Non-Personal Direct Speech (Represented Speech)

Несобственно-прямая речь – форма передачи чужой речи, сочетающая в себе элементы прямой и косвенной речи. В несобственно-прямой речи отражаются лексические и синтаксические особенности чужого высказывания, манера речи литературного персонажа, эмоциональная окраска, характерная для прямой речи, но передается она не от имени персонажа, а от имени автора. Создается двуплановость высказывания: передается «внутренняя» речь персонажа, его мысли, настроение.

Represented, or reported speech, is a stylistic device peculiarly combining characteristic features of direct and indirect speech. It is a comparatively “young” stylistic device dating its increasing popularity from the end of the last century. Introducing represented speech into his narration the author creates the effect of the hero’s immediate presence and participation.

The morphological structure is that of indirect speech: the hero is referred to in the third person singular the verbs and pronouns are, too, of the same form. But though the quotation marks are absent and though the structure of the passage does not indicate the hero’s interference into the writer’s narration, still there are certain features which enable us to distinguish it from the author’s indirect speech proper. The exclamatory sentences help to reflect the emotional state of the hero. Parallel constructions, repetitions – all take part in bringing in the character himself with his ideas, dreams and sentiments. The writer does not eliminate himself completely from the narration as it happens with the introduction of direct speech but coexist with the personage.

 “So” at the beginning of the sentence has the function of summing up certain preceding meditations and arguments.

Turning from the structure of affirmative sentences to that of interrogative and exclamatory the writer marks off the introduction of an emotive passage, which more often than not represents reported speech.

            Represented speech – is a fusion of the author’s speech and the speech of one of the characters. By combining the features of direct and indirect speech and introducing it into his narration the writer creates the effect of the characters’ immediate presence and participation. The morphological structure of Non-Personal Direct Speech is that of indirect speech: the character is referred to in the 3^rd person, the verbs and pronouns are of the same form. Past Indefinite is used but at the same time there are features that distinguish it from the author’s narration:

1. The use of interrogative and exclamatory sentences.
2. Elliptical, one-member sentences, aposiopesis, abrupt, broken, logically disconnected sentences, parcellations.
3. Repetitions of all kinds, parallel constructions.

All this recreates the fragmentary character of the personage’s flow of thought, gives an insight into his personality. This device brings in the character with his ideas, dreams and sentiments. The writer doesn’t eliminate himself completely from the narration but seems to co-exist with the personage. Sometimes we can see in NPD Speech the imitation of phonetic peculiarities of a character’s speech. They are called graphons. (Граффон – стилистически релевантное искажение орфографической нормы, отражающее индивидуальные или диалектные нарушения нормы фонетической).  

Graphon is the intentional violation of the graphical shape of a word (or word combination) used to reflect its authentic pronunciation.

Graphon proved to be an extremely concise but effective means of supplying information about the speaker’s origin, social and educational background, physical and emotional condition etc.

Graphon, thus, individualizing the character’s speech, adds to his plausibility, vividness, memorability. At the same time graphon is very good at conveying the atmosphere of authentic live communication, of the informality of speech act. Some amalgamated forms, which are the result of strong assimilation, became cliché s in contemporary prose dialogue: “gimme” (give me), “lemme” (let me), “gonna” (going to), “gotta” (got to), “coupla” (couple of), “mighta” (might have). The flavour of informality brought graphon popularity with admen. On the other hand, graphon shows the physical defects of the speaker – the stuttering, the lisping.

Graphons show deviations from the neutral (usual) way of pronouncing speech sounds and their combinations, as well as peculiar features of speech: (the graphon th stands for the letter s – showing the speech of those who have a lisp (шепелявость) – “Your thervant! Thith ith a bad pieth of buthineth…” Ch. Dickens “Hard Times”.

One cockney feature is the famous dropping of H-s’: ‘ave (=have); ‘at (=hat); ‘is (=his); ‘ope (=hope).

The substitution of the diphthong [ai] for the diphthong [ei]:

Is that my wife? I see it is, from your fyce. It’s the same nyme.

The tendency of turning th into d: you know dat one Nigger dat belongs…

Represented speech can be divided into 2 uneven groups: represented inner speech and represented uttered speech.

The first group is incomparably larger, it enables the writer to give a fuller and more complete picture of the hero’s state of mind as if from within.

Represented uttered speech is a mental reproduction of a once uttered remark or even a whole dialogue.

 “You know” serves the same purpose of intermixing elements of direct and indirect speech, which creates represented speech, so narrowing the distance between the character and the reader.

Close to represented speech stands the effect of immediate presence. Its function is similar to that of represented speech: to show a certain picture through the eyes of immediate direct participant, and in this way to involve the reader into proceedings.

e. g. “… he was telling her of his prospective art studies, and talking of Paris. What a wonderful thing! ”

1. represented inner speech:

Over and over he was asking himself: would she receive him (or would she recognize him), what should he say to her… - only thoughts of one of the personages which were not materialized in spoken or written language.

       “An idea had occurred to Soames. His cousin Jolyon was Irene’s trustee. The first step would be to go down and see him at Robin Hill. Robin Hill! The odd – the very odd feeling those words brought back. Robin Hill – the house Bosinney had built for him and Irene – the house they had never lived in - the fatal house! And Jolyon lived there now! H’m! ” (J. Galsworthy).

2. represented uttered speech:

Is Irene at home? No, she was not. She went with Bosinney to have a look at a new building.  – the things are materialized, the words are said by somebody.

       “She had known him for a full year when, in London for a while and as usual alone, she received a note from him to say that he had to come up to town for a night and couldn’t they dine together and go to some place to dance. She thought it very sweet of him to take pity on her solitariness and accepted with pleasure. They spent a delightful evening”. (W. S. Maugham).