' culturallevel and their trascendental worries... and Rudy's sure death.

7.2.6.- «Lust, right. Always liked that one.»

Francis mocks at Rudy's theology with his ironic comment. The c1ash sin/liking is too evident to say much about it.

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7.2.7.- «Cowardice.»

The narrator has a good laugh at Francis, who takes personally something that he thinks affects him. this is ajoke that comes immediately after his own irany on Rudy.

7.2.8.- «Ronesty... Tha(s another one.»

A new joke on Rudy's vocabulary. It might be Rudy's irony, but isn't it too subtle for him?

7.2.9.- «What'd she do, run offwith a banker?»

Clear irany by Rudy on Helen, a bum, and on her relation with Francis. Running off with a banker is clearly not a possible context.

7.2.10.- «My socks is what gets 'em.»... Francis lifted his trousers to revealhis socks, one green, one blue.

Rere we have a combination of utterance and ostensive act. To present something ludicraus as the apparent clue for Francis' «charm» is fully ironic on his part. The narrator reproduces it literally supplying the context.

7.2.11.- «A reg'lar man about town.» Rudy said.

Rudy's irany reinforces Francis's irany contrasting the appearance of a bum with that of a «regular» citizen.

7.2.12.- «The Martians.»

Here we have a special case of irany that is not based On the echo of something that could have been true but on a blatant lie. Francis mocks Rudy's credulity by giving false information and by making his iranic intention manifest. «They didn't like it no more than 1 did.» Francis is

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apparently reporting something that Martians would have said. The last utterance, implying a relation Martians/Francis forces the ironic interpretation. Gn the other hand, Francis's utterance is an ironic comment on his own view of the world. That is: - irany on Rudy's credulity.

- irany on the existence of Martians.

- irony on life in this world.

7.2.13.- «Good... Anybody sees a Martian oughta jump out two windows.»

The irany seems to be in the exaggeration (let's not forget the degree of faithfulness in an echoic utterance) and in the use of the modal: from the real world to a possible world. The change in Francis's echo of Rudy's utterance shows Francis's attitude.

7.2.14.- «A frivolous way.»

Rudy understands Francis's scom.- His cornment, using the word «frivolous» forces another ironical display of lack of culture.

We reach the cemetery and here we have an utterance, and a very relevant one, which is going to help us to hint at sorne conclusions:

8.- Conclusion.

8.1.- «1 never knew a bum yet had a gravestone.»

Is this utterance ironic? If it is iranic, on what level do we have to place it? Let's have a look at the contexto They are going to «shovel dirt» and they are «bums». It might be that Francis would be echoing a sentence that, in this case, would not be attributable to a specific speaker, being ironic about their work and situation... or it might be the narrator who is ironic. 1 think that here we have to keep in mind what Sperber & Wilson (1988) say : The thought being echoed... may not be attributable to any specific persan, but merely a cultural aspiratian or norm.» (146). It is not

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necessary that the echoic utterance be literal. It is perhaps feasible that it is the echo of sorne solemn thought of a «solemner» writer in a «solemnest» book about how death is unfair with poor people. This solemn thought is echoed by a dirty bum who is working his ass off in a cemetery. Who is ironic?: the narrator. What is he mocking?: a bum'slife, thoughts, feelings, fears and death. The narrator is telling us something about lite -a certain kind of life- and death. We are fully conscious that we are enjoying ourselves in working out weak implicatures. Reading a good writer such as Kennedy allows us to enjoy this task as described by Sperber & Wilson.

Now, Sperber & Wilson (1986) state: «The attitude expressed by an ironical utterance is invariably ofthe rejecting or disapproving kind.»

(239). 1s this the case here? can we say that irony= scorn? We have isolated that part of a linguistic message that is crucial for the wOJ:king out of irany: echo, wrong context and propositional attitude. We have also seen that our distinction of leve1s of language helps us to work out the meaning of these utterances. But, beyond the possible objections to our frame of analysis, we have to define the term propositional attitude much more in detail and, perhaps, challenge, with more texts and examples, Sperber & Wilson's view on attitude. We have, perhaps, found aplace for irony in the pragmatic analysis of literary texts: distance, but beyond this point a lot of work is still to be done.

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REFERENCES Anderson, J.K. 1985 : Pragmatics and Fiction. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Anderson, C.A. & Owenx, J. 1990: PropositionalAttitudes. Center for the Study of Language and Information: Leland Stanford Junior University.

Blakemore, D.1991 : Understanding Utterances. Oxford: Blackwells.

Bowra, C.M. 1961 : The Romantic Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.

De Gámez, T. (ed) 1973 : Simon and Schuster's International Dictionary. New York.

Grice, H.P. 1957: «Meaning». In Steinberg, D. & Jakobovits, L. (eds.): Semantics.

CUP, 1971,52-59.

Levinson, S. 1983 : Pragmatics. CUPo Ohmann, R. 1971 : «Los actos de habla y la definición de la literatura.» En Mayoral, J.A. (ed.): Pragmática de la comunicación literaria. Madrid: Arco, 1986, 11-35.

Quine, W.V.1971 : Filosofía de la lógica. Madrid: Alianza, 1973.

Quirl<, R. et alii 1985 : A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language.

London: Longman.

Searle, J.R. 1969 : SpeechActs. CUPo Sperber, D. & Wilson, D. 1986 : Relevance: Communication and Cognition.

Oxford: Blackwells. _ _ 1988 : «Representation and Relevance.» In Kempson, R. (ed.): Mental Representations. CUP, 1988, 133- 155.

Todorov, T. 1971 : The Poetics ofProse. Comell University Press, 1977.

Passage taken from: Kennedy, W.: Ironweed. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1979 (1983).

Marta Dahlgren

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Frorn Narratology to Pragrnatics: Narrators, Focalizers and Reflectors in Sorne Works by William Faulkner.

Marta Dahlgren Universidad de Vigo

Han aparecido muy pocos artículos últimamente respecto al uso de herramientas narratológicas para determinar el papel de los narradores en la ficción contemporánea. Este artículo intenta explicar el fallo de la narratología en la solución de los problemas planteados por la presencia y la ausencia del narrador en obras contemporáneas, a la luz de algunos intentos de análisis narratológico y con ejemplos de la novela de Faulkner Light in August.

Las ideas de Genette con respecto a la focalización y el concepto de Bal de imbricación narrativa es de poca ayuda a la hora de explicar los cambios de ángulos de visión en Faulkner. Se presenta la teoría de que para la determinación de la presencia o ausencia de un narrador y en la determinación -muy compleja- del punto de vista, las herramientas de la narratología son satisfactorias a nivel de oración, pero no son adecuadas en otros niveles de discurso. La delimitación de voz y visión según Genette, no resulta suficiente para explicar la presencia de modalidad y otros signos lingüísticos que indican la presencia del narrador en una narración en tercera persona. En estos casos, parece que la pragmática literaria puede ofrecer una alternativa posible. Un análisis pragmático de un diálogo en el cuento «That Evening Sun» de Faulkner nos muestra cómo los diferentes niveles pragmáticos interaccionan para producir el contraste entre la inocencia de los niños protagonistas del cuento -reforzada por el papel del niño narrador- y la experiencia del lector, para aumentar el impacto causado en éste último.

The last few years have seen many publications whose contents can be summed up by the question «What is narratology and why do they say such horrible things about it?», many of them in Poetics Today which is the joumal where our most important narratologists have published so many of their contributions to narratological analysis. It has been said that Genette's

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ideas, as published in Figures JII (Genette 1972) have been «perverted» by critics that have contributed to the development of narratology and especially

by Mieke Bal. Examples of such thinking are EDMISTüN 1989 and NELLES 1990, both published in Poetics Today. It has to be said that Genette's ideas are very general and permit ample discussion and development, inc1uding both precisions and amplification. Genette's contribution to literary criticism, establishing the difference between «who sees» and «who tells», i.e. between vision and voice is seminal, and has not been revised up to date, not evenby Genette himself, either in Nouveau Discours du Récit of 1983 or in Nouveau Nouveau Récit of 1988.

Very few artic1es have appeared lately using narratological tools to determine the role of narrators in contemporary fiction. Bal herself has used narratology to demonstrate the pernicious infiuence of male chauvinism on language (BAL 1990) and other authors to determine what is invention and what is study of history (GENETTE 1990, STANZEL 1990) It would thus seem that fortune's wheel tums downwards for the narratological studies devoted to Genette's original creation: the focalizer.

This paper ventures an explanation: the failure of narratology to come to terms with the problems of narrator presence and absence in modern Wfiting lies in the confusion created between narrator and focalizers.

Mieke Bal's studies on what she terms «embedding», which describes what has traditionally been called «chinese-box technique» works extraordinarily well when limited to one single sentence. There are authors who refer to the embedding phenomenon to explain the hierarchy that can be established between implicit author, narrator and actors in the novel as does Marie-Laure Ryan in her artic1e «The Pragmatics of Personaland Impersonal Fiction» in Poetics as early as 1981. This hierarchy does exist and Bal's system of embedding takes it into account: there are several focalizers and also «focalizeds», which are traced sentence by sentence as for example in her exhaustive study of Wuthering Heights. This novel is a typical example of one narrator handing over the telling to another narrator, and lends itself perfectly to Bal's purpose.

Nevertheless, the existence of several narrators - or narrators/focalizers as Bal tends to merge them - does not automatically produce a superposition of voices - grammatical embedding is one thing and tales within a tale is something totally different. Embedding exists when one utterance reveals the co-existence of several points of view, but such co-existence does not produce a superposition of narrators.

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If we analyse an imbricated structure such as 1. Peter noticed that 1 was thinking...

according to Bal (1980), there is a narrator in the first person - 1 • and a focalizer - Peter. This example, still according to Bal, can be complicated including severallevels of perception: 2. Peter told me that in his dream he had seen a dead child looking through the window.

Bal would analyze this as a compendium of several perceptors «1», Peter and the dead child. 1 do not accept Bal's idea that the dead child could be in charge of a level of perception, not because the child is dead, but because «1» is the narrator (teller of the tale) and it is Peter who sees, or imagines, the dead child. The dead child does not introduce another point of view. Narrators in a first-person narration do not introduce another point ofview, nor a new angle ofvision. The narrator, in this case an <<1», is limited to telling what Peter tells «me».

If this example is changed and a narrator in the third person is introduced: 3. Peter told Maria that he had seen Isabel's dead child looking at him through the window,

according to Bal (1984), the narrator is still a first-person narrator because the narrator is supposedly somebody who says «1 tell you that Peter told Maria...». Bal's idea of there being no third-person narratives will not be commented on here. Bal identifies three levels, Fsub one Peter, Fsub two Maria and Fsub three Isabel's son, this latter being not a focalizer but a focalized. This distinction between focalizer and focalized is one of Bal's favourite features.

This typeof analysis, which posits the replacement of the narrator for focalizers on severallevels, does not work if the analysis, going from utterance to discourse, takes more than one sentence into consideration.

This is why, in my analysis of FauIkner's works, the narrator has been found to be a superior entity, not compatible with the system of focalizers such as Bal understands it.

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A term that has been present in literary criticism since Percy Lubbock (1921) is «reflector», parting from the idea of Henry James's . - - --~<hIghly- poITshedreflector»,-andíbs term--¡ havefuund-llseful when analysing Faulkner. A reflector needs logistic help from the narrator. In Faulkner's third-person narrations with omniscient point of view or with limited point of view there is usually a narrator who appears by means of linguistic signs: modality, deictics, superposition of expressions uttered by a protagonist that indicates doubling of identity, aH this combined with changes of angles of vision that can make us look at a certain scene fram different points of view - using different characters' eyes or seeing the scene from a vantage point (<<fram above»). In Faulkner, such changes in angle of vision can occur several times in one single short paragraph. The changes from one angle to another are so frequent and so abrupt that there can be no question of attributing them to different agents.

One instance is illustrated by a scene in Light in August, where Lena is sitting by the road waiting for a wagon. She had seen this same wagon when she walked past it «a mile back down the road». Page eight in the 1977 Penguin edition brings the wagon into sight, in one single line cast in the present. The narration lapses back into past tense, to sum up Lena's movements from the moment she passes the wagon on the road up to the moment it reaches her. The change in time is accompanied by a change in place, as Lena passes the wagon a mile back. Reflection is lodged in Lena but the narrator is still present, as is shown by no less than three typical markers of narrator presence: 4. She saw it and she saw the two men squatting beside a barn beyond the fence. She looked at the wagon and the men once: a single glance allembracing, swift, innocent und profound. She did not stop: very likely the men beyond the fence had not seen her even look at the wagon or at them. Neither did she look back. She went on out of sight , walking slowly, the shoes unlaced about her ank1es, until she reached the top of the hill a mile beyond. Then she sat down on the ditchbank, with her feet in the shallow ditch, and removed the shoes. Mter a while she began to hear the wagon. Sheheard it for sorne time. Then it carne into sight, mounting the hill. (Light in August p. 8, italics added)

Lena is not narrating the passage herself and she is not the focalizer either. She reflects part of it, but she is not the only reflector. She might have described her own glance as «swift and all-embracing», but the

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adjectives «innocent and profound» reveal the presence of another mind, qualifying and passing judgement. The reference to the men beside the -barnwhoveryllkelyhavenoticedLenabUtwho-arenotaware 01' Lena'Spowers of perception is another marker of narrator presence. But as Lena walks by, there is a change in reflection: Lena does not look back, but the narrator teIls us that the two men are watching her. «She went on out of sigbt». Lena surely cannot watch herself waIking out of sight, nor does she disappear out of the reader's sight. What she does is walk out of Armstid's and Winterbottom's sight, and their short role as reflectors anticipate their comments on Lena on the foIlowing page. As soon as Lena reaches the top of the hilI, reflection is again lodged in her mind.

The Armstid-Winterbottom episode gives us a good opportunity to observe Lena and her physical appearance as she walks past the farmers on the road. The importance of Armstid and Winterbottom -apparentIy two minor characters whose presence in the story might be taken as an excuse tointroduce a humorous scene - lies in the fact that they produce an important change in perspective: the omniscient narrator changes his vantage point and limits his field of visiono The scene/diaIogue between Armstid and Winterbottom is rendered in the past tense, and the change into the present occurs just as Armstid haIts the mules in front of Lena.

This change in tense indicates that Lena is back again as an actor: present tense indicates that her journey progresses. The description of Lena as she is waiting for an invitation to cIimb into the wagon is reflected by Armstid. The passage abounds in verbs indicating perception. The words used are subject to repetition and there is no semantic complication whatsoever: see and look are the only verbs of perception employed.

Variation is expressed by the addition of prepositions indicating direction: look back, look ahead, look up. Both protagonists perceive each other but they never look at each other directIy. Armstid's mind is used for reverberating the impressions.

If the narrator's function as an intratextual but not necessariIy intradiegetic organizing device is emphasized, the usefulness and thus the importance of the terro focalizer diminishes considerably. If the focalizer is necessariIy intradiegetic it foIlows that it must be a character in the story.

The difference between focalizer and reflector resides in the fact that a reflector has no voice and is limited to the use of sensory facuIties.

A focalizer covers a much broader area of narrative discourse: as soon as

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a character describes an event or the workings of somebody's mind (his own mind or other characters' minds) he is a focalizer. It has to be noted ---tnafáchange froinrdleCtór-Illoóatolocil.liiing requiresthe presenceOf a narrator, as it always occurs in a third person narrator environment. This is what happens in Faulkner'sAbsalom, Absalom!, where deictics indicate narrator presence even in extracts such as the one where Quentin talks to himself «two different Quentins talking in not-Ianguage» and which starts «This demon Sutpen...». The presence ofthe demonstrative clearly points to a filtering entity. The problem, as so often in Faulkner, is to find out whose consciousness is filtering.

The probleros that appear in narratological analyses as illustrated aboye have their root in a confusion among levels: it is not only the narrator and the characters who perceive, see and tel1 in a novel: at the same time as their voice and vision come through to the reader, another level is superposed. The reader adds to the immediate perception of a scene, where characters interact, accumulated knowledge that contains presuppositions at sentence level and al10ws inference to be formulated in the subsequent deductive process. In determining the different levels and interpreting them, going from sentence in description and from utterance in dialogue to discourse, pragmatics has an important role to play. Not many pragmatic readings have been produced up to date. The pragmatic analysis performed by Michael Stubbs (1987) to demonstrate that Hemingway's short story «Cat in the Rain» is not ambiguous is based on a scrutiny of propositions and presuppositions produced by summarising the story. The approach developed recently by a research group in Vigo (see VARELA, forthcoming) is different, as it starts with dialogue and works bottom-up, instead of going top-down from summary to characters' utterances. Qne of the inconveniences of a top-down analysis is that it mixes two points of view: the one originating in the (implied) author and the other originating in the reader. A merging of points of view is not possible: human beings look at things and events first from one point of view, then froro another, but not from two points simultaneously.

In one of Faulkner's short stories, «That Evening Sun» , where dialogue plays an important part, the possibility ofusing apragmatic type of analysis is very tempting. There is a character who frames the events but does not take part in them. The person who takes part in the story is his younger ego, who is an acknowledged first-person narrator in a very special environment: that of scene/dialogue which excludes quotation and

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narrative embedding. There is no explicit handing over of the task of narration. The transition from frame to story is practically imperceptible --;n tlris-slrortstory;giving-rise 10 confusion in~interpretation; «That Evening Sun», begins with a long paragraph which describes the Jefferson streets fifteen years after the story's main action. The narrator is Quentin, telling the story in the first person at the age of twenty-four.

Quentin is standing on the square. A comparison is established between . the activityon the square now and fifteen years ago. Quentin is acknowledged as a narrator as soonas the pronoun «we» appears (p. 290).

