Ludic stylistics: Narrating a thought experiment (A study of “The Science of Discworld” series)
Abstract
This article addresses the phenomenon of ludic stylistics, viewed through the lens of interdiscursivity. The paper defines interdiscursivity as a narrative strategy that involves the blending of discourses of different types within a single literary text, thereby foregrounding its genre-bound nature. In the “The Science of Discworld” series, co-authored by Terry Pratchett along with the popular science writers Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart, interdiscursivity is evident through the fusion of fictional and non-fictional discourses. The interplay of these discourses in the “The Science of Discworld” series facilitates the creation of its ludic stylistics. The paper regards ludic stylistics as an artistic phenomenon that emerges in literary text at both the micro- and macro-levels due to unconventional combinations of linguistic units of any rank. These elements, whether independently or in tandem with other literary devices, have a tendency to engender singular or multiple ludic effects. Ludic microstylistics in the “The Science of Discworld” series is primarily manifested through the innovative combinations of various figures of speech, such as metaphors, personifications, antonomasia, analogies, neologisms, puns, irony, and more. Ludic macrostylistics is represented by narrative games, predominantly of metafictional and intertextual varieties. Overall, ludic stylistics constitutes the ontology of the “The Science of Discworld” series, while shedding light on the innovative transformations of genre-bound literary forms.
References
[1] Alber, J., & Heinze, R. (2011). Introduction. Unnatural Narratives-Unnatural Narratology, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110229042.1
[2] Alber, J. (2014). Unnatural Narrative. Handbook of Narratology, 887–895. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110316469.887
[3] Bekhta, N. (2018). Reading experimental literature: Reading Today, 15–30. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20krxjt.6
[4] Bhatia, V. K. (2010). Interdiscursivity in professional communication. Discourse & Communication, 4(1), 32–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481309351208
[5] Björk, O., & Iyer, R. (2023). The dialogism of ‘telling’: Intertextuality and interdiscursivity in early school writing. Linguistics and Education, 74, 101168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2023.101168
[6] Bray, J., Gibbons, A., McHale, B. (2012). Introduction. In: J Bray, A Gibbons, and B McHale (eds) Routledge Companion to Experimental Literature. London; New York: Routledge, pp. 1–18.
[7] Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (1999). