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Break-in-the-Narrative (Appsiopesis)
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Aposiopesis is a device which dictionaries define as "A stopping short for rhetorical effect." This is true. But this definition is too general to' disclose the stylistic functions of the device.
In the spoken variety of the language, a break in the narrative is usually caused by unwillingness to proceed; or by the supposition that what remains to be said can be understood by the implication embodied in what has been said; or by uncertajnty as to what should be said.
In the written variety, a break in the narrative is always a stylistic device used for some stylistic effect. It is difficult, however, to draw a hard and fast distinction between break-in-the-narrative as a typical feature of lively colloquial language and as a specific stylistic device. The only criterion which may serve as a guide is that in conversation the implication can be conveyed by an adequate gesture. In writing it is the context, which suggests the adequate intonation, that is the only key to decoding the aposiopesis.
In the following example the implication of the aposiopesis is a warning
"If you continue your intemperate way of living, in six months' time..."
In the sentence:
"You just come home or I'll..."
the implication is a threat. The second example shows that without a context the implication can only be vague. But when one knows that the words were said by an angry father to his son over the telephone the implication becomes apparent.
Aposiopesis is a stylistic syntactical device to convey to the reader a very strong upsurge of emotions. The idea of this stylistic device is that the speaker cannot proceed, his feelings depriving him of the ability to express himself in terms of language. Thus in Don Juan's address to Julia, who is left behind:
"And oh! if e'er I should forget, / swear—;i But that's impossible, and cannot be." (Byron)
Break-in-the-narrative has a strong degree of predictability, which is ensured by the structure of the sentence. As a stylistic device it is used in complex sentences, in particular in conditional sentences, the //-clause being given in full and the second part only implied.
However, aposiopesis may be noted in different syntactical structures.
Thus, one of Shelley's poems is entitled "To—", which is an aposiopesis of a different character, inasmuch as the implication here is so vague that it can be likened to a secret code. Indeed, no one except those in the know would be able to find out to whom the poem was addressed.
Sometimes a break in the narrative is caused by euphemistic considerations—unwillingness to name a thing on the ground of its being offensive to the ear, for example:
"Then, Mamma, i hardly like to let the words cross my lips, but they have wicked, wicked attractions out there—like dancing girls that—that charm snakes and dance without—Miss Moir with downcast eyes, broke off significantly and blushed, whilst the down on her upper lip quivered modestly." (Cronin)
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Break-in-the-narrative is a device which, on the one hand, offers a number of variants in^deciphering the implication and, on the other, is highly predictable. Thevproblem of implication is, as it were, a crucial one in stylistics. What is implied sometimes outweighs what is expressed. In other stylistic devices the degree of implication is not so high as in break-in-the-narrative. A sudden 'break in the narrative will inevitably focus the attention on what is left unsaid. Therefore the interrelation between what is given and what is new becomes more significant, inasmuch as the given is what is said and the new—what is left unsaid. There is a phrase in colloquial English which has become very familiar: "Good intentions but—"
The implication here is that nothing has come of what it was planned to accomplis
Aposiopesis is a stylistic device in which the role of the intonation implied cannot be over-estimated. The pause after the break is generally charged with meaning and it is the intonation only that will decode the communicative significance of the utterance.
Question-in-the-Narrative
Questions, being both structurally and semantically one of the types of sentences, are asked by one person and e'xpected to be answered by another. This is the main, and the most characteristic property of the question, i. e. it exists as a syntactical unit of language to bear this particular function in communication. Essentially, questions belong to the spoken language and presuppose the presence of an interlocutor, that is, they are commonly encountered in dialogue. The questioner is presumed not to know the answer.
Q uestion- in- the- narrative changes the real nature of a question and turns it into a stylistic device. A question in the narrative is asked and answered by one and the same person, usually the author.
It becomes akin to a parenthetical statement with strong emotional implications. Here are some cases of quest ion-in-tbe-narrative taken from Byron's "Don Juan":
1) 'Tor what is left the poet here?
For Greeks a blush—for Greece a tear."
2) "And starting, she awoke, and what to view?
Oh, Powers of Heaven. What dark eye meets she there? 'Tis—'tis her father's—fix'd upon the pair."
As is seen from these examples, the questions asked, unlike rhetorical questions (see p. 244), do not contain statements. But being answered by one who knows the answer, they assume a semi-exclamatory nature, as in 'what to view?'
Sometimes quest ion-in-the-narrative gives the impression of an intimate talk between the writer and the reader. For example:
"Scrooge knew he was dead! Of course he did. How could it be, otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years." (Dickens)
Quest ion-in-the-narrative is very often used in oratory. This is explained by one of the leading features of oratorical style— to induce the desired reaction to the content of the speech. Questions here chain the attention of the listeners to the matter the orator is dealing with and prevent it from wandering. They also give the listeners time to absorb what has been said, and prepare for the next point.
Quest ion-in-the-narrative may also remain unanswered, as in:
"How long must it go on? How long must we suffer? Where is the end? What is the end?" (Norris)
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These sentences show a gradual transition to rhetorical questions. There are only hints of the possible answers. Indeed, the first and the
second questions suggest that the existing state of affairs should be put an end to and that we should not suffer any longer. The third and the fourth questions suggest that the orator himself could not find a solution ta the problem.
"The specific nature of interrogative sentences," writes P. S. Po pov, "which are transitional stages from what we know to what we do not yet know, is reflected in the interconnection between the question and the answer. The interrogative sentence is connected with the answer-sentence far more closely than the inference is connected with two interrelated pronouncements, because each of the two pronouncements has its own significance; whereas the significance of the interrogative sentence is only in the process of seeking the answer." l
This very interesting statement concerning the psychological nature of the question, however, does not take into consideration the stimulating aspect of the question.
When a question begins to fulfil a function not directly arising from its linguistic and psychological nature, it may have a certain volume of emotional chargerQuestion-in-the-narrative is a case of this kind. Here its function deviates slightly from its general signification.
This deviation (being in fact a modification of the general function of interrogative sentences) is much more clearly apparent in rhetorical questions.
Represented Speech
There are three ways of reproducing actual speech: a) repetition of the exact utterance as it was spoken (direct speech), b) conversion of the exact utterance into the relater'smode of expression (indirect s p*e e с h), arid c) representation of the actual utterance by a second person, usually the author, as if it had been spoken; whereas it has not really been spoken but is only represented in the author's words (represented speech).
There is also a device which conveys to the reader the unuttered or inner speech of the character, thus presenting his thoughts and feelings. This device is also termed represented speech. To distinguish between the two varieties of represented speech we call the representation of the actual utterance through the author's language uttered r e p r e -sen-ted speech, and the representation of the thoughts and feelings of the character—unuttered or'inner represented speech.
The term direct speech came to be used in the belles-lettres style in order to distinguish the words of the character from the author's words. Actually, direct speech is a quotation. Therefore it is always introduced by a verb like say, utter, declare, reply, exclaim, shout, cry, yell, gasp, babble, chuckle, murmur, sigh, call, beg, implore, comfort,
assure, protest, object, command, admit, and others. All these words help ot indicate the intonation with which the sentence was actually uttered. Direct speech is always marked by -inverted commas, as any quotation is. Here is an example:
"You want your money back, I suppose," said George with a
sneer.
"Of course I do—I always did, didn't I?" says Dobbin.
(Thackeray)
The most important feature of the spoken language—intonation— is indicated by different means. In the example above we have 1) graphical means: the dash after 'I do', 2) lexical: the word 'sneer', and 3) grammatical: a) morphological—different tenses of the verb to say ('said' and 'says'), b) syntactical: the disjunctive question—'didn't I?'.
Direct speech is sometimes used -in the publicistic style of language as a quotation. The introductory words in this case are usually the following: as... has it, according to..., and the like.
In the belles-lettres style direct speech is used to depict a character
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through his speech.
In the emotive prose of the belles-lettres style where the predominant form of utterance is narrative, direct speech is inserted to more fully depict the characters of the novel. In the other variety of the belles-lettres prose style, i.e. in plays, the predominant form of utterance is dialogue. In spite of the various graphical and lexical ways of indicating the proper intonation of a given utterance, the subtleties of the intonation design required by the situation cannot be accurately conveyed. The richness of the human voice can only be suggested.
Direct speech can be viewed as a stylistic device only in its setting.s in the midst of the author's narrative or in contrast to all forms of indirect speech. Even when, an author addresses the reader, we cannot classify the utterance as direct speech. Direct speech is only the speech of a character in a piece of emotive prose.
We have indirect speech when the actual words of a character, as it were, pass through the author's mouth in the course of his narrative and in this process undergo certain changes. The intonation of indirect speech is even and does not differ from the rest of the author's narrative. The graphical substitutes for the intonation give way to lexical units which describe the intonation pattern. Sometimes indirect speech takes the form of a precis in which only the main points of the actual utterance are given. Thus, for instance, in the following passage:
"Marshal asked the crowd to disperse and urged responsible diggers to prevent any disturbance which would prolong the tragic force of the rush for which the publication of inaccurate information was chiefly responsible." (Katherine Prichard) In grammars there are rules according to which direct speech can be converted into indirect. These rules are logical in- character, they merely indicate what changes must be introduced into the utterance due to change in the situation, Thus the sentence:
"Your mother wants you to go upstairs immediately" corresponds to "Tell him to come upstairs immediately."
When direct speech is converted into indirect, the author not infrequently interprets in his own way the manner in which the direct speech was uttered, thus very often changing the emotional colouring of the whole. Hence, indirect speech may fail entirely to reproduce the actual emotional colouring of the direct speech and may distort it unrecognizably. A change of meaning is inevitable when direct speech is turned into indirect or vice versa, inasmuch as any modification of form calls forth a slight difference in meaning.
It is probably due to this fact that in order to convey more adequately the actual utterances of characters in emotive prose, a new way to represent direct speech came into being—r epresented speech.
Represented speech is that form of utterance which conveys the actual words of the speaker through the mouth of the writer but retains the peculiarities of the speaker's mode of expression.
Represented speech exists in two varieties: 1) uttered represented speech and 2) unuttered or inner represented speech.
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