The tense used is the conditional, describing the things that the character Nancy (the black woman who used to do the cleaning for the Compson family) «would» always do. This indeterminacy in the past is maintained during the first two pages in the short story (pp. 289-290). A change then occurs as a scene is presented: 5. - and we would throw rocks at Nancy's house until she carne to the door, leaning her head around it without any clothes on.'What yawl mean, chunking my house?' Nancy said, 'What you Httle devils mean?' (<<That Evening Sun» p. 290)

The change from conditional past to the use of the simple past in a scene/dialogue structure marks the change in perspective fromthe twentyfour-year-old Quentin to the nine-year-old Quentin. Apart from the break in narration type, there are no other formal marks to indicate the change from one acknowledged first-person narrator to another. The problems that arise when trying to maintain two sustained visions filtered through two different consciousnesses are patent in this story where Faulkner uses a first-person narrator in oblique narration and then introduces another, who is a character in the Nancy story. Both first-person narrators are intradiegetic, and they are the same person but not the same character. All formal traces of the older, wiser narrator disappear completely when the time frame is changed from conditional indicating habit in the past to consecutive scenes/dialogue with inquit phrases in the past tense. AH reference to circurnstances that lie outside the possibilities of interpretation of a child are given in the child's own idiom: there is no presence whatsoever of the older mind. The fact that the story has been interpreted as narrated with «multiple point of view» will have to be adscribed to the fact that the shadow of the frarning narrator hovers over the scenes which include conversations referring to Nancy's pregnancy and the father of her child.

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The difficulties that appear when trying to apply a narratological analysis to Faulkner are great. No pragmatic study has been published so -Íaf,and 1 be-lieve-it-e0uklbe revealing te-apply-a-studY-0j'-ll0n-wrbal relevance and inference to this story. It might reveal whether the interpretations offered of this story as containing two narrators are adequate. (HARRINGTON ET AL 1952:54-59; FREY 1953:33-40; HENRIQUES (1982:123-134). HENRIQUES (1982:126), referring to the older Quentin, even goes as far as to maintain that «the fact that Quentin effaces himself emphasizes his role as observer, as it gives the other characters more involvement in events». The confusion between a narrator's interpretation, which would have been perceptible if another narration type had been chosen, such as for example quoted memory monologue (COHN 1983), and the reader's interpretation of a simple transcription of dialogue is at the root of the divergence of opinions presented with reference to this short story. In scene/dialogue narration type, characters' speech and behaviour are presented, and the reader interprets using cIues presented.

The fol1owing scene gives important information about Nancy and Jesus and the shape of Nancy's bel1y: 6....Jesus was in the kitchen, sitting behind the stove, with his razor scar on his black face like a piece of dirty string. He said it was a watermelon that Nancy had under her dress.

«It never come off of your vine, though,» Nancy said.

«Off ofwhat vine?» Caddy said.

«1 can cut down the vine it did come off of,» Jesus said.

«What makes you want to talk like that befare these chillen?» Nancy said. «Whyn't you go on to work? You done et. You want Mr Jason to catch you hanging around his kitchen, talking that way before these chillen?»

«Talking what way?» Caddy said. «What vine?»

This scene can be interpreted on three main levels, fol1owing SPERBER AND WILSON (1986) and VARELA (forthcoming): Character level, narrator level and reader leve!.

1. Character level incIudes 2 layers a) Caddy's layer, taking utterances at face value. and

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b) Nancy's and Jesus's layer, including knowledge coromon to both: Nancy is pregnant and lesos is not the father. New information for ~al1Gy-is-thatJesus,--thfORg&anindireet speedrad-implies-a-threat-te-killthe father of the child. lesus continues using the watermelon metaphor, so the little girl Caddy expresses herconfusion. Nancy who is in possession of situational knowledge common tolesus and herself, immediately infers the meaning. What is more, she finds it so evident that she takes for granted that the children present will also understand it. She upbraids lesos and sends him out of the kitchen, threatening him. Nancy and lesos share knowledge which Caddy and Quentin have no access too 2. Tbe narrator level. 9-year-old Quentin is the narrator, or rather transcriber, of the dialogue. The text as quoted here shows no evidence of his presence and he does not interpret what the characters sayo We therefore have to take the context into consideration. Previous information has been given by young Quentin about a problem Nancy has had with a certain Mr Stovall, for whom she has «worked» three times without being paid. The quotation marks around work arethe reader/analyser's, as Quentin evidently has no idea what kind of job Nancy performed. Nancy is taken to jail where she tries to kilI herself. The jailer cuts her down. She is naked, but she is alive. A sublevel can be spotted here: the Autborial intrusion level: When Nancy is cut down by the jailer, a scene which is included in the summary on the page previous to the quotation, «her belIy is already swelling out a little, like a little balloon.» The narrator, Quentin, nine years old, would certainly not use the time adverb already, because he does not know that Nancy is pregnant. The childish expression «swelling like a little balloon», clearly marks it asthe younger Quentin's «mindstyle». (FOWLER 1979) 3. Reader level. The :reader has access to all the levels, by degrees, and can make up the total picture from subsequent inferences. No narrator spells out the fact that Nancy is pregnant: it is the interaction between character and narrator levels that allow the reader to interpret.

The effect in That Evening Sun is produced by the clash between the reader's experience and the children'sinnocence. In the scene quoted aboye, this is reinforced by Caddy's expression of childish surprise.

What's wrong with cutting down a branch ofvine? Irony is produced here by the dash between a linear dialogue and its context.

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The question asked by Quentin at the end of the story, when the worst is supposed to have happened to Naney, has been interpreted by eritiesas pronouncedby the-older Quentin;butthereisnothil1gin thetext to warrant sueh an interpretation.

7. «'Whowill do ourwashing now, Father?' 1 said» (<<That Evening Sun», p.309)

Sorne eritics have maintained that this is a eallous eoroment that comes out of the mind of the older Quentin (HENRIQUES 1982: 119134). If the «1» who utters this eomment is the -presumably-innoeent nine-year-old Quentin, it is the readers and not the older Quentin who add their superior knowledge to this natural ehildish remark.

«That Evening Sun» eontains a framing device that is typieal of the short stories where Quentin Compson takes part. MATTHEWS (1989), whose essay diseusses The Sound and the Fury, Absalom, Absalom! and three short stories, establishes the relationship between the frames and the cireumstanees of the narrative's produetion. The stories found themselves on a «double movement» produeed by the narrator in the framing device. In the case of «That Evening Sun», Matthews says, the story returns to an adult perspeetive mentioning suicide (<<That Evening Sun»,p. 291), but he also admits that «the frame refuses to establish that perspeetive» (MATTHEWS 1989, p. 82), i.e. the older Quentin does not take part in the events that follow his introduetion. I agreewith Matthews' eoroment on the frame, and would like to assert the value of pragmatie analysis to prove it.

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Bibliography Bal, Mieke. 1980. «Notes on Narrative Embedding» inPoetics Today, 1:3 pp 41-59 ---o 1990. «The Point of Narratology» in Poetics Today 11:4: 727-753.

Cohn, Dorrit. 1978. Transparent Minds. Narrative Modes lor Presenting Consciousness in Fiction. New Jersey: Prínceton University Press.

Edmiston, M. 1990. «Focalization and the First-Person Narrator» inPoetics Today, 10:4 pp. 729-743.

Faulkner, William. 1977/1932/. Light in August. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

---o 1978 /1936/ Absalom, Absalom! Harmondsworth: Penguin.

---.1989/1951/ The Collected Stories ofWilliamFaulkner. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Fowler, Roger. 1981. Literature as Social Discourse. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Frey, L.H. 1953. «Irony and Point of View in 'That Evening Sun' in Faulkner Studies, Autumn 1953. pp. 33-40.

Genette, Gerard. 1972. Figures JIJ. París: Seuil.

---o 1980. Discours du récit. París: Seuil.

---o 1983. Noveau discours du récit. Paris: Seuil.

---o 1988. Noveau noveau discours du récit. Paris: Seuil.

---.1990. «Fictional Narrative, Factual Narrative» inPoetics Today 11:4 pp.

755-774.

Harrington, E. 1952. «Technical Aspects of William Faulkner's 'That Evening Sun'» in Faulkner Studies, Winter 1952.

Henriques, E. R. 1982 «Elements of the Short Story Converging on Viewpoint.

Katherine Mansfield, William Faulkner, Gimaraes Rosa and C. Lispectof».

Diss. Univ of North Carolina.

Matthews, J.T. 1989. «Faulkner's Narrrative Frames» in Fowler and Abadie.

Faulkner and the Craft ofFiction. Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha. Jackson: The University of Mississippi Press.

Nelles, W. 1990. «Getting Focalization into Focus» in Poetics Today 11:2, pp.

365-382.

Ryan,M-L. 1981. «The Pragmatics ofPersonal and Impersonal Fiction» inPoetics 10: 517-539.

Sternberg, Meir. 1991. «How Indirect Discourse Means. Syntax, Semantics, Poetics, Pragmatics.» in Sell, R. (Ed.) Literary Pragmatics. London: Routledge.

Stubbs, Michael. 1987. Discourse Analysis. The Sociolinguistic Analysis 01 Natural Language. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Sperber, D. and Wilson, D. 1986. Relevance. Oxfrod: Basil Blackwell.

Varela, E. (forthcoming) «Relevance and Irony: a pragmatic reading of a passage from W. Kennedy: Ironweed» Babel-AfiaI1994.

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Textos originales, pecados originales (en la crítica de traducciones de obras de teatro) Raquel Merino Alvarez Universidad del Pais Vasco

When evaluating and assessing the quality of translations we usually compare a source text (ST) and a target text (1T) or target texts. In papers on the subject, there are often references to different translations of the same original but we seldom draw upon the probable existence of more than one original. If this possibility is not taken into account from the onset, the conclusions reached afier a comparative study of the so calIed original and the translation(s) ron the risk of being totally unfounded. largue in this paper that the question of the original should be in the origin of the activity of the critic of translations and/or the scholar, otherwise he might mn the risk of commiting a truly «original» sin.

Dada la composición temática de esta publicación, parece innecesario recalcar, una vez más, la importancia de las críticas de textos traducidos, dentro de lo que se ha dado en llamar Estudios de Traducción.

Si importante es la actividad traductora en sí misma, tan importante parece la intervención del crítico que analiza el texto traducido y lo desmenuza no sólo buscando errores e inequivalencias que pudieran haber afectado la recepción de tal texto por parte del público, sino también tratando de ver de qué modo se podrían haber evitado éstos.

La evaluación de la calidad de los textos que se nos ofrecen como versiones, se basa principalmente en la comparación de un TO(texto original) y un TT(texto traducido), o de un TO y dos o más textos traducidos. Nos planteamos el problema de comparar el resultado de verter el Tü y desarrollamos diferentes sistemas de crítica de los mismos. Sopesamos las diversas opciones que el traductor tuvo en cuenta y llegamos, las más de las veces, a la conclusión de que, si traducir es difícil, más difícil aún parece criticar de manera objetiva y minuciosa el producto de tal actividad.

Una cuestión sumamente importante, que rara vez se plantea como previa a la crítica de traduciones, es la de la posible existencia de más de

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un TO. Si, como hemos apuntado anteriormente, la crítica de traducciones necesita de un TO y un TI para ser comparados y poder,de dicho estudio comparativo, extraer las conclusiones pertinentes, deberemos prestar, en principio, la misma atención al TO que al TI. Esto, sin embargo, no es siempre así. El TI merece toda nuestra atención y el TO no suele ser cuestionado o investigado del mismo modo.

Solemos hablar del TO y del o los texto/s traducido/s. Solemos comparar versión y TO sin cuestionamos el status de éste último.

Incluso los teóricos, de la traductología parecen no recoger de ningún modo este aspecto previo a cualquier crítica de traducción. El Profesor Peter Newmark, por ejemplo, en su libro A Textbook ofTranslation\ en la sección dedicada a «Translation criticism», describe los cinco pasos a seguir para llevar a cabo esta crítica. Los cinco estadios hacen referencia a TO y TI sin ninguna mención al problema de tener que decidir cuál es el texto original utilizado. Probablemente sea una cuestión que se da por supuesta, o quizás cada tipo de ~extos o géneros tienen sus propias peculiaridades. El hecho es que, las más de las veces, hablamos del texto original como único.

Pero, ¿qué ocurre cuando no hay sólo un texto original? ¿Qué repercusiones tiene saber si existen diferentes versiones originales o no?

Ocurre que la actividad del crítico de traducción puede convertirse en objeto de crítica a su vez y lo que tachamos de reprobable en otros (los traductores) podría resultar ser, no producto de sus deslices o de su mal hacer, sino de nuestra propia falta de precaución al considerar un TO único o al no plantearnos la posible existencia de otros. Se trata de nuestros pecados originales, y no por lo extravagantes o inusuales, sino por lo que tienen de omisiones en el origen de nuestra actividad: el rastreo, selección y elección de textos (traducidos y originales). Gran parte de nuestros esfuerzos al cotejar TO y TI pueden caer en saco roto si no tomamos la simple precaución de comprobar la existencia de más de un TO y de contrastar los diferentes textos originales que pudiera haber.

Para ilustrar esta cuestión a la que nos venimos refiriendo, mencionaré brevemente mi experiencia con algunas obras de teatro inglés traducidas al español y cuyas traducciones he manejado.

En el caso de la obra qe Peter Shaffer, Amadeus, la única versión original disponible en la actualidad, así como en el momento en que se llevó a cabo el estudio, es la publicada por Penguin en 1981. Se trata de una edición revisada, según se indica en el libro, de la primera edición de la obra, publicad:,t en Gran Bretaña por André Deutsch, en 1980. No existe en esta segunda edición revisada ninguna referencia a los cambios que el

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autor introdujo en su día y, puesto que la traducción de la obra publicada por MK Ediciones en 1981 no indica la edición correspondiente del texto original utilizado, debimos suponer que cualquiera de las dos ediciones diferentes podría haber sido el TO en el que Pilar Salsó se basó para realizar su traducción (representada en 1982).

Una primera cala del TI nos indicaba que éste seguía fielmente el orden y división de la obra original, así como gran parte del material textual.

Sin embargo, lo que nos preocupaba principalmente no eran los errores de traducción que se detectaban aquí o allá, o las inequivalencias entre TO y TI (que demuestran claramente el caracter de esta edición como texto base -TÜ-), sino las aparentes adiciones de texto que no aparecía en el TO, así como las aparentes supresiones de palabras y oraciones.

Así pues, antes de decidir si estas adiciones y supresiones de texto eran tales, sólo cabía conseguir la edición de 1979 (no disponible) y constatar los cambios que el autor había introducido en la edición revisada que nosotros manejábamos. Aunque ésta parezca la solución más obvia, no siempre es viable a corto plazo por razones de disponibilidad, ediciones agotadas, etc., que a todos se nos alcanzan. Existe en ocasiones, o al menos en este caso existió, un camino intermedio relativamente rápido y clarificador. Me refiero a la reseña que sobre los diferentes estrenos de la obra fue publicada en The Crown Cuide to the World's Creat Plays2 donde J. Shipley explica, de manera escueta pero suficiente, los cambios más importantes que Peter Shaffer introdujo al revisar el texto para la representación de la obra en Nueva York, cambios que se mantuvieron desde entonces en todas las representaciones subsiguientes e incluso en la edición de 1981. La omisión de la muerte del emperador (por irrelevante) es una de estas modificaciones; P. Shaffer también eliminó el personaje de Greybird, el mayordomo de Salieri, lo cual le dio al personaje mayor fuerza. Por último, el autor añadió la escena del estreno de la Flauta Mágica. Estos cambios fueron utilizados entre otros lugares, en Viena, Berlín, Sidney y en una gira por los EE.UU. En la traducción al español de la obra (representada en 1982), no nos encontramos con el personaje de Greybird en ningún momento.

Tampoco aparece la muerte del emperador explícitamente. Finalmente, sí que nos encontramos con la escena de la premiere de la Flauta Mágica.

Todo ello parece indicar que la traductora utilizó en todo momento la edición revisada.

Por otra parte tenemos aquellos fenómenos de adición y supresión que originalmente nos llevaron a dudar sobre el TO utilizado. Por poner sólo un ejemplo de adición mencionaré aquellos casos en que la traducto-

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ra introduce referencias a un personaje que no figuran en ninguno de los textos originales: concretamente las alusiones a Aloysia Weber, hermana de la mujer de Mozart.

VENTICELLO 1: Takes in male lodgers, and has a tribe oí daughters.

VENTICELLO 2: Mozart is after one of them.

VENTICELLO 1: Constanze. 3 v.1v.2v.1.v.2.v.1.v.2.-

Admite huéspedes masculinos, y tiene una caterva de hijas.

Mozart tuvo anteriormente relaciones con una de ellas.

Una soprano llamada Aloysia.

Le dejó plantado.

Ahora él anda detrás de otra hermana.

Constanza. 4

En cuanto al otro fenómeno que nos llevó a rastrear el Tü utilizado, podemos decir que ninguna de las supresiones que la traductora efectúa obedecen a supresiones realizadas por P. Shaffer al revisar la obra. Para ejemplificar este fenómeno mencionaremos la siguiente supresión significativa: SALIERI: (oo.) And now my last move. A false confession - short and convincingl (he pul1s it out of his pocket.)

How 1 really did murder Mozart - with arsenic - out of envy! And how 1 cannot live another day under the knowledge! By tonight they'll hear out there how 1 died - and they'll believe it's true!... Let them forget me then. For the rest of time whenever men say Mozart with love, they'll say Salieri with loathing! (00.)5 SALIERI.- ('00) Desde hoy siempre que los hombres pronuncien el nombre de Mozart con amor pronunciarán el mío con odio ('00)6

Como hemos apuntado anteriormente, otro tipo de fenómenos, como errores de traducción e iriequivalencias de diversa índole, son los que corroboran nuestra opinión de que la base para la traducción (y posterior representación) de la obra al español, fue la segunda versión original publicada en 1981 y representada con éxito en Nueva York.

Alguien podría pensar que estábamos como al principio, pero la constatación de la existencia de dos textos originales y su posterior utiliza-

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ción, para tratar de explicar ciertos fenómenos recurrentes en la traducción, clarificaron ciertas dudas y, desde luego, nos aseguraron de que no estábamos cometiendo aquellos errores que nosotros mismos criticábamos.

Re de decir que la utilización de un método indirecto de información acerca de los textos originales, si bien pudiera parecer hasta cierto punto un método arriesgado, fue en este caso definitivo por la naturaleza de los cambios realizados y de los cuales ya hemos visto brevemente algunos ejemplos. Así mismo, una posterior consulta directa del texto original corroboró nuestra hipótesis inicial: la utilización por parte del traductor del segundo texto original (edición revisada de 1981).

Otro caso diferente que podría ejemplificar el argumento que venimos defendiendo, es el de la obra de teatro A Manjor all Seasons7 de Robert BoH, estrenada en España en 1962 como La cabeza de un traidor, según la versión española de Luis Escobar y Santiago Martinez Caro, publicada por Escelicer en 1963 (que denominaremos TI1) y posteriormente publicada como traducción atribuida a Luis Escobar, con el título de Un hombre para la eternidacP en Ediciones Iberoamericanas en 1967 (y a la que denominaremos TI2).

Pues bien, el primer paso para comparar cada uno de estos dos textos traducidos con el TO, era encontrar el TO adecuado. La edición standard que se suele manejar de esta obra es la publicada en la colección The Rereford Series, de la editorial Heinemann Educational Books. Esta es la edición que en un principio se suele considerar como único texto original. Sin embargo, y tras una serie de consultas en la BL, encontramos seis ediciones en inglés deA Man for AIl Seasons. En 1960 se publicaron en Londres dos ediciones de la obra, una en Samuel French Ltd.(acting edition), y otra en Reinemann-The Drama Library-(reading edition). La edición de S. French en Nueva York(1964) es una reimpresión de la de Londres, también con la indicación:»acting edition». La edición de Rei· nemann se publicó en la colección The Hereford Plays, en 1963, con algunas secciones adicionales, en la introducción a la obra y al final, en forma de notas. Es esta edición la que publicó Penguin también en 1963 en una colección de obras de dramaturgos contemporáneos, y Heinemann (The Hereford Plays) en 1969 con unas notas adicionales.

Todos estos textos originales, después de compararlos entre sí, quedaron reducidos a dos: el publicado por Samuel French Ltd.(acting edition) en 1960 y el publicado por Heinemann sucesivamente en dos colecciones diferentes.

La comparación de los dos textos originales nos llevó a concluir que el Tü1 contiene muchísimas más acotaciones e indicaciones de

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movimiento escénico que el T02, mientras que el texto dramático en sí, no cambia. Y es este texto dramático el que se ha reflejado en ambos textos traducidos que, a su vez, y una vez más, comparados, se quedan reducidos a un sólo TI publicado por dos editoriales diferentes lO • En esta ocasión, utilizamos el método directo, es decir, comparamos las diferentes ediciones entre sí, contando con los textos originales, no por medio de referencias. También en este caso, como en el de Amadeus, la primera hipótesis incicial, esto es, que el texto original, en su edición más asequible y conocida, pudiera haber sido el texto utilizado para su posterior traducción y representación en español, fue corroborada por el rastreo y comparación minuciosa de textos originales.

Existen, aparte de los mencionados, casos aún más variopintos de textos traducidos en busca de su original. Textos traducidos en los que, siguiendo la tendencia general, no figura la referencia bibliográfica al texto original del que se traduce, ni al título original de la obra, ni la fecha de publicación en versión original; y donde los cambios son tantos y tan variados, que la obra, desfigurada y maltrecha, no parece compartir semejanza alguna con ninguno de los posibles originales.

Un caso anecdótico de esta práctica tan común es la obra de T. Rattigan, Alejandro, publicada en Escelicer en 1964, en versión española de Diego Hurtado, y cuyo texto original correspondiente, en este caso único, nos costó cierto tiempo encontrar, puesto que al no figurar ninguno de los datos antes mencionados (fecha de edición original, título original, etc.), sólo contábamos con el nombre del autor y la traducción. No fue un proceso excesivamente costoso el de descubrir que, en realidad, esta pieza era una versión de Adventure Story, obra sobre la vida de Alejandro Magno; pero no habría sido necesario el esfuerzo si en la edición de obras de teatro se siguieran los usos y prácticas comunes utilizadas al editar obras de otros géneros.

Hablábamos de un caso anecdótico de texto traducido buscando su original. Veamos ahora un caso que aún está en proceso de estudio. Me refiero a la obra de Jack Popplewell ¡Vengan corriendo que les tengo un muerto!, publicada por Escelicer en 1967, versión castellana de Vicente Balart, estrenada el6de septiembre de 1966. Una vez más, carecemos de toda información sobre el texto original utilizado, salvo, el nombre del autor. El título de la versión no nos da ninguna pista sobre el título de la obra original, puesto que en su dilatada carrera como dramaturgo, este autor suele crear tramas de carácter policiaco con títulos que hacenreferencia al misterio de tumo. En el caso de Jack Popplewell, lo mismo que en el de T. Rattigan, no existen ediciones múltiples de cada una de sus obras. El problema radica en saber cuál de sus obras corresponde al texto traducido que tenemos.

Raquel Merino Textos originales: pecados originales

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Después de un acercamiento general al dilatado número de obras escritas por J. Popplewell (en los fondos de la BL), llegamos a la conclusión de que Dead Easy podría ser la obra que había sido traducida como i Vengan corriendo que les tengo un muerto!. Era la única en la que encontramos personajes con los mismos nombres que los de la versión española. Pero, incluso así, no todos los personajes tienen el mismo nombre; de hecho, sólo tres comparten un nombre y apellidos exactos en el TO y el TI. Por otro lado, el argumento coincide, aunque la división en actos y escenas no. Si tenemos en cuenta que, el cambiar el nombre a los personajes, o el número de los que aparecen, y que modificar la división en actos, escenas, etc..., es una práctica corriente cuando se hacen versiones de obras de teatro, al menos en este país, entonces todos estos cambios que observamos inicialmente no serían un obstáculo grave para poder concluir que, efectivamente, Dead Easy es el TO que Vicente Balart utilizó en su versión de i Vengan corriendo que les tengo un muerto!. De todos modos, y según se ha indicado, este estudio está todavía pendiente de solución final por ser varios los textos de este autor que no se han podido encontrar aún.

Nos queda también la posibilidad de comprobar la correspondencia TOfTT a través de otros medios diferentes al del estudio de textos. Se puede recurrir al agente teatral del autor, recavando información sobre peticiones de permiso de representación; también la Sociedad General de Autores podría ayudarnos a saber algo acerca de los permisos de traducción. Pero, en cualquier caso, y suponiendo que recibiéramos la información solicitada de las fuentes ya indicadas, tendríamos que volver al texto para comprobar que esta correspondencia TOfTT es correcta, y para realizar el estudio que en un principio pensabamos acometer.

Una vez expuestos estos tres ejemplos de diferentes problemas que se nos pueden plantear con los textos originales en las críticas de traducciones, resulta necesario añadir que, si lo que en un principio podía parecer actividad gratuita e innecesaria, puede provocar a veces mayores dificultades en la visión, ya de por sí obstaculizada, del crítico de traducciones en el origen mismo de su actividad. Parece que va siendo hora de incluir la cuestión de los textos originales (al menos, según mi modesta opinión, en el caso de los textos dramáticos) en el proceso de crítica. y así, al exigir buenas traducciones, también exijamos buenas críticas de traducciones que nos ayuden a comprender el estado de la cuestión y a cali,brar las versiones que se nos presentan. La comprobación de la fuente utilizada por el traductor debería, pues, ser mencionada como un paso previd\~ntes de acometer el grueso de la crítica del TT. '. \

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NOTAS Peter Newmark, A Textbook of Translation (London: Prentice Hall, 1988), pp. 184-192.

2.

J. Shipley, The Crown Guide to the World' s Great Plays (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1984), p. 578.

3. Peter Shaffer, Amadeus (Penguin: London, 1981), p. 22. Encontramos referencias a este personaje (Aloysia) en las páginas 23, 44 Y 78 de la edición inglesa y en las correspondientes 29, 52 y 70 de la edición española.

4.

Peter Shaffer, Amadeus (MK Ediciones, Colección Escena nº 28: Madrid, 1981) p. 29, 52 Y70.

5.

Peter Shaffer, Amadeus (Penguin: London, 1981), p. 103.

6.

Peter Shaffer, Amadeus (MK Ediciones, Colección Escena nº 28: Madrid, 1981) p. 114.

7.

Se han utilizado las siguientes ediciones inglesas de la obra: - Robert BoH, AMan for Al! Seasons (London: Samuel French Ud., 1960).

Al referirnos a esta edición la llamaremos texto original 1 [Tü1] .

- Robert BoH, AMan for Al! Seasons (London: Heinemann Educational Books Ud., The Drama Library, 1960).

- Robert BoH, AMan for Al! Seasons (London: Heinemann Educational Books Ud., The Hereford Plays Series, 1963).

- Robert BoH, AMan for Al! Seasons (London: Heinemann Educational Books Ud., The Hereford Plays Series. Reprint, 1969). Esta edición será el texto original 2 [Tü2].

8.

Robert BoH, La cabeza de un traidor (Versión española de Luis Escobar y Santiago Martinez Caro. Colección Teatro nº 365 (extra). Madrid: Escelicer S.A., 1963). Nos referiremos a esta edición como Texto traducido 1 [TI1].

9.

Robert BoH, Un hombre para la eternidad (Traducción de Luis Escobar, Madrid: Ediciones Iberoamericanas S.A., 1967). [TTI] 10. Para un estudio más detallado sobre los textos originales y los textos traducidos de la obra de R. BoH, vease «Un hombre para la eternidad: una traducción para la eternidad», en Homenaje al Profesor Pedro-Jesús Marcos, Universidad de Alicante, 1989.

1.

Peter Garrett / CarlJames What's language awareness?

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What's language awareness?

Peter Garret CarlJames Bangor, Universidad de Gales

El presente artículo es una introducción general a todo aquello que en sí encierra el término Consciencia Lingüística, concepto que se ha convertido en los últimos tiempos en un campo de investigación de gran interés para todos aquellos dedicados a la enseñanza y aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras.

Todavía no existe una definición precisa y única de este concepto, pero sí se está trabajando en distintas direcciones que permiten ver la riqueza, productividad y utilidad de esta área de conocimiento.

1. What is LA? Where did it all come from?

Language Awareness (LA) is an exciting vibrant area of activity and interest. It is referred to more and more by those working in language and education. There are books devoted to it (e.g. Hawkins, 1984; Donmall, 1985; Fairclough, 1992; James and Garrett, 1992). There is a large and regularly updated 1 bibliography of LA books and articles. There are organisations promoting it and even producing newsletters about it (e.g. the Association for Language Awareness2). There have been LA conferences3, and there is now, in addition, a journal called Language

Awareness".

So what is LA? There is no clear answer; it is a field still searching for cIear definition. However, this arguably adds to rather than subtracts from its appea!. One definition which is often quoted is: Language Awareness is a person's sensitivity to a conscious awareness of the nature of language and its role in human lite (Donmall, 1985: 7). This does not ten us much about what people actually do when they «do» LA, though, so we begin by looking at how the field of LA has evolved, initially in the UK.

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Responding to the notorious lack of achievement in literacy and in foreign language leaming in British schools, Hawkins (1981, 1984) argued for the introduction of programmes of study about language. These, he argued, should begin in primary schools and continue into secondary schools, thus building a bridge between the teaching of the mother tongue (MT) and foreign languages (FLs). LA (a programme of study about language) would bridge the transition (at the age of 11) from primary to secondary education language work. It was also to provide a point of contact for aH fields of language education (e.g. FLs, MT. UK community languages, such as Punjabi). Its content would be aimed at stimulating talk about language and linguistic diversity, and also at developing confidence in writing, reading and listening. TypicaHy, such programmes would inelude coverage of stages of language acquisition and development and the processes involved, grammatical concepts, language varieties, comparison of structure, vocabulary, and writing systems in different languages. Methods would be oriented towards pair group work data coHecting in arder to generate discussion about language.

2. Other Areas of LA. LA has grown into more than just this kind of programme, however. To begin with, even if we restrict ourselves to LA activities within educational systems, they take place at aH levels, from primary schools to universities, from private language schools to adult education centres, from young children to teachers and teacher trainees.

LA may or may not concem itself with building bridges across different fields of language education. It may restrict itself to EFL, (Bolitho and Tomlinson, 1980; Frank and Rivolucri, 1983), or to ESP (Holmes and Ramos, 1992), ot to a shared MT (Tinkel, 1992).

The field of literary awareness and the use of literature in the elassroom also feature in LA work (Prieto Pablos, 1992), as does the role of language in other areas of education: e.g. in the路 teaching of mathematics. Nor is LA restricted to educational contexts. People working in the media, for example, might have something to say about the role of language awareness in their work.

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LAinterests also extend beyond awareness oflanguage to leamers' awareness of themselves and their preferred strategies in the language learning process. Toncheva (1992), for example, has investigated the facilitative aspects of leamers «switching off» in language lessons, claiming that this is sometimes a strategy employed by learners when they sense a mismatch between their leaming style and the teaching methodology. Holmes and Ramos (1992) constructed and issued a checklist of strategies to leamers on the basis of which learners recorded, contemplated and discussed the strategies they used in particular classroom language tasks.

In addition, LA embraces the debate about the role of consciousness in language learning, about whether the explicit formulation of rules, for example, is facilitative (Rutherford, 1987) or an impediment (Krashen, 1981) in the process of leaming a language. Is conscious knowledge more helpful for older leamers, or for particular aspects of language?Is it all a question of person's individualleaming style?

Fundamentally, then, LA is about refiection, talk, and knowledge about language and language leaming. But why bother with this? After aH, wasn't the Grammar Translation method criticised because students finished up knowing lots about language but still did not actuaHy know the language itself: e.g. theycould not speak it? let us take a closer look then at the rationale of LA.

3. Tbe Five Domains of LA. James and Garrett (1992: 12) emphasise that LA should not be seen as an altemative to language leaming. Rather, parallel to language learning, the benefits that are claimed for it may be seen along five domains: affective, social, power, cognitive and performance.

A. Tbe affective Domain.

LA recognises that leaming is done with the heart as well as the head. ane of the central goals of LA work is to stimulate curiosity about language (Hawkins, 1984: 45), thereby «oo. increasing receptivity to new linguistic experience» (Anderson 1992: 133). In

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addition, there is whithin the Englishas a Foreign Language field, a further recognised branch of LA not so much concemed with taIking about language, but with activities directed at links between the affective domain and improved language performance. Such activities are aimed at «... encouraging the leamer to contribute new things of personal relevance» (Frank and Rinvolucri, 1983: 7-8).

B. The Social Dornain.

This is a particulary strong motivation for LA work in muIticultural contexts: social harmonisation. LA work can be geared towards building «... better relations between all ethnic groups by arousing pupils' awareness of the origins and characteristics of their own language and dialect and their place in the wider map of language and dialects used in the world beyond» (Donmal1, 1985: 8).

«Deepening understanding, fostering tolerance» are two of the aims LA is general1y held to pursue (Anderson, 1992: 133).

C. The Power Dornaio.

LA work can alert students to the ways in which language can be used as an instrument of manipulation. Thus it is possible to develop students' linguistic sensitivity and vigilance, and to ernpower them in their own use of language. Of particular note in this domain is the work in Language Awareness of the Lancaster University group (Fairclough, 1989, 1992).

D. The Cogoitive Dornaio.

LA can develop «... awareness of pattem, contrast, system, units, categories, rules of language in use and the ability to reflect on them» (Donmal1, 1985: 7). This does not entail a retum to tradHional grammar teaching, then, because here we are also looking at language in use, at functions, at genres, and also at language leaming processes.

E. The Performance Dornain.

Sorne would argue that LA needs no justification in terms of improved language proficiency, inJhe same way that the study of bioh>gy does not need to lead to increased crop production in order to justify itself. However, there are widely held beliefs or hopes (at best) that the analytical knowledge fostered by LA has a positive effect on language behaviour. For example, to take Donmal1 (1985:

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7) once more, ÂŤHeightened awareness may be expected to bring pupils to increase the language resources available to them and to foster their mastery of themÂť [our italics J.

4. Current Concerns.

That final point really brings us to the most buming issue in LA at present: the search for sorne tangible proof that LA has a real impact on sorne or all of these domains, and what the nature, conditions, and limitations of any impact are. Little has been done inthe way of evaluating LA programmes (hut see Heap, 1992), though there is of course sorne research into the debate with Krashen regarding the role of conscious knowledge in language leaming (for brief summaries, see Rutherford, 1987: 24f, Garrett and Austin, 1992: 43f). These are fundamental questions in language teaching and learning, and it is to be hoped that the growing body of people interested in LA will take up the challenge of addressing them.

NOTES 1.

2.

3.

4.

The LA bibliography will be published in Language Awareness, Volume 2, 1993 (see note 4).

Details regarding the Association for Language Awareness and the Newsletter may be obtained from Peter Garrett, Linguistics Department, University ofWales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2DG, UK. B.g. Seminar on Language Awareness (organised on behalf of the British Association for Applied Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor, 1989), Intemational Conference on Language Awareness (organised for the National Consortium of Centres for Language Awareness at the University ofWales, Bangor, 1992).

The journal is published by Multilingual Matters, Frankfurt Lodge, Clevendon Hall, ViCtoria Road, Clevedon, Avon, BS21 7SJ, UK. Members of the Association for Language Awareness may purchase the journal at a reduced price.

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REFERENCES Anderson, J. 1992. «The potential of Language Awareness as a focus for crosscurricular work in secondary schoo1». In C. James and P. Garrett (eds) [133-139].

Bolitho, B.G. (ed.) 1985. Language Awareness: NCLE Reports and Papers, 6.

London, CILT. Fairclough, N. 1989. Language and Power. London, Longman.

Fairclough, N. (ed.) 1992. CriticalLanguageAwareness. London, Longman.

Frank, C. and Rinvolucri, M. 1983. Grammar in Action; Awareness Activities for Language Learning. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall.

Garrett, P. andAustin, C. 1992. «Uncertainty in the English Genitive Apostrophe».

Bangor Research Papers in Linguistics, 4, University of Wales, [41-52].

Hawkins, E. 1984. Modern Languages in the Curriculum. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Heap, B. 1992. «Evaluating the effectiveness of a Language Awareness course».

In C. James and P. Garrett (eds) [247-253].

Hedge, N. and Gosden, H. 1992. «Language Awareness and EAP courses». In C. James and P. Garrett (eds) [186-197].

Holmes, J. and Ramos, R. 1992. «Talking about leaming: establishing a framework for discussing and changing learning processes. In C. James and P. Garrett (eds) [198-212].

James, C. and Garrett, P. (eds) 1992. Language Awareness in the Classroom.

London, Longman.

Krashen, S.D. 1981. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford, Pergamon.

Prieto Pablos, 1. 1992. «The two (or three) LAs: using literary texts in English in southern Spain». LanguageAwareness, Vol 1, No 1, [33-45].

Rutherford, W. 1987. Second Language Grammar: Learning and Teaching.

London, Longman.

Scott, M. 1992. «A Brazilian view of Language Awareness». In C. James and P. Garrett (eds) [278-289].

Tinkel, T. 1992 «Language Awareness and the teaching of English language in the upper secondary school». In C. James and P. Garrett (eds) [100-106].

Toncheva, E. 1992. «Switching Off: learners' perception of the appropriacy of input». In C. James and P. Garrett (eds) [140-147].

Mfl Luz Celaya Villanueva The Form of the English Present Continuous...

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The Form oC the English Present Continuous in the Interlanguage oC Learners oC English as a Foreign Language Mª Luz Celaya Villanueva Universidad de Barcelona

Diversos estudios en el área de la adquisición del inglés como segunda lengua o como lengua extranjera han demostrado que el presente continuo inglés presenta tres formas diferentes en el interlenguaje de los aprendices. Una forma es la forma estándar «verbo auxiliar + V-ing»,otra sigue la estructura «V-ing», donde no aparece el verbo auxiliar, y, una tercera forma es aquélla en la que no se utiliza el morfema «-ing» (<<verbo auxiliar + V»). El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar si alguna de estas formas aparece en nuestro corpus y, en caso afirmativo, establecer unos criterios de uso de cada una de ellas.

Las tres conclusiones de este estudio son: - Las formas del presente continuo del inglés como lengua extranjera son las mismas que las encontradas en inglés como primera y segunda lengua.

- El uso de estas tres formas demuestra que el aprendizaje no se produce de manera uniforme.

- La instrucción puede tener un efecto positivo en la adquisición de la forma del presente continuo.

Introduction Errors in the acquisition of tenses have always been acknowledged in the literature of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) (see, for instance, Perren & Trirn (eds.) (1971), Edstr6rn (1973), Charnot (1978 and 1979) and Abraharn (1984)). In this line, sorne SLA pieces of research have focused on the acquisition of English tenses frorn the point of view of the acquisition of tense forrns. Such studies anaIyse, for instance, whether leamers use the «s» of the present third person singular, whether the «-ing» ending is added to the infinitive to form the progressive aspect or whether the correct forrn of a verb is used after an auxiliary.

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In the same line, the present study analyses the form of the English present continuous tense in a foreign language learningcontext. Three forms for the present continuous have been reported in the literature of SLA research1, namely, the form «auxiliary verb + V-ing»2, which corresponds to standard usage, the form «V-ing» in which the auxiliary does not appear and, finally, «auxiliary verb + V» in which the morpheme «-ing» is not added to the base form of the verbo The objective in this paper is to analyse whether any of these forms appear in the data, and if they do, ""hich ones are used and at which stage in the study.

The study The form of the present continuous is analysed in the oral production of 20 subjects, all of them learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Barcelona, who were studied longitudinallyduring a whole school year. All the subjects had a similar level of proficiency in English (false-beginners) and belonged to four different schools in Barcelona and its surroundings3 • The subjects' production was ellicited by means of an informal conversation with the researcher which took place once a month. One of the tasks included in the conversation was the description of a photograph in which several people were performing different actions. Because of the context, most forms of the present continuous were produced in this task.

Data analysis A first analysis of the data shows that the three forms which have been mentioned aboye are produced by the subjects from the beginning of the study. However, this does not mean that each of the subjects uses the three forms during all the school year. Far from that, several patterns of usage were observed depending on both the time of the interview and the subject. This is the reason why two perspectives have been followed in the study of the data. On the one hand, a longitudinal analysis of the data has been carried out to show the overall patterns of usage that the form of the present continuous follows during the nine months of instruction in EFL. On the other hand, a qualitative analysis of the production of each

Mª Luz Celaya Villanueva The Form ofthe English Present Continuous...

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subject has also been undertaken in order to analyse individual variation in the form of this tense. Results from both points of view appear in what follows.

The data show that after one month of instruction, when the subjects are interviewed for the first time, 40% of the subjects do not use any of the forms of the present continuous that have been mentioned aboye. This result is already expected, since the present continuous has not been presented in the English class at this stage. Alternative constructions are used instead, e.g.

S44: A girl of .., a girl ... take the piano ... amen .. , write a ... write5• S12: There are T.V., there is a

another man and another woman looking the T. watching the a ... girl ... going ... exit.

When the present continuous is used by the subjects, the three forms appear from the beginning of the study, although never produced by only one subject: S2: There are three, four mens, four mens, one it's it's switch on the light, another it's it's looking a girl.

S16: ... a girl in ... in your ... bueno ... reading book.

S8: The dog is eating ... the brothers are

oo.

the

'oo

yes ... are writing in a paper.

However, the form that is produced by most subjects is «no aux + V-ing». This may be the result of considering the morpheme «-ing» as a c1ear marking of the progressive aspect.

At time 2 of the study, that is, after two months of instruction in English, the present continuous. has already been introduced in c1ass.

Consequently, more subjects use this tense now and 55% of them produce at least one instance of the correct form «aux + V-ing». However, these correct instances are usually produced together with one or two of the other forms, that is, either «no aux + V-ing» or «aux + V». More instances of the former still appear, although the form «aux + V» appears more often than at time 1.

The number of students who produce correct forms increases at time 3 (65% of the subjects), probably as a result oí instruction. A relevant change takes place at this time, since more students use the form

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«aux + V» instead of «no aux + V-ing», a pattern which will be kept until the end of the study when only one of the subjects produces the fonu «no aux + V-ing». This means that the importance ofthe morpheme «-ing»as a marker of the progressive is replaced by the use of the auxiliary verbo The explanation may líe in the fact that, since there seems to be a tendency on the part of EFL teachers to draw the students' attention to the .auxiliary, which is usually forgotten during the first stages, the auxiliary is finally used correctly but not the morpheme «-ing». This aspect, however, should be analysed bearing in mind factors such as teacher talk, correction in class and remedial work if one wants to reach less tentative conclusions. Moreover, the linguistic and extra-linguistic context should also be taken into account. A rough analysis of the data shows that the harder the effort on the pronunciation of the infinitive or the higher the attention paid to meaning, the higher the chance of coming across the base fonu of the verb instead of «V-ing».

From time 4 to the last meeting, the percentage of subjects who use the correct fonu of the present continuous increases (80% at time 4 and 85% from time 5 until the end). As has been mentioned aboye, more subjects use «aux + V» than «no aux + V-ing» from time 4 until the end of the study. Most of the subjects still produce the correct instances together with the incorrect fonus:

ss: The girl ... is open the door and the grandmother and the ... and the woman are ... washing television. (...) She '" she is ... read a the ... the letter.

S19: They ... they they watching TV and this man is ... is ... write a letter. (...) This girl is reading a magazine or a book.

Just a few subjects always stick to one or two of the fonus, as we shall see in the analysis of individual variation.

Another relevant change that needs mentioning takes place towards the end of the school year. Some of the subjects use the English simple present tense instead of the present continuous to refer to the present moment. Even if the cause for this substitution does not concern us here, the effect on the data that is being analysed is important. Just as in the first interview, although for other reasons, some subjects do not produce any of the three forms of the present continuous in the last interviews.

Nevertheless, the percentage of subjects with the correct fonu is higher than at time 1. Individual production, therefore, must also be analysed in order to complete these results.

Mª Luz Celaya Villanueva

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The individual study ofthe subjects' production shows that only 1 of the 20 subjects produces the correct form of the present continuous with no other variants from the beginning to the end of the study. Four other subjects also use the correct form from the very beginning, although in these cases there are a few instances of the form «aux + V» in one of the interviews and one instance of «no aux + V-ing». This means that only 25% of the subjects start their lst.year of B.U.P. with the correct form of the present continuous and, what is more important, keep it until the end ofthe school year.

Most subjects in the study (60%) produce the three forms at least at two of the meetings or altemate between them during al1 the study.

Therefore, there exists individual variation in each interview and also variation across interviews. The subjects keep going backwards and forwards in the sense that, for instance, they produce «no aux + V-ing» or «aux + V» together with the correct form at one time, then use the correct form at the fol1owing time and go back to «no aux + V-ing» or «aux + V» together with the correct form at the next meeting. An example of this kind of behaviour is the fol1owing: S4 (time2): Amen and a girl taIking a piano. (... ) This girlis .oo writing a book, reading a book, sorry. (...) Re's listen ... to .,. his his wife says.

S4 (time 3): She is ... watching television. (.oo) This man is writing.

S4 (time 5): They are reading a book, the wife are reading a book and his oo. handbag are oo. are listen to her.

From the point of view of language teaching, the relevant aspect in such cases is to analyse whether at the end of the year students have acquired the correct form or, on the contrary, keep using the correctform together with one or two wrong forms. From the 20 subjects analysed in this study, 8 subjects use only the correct form towards the end of the school year6• A study of the 20 subjects in the fol1owing year would show whether insttuction has in fact a delayed effect, as sorne scholars claim, or, 00 the contrary, would prove that it is not whol1y effective in the acquisition of the form of the present continuous.

Finally, Httle variation appears in 15%of the subjects, since they stickto one ofthe two wrong forms (<<aux + V» (1 subject) and «no aux + V-ing» (1 subject», or use the combination «correct» and «no aux + Ving» (1 subject) consistently. Actual1y, if we bear in mind that, according

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to the results, only 2 of the subjects never produce the correct form of the present continuous, the positive role of instruction must be acknowledged without any further analysis, as has been suggested aboye.

The results which have been analysed here show, therefore, that the form «aux + V-ing» of the present continuous is acquired in the first year of B.U.P., although there is also a strong tendency to use «aux + V» instead. This form is used more often than the construction «no aux + Ving», which appears in earlier stages of acquisition. The alternation between the tbree forms is a relevant aspect that appears in the data, since it shows that there exists variation in language learning.

Conclusions Several conclusions come to light in view of these results. To begin with, both the tbree forms that have been observed in the IL of {he subjects and the fact that learners use more than one of the forms have also been reported in other SLA studies. An interesting study in this line is Wagner-Gough (1978). The researcher analyses the form of verbs, focussing on the acquisition of the progressive, as part of a longitudinal study of the English of a Persian child in the States. The learner expressed the English progressive either as the construction «no aux + V-ing» or as «aux + V». It is interesting to remark that both instances have also been found in first language acquisition. From a morphological point ofview, therefore, the subject's form of the progressive is the same as that of first language learners. As has been seen aboye, our learners of EFL are no exception to the general patterns reported in the literature. This piece of research shows, then, that the form of the present continuous in a foreign language learning context follows the same patterns of acquisition as in first and second language acquisition.

Secondly, the data in this study corroborate the statement that language learning is not a straightforward lineo Some of the subjects keep going backwards and forwards in their use of the form of the English present continuous in the sense that, as has been explained, they use a wrong form, they produce the correct one at the following sessiolland use the wrong one again. This fact has also been acknowledged by many SLA researchers (see Kellerman (1987». Once again, then, the findings in this study conform to what has been observed in other pieces of research.

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Finally, another relevant conclusion that can be put forward from the results in this study is that instruction seems to have a positive effect in sorne of the subjects. Since English is a foreign language in Barcelona, most students have no other chances to hear and use English than in the English class. Nevertheless, as has been pointed out aboye, not all the subjects use the correct forro at the end ofthe study, after nine months of class. This means either that the acquisition of this forro is slow or that instruction alone is not enough. Further analyses which took instruction variables into account would be needed to reach conclusions about this issue.

One hopes that this study may contribute to the field of foreign language acquisition studies, since foreign languages have not been analysed as thoroughly as second languages. It may also help those teachers of EFL who often come across forros of the present continuous which they do not teach in class!

NOTES 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

See Wagner-Gough (1978) aboye aH. The lelter V stands for the base form of the verbo From now on, «auxiliary verb» will appear as «aux» to avoid kmg formulae.

The subjeets had started their 1st year of B.D.P. when the study began.

S stands for «subjeet». The number that foHows it is acode to avoid using the subjeet's name.

Notice that mistakes have been kept in the transeription of the data.

One of them, though, uses the eorreet form from the very beginning, sinee he had already aequired it before the study began.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Abraham, R. 1984. «Patterns in the use of the present tense third person singular -s by university-Ievel ESL speakers.» TESOL Quarterly 18/1: 55-69.

Chamot, A. 1978. «Grammatical problems in learning English as a third language» in Hatch (ed.).

Chamot, A. 1979. «Strategies in the acquisition of English by a child bilingual in Spanish and French» in R. Andersen (ed.). The Acquisition and Use of Spanish and English as First and Second Languages. Washington, D.C.: TESOL. Edstr6m, E. 1973. «Tense, aspect and modality: Problems in English for Swedish students» in J. Svartvik (ed.). Errata: Papers in Error Analysis. Lund: CWK Gleerup.

Hatch, E. (ed.) 1978. Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.

Kellerman, E. 1987. Aspects of Transferability in Second Language Acquisition.

Ph. D. dissertation. Katholieke Universiteit, Nijmegen (Holland).

Perren, G. and J. Trim (eds.) 1971. Applications ofLinguistics. SelectedPapers of the 2nd International Congress ofApplied Linguistics, Cambridge, 1969.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wagner-Gough, J. 1978. «Excerpts from comparative studies in second language learning» in Hatch (ed.).

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El papel del input en el proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera: fundamentos teóricos Elena de Prada Creo Universidad de Vigo

Input and interaction are considered as two of the main elements that play an important role in learning a foreign language. It is assumed that the more input the learner receives (and the more interactions s/he is involved in) the better options s/he has to acquire and learn the language.

However, the positive effect of input and interaction need to be carefully analyzed as they both require the presence of certain characteristics to guarantee that learning takes place. These characteristics are naturally present in situations where the L2 is used in everyday communication but this is not quite so in foreign contexts where most contacts with the L2 occur in the classroom.

Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to study the theoretical fundations of the relationship between input, interactiort and learning and to try to suggest a first approach to the situation in academic contexts.

Dentro del conjunto de elementos que inciden en el proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera, el contacto con la lengua objeto de estudio (LO/L2) es sin duda un elemento fundamental que determina la evolución y desarrollo de la interlengua.

No obstante, si bien en los contextos naturales de adquisición de la lengua el acceso al input ocurre generalmente de forma espontánea, en los contextos académicos, en los que la L2 es una lengua extranjera, la situación es bien distinta ya que las posibilidades de obtener input en la L2 son limitadas y variables.

El principal objetivo de estas páginas es analizar las características e implicaciones del input en el proceso de aprendizaje y plantear su importancia dentro del contexto académico.

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1. Dimensiones del input en el proceso de aprendizaje

La mayor parte de los estudios realizados con el fin de observar la verdadera dimensión del input coinciden en corroborar la importancia de este elemento en el proceso de aprendizaje de una L2. Ejemplo de ello son los trabajos de Kasper (1986b), Hyltenstam y Pienemann (1985), Perdue (1984), Tollefson (1981), Scarcella y Higa (1981) y sobre todo, Krashen (1985). En todos estos estudios el común denominador es que, independientemente del punto de vista que se adopte y de las variables que entren en juego, la presencia del input es siempre inevitable.

Kasper (1981), por ejemplo, señala que numerosos estudios, marcados por la fisolofía de Piaget, coinciden en atribuir al contexto, al input y a la negociación una importancia equivalente a los factores internos del individuo. Por otra parte, Tollefson (1981) en su estudio de las variables que inciden en la adquisición de una L2, decide adoptar un modelo que incluya el input, el individuo, el aprendizaje y lo aprendido. Pero es sin duda Krashen el que lleva este elemento hasta sus últimas consecuencias con su «input hypothesis», como veremos más adelante.

En cualquiera de los casos, pese al acuerdo existente sobre la importancia de este factor, sus características e implicaciones son en la actualidad el caballo de batalla de gran cantidad de estudios que tratan de matizar este concepto respecto al proceso de adquisición de una L2. Si bien todos y cada uno de los aspectos que se han venido relacionando con el input y el aprendizaje ofrecen una gran complejidad para poder sintetizarlos en unas cuantas páginas, intentaremos ofrecer un resumen que permita perfilarlo lo más adecuadamente posible.

2. Input y aprendizaje

La primera cuestión que se nos plantea es tratar de caracterizar cómo ha de ser este input para que se fomente el aprendizaje.

Una condición fundamental, de acuerdo con la crítica (por ejemplo, Krashen (1985), Richards (1985), Perdue (1984), Van Els et al. (1984) y Spolski (1989)) es que el input ha de ser suficiente en cantidad, ya que, como afirma Spolski (1989), The more time spent learning any aspect ofa second language, the more will be learned (p.166).

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Dos consecuencias directas que se derivan de un acceso limitado a la LO serían la aparición de interferencias de la lengua materna por un lado (Van Els et al., 1984) y la tendencia a la fosilización por otro (Perdue, 1984).

De todas formas, como señalan también los autores antes mencionados, la cantidad de input no es una condición suficiente (ver por ejemplo, Long, 1990) sino que hay que tener también en cuenta el tipo de input al que se va a tener expuesto al individuo. Sobre esta cuestión es sin duda Krashen (1985) el que intenta ofrecer una definición y explicación más «detallada» sobre cómo ha de ser exactamente el tipo de input.

Este autor parte de la idea de que los seres humanos adquirimos el lenguaje de una única manera posible, es decir comprendiendo los mensajes o recibiendo, lo que él llama comprehensible input. Así, logramos avanzar de nuestro nivel actual, llamado i, al nivel i+1, el siguiente nivel de acuerdo· con el orden natural, gracias a que comprendemos el input contenido en i+ 1. En resumen, para progresar en el dominio de la L2, es necesario,según Krashen, que el input al que tenga acceso el individuo se encuentre a un nivel un «poco» más avanzado que el suyo propio. No es nuestra intención entrar a discutir las teorías de Krashen, que han sido ya bastante discutidas en los últimos años (ver por ejemplo McLaughlin, 1987)pero sí señalar el obvio problema que supone conocer tanto i como i+ 1.

Por otra parte, se ha hablado también de la posible importancia que puede tener la frecuencia de aparición de determinadas formas de la LO para el procesamiento del input. Es decir, como señalan Dulay, Burt y Krashen (1982), el número de veces que el sujeto oye o ve una forma de la LO determinada.

Teóricamente, la frecuencia aumentaría la probabilidad de que surjan aquellas estructuras que el sujeto esté «preparado» para procesar, incrementándose así las posibilidades de que el sujeto las procese.

Sin embargo, los estudios llevados a cabo por Dulay y Burt (1978) basados en la incidencia de frecuencia de estructuras morfológicas y sintácticas ponen de manifiesto la complejidad que encierra este fenómeno, ya que al mismo tiempo que se observaba la producción de ciertas estructuras y no de otras a pesar de la misma frecuencia en el input, se daba también la aparición en otros casos de estructuras que ni siquiera se hallaban presentes en el input.

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El problema que presentan estos resultados es que no parece tener lo suficientemente en cuenta el estado concreto de la interlengua de cada uno de los sujetos de su estudio (a pesar de las mencionadas dificultades que ello conlleva), ya que, tal y como se desprende de lo anteriormente expuesto, a pesar de la frecuencia de las apariciones, el individuo sólo procesaría aquellas para las que su interlengua esté preparado.

En cualquiera de los casos, dada la escasez de estudios llevados a efecto, las implicaciones de este fenómeno están lejos de ser claras o simples y sus efectos aún permanecen sin especificar.

Así pues, tanto la cantidad como el tipo y la frecuencia del input, aunque presentan ciertas dudas en lo que se refiere a la envergadura de sus implicaciones, constituyen importantes ingredientes para que el input pueda ser asimilado por el individuo e integrarse en su interlengua.

3. Input e Intake

Estas últimas observaciones nos llevan a introducir otra cuestión, señalada por Corder (1981) que hace referencia al input que es procesado (Ellis, 1985)1 por el individuo en un determinado momento del aprendizaje: el intake. Para que el input se convierta en intake es necesario que la presentación de los datos lingüísticos sea la apropiada para su posible asimilación y que su contenido esté en consonancia con los conocimientos anteriores del individuo (Corder, 1981).

En definitiva, vemos que se insiste bastante en la necesidad de que el individuo obtenga un tipo de input determinado que le posibilite y facilite la adquisición deUenguaje, pero, ¿cómo ha de ser este input?

Conviene resaltar, como puede desprenderse de lo anterior, que si bien es difícil hacer una caracterización ideal del tipo de datos lingüísticos apropiados, sabemos al menos uno de los rasgos que ha de poseer: el de ser comprendido por el individuo. A partir de la comprensión del mensaje se pondría en marcha el engranaje de la adquisición de la lengua incorporando aquellos nuevos elementos que dan forma al mensaje. Como concluye VanPatten (1990) ... only when input is easily understood can learners attend to form as part of the intake process (p.296). Para un estudio

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detallado del análisis que ha de efectuar los individuos al recibir el input, ver Klein (1986) y Spolski (1989).

Otra .importante característica que ha de poseer el input para transfonnarse en intake y facilitar el aprendizaje es que esté especialmente dirigido al individuo. Es decir, el input personalizado (Seliger, 1983) tendrá grandes ventajas frente al input que no se dirige a uno mismo.

Teniendo en cuenta lo anteriormente citado, podemos resaltar otra característica del input propuesta, entre otros autores, por Schachter (1983) que hace referencia a su aconsejable simplificación, lo que posibilita que el individuo reconozca mejor las unidades y observe cómo se combinan y utilizan. Knibbeler (1989) llega a afirmar que un código simplificado es más útil que un modelo nativo o muy cercano al nativo.

Sobre esta cuestión Hatch (1978, 1983b) presenta un compendio de los beneficios -más teóricos que prácticos a nuestro modo de verque puede obtener el sujeto gracias al input simplificado. Consignamos a continuación las características formales de este input simplificado y los beneficios sugeridos en fonología, morfología y sintaxis. La lengua en la que se basa este trabajo es el inglés.

Dicción más lenta2= articulación más clara. * Oclusivas finales más marcadas, mayor sonoridad de las oclusivas sonoras finales. * Ciertas oclusivas velares son utilizadas delante de palabras que comienzan por «v».

(Beneficio: el sujeto debería ser capaz de identificar más fácilmente los límites entre las palabras). * Menor reducción vocálica y menos contracciones.

(Beneficio: el sujeto recibe la forma completa de la palabra). * Pausas más largas.

(Beneficio: el sujeto obtiene más tiempo para procesar y los límites entre los constituyentes principales están más marcados).

Vocabulario * Vocabulario de gran frecuencia, menos «slang», menos modismos.

(Beneficio: aumenta la probabilidad de que el sujeto conozca/reconozca el tema).

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* Menos formas pronominales.

(Beneficio: el referente debería estar más claro). * Las definiciones estarán marcadas: - Explícitamente mediante fórmulas (This means X, it's a kinda X).

- Implícitamente por la entonación (a nickel? a five-cent piece?).

(Beneficio: las definiciones deberían destacar por el hecho de estar marcadas). * Marcas de derivación morfológica (miracle-anything that's miraculous? sum up- summarize?).

(Beneficio: da información al sujeto sobre la pertenencia a grupos morfológicos). * Información del grupo léxico (funds or money, industrious and busy). * Información semántica (a cathedral usually means a cathedral that's a very high ceilings). * Información contextual (ifyou go for a job in a factory they talk about a wage scale). * Gestos y dibujos.

(Beneficio: el sujeto obtiene información sobre los grupos y características léxicas). * Términos afectivos.

(Beneficio: puede dar un estímulo afectivo al aprendizaje).

Sintaxis * MLU (Mean Lenght ofUtterance) corto, sintaxis proposicional simple.

(Beneficio: debería ser más fácil de procesar y analizar). * Desplazamiento a la izquierda de los temas (Friday, Saturday, you have a nice weekend?). * Repetición y reformulación.

(Beneficio: mayor tiempo de procesamiento y las relaciones de las formas sintácticas pueden ser más claras). * Menor modificación pre-verbal.

(Beneficio: la nueva información debería estar al final de la frase donde destaca más). * El hablante de la LO resume las producciones no sintácticas del sujeto.

(Beneficio: ofrece un modelo de sintaxis). * El hablante de la LO «completa» las producciones inconclusas del sujeto.

(Beneficio: ofrece un modelo de sintaxis).

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Igualmente se ha resaltado que, sobre todo en las fases iniciales del proceso de aprendizaje, sería aconsejable utilizar referentes concretos (lo que se ha venido llamando el «here and now» principie) que faciliten la comprensión del mensaje.

Por otra parte, es también necesario que el input se reciba en una atmósfera agradable para propiciar en el individuo un estado afectivo favorable y así hacer posible que el input se convierta en intake. (BIlis, 1985).

El problema que se nos plantea al llegar a este punto es el hecho de que hasta ahora nada se ha dicho del papel que ha de adoptar el individuo durante la exposición a la LO. ¿Es suficiente ser un mero receptor o es necesaria la participación en la comunicación?

4. El üutput

En primer lugar, sería conveniente señalar la importancia que para algunos autores (Krashen, 1985 y Dulay Burt y Krashen, 1982, entre otros) puede tener una fase inicial de silencio ----.silent period-por parte del individuo al comenzar el proceso de aprendizaje, lo que parece favorecer la rapidez y calidad de la adquisición. Es decir, se propugna una exposición inicial al input -indeterminada en el tiempo- meramente receptiva, antes de intentar producir mensajes en la L2. No vamos a cuestionar aquí la conveniencia o no de esta etapa de silenci03 , ya que, pese a que no dudamos que tenga efectos positivos, numerosos factores (personalidad del sujeto, exigencias comunicativas de determinadas situaciones, etc.) pueden imposibilitar que se lleve a cabo. Así, la cuestión esencial es plantearnos qué es lo que ha de suceder tras ella.

Es en este punto donde encontramos algunas de las críticas más duras a los postulados de Krashen, ya que, según él, hablar la lengua no es necesario para su adquisición, basta con escuchar. Esta opinión se enfrenta a la de Swain (1985) quien no duda en afirmar que lo que es realmente necesario en el proceso de aprendizáje es el comprehensibie output. Es decir, no basta con recibir y comprender mensajes sino que hay que producirlos. Según este autor, las posibilidades de adquisición de la lengua se ven incrementadas cuando los sujetos tienen la oportunidad de estructurar su output durante la interacción con sus interlocutores.

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Esta divergencia entre input y output es una de las cuestiones que plantea más interrogantes en el estudio del proceso de adquisición de una L2, ya que el output del sujeto manifiesta ser independiente del input, pues, como veremos al hablar del orden de adquisición, las producciones del individuo tienden a seguir unas pautas comunes, al menos en el sentido gramatical, incluso en condiciones diferentes de exposición al input. Por todo ello, Saleemi (1989) concluye que la adquisición de la L2 no es una función directa del input, afirmación que peca de ser, a nuestro modo de ver, bastante aleatoria, porque el hecho de que puedan observarse una serie de pautas comunes en las fases iniciales del proceso de aprendizaje de una L2, pautas que suelen atribuirse a principios de índole universal, no significa que la exposición al input sea irrelevante para la adquisición de una L2. ¿Es el «conocer» el orden de adquisición de un limitado número de formas gramaticales suficiente para plantearse siquiera el negar la relación entre el input y la adquisición de una L2?

Creemos que una lengua es bastante más compleja que tales estructuras, por lo que generalizar a la totalidad del proceso de adquisición es un tanto arriesgado.

En relación con la producción de mensajes en la L2 y el proceso de adquisición, resultan de especial interés las situaciones en las que los sujetos se ven forzados a hacer su output comprensible. Esto ocurre cuando los interlocutores indican que no han comprendido suficientemente el mensaje original que pretendía comunicar el emisor. Al verse obligados a modificar su output, los sujetos experimentarán nuevas estructuras y formas y explotarán todas las posibilidades que le ofrezca su interlengua. El output resultante servirá además de generador de nuevos mensajes dirigidos al mismo sujeto, es decir, comprehensible input. Este nuevo ingrediente de negociación que aparece tras la conjunción del input y output nos lleva a la aparición de un elemento fundamental en el proceso de aprendizaje: la interacción.

Antes de analizar este elemento nos gustaría señalar que, si bien numerosos estudios ponen de manifiesto la imposibilidad de adquirir una lengua sin interacción, es decir, sólo a través del input recibido (la televisión, por ejemplo), hay casos aislados que desmienten tal afirmación (uno de los sujetos en el estudio de Naiman et al., (1978), por ejemplo). En cualquier caso estos ejemplos particulares necesitan un estudio más profundo y una formulación más precisa.

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5. Interacción y adquisición de una L2

Pese a las salvedades anteriormente citadas, la importancia de la interacción para la adquisición de una L2 es defendida hoy en día por gran cantidad de estudios (por ejemplo, Hatch, 1983a, Seliger, 1983, Gass y Varonis, 1989, VanPatten, 1990 y Pica y Doughty, 1988, por citar unos cuantos) que no dudan en atribuirle un papel fundamental que favorece los rasgos siguientes: -

-

-

-

Posibilita la puesta en práctica de los conocimientos lingüísticos adquiridos fomentando la producción (output).

Se aumentan las oportunidades para intentar la producción de nuevas estructuras morfológicas y sintácticas y experimentar y formularse hipótesis sobre la propia interlengua.

Es generadora de input, logrando así una mayor cantidad de datos sobre la LO. Facilita la obtención de input personalizado, lo que redunda en beneficio de la atención del individuo al mensaje.

Dado el carácter comunicativo de las interacciones, éstas se adaptan al nivel lingüístico de los interlocutores, modificándose (o simplificándose) siempre que la comprensión de los mensajes así lo exijan.

Promueve la obtención del input «negativo»: siempre que el intento de comunicación haya demostrado ser poco eficaz y nuestro/s interlocutor/es no logre/n captar el mensaje, se hace necesario un input negativo (Schachter, 1983) que informe al hablante de los problemas comunicativos existentes. De no propiciarse este tipo de input, el resultado sería la fosilización de determinadas formas alejadas del código de la LO. Hace posible la adquisición de las características sociolingüísticas y discursivas propias de la comunicación.

Teniendo en cuenta lo anteriormente mencionado, cabe ahora plantearse una cuestión fundamental, es decir,en qué medida la interacción usando la LO afecta al proceso de adquisición de la lengua tanto en lo que se refiere a la «calidad» como a la «rapidez».

Pese a la indudable importancia que pudieran tener las conclusiones derivadas de tal cuestión, nos tememos que, dada la escasez y a veces

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dudoso valor empírico de los estudios realizados al efecto, estamos bastante lejos de tener, en la práctica, una respuesta concluyente.

Aún así, creemos que puede ser de interés resumir, basándonos en los resultados de algunas investigaciones lo siguiente: -

-

En lo que se refiere a la «calidad» parece ponerse de manifiesto que los individuos que se ven envueltos en un número mayor de interacciones muestran un dominio superior de la L2 así como un perfil de errores más «maduro», es decir, más alejado de la lengua materna (Seliger, 1983).

Respecto a la «rapidez» en la adquisición las evidencias son bastante dispares, aunque tienden a decantarse por la idea de que el mayor número de interacciones y la mejora en la cantidad y calidad de input que éstas conllevan parecen influir positivamente sobre la «rapidez» de la adquisición.

En definitiva, aun a pesar de las limitaciones que nos vienen impuestas por la falta de investigaciones que ayuden a clarificar de forma más definitiva estas cuestiones, es nuestra opinión que la interacción es un pilar fundamental para que avance el aprendizaje y se logre un mayor acercamiento a la LO, ya que sin interacción no sería posible desarrollar el potencial estratégico comunicativo de los individuos con todo lo que esto implica desde el punto de vista del aprendizaje.

6. Input e interacción en los contextos académicos

Para el estudio que aquí desarrollamos es importante tener presente que nuestro enfoque se centrará en contextos en los que la L2 es una lengua extranjera (como es el caso de nuestro pais) por lo que el acceso al input y las posibilidades de interacción se verán limitadas mayoritariamente a lo que acontece en el aula aunque también se consideran las posibles alternativas fuera de ella.

Respecto a estas dos fuentes a las que puede optar el individuo convendría hacer las siguientes precisiones.

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Si recapitulamos todas aquellas características del input que se relacionan más estrechamente con el éxito en el aprendizaje, vemos que en la mayor parte de los casos (bien en el aula o en el mundo exterior) se cumplen --complementándose- casi todos los requisitos necesarios para la obtención del input preciso para el desarrollo de la interlengua.

Consignamos brevemente los rasgos ya mencionamos especificando si éstos manifiestan su mayor potencial dentro (A) o fuera del aula (F).

-

Cantidad (F) Comprensibilidad (A) Frecuencia (AIF) Simplificación (A) Referentes·concretos (AIF) Mectividad favorable (A?/F) Individualización (-)

Como vemos, la complementariedad de ambas fuentes de input son fundamentales para que se cumplan todas las condiciones necesarias para el aprendizaje.

No obstante es de hacer notar que tanto un context0 4 como el otro no llega a posibilitar la atención dirigida especialmente al individuo con lo que todo el componente de interacción, esencial para el progreso en el aprendizaje, se ve irremisiblemente afectado, llevando a un forzoso estancamiento en el proceso.

Por lo tanto, creemos que desde el punto de vista de la enseñanza se debe subsanar y compensar la tendencia a dirigir el input a la totalidad del grupo en favor de un input más personalizado tanto en la relación profesor-alumno como entre los alumnos.

Por otra parte, es importante igualmente intentar fomentar actitudes -la consciencia de la importancia de la interacción es esencial- que lleven al alumno a intentar verse envuelto en situaciones comunicativas fuera del aula.

Igualmente importante es que se integren plenamente las diferentes formas de input que se obtienen dentro y fuera del aula haciendo al alumno consciente de las características de ambos contextos e intentar

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que se responsabilice de su acción. Si logramos la implicación del alumno en la búsqueda de input e interacción habremos dado un importante paso hacia su dominio de la L2. No olvidemos que estudios procedentes de otras áreas de investigación como son las estrategias de aprendizaje vienen a concluir que las estrategias que más se relacionan con el éxito en el aprendizaje son las socio-afectivas, es decir aquellas empleadas por los sujetos para generar y comprender el input (De Prada, 1993).

Pese a lo descrito anteriormente no quisiéramos enfatizar en exceso la importancia de lo que sucede en el «mundo exterior» sino más bien todo lo contrario ya que lo que acontece en el aula podría jugar un papel esencial para el input y la interacción si se creasen oportunidades y el «ambiente» fuera propicio.

Trabajos como los de Seliger (1983), BIlis, (1985) Krashen (1988) y Spolski (1989) insisten en el potencial que puede llegar a tener el aula para fomentar las interacciones y, por lo tanto, comprobar las propias hipótesis (output) y generar nuevo input.

Igualmente, el aula podría servir de puente con el mundo exterior y las posibilidades de práctica de la L2 que ofrece mediante el intento de convertir el aprendizaje de la lengua dentro y fuera de ella en un único y coorninado objetivo.

Elena de Prada Creo El papel del input en el proceso de aprendizaje...

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Notas 1.

2.

3.

4.

Hay que tener en cuenta que si bien la acepción anteriormente descrita del intake es la que vamos a adoptar en este trabajo, existe también la versión que ofrecen Richards, Platt y Weber (1985), según los cuales el intake sería el input que puede serIe de utilidad al individuo de acuerdo con su nivel lingüístico. Es decir para estos autores el intake sería el input dotado de unas características determinadas para poder ser asimilado por el individuo, pero no la propia asimilación en sí como propugnan otros autores.

Es importante señalar, como contrapunto a esta propiedad del «input», que un reciente trabajo de Griffiths (1990) puso de manifiesto (los sujetos eran adultos de nivel intermedio) que únicamente la velocidad bastante rápida del «input» hacía disminuir la comprensión, mientras que no se observaron diferencias entre la velocidad normal y la más lenta.

En la actualidad algunos métodos de enseñanza incorporan este período de silencio inicial en sus programas. Algunos ejemplos son el «Total Physical Response» (Asher, 1982) o el «NaturalApproach» (Krashen y Terrell, 1983).

No olvidemos que nos estamos refiriendo aquí a las fuentes en la L2 accesibles hoy en día a la mayor parte de la población, tales como películas en V.O. con subtítulos en castellano/gallego o inglés, vídeos de aprendizaje, canciones, radio, publicaciones, etc., sin entrar en la deseable interacción con hablantes de la L2 a la que muy pocos --sobre todo en nuestra regiónpueden tener acceso habitual.

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Bibliografía Asher, J. 1982. Learning another Language through Actions: the Complete Teacher's Guidebook. Los Gatos, Calif.: Sky Oaks Prod.

Corder, P. 1981. Error Analysis and Interlanguage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

De Prada, E. 1993. Aspectos psicolingüísticos del proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera: fundamentos e implicaciones. Santiago de Compostela: Servicio de Publicaciones e Intercambio Científico de la Universidad de Santiago.

Dulay, H. y M. Burt (eds). 1978. «Sorne remarks on creativity in language acquisition» en W.C. Ritchie (ed.) Second Language Acquisition Research. Issues and Implications. New York: Academic Press.

Dulay, H., M. Burt y S. Krashen. 1982. Language Two. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ellis, R. 1985. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gass, S. y E. Varonis. 1989. «Incorporated Repairs in Nonnative Discourse» en M.R. Eisenstain (ed.) The Dynamic Interlanguage. New York: Plenum Press.

Griffiths, R. 1990. «Speech rate and NNS comprehension: A preliminary study in time-benefit analysis». Language Learning 40: 311-336.

Hakansson, G. 1986. «Quantitative Studies of teacher talk» en G. Kasper (ed.)

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Hatch, E. (ed.). 1978. Secong Language Acquisition. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.

Hatch, E. 1983a. Psycholinguistics: A Second Language Perspective. Cambridge, Mass.: Newbury House.

Hatch, E. 1983b. «Simplified input and second language acquisition» en Andersen (ed.) Pidginization and Creolization as Language Acquisition.

Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.

Hyltenstam, K. y M. Pienemann. 1985. Modelling and Assessing Second LanguageAcquisition. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters.

Kasper, G. 1981. Pragmatische Aspekte in der Interimsprache -Eine Untersuchung des Englischen fortgeschrittener deutscher Lerner. Tübingen: Narr.

Kasper, G. (ed.). 1986a. Learning, Teaching and Communication in the Foreign Language Classroom. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press.

Kasper, G. 1986b. «Repair in foreign language teaching» en G. Kasper (ed.)

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K1ein, W. 1986. Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Krashen, S. 1985. The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. London: Longman.

Krashen, S. 1988. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.

Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall International.

Krashen, S. y T. Terrell.1983. TheNaturalApproach: LanguageAcquisition in the Classroom. Hayward, Ca.: Alemany Press.

Long, M. 1990. «Maturational Constraints in Language Development», Second LanguageAcquisition, 12: 251-186.

McLaughlin, B. 1987. Theories ofSecond Language Learning. London: Edward Arnold.

McTear, M. 1975. «Structure and categories of foreign language teaching sequences» en R. Allwright (ed.) Working Papers: Language Teaching Classroom Research. University of Essex, Department of Language and Linguistics.

Naiman, N., M. Frohlich, H. Stern yA. Todesco. 1978. The Good Language Learner. Reseach in Education Series, 7. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Perdue, C. 1984. «Discussion to S. Gass, 'The empirical basis for the universal hypothesis in interlanguage studies'» en A. Davies, C. Criper y A. P. R. Howatt (eds.) Interlanguage. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Pica, T. y M. Long. 1986. «The linguistic and controversial performance of experienced and inexperienced teachers» en R. Day (ed.). Talking to Learn. Rowley, Mass: Newbury House.

Pica, T. y Doughty, C. 1988. «Variations in Classroom Interaction as a Function of Participation Pattern and Task» en Fine, J. (ed.) Second Language Discourse: A Textbook of Current Reseach. Norwood: Ablex.

Richards, J.C. 1985. The Context ofLanguage Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Saleemi, AY. 1989. «Inputs for L2 acquisition». International Review ofApplied Linguistics 27: 173-191.

Scarcella, R. y C. Higa. 1981. «Input, negociation and age differences in second language acquisition». Language Learning 31: 409-437.

Schachter, J. 1983. «Nutritional needs of language learners» en M. A. Clark y J. Handscombe (eds.). On TESOL'82: Pacific Perspectives on Language Learning and Teaching. Washington D.C.: TESOL. Seliger, H. 1983. «Learner Interaction in the Classroom and its Effect on Language Acquisition» en Seliger y Long (eds.) 1983.

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Seliger, H. y M. Long (eds.). 1983. Classroom Oriented Research in Second LanguageAcquisition. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.

Sinclair, J. y R. Coultbard. 1975. Towards an analysis ofDiscourse: The English used by Teachers andPupils. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sinclair, J. y D. Brazil. 1982. Teachers Talk Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Spolski, B. 1989. Conditions for Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Swain, M. 1985. «Communicative competence: some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development» en Gass y Maden (eds.) Input in Second Language Acquisition. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.

Tollefson, J. 1981. «The role of language planning in second language acquisition».

Language Learning 31/2: 337-348.

Van EIs, T., Bongaerts, T., Extra, G. Van Os, C. Janssen-Van Dieten, AM. 1984. Applied Linguistics and the Learning and Teaching of Foreign Languages. London: Edward Amold.

VanPatten, B. 1990. «Attending to Form and Content in the Input: An Experiment in Consciousness», Studies in SecondLanguageAcquisition, 12: 287-302.

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Reflexiones en torno a la enseñanza del vocabulario en L2 Antonio Miranda García Enrique Lavín Camacho Universidad de Málaga

Up until recentIy the teaching of vocabulary has not received the treatment it deserves. Everybody would agree that communication is quite unlikely to take place if the would-be communicators do not possess a minimum lexical inventory of the target language, as well as a sufficient mastery of its structures.

The results of an experimental study undertaken with secondary school students in Malaga seem to suggest that most of the students tested do not possess the vocabulary that would be expected at their relevant levels of learning.

A follow-up study of the vocabulary used in a representative number of course-books shows that the selection, gradation and distribution of the lexis have not been conveniently accomplished.

As a result of this, various suggestions are made as a way to emphasise the role of vocabulary in the learning of L2, and sorne techniques, exercises, tasks and activities are recommended so as to improve the lexical competence of students, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

1. La importancia de la enseñanza del léxico La enseñanza del vocabulario en los últimos quince años está suscitando un interés cada vez mayor entre los profesores de lenguas extranjeras [Carter & MacCarthy, 1988:1J, después de una fase de aparente olvido en la que se la ha considerado la cenicienta de las destrezas lingüísticas [Wilkins, 1972:11,. Gairns & al., 1986J si bien sólo aparentemente porque ya hace más de un siglo Prendergast [1864J manifestaba similares preocupaciones: gráficamente comparaba las palabras de L2 con unos prisioneros de guerra, siempre dispuestos a fugarse y, didácticamente, aconsejaba que, para evitar su fuga, se encadenaran formando frases y oraciones.

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La lingüística aplicada ha intentado llevar a cabo, con desigual fortuna [Galisson, 1981:8; Meara, 1984:230; Palmberg, 1987:257], una descripción lingüística coherente del vocabulario y una sistematización integral del mismo, así como un desarrollo de las técnicas didácticas específicas que, consecuentemente, propicien un aprendizaje más metódico del mismo [Rudzka & al., 1982/1985; FrenchAllen, 1983; Gairns & Redman, 1986; Morgan & Rinvolucri, 1986], y con esa finalidad la psicolingüística investiga el lexicón mental de Ll y de L2 [Fay & Cutler, 1977; Albert & Obler, 1978; Cohen & Hosenfield, 1981; Hurford, 1981; Meara, 1982; Channel, 1988] y sus hallazgos nos ayudarán, sin duda, a aproximarnos a su estructura y funcionamiento.

Esta atención al tema del vocabulario no es sino reflejo de su importancia en el aprendizaje y adquisición de una lengua - 'the lexicon is of primaryimportance in acquisition' [Keyser, 1985, cit. en Gass, 1988:129]-, ya que su conocimiento resulta imprescindible para la comunicación -'... without vocabulary 'nothing' can be conveyed' [Wilkins,1972:111]- o, en otras palabras, para adquirir una competencia comunicativa (CC) en la misma.

'When our first goal is communication, when we have little o[ the new language at our command, it is 'the lexicon' that is crucial. The words will make the basic communication possible' [Hatch, 1983: 74J.

El dominio del componente estructural no implica necesariamente la consecución de tal CC, debido, en cierta manera, a problemas con el inventario léxico que, en algunas circunstancias y dependiendo, sobremanera, del enfoque metodológico adoptado, puede suponer el fracaso de todo el proceso de aprendizaje/adquisición de L2.

'Many students abandon language studies after one or two years with the notion that it is impossible to learn a language in a reasonable amount o[ time' [Keller, 1978:12J.

Sin embargo, esto no debe llevamos al extremo, claramente erróneo, de considerar que para aprender una lengua extranjera basta simplemente con aprender su vocabulario; por lo tanto, hemos de conjugar el papel básico del vocabulario con el conocimiento del sistema de la lengua.

'Nevertheless, it is possible to have a good knowledge o[how a system o[ a language works and yet not being able to communicate in it; whereas i[

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we have the vocabulary we need it is usually possible to communicate, after a fashion' [Wallace, 1982:9].

La insuficiencia léxica en L2 dificulta seriamente tanto la comprensión como la producción en esa lengua, existiendo estudios que demuestran que los problemas de comprensión de un texto están motivados más por desconocimiento de parte del léxico que por las dificultades que pueden entrañar las estructuras que lo formalizan [Nation & Coady, 1988: 97J, y habiéndose comprobado que el desconocimiento de más de un 10% de los ítems de un texto impide o dificulta gravemente la comprensión del mismo [Wallace, 1982:28J, estadio que se conoce como umbral de frustración.

Cuando analizamos el inventario léxico de los alumnos que han cursado Inglés en BVP y cav, detectamos que aquéllos disponen, por lo general, de un léxico en L2 muy inferior al que se pudiera considerar como mínimo aceptable. Aunque, intuitivamente, habíamos ido albergando esta sospecha a lo largo de los años, el análisis y la computación de los datos extraídos de un muestreo 1 de las pruebas de acceso a la universidad vino a confirmarlo; se pedía a los alumnos que definiesen las palabras ban y newsagents y comprobamos, de acuerdo con las producciones analizadas, que: han es conocida por sólo el 15% de los alumnos newsagents es conocida por sólo el 21 % de los alumnos

y que el léxico productivo empleado en la definición de las citadas palabras es el siguiente: Palabras del examen citado

Sujetos que contestan

Total de palabras utilizadas

Palabras diferentes halladas

Total de lexemas

han

53

260

124

71

newsagents

81

505

147

91

Dejando a un lado el tamaño del universo -137 sujetos- y tomando en consideración sólo el número de sujetos que contestan, se observa que el número total de lexemas distintos -content words- es muy limitado. Así

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pues, no parece que los datos tabulados reflejen un léxico productivo suficiente en L2 de los alumnos que van a acceder a la Universidad. A la vista de la tendencia observada en el muestreo realizado, decidirnos llevar a cabo un estudio más amplio.

2. Medición del léxico de los alumnos de BUP en L2 Una vez asumida la importancia del léxico en el proceso de aprendizaje de L2 y detectada una insuficiencia léxica generalizada en la muestra, procede delimitar lo que se entiende por competencia léxica (CL) manifiestamente necesaria incluso para la consecución de la competencia estructural (CE) y, en la medida de lo posible, diseñar una metodología de evaluación. Desde un punto de vista didáctico, aquélla requiere la elaboración de un inventario léxico apropiado, pertinentemente clasificado y graduado, así como la programación de actividades y la preparación de materiales que deben, a ser posible, tener en cuenta el sílabo estructural, lo que entraña muchas más dificultades que las motivadas por la competencia estructural.

En primer lugar, desde una perspectiva cuantitativa, la CE requiere el dominio de un inventario cerrado de estructuras en tanto que la CL supone hacerlo con el conjunto indeterminado y abierto del vocabulario.

Sólo a título orientativo reseñamos que las magnitudes referidas al tamaño del vocabulario de un adulto en L1 se sitúan, según las estimaciones consultadas2, entre 50.000 y 250.000 palabras.

En segundo lugar, desde una perspectiva cualitativa, el léxico es un inventario dinámico en el que las palabras van alterando o captando nuevos valores, y ampliando su sistema de relaciones. Es obvio que cuanto más general o nuclear es una palabra, mayor es la posibilidad de encontrar diferentes sentidos en la misma o de asumirlos, y viceversa; asimismo, hemos de considerar que es un proceso complejo el aprender cualquier palabra de L2 ya que supone saber reconocerla, recordarla en cualquier momento, relacionarla con el objeto o concepto que denota, pronunciarla y escribirla correctamente, 'colocarla' de modo apropiado, utilizarla con el grado de formalidad pertinente, así como con conocimiento de sus connotaciones o posibles asociaciones. El grado de conocimiento de una palabra, pues, fluctúa entre la capacidad de comprenderla y la capacidad de utilizarla de modo automático con fines comunicativos [Palmberg, 1987:201].

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Finalmente, no son pocas las dificultades que presenta el vocabulario de una lengua para su posible sistematización, gradación por niveles u orden preferente de adquisición, aspectos que sí han sido ampliamente investigados en su vertiente estructural3 • De forma general y sin hacer distinción entre el plano oral y el escrito de la lengua, la CL de un sujeto podría asemejarse a un conjunto compuesto de un vocabulario potencial4, un vocabulario receptivo y un vocabulario productivo. La distribución normalizada de la CL tanto en L1 como en L2 puede representarse mediante una curva gaussiana característica de una distribución normal, en la que el inventario receptivo de un sujeto (S2) es más amplio que el potencial o el productivo, como se observa en la gráfica.

POTENCIAL

RECEPTIVO

PRODUCTIVO

Es evidente que será mayor la CL de un sujeto cuanto mayor sea su inventario productivo, representado por una mayor altura en la curva de la zona productiva, y viceversa. En la siguiente gráfica se simulan las curvas de los inventarios léxicos de tres sujetos donde SI > S2 > S3. Las evidencias [Dollerup & al., 1989J paracen indicar que, por lo general, el inventario productivo del sujeto que posee un léxico mayor (SI) incluirá ampliamente el correspondiente a S2 y S3, por lo que difícilmente el inventario de S3 tendrá palabras del inventario propio de SI: las palabras que son comunes en los tres inventarios son las de mayor índice de aparición y viceversa.

POTENCIAL

RECEPTIVO

PRODUCTIVO

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Sería deseable poder trazar la curva de la CL de un sujeto de una manera fiable con una metodología sencilla y asequible, pero el tamaño del inventario léxico, ya mencionado, dificulta esa tarea, máxime cuando para poder presentar unos datos fiables y representativos es necesaria una muestra suficiente, tanto en los ítems de la prueba como en el número de sujetos a los que se les aplique. Por todo lo anterior, decidimos simular el CL de los sujetos a partir de la medición del tramo del inventario pasivo (potencial + receptivo), efectuándolo respecto a un inventario léxico mínimo (ILM) que establecemos en 2,100 palabras, por ser las más frecuentemente usadas en los libros de texto (LT) consultados y porque estaban contrastadas como tales en otros estudios léxicos más amplios5, si bien hemos de reconocer que el ILM adoptado está muy por debajo de los mínimos léxicos propuestos por el MEC para el nivel de CaD, en tomo a las 3.000 palabras.

La evaluación acometida afronta los inconvenientes inherentes al tamaño del ILM, no obstante su significativa reducción, pues obviamente no resulta factible aplicar un test con 2.100 ítems a un número elevado de alumnos, sin entrar en la penosidad de su corrección y baremación. Por otra parte, tampoco se presenta fácil la confección de una prueba para medir el ILM de los sujetos si, obviamente, ha de satisfacer las exigencias de validez y fiabilidad. Con esa perspectiva, y al objeto de llevar nuestra investigación a tal fin, debimos adoptar una serie de decisiones, que enumeramos a continuación: -

-

Primera. Por las razones ya aludidas, que se incrementarían si se tratara de una evaluación a partir de un material oral y escrito, y con objeto de minimizar las interferencias que se pueden ocasionar, tanto en la aplicación como en la recogida de datos, nos limitamos a la evaluación del ILM de los sujetos sólo en el plano escrito.

Segunda. Después de elaborar y aplicar varios tipos de pruebas para la medición del léxico pasivo sólo en el plano escrito, consideramos que la mejor manera de comprobar si los alumnos conocen o no una palabra de L2, es pedirles que escriban, simplemente, la palabra de L1 que asocian con la de L2. Por las connotaciones negativas, en muchas ocasiones infundadas, que conlleva el término 'traducción', denominamos la prueba Test de Asociación Léxica (TAL) al considerar que su fundamentación es más asociativa que de mera traducción6, ya que difícilmente podemos traducir una palabra aislada, fuera de con-

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texto {Wallace, 1982:12J. Por ello, decidimos que las palabras aparecerían descontextualizadas en el TAL, pues si bien es verdad que las palabras se realizan semánticamente dentro de un contexto, es decir, es necesario el contexto de la frase para entender satisfactoriamente el significado de una palabra, no es menos cierto lo contrario, es decir, que para entender plenamente el significado de una oración necesitamos conocer a fondo el significado básico o primario de cada una de las palabras que la constituyen (Anglin, 1970:4J. Asimismo, hay evidencias de la conexión, en el lexicón mental, entre una palabra en L1 y su traducción o equivalente(s) en L2, de la misma naturaleza que la existente entre una palabra y su sinónimo dentro de una red asociativa {Albert & Obler, 1978:246J, por lo que empleamos esta técnica asociativa cuya validez no ha sido cuestionada.

- Tercera. Dividimos el ILM en tres subgrupos cada uno de 700 palabras en función del índice de frecuencia7, consiguiendo así un ILM de nivel 1 (Primero de BUP), un ILM de nivel 2 (Segundo de BUP) y un ILM de nivel 3 (Tercero de BUP), conteniendo cada uno de ellos 441 nombres, 140 verbos y 119 adjetivos. Cada uno de los ILM resultantes de cada nivel se dividió en otros tantos siete subgrupos de 100 palabras, de las que 63 eran nombres, 20 verbos y 17adjetivos8 • - Cuarta. Se aplican experimentalmente los TAL de cada nivel a alumnos de Primero, Segundo y Tercero de BUP para verificar su fiabilidad y validez. Cada alumno realiza varios modelos diferentes de TAL, según su nivel, y una vez corregidos y baremados, se procede a un estudio estadístico pormenorizado de los datos, hallando que los resultados de las diferentes realizaciones de los alumnos muestran una tendencia a la analogía tanto en los totales (número de palabras asociadas satisfactoriamente) como en los parciales (número de nombres, adjetivos y verbos asociados correctamente). Este hecho nos induce a pensar que con la aplicación de un sólo TAL podríamos simular el ILM de ese nivel, para lo que realizamos de nuevo una experimentación en ese sentido y los resultad0s obtenidos vienen a confirmar la hipótesis de trabajo. Es decir, si se aplica un TAL cualquiera9 de nivel 1 a los alumnos de Primero de BUP podemos simular su inventario léxico receptivo multiplicando por siete el número de asociaciones correc-

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tas en el TAL. Así pues, si un alumno consigue asociar 58 palabras de las 100 que componen el TAL de nivel 1, podemos indicar que dispone un léxico pasivo de, aproximadamente, 406 palabras respecto al ideal léxico de Primero de BUP establecido en 700 palabras. Del mismo modo, si aplicamos a un alumno de cau un TAL de nivel 1, otro de nivel 2 y un tercero de nivel 3, y multiplicamos por siete el número de asociaciones correctas de los tres TAL, podemos cuantificar su inventario léxico pasivo respecto al ideal léxico establecido previamente en 2.100 palabras [Miranda, 199D}.

Una vez comprobadas la fiabilidad y validez de TAL, lo aplicamos a un universo representativo del alumnado de Primero de BUP y cau de Málaga lO, que nos cuantificaría el inventario léxico pasivo en L2 de esos alumnos al comenzar y finalizar el BUP. Los resultados indican que los alumnos de Primero de BUP a los que se les aplica el test, son capaces de reconocer entre 340 y 480 palabras de las 700 del TAL de nivel uno, en tanto que los alumnos de cau consiguen asociar entre 1.160 y 1.460 palabras de las 2.100 de nivel tres [Miranda, 199D}. Asimismo, del análisis de los datos, se constata que el porcentaje mayor de aciertos se halla en el sub-grupo de nombres en todas las secciones, si bien se detectan desviaciones en función del nivel: es mayor el número de asociaciones correctas de adjetivos y verbos en los alumnos de cau que entre los de Primero. Por parte de los alumnos la insuficiencia léxica relativa al campo adjetival y verbal se refleja claramente en la producción de unos textos que, generalmente, adolecen de la riqueza léxica mínima que debieran presentar y donde apenas una veintena de adjetivos y verbos de L2 son usados como comodín en cualquier realización oral u escrita.

Los resultados expuestos muestran, a nuestro entender, unos niveles léxicos muy bajos del inventario léxico pasivo de los alumnos. De acuerdo con la distribución normalizada del lexicón mental de un individuo tanto en Ll como en L2, y sin olvidar que los límites entre el léxico receptivo y el productivo no son permanentes y que las palabras pueden pasar de una zona a la otra, en ambas direcciones y con frecuencia, es innegable que cualquier individuo tanto en Ll como en L2 dispone de un léxico productivo o activo significativamente más limitado que el receptivo o pasivo. Por todo lo anterior, no es disparatado afirmar que el léxico productivo de los alumnos de BUP y cau se halla por debajo de las magnitudes establecidas para el léxico pasivo o receptivo, de modo análogo que si comparamos las gráficas que representen el intentario léxico de una persona con un vocabulario amplio y otra con vocabulario pobre [Dollerup & al, 1989, 23].

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3. Etiología de la deficiencia léxica Con los datos presentados ponemos de manifiesto el estado de la cuestión, si bien resulta más positivo no quedarse en la mera denuncia de los hechos y averiguar las causas o, al menos, elaborar alguna hipótesis de trabajo respecto a las mismas. Las causas de la deficiencia léxica detectada en los alumnos de Enseñanza Secundaria pueden estar íntimamente relacionadas con las que impiden o dificultan el éxito en el aprendizaje de L2. Observamos, primero, cuáles son los inconvenientes en los papeles desempeñados por el profesor y el alumno, como agentes, en este proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje.

En cuanto a este último hemos que admitir la existencia de una serie de factores que, de modo general, pueden incidir negativamente en todo el proceso de aprendizaje de L2 y, de manera más específica, sobre el aprendizaje del léxico, a saber: -

-

la falta de motivación hacia la asignatura: difícilmente, un alumno desmotivado, negativamente motivado o con fobias a ese determinado aprendizaje puede alcanzar los objetivos que se persiguen en un proceso en el que elmismo sujeto tiene que participar activa y conscientemente para asumir como propio otro código de comunicación. las deficiencias léxicas en Ll, ya importantes per se, a las que se suma la complejidad y dificultad del léxico de L2 cuyos aspectos negativos más importantes vienen ocasionados por el tamaño del mismo y su falta de estructuración.

Respecto al primero, por ser parte interesada, nos limitamos a transcribir las declaraciones que, sobre sus profesores, hacían unos estudiantes de EFL en Cambridge: 'They were very keen on teaching them grammar and on improving their pronunciation, but that learning words came a poor third' [Morgan & Rinvolucri, 1986:4J.

y de ellas se deduce un hecho: la falta de atención a la enseñanza del vocabulario. Esta omisión puede y debe ser subsanada por el profesor ya que a él le compete la programación de objetivos, contenidos, actividades, etc.

Finalmente, dedicamos unas líneas a las circunstancias en las que se produce este aprendizaje-enseñanza, que no están totalmente controla-

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dos por los agentes, y los medio's didácticos que se suelen emplear en el mismo, haciendo breve referencia a la metodología, el plan de estudios y los libros de texto. En cuanto a la primera, hay que denunciar el hecho de que estamos 'sufriendo' la implantación precipitada de movimientos metodológicos pendularesl l (de lo estructural a lo comunicativo pasando por lo situacional, y finalmente la programación por tareas y confección de proyectos) sin la necesaria experimentación y seguimientos previos que demuestren su adecuación y bondad y, lo que es más grave, sin el necesario reciclaje del profesorado por parte de las autoridades educativas competentes.

Respecto a la segunda, conviene precisar, por ejemplo, que tanto en el plan de estudios de E.G.B. y B.U.P. en vías de extinción como en la Reforma de la LOGSE, la asignatura de inglés adolece, en nuestra opinión, de un tratamiento extensivo con un excesivo número de años y carente,· por tanto, de la suficiente intensidad, con lo que estamos permanentemente en un estado de eterno empezar. Además, los programas oficiales hasta ahora vigentes no estaban realmente armonizados y se daba la paradoja siguiente: un alumno cursa una lengua extranjera en EGB y puede cambiar a otra al iniciar el BUP, con los consiguientes trastornos que origina, en la supuesta homogeneidad de una clase, la inclusión de unos alumnos que empiezan a estudiar una lengua extranjera en un grupo de alumnos que ya llevan tres años de aprendizaje.

Por último, no podemos infravalorar el papel de los libros de texto (LT) como instrumento de aprendizaje del inglés como Lengua Extranjera (y del léxico, como parte fundamental de ese proceso) en el contexto de una enseñanza reglada. Bajo esas condiciones, los LT supuestamente deben aportar el mayor índice de input léxico frente a las restantes fuentes (profesor, compañeros, otro material didáctico, medios de comunicación, etc.), especialmente porque el tiempo de contacto con los mismos o de utilización, tanto en clase como fuera de ella será, al menos idealmente, muy superior al que pueda tener con su profesor. Los LT son, no obstante su importancia, objeto de diversas valoraciones por parte del profesorado.

Frente a la postura de los que piensan que son útiles herramientas de trabajo que ahorran esfuerzos y tiempo, otros consideran que los LT representan un problema -'necessary evils' [Sheldon,1988:237J- o 'masses of rubbish skillfully marketed' [Brumfit, 1980:30J- y, en casos extremos, pueden ser incluso ejemplos del fracaso educativo [Swales, 1980J. Este desencanto -' coursebook credibility gap'- [Greenall, 1984:14J, puede estar motivado por las contradicciones y conflictos de intereses que aparecen en su elaboración, comercialización, aprobación oficial, selección por los centros y utilización dentro del aula y porque, de

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alguna forma, pueden ser corisiderados - '... poor compromises between what is educationally desirable on the one hand and finantially viable on the other' [Sheldon, 1988:213]. Sea cual fuere el tipo de postura personal hacia los LT, la realidad es que son una fuente importante de input léxico para nuestros alumnos y, si están debidamente elaborados [Sheldon,1988:239J, posiblemente sean un buen método de homogeneización cuando no exista un sílabo léxico de carácter oficial [Cfr. Nation, Laufer, ZaroJ. Si asumimos que en el diseño curricular de enseñanzas regladas se persiguen los mismos objetivos generales, excepción hecha de ciertas modificaciones en función de necesidades particulares o circunstancias geográficas, creemos que no es aventurado suponer que los LT que se utilicen en estas asignaturas deben, lógicamente, presentar un núcleo léxico común, con independencia de los enfoques metodológicos adoptados; además, el output léxico final que, de modo ideal, los alumnos deben manejar, aparece cuantificado en las· Orientaciones del MEe (BOE18/4/ 75) para cada uno de los niveles del ciclo, y de acuerdo con ello, también parece lógico suponer que en los distintos LT exista un mínimo conjunto léxico común [Sinclair & Renouf, 1.988: 42J; sin embargo, tras elaborar y analizar un inventario léxico formado con los vocabularios de dieciséis series editoriales, entre británicas y españolas 12, con diferentes enfoques metodológicos, que han sido utilizadas como texto en el BUP aún vigente, se detecta [Miranda, 1990J que: -

-

la contribución de cada serie (tres textos o niveles, generalmente) al inventario resultante es muy desigual: hay series que aportan más de tres mil palabras diferentes, en tanto que otras apenas superan el millar. el número de palabras del inventario sólo utilizadas por una sóla serie se eleva a un 45% del total. el número de palabras del inventario que coinciden en todas las series no llega al 2%.

Los datos expuestos inducen a pensar en la existencia de una exagerada dispersión léxica en 10sLT analizados, máxime cuando hay evidencias experimentales que un inventario léxico mínimo con alto índice de frecuencia siempre formará parte de un inventario léxico mayor [Dollerup & al., 1989:21-33]. Asimismo, hemos de manifestar también que el tratamiento del vocabulario en los LT no es siempre satisfactorio en cuanto a los criterios adoptados para potenciar la fijación de las palabras, una vez presentadas y utilizadas, mediante su reutilización de manera periódica siguiendo una determinada secuencia.

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'It is ironic that one of the most complex and tedious aspects of language learning -vocabulary acquisition- has been given so little emphasis in a wide range of introductory and intermediate level textbooks (that) ... based on descriptive linguistics have traditionally concentrated on detailed phonologica~ descriptions and extensive representations of grammatical rules' [Keller, 1978:1]

Encontramos, por ejemplo, que para practicar las formas paradigmáticas de los comparativos y los superlativos y las estructuras o funciones de comparación se presentan largas listas de adjetivos o adverbios que casi nunca más se vuelven a emplear; análogamente, sólo encontramos una amplia variedad de verbos cuando se explotan los tiempos verbales.

Aunque es posible apuntar, de manera muy general, una correlación entre las causas expuestas y el efecto resultante, sin embargo no podemos ni jerarquizarlas ni asignarles un peso específico determinado.

Por tanto, para conseguir un cambio positivo en el objetivo que persegui~ mosdebemos actuar sobre todas y cada una de ellas.

4. El aprendizaje del léxico como destreza autónoma: propuestas La mera comprobación de que.J..os alumnos no alcanzan los mínimos léxicos requeridos no sería suficiente si nos fijásemos en ese aspecto; tampoco serviría de nada el atribuir el fracaso a una o varias causas; por ello, debemos aportar posibles soluciones insistiendo en aquellos factores sobre los que podemos actuar. Por principio, hay que elevar a la categoría de destreza autónoma el aprendizaje del léxico [Judd, 1978J, hecho que conlleva la necesidad· de su programación, explotación y evaluación, y una revisión del papel del LT, así como de la actitud del profesor. La mayoría de los estudiantes necesitan ayuda en el aprendizaje de las 3.000 primeras palabras [Keller, 1978: 1J, como lo expresan los mismos estudiantes - 'They were not taught enough words in class, words they needed when talking to people, watching TV and reading' [Margan & Rinvolucri, 1986:4J-, no obstante la opinión de Gleason, típica de la década de los 60: 'In learning a second language, you will find that vocabulary is comparatively easy, in spite of the fact that it is vocabulary that students fear mosto The harder part is mastering new structures in both content and expression '.

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El lexicón mental (LM) de un individuo engloba un vocabulario potencial, un vocabulario receptivo y un vocabulario productivo, no existiendo unos límites permanentes especialmente entre los dos últimos y detectándose unas migraciones léxicas bi-direccionales contínuas entre ambas. Hay palabras en nuestro inventario pasivo que, en un determinadó momento y por necesidades comunicativas, las activamos y las utilizamos de forma productiva, pudiendo volver a reintegrarse a la zona del inventario pasivo una vez que ha desaparecido la causa de su reactivación y mayor uso. De modo análogo, las palabras del inventario receptivo también corren el riesgo de desaparecer del mismo si no son utilizadas en actividades de tipo receptivo (comprensión oral o escrita). Es primordial, por tanto, que el profesor asuma como objetivo fundamental el aumento del vocabulario de los alumnos, motivándoles al·máximo para que ellos sean realmente los artífices de esa tarea, y que profundice en el conocimiento y funcionamiento del lexicón mental de L2 en el que la memoria juega un papelprimordial, flexible y expandible siempre que la infOrmación esté bien estructurada [Gregg, 1986J. Para ello, el profesor de L2 debe conocer que, de acuerdo con las investigaciones realizadas, se evidencia una interacción entre ambos lexicones (de Ll y L2) [Meara, 1982J, o que con la maduración lingüística se produce un cambio en el tipo de asociaciones (pasando de la sintagmática a la paradigmática) o una mayor conciencia de la taxonomía de las palabras por clases gramaticales, o que los antónimos presentan el mayor grado de conexión dentro del lexicón mental. Por último, el profesor debe confeccionar una programación que incluya el léxico junto a las otras destrezas a desarrollar.

De acuerdo con lo anterior, y comoquiera que la fijación de una palabra en el LM será más duradera en función de los lazos que la conecten con otras palabras o grupos de palabras, y puesto que la riqueza lingüística de un individuo vendrá dada, en su vertiente cuantitativa, por el número de palabras almacenadas en su LM, y, cualitativamente, por el número de relaciones entre las palabras del mismo, está claro que la tarea del profesor consistirá en ayudar al alumno a desarrollarlo en ambas vertientes: aumento del número de palabras y ampliación de las posibles conexiones, que se pueden abordar con aquellas actividades o ejercicios que completen la información almacenada en el LM, tales como:

*

lectura de palabras a partir de su transcripción fonética o repetición de las mismas siguiendo un modelo (profesor o grabación) ya que algunos alumnos no son capaces de asociar la cadena sonora con la graférnica o con su referente o término en L1, con las consiguientes

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interferencias al conectar lo oral con lo escrito; el profesor ha de motivar a sus alumnos para que, cuando aprendan una palabra o entren en contacto con ella, procuren conocer cómo se pronuncia, cómo se escribe, qué significado(s) tiene, etc. Se debe potenciar, en la medida de lo posible, el uso de la similitud fónica, morfológica y etimológica entre la palabra de L2 y la correspondiente de Ll porque de esa forma la fijación de la palabra será más duradera [Nation, 1982:18}, siempre que se evite el peligro de los falsos amigos (false cognates) [Carter & McCarthy, 1988:14-5]. * clasificación de palabras por clases gramaticales, campos semánticos, número de sílabas, etc. * formación de la familia semántica * búsqueda de sinónimos, antónimos, hiperónimos, hipónimos * emparejamiento de nombres y agjetivos; de nombres y verbos; de verbos y adverbios * análisis componencial de campos semánticos (de manera simple) * colocación de palabras dentro de una red, celdilla, escala, diagrama, etc. * presentación de ejemplos con colocaciones, formas idiomáticas * resolución de crucigramas * memorización del léxico básico o fundamental, que aparece en los materiales didácticos utilizados (LT, libros de lecturas graduadas o simplificadas, canciones, TBü's, películas, etc.). El aumento del léxico receptivo, fuera de contexto, puede ser llevado a cabo por el propio alumno al intentar estudiar o memorizar las nuevas palabras que va encontrando, relacionándolas con los valores que le corresponden en L1 así como con las otras palabras de su familia, tópico o campo semántico. Aunque la memorización de léxico contextualizado en rimas, canciones, diálogos, etc. es de gran utilidad, sobre todo en los niveles avanzados [Cohen & Aphek, 1980}, no por ello debemos prescindir de la capacidad de memorizar palabras [Atkinson & Rough, 1975:126; Pickering, 1982; Nation, 1983; Carter, 1988:14-5}, sin el apoyo de un contexto, en aras de un aumento del léxico de nuestros alumnos en un espacio de tiempo más reducido, en especial en las primeras etapas: sería absurdo tener que contextualizar todos los nombres de un campo determinado cuando un diccionario pictórico puede acelerar ese aprendizaje o intentar que los alumnos capten el significado de un término abstracto cuando la presentación del término de L1 abreviaría el proceso y garantizaría \lIla comprensión más específica. * ejercicios de tipo 'cloze'

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* ejercicios de transferencia de información de material lingüístico a

* * * *

* * *

extralingüístico y viceversa ejercicios de traducción juegos de palabras tipo scrabble o master-noun ejercicios de respuestas a cuestionarios tests léxicos juegos de ordenador tipo Wordpath o Wordstore ejercicios de lectura intensiva y extensiva preparación de tareas y proyectos [de la Serna, 1992; Klee & al., 1992].

Quisierámos terminar estas líneas manifestando que el profesor sólo puede facilitar el aprendizaje que es competencia casi exclusiva del alumno -'They must eventually develop their own vocabularies' [Rivers, 1983:118J-, al que habrá de dotar de mecanismos de autocontrol para detectar su progreso.

'Students who hope ultimately to recognize words would benefit greatly from an indication o[their progress and an overview o[the entire system. (.,,) Students become discouraged when they see no recognizable end to the learning process' [Keller, 1978:12J

insistiendo en este sentido Nation [1986] al proponer la confección de listas para que los mismos alumnos las utilicen de forma permanente.

También hay que poner a disposición del profesor todos los medios posibles para poder llevar a cabo la función que le corresponde. Por ejemplo, en cuanto a los LT sería deseable que éstos cumpliesen una serie de requisitos, ya en el libro del alumno o en la guía del profesor, tales como:

* disponer de listados de entradas en los que se incluya la transcripción * *

*

fonética, los diversos valores contextualizados y las concordancias usadas incluir un número suficiente de ejercicios variados y específicos (referidos, claro está, al vocabulario) emplear unas técnicas de presentación de vocabulario nuevo, debiendo quedar patente la periodicidad de reutilización del mismo disponer de un léxico seleccionado siguiendo unos criterios claramente explicitados [Carter, 1987:217J, controlando el número de entradas (distinguiendo entre el vocabulario que se intenta sea productivo o simplemente receptivo), la proporción de las mismas por clases gramaticales, la cobertura de determinados tópicos, nociones o

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esferas semánticas, las relaciones prototípicas, la gradación por dificultad que viene dada por las posibles relaciones con otras palabras en L1 y L2, la polisemia, o las asociaciones que la palabra crea, la facilidad o dificultad de su pronunciación, la posibilidad de ser memorizada con técnicas keyword, o finalmente, la naturaleza de los contextos en los que va a aparecer. Algunas editoriales confeccionan, en la actualidad, sus nuevas series utilizando un corpus lingüístico significativo, que se compuso con finalidad lexicográfica y apoyada en una metodología propiciada por la lingüística computacional, por lo que es de esperar una mayor homogeneidad entre las distintas series si los corpora empleados son realmente representativos. Los mismos avances tecnológicos que están posibilitando tales innovaciones van a propiciar también el análisis y estudio del léxico de los LT de una manera más exhaustiva y de modo más asequible por parte de los profesores y de los investigadores de lingüística aplicada.

Finalmente, también sería conveniente que el profesor pudiera disponer de otro material complementario al LT como listas de vocabulario [Nation, 1986; Laufer, 1988], tests léxicos, libros de lecturas graduadas, libros de crucigramas, etc. para poder nevar a buen término esta árdua tarea; pero sobre todo el profesor debería ser capaz de crear las condiciones oportunas para que el alumno sienta la necesidad de saber una palabra [Allen, 1983:9], porque de ese modo le habremos realmente involucrado en la labor de confeccionar su propio inventario léxico y con esta forma de proceder el éxito está casi asegurado.

NOTAS (1)

(2)

Se analizan los ejercicios de 137 alumnos pertenecientes a ocho centros del distrito universitario de Málaga.

Seashore y Eckerson (1940) cifraban el número de palabras que un adulto puede conocer en más de 150.000. Otros estudios citados en Aitchison [1987:5] son más cautos con un rango situado entre 50.000 y 250.000.

Wallace estima el vocabulario pasivo de un adulto nativo culto entre 100.000 y 200.000 palabras. Para entender las magnitudes citadas hay que distinguir entre palabra (word) y unidad léxica o lexema (lexical item). En un diccionario monolingüe o bilingüe la palabra head presenta una serie de valores o acepciones de la misma (unidades léxicas o lexemas) tales como part o[ the body, top, boss, etc. Los resultados de un recuento v¡¡,rían signifi-

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(3) (4)

(5) (6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

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cativamente dependiendo de que adoptemos como patrón una u otra unidad: las 850 palabras del Basic English de Richards & Ogden se transforman en 12.425 unidades léxicas según estudio realizado por Nation (1983).

Dulai, H. & S. Krashen, 1982; Alexander, L.G. & al., 1979.

El vocabulario potencial está compuesto por aquellas palabras de L2 que el sujeto es capaz de entender la primera vez que entra en contacto con ellas, ya sea por analogía o etimológicamente.

H. Eaton, 1940: M. West, 1953; R.J.Dixon, 1956;IS.P. Nation, 1986; J. Carroll & al., 1987; Collin, P.H.1981; L.H. Engles & al.,1981;etc.

Por ejemplo, la palabra match, que tiene distíntos valores según sea nombre o verbo, puede originar las siguientes asociaciones, dependiendo del nivel léxico del alumno. Los datos experimentales evidencian que los príncipiantes la asociarán, mayoritariamente, con partido (football match/matchball), y sólo algunos 10 harán con cerilla, en tanto que los de nivel intermedio incluirán casar, hacer juego, empantiar, etc. en sus producciones. No faltan las asociaciones equivocadas () erróneas, por ejemplo quien la asocia con mach (término para indicar la velocidad de un avión en función de la del sonido). Comoquiera que los alumnos tienen libertad total para aportar más de una asociación y, además, no reciben ninguna indicación relativa a la clase gramatical, el TAL ofrece al profesor una información cuantitativa y cualitativa del léxico de los alumnos, sin menospreciar la que aportan los errores léxicos. Conviene recordar el problema de los homógrafos - '... most of the vocabulary of English is ambiguous as to grammatical category' [Bradley, 1983:2J- por lo que una palabra puede ser interpretada o asociada de diferentes maneras [NelsonFrancis, 1982:21J. Para dotar a las palabras del citado índice tomamos en consideración los índices ya expuestos en (5) así como los que indican que esa palabra aparece por primera vez en los libros de Primero de BUP, de Segundo de BUP o Tercero de BUP. A contínuación se procede al ordenamiento de las palabras teniendo en cuenta una serie de valores que permitan la partición del ILM en tres grandes bloques, cada uno representativo de los tres niveles y numéricamente proporcional en cuanto a las clases gramaticales léxicas.

Comoquiera que en la base de datos creada los registros también recogen la categoría gramatical de las palabras se procede a la división del ILM de cada nivel en siete particiones utilizando criterios aleatorios, cuidando que la proporción de nombres, verbos y adjetivos sea análoga a la del ILM total. En el caso de los homógrafos, optamos por la clase gramatical con mayor índice de frecuencia. action, actor, afternoon, airport, angry, answer, arrive, awfu~ bag, bedroom, bicycle, birthday, busy, card, coin, colone~ come, comfortable, cool, cotton, chemist, church, desk, dinner, drink, easy, end, evening, expect, jill, jire,

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[oot, free, garage, garden, glass, gold, grass, habit, happen, hot, important, in[ormation, instrument, join, least, letter, library, long, low, luggage, make, marry, match, mechanic, meet, meeting, mile, milk, minute, mistake, morning, nose, nurse, pig, plan, pocket, point, post, read, remember, rich, river, road, rubber, salt, servant, shirt, sign, smoke, spoon, stamp, station, stomack, suggest, supper, tall, taste, telegram, theatre, think, time, tourist, town, trouble, turn, wet, white, word, worse.

(10) Se seleccionaron dos centros públicos de Bachillerato [IB Cánovas del Castillo & IB Emilio Prados], uno semi-público [Colegio Homologado Sta. Rosa de Lima] y tres privados [Colegio San Estanislao de Kostka, Colegio Sta María de la Victoria y Colegio Cerrado de Calderón]. En cada uno de ellos se aplicó el TAL, como mínimo, a un grupo de cada nivel.

(11) 'Los grandes cambios en la historia del hecho educativo no_se han librado de las influencias de la ley del péndulo por la que se definen en general l~s grandes mutaciones históricas. Se pasa de un planteamiento a su opuesto, de un valor a su contrario, de un instrumento considerado como válido a su defenestración por el considerado novedoso. Con frecuencia esto ocurre por un casi natural instinto de novedad, muy alejado del contraste de datos que debería ser previo o simultáneo' [Lorenzo Delgado, 1980:9J. (12) Las series analizadas, publicadas en la segunda década de los 70 y primera de los ochenta, son las siguientes: Inglés England English Course Inglés Ready Teens Starting Out Inglés Strearnline ..

Opening Strategies Followme Spectrum New Incentive It's up to you Network English Visa

Manuel Estrany E. Wulff & N. McLaren R. Fente & E. Wulff M.E. Pujals & al.

F. Luttikhuizen & al.

ELTDU M. Coles & B. Lord R.M. Ramsey B. Hartley & P. Viney B. Abbs & 1. Freebairn L.G. Alexander D. Warshawsky & al W.S. Fowler & al.

G. Capelle & D. Girard J. Eastwood & al.

J.Blundell

Anaya Bruño Edelvives Magisterio Vicens-Vives Omnivox O.u.P Teide O.U.P. Longman Longman Regents Nelson S.G.E.L. O.u.P. O.U.P.

Madrid Madrid Zaragoza Vitoria Barcelona Madrid Oxford Barcelona Oxford Harlow London NewYork Sunbury Madrid Oxford Oxford

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Bibliografía Aitchison, J. 1987. Words in the Mind. London: BlackwelI Alexander, L.G., W. Stannard Allen, RA. Close & RJ. O'Neill. 1979. English Grammatical Structures (3d. imp.). London:Longman Anglin, J. 1970. The Growth ofWord Meaning. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press Bradley, D.C. 1983. Computational Distinction of Vocabulary Type. Bloomington, Ind.. Indiana University Linguistics Club.

Brumíit, Ch. 1980. «Seven last slogans». M odern English Teacher. 7/1: 30-1 CarrolI, J. & al. 1987. The American Heritage Word Frequency Book. New York: American Heritage Pub. Co. Carler, R & M. McCarthy. 1988. Vocabulary and English Teaching. London: Longman Col1in, P.H. Harrap 's 2000 Word English Dictionary. London: Harrap Dixon, Robert J. 1956, The 2000 Most Frequently Used Words in English. New York: Regents Dol1erup, Cay & al..1989 «Vocabularies in lhe reading process». AILA Review.

Dulai, Heidi & Krashen, Stephen. 1982.Language Two. New York: OUP. Eaton, Helen S. 1940. An English-French-German-Spanish Word Frequency Dictionary. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. Edwards,' M. 1987. Dictionay ofKey Words. London: MacmilIan Engles, L.K. & al. 1981. Leuven English Teaching Vocabulary List. Leuven, Belgium: ACCO Francis, W. Nelson . 1982. 'Problems of Assembling and Computerizing Large Corpora'. En Stig Johansson (ed). Computer Corpora in English Language Research. Bergen: Norwegian Computing Centre for the Humanities.

Gass, S.M. 1987. 'Introduction to the use & acquisition of the second language lexicon'. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 9:2.

GreenalI, S. 1984. «The coursebook credibility gap». ELF Gazette. 53/4: 14.

Gregg, V.H. 1986. Introduction to Human Memary. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Hatch, E. 1983. Psycholinguistics: A Second Language Perspective. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House Hindmarsh, R.1980. Cambridge English Lexicon. Cambridge: CUP Hol1ey, P.M. 1973. <<A study of vocabulary learning in context: lhe effect of new word density in German reading materials». ForeignLanguageAnnals. 6/ 3: 339-47 Judd, E.L. 1978. <<vocabulary teaching and TESOL: A need for re-evaluation of existing assumptions». TESOL Quarterly 12/1: 71-6 Kameenui, E,J. & al., 1982. «Effects of construction & constructional procedures for teaching word meanings in comprehension and recal1». Reading Research Quarterly. 17/3: 367-88

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Madrid: Cincel Marks, c.B. & al., 1974. «Word frequency & reading comprehension». Journal of Educational Research. 67/6: 259-62 Meara, P. 1982. «Word associations in a foreign language: a report on the Birbeck Vocabulary Project». NottinghamLinguistic Circular. 11/2: 29-38 Miranda, A. 1987. Lexicón. Málaga: Agora Miranda. A. 1990. Análisis del input léxico textual y evaluación del output léxico adquirido. Tesis Doctoral. Universidad de Málaga Morgan, J. & M. Rinvolucri. 1986. Vocabulary. Oxford: O.U.P. Natioh, I.S.P. & A. Coady. 1988. «Vocabulary & realia» en R. Carter & T. McCarthy, Vocabulary andEnglish Teaching. London: Longman Nation, I.S.P. 1983. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. Victoria University of Wellington Nation,I.S.P. 1986. Vocabulary List. Words, Affixes & Stems(revised). Victoria University of Wel1ington Ogden, C.K. & al. 1940. The General Basic English Dictionary. London: Evans Palmberg, Rolf. 1987. 'Patterns of vocabulary development in foreign language learners'. Studies in Second Language Acquisition. 9/2: 202-21.

Palmberg, Rolf. 1987. 'On lexical inferencing and the young foreign-Ianguage learner'. System 15/1:69-76.

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NORMAS PARA LA REDACCIÓN DE ORIGINALES 1.

Se enviará un diskette y cuatro copias del artículo en las que sólo aparezca el título del mismo, es decir, sin datos referentes al autor del trabajo. (Se puede utilizar cualquier tratamiento de textos habitual para pes o Macintosh. En caso de duda consulte al comité editorial).

2.

En una hoja aparte se incluirá el nombre, la dirección, el número de teléfono y el centro de trabajo del autor, junto con el título del artículo.

3.

En otra hoja ha de aparecer un resumen del artículo, que no exceda las 200 palabras, en una lengua diferente a la utilizada para la redacción del trabajo.

4.

Las lenguas admitidas para la publicación de los artículos son: castellano, gallego, inglés y alemán.

S.

La extensión de los artículos no debe superar las 20 páginas, incluyendo en ellas notas y bibliografía.

6.

Las notas a pie de página deberán aparecer inmediatamente al final del artículo y, a continuación, la bibliografía en orden alfabético.

7.

Las referencias bibliográficas serán elaboradas de acuerdo con los ejemplos siguientes: Culler, J. 1975. Structuralist Poetics: Structuralism, Linguistics and the Study 01LiteratUre. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Graham, J.W. 1975. "Point of view in The Waves: Sorne services of the style" en S. Lewis, oo. Virginia Wollf. A Collection 01 Criticismo New York: McGraw-hill Guiora, A., R. Brannon y C. Dull. 1972. "Empathy and second language learning" . Language Learning. 22: 111-130

TEMÁTICA 1.

2.

3.

4.

S. 6.

Lengua Inglesa y Alemana Literatura Inglesa y Alemana Lingüística Aplicada Teoría Literaria Traducción Metodología

A.F.I.A.L.

ASPECTOS DE FILOLOGÍA INGLESA y ALEMANA Revista del Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana de la Universidad de Vigo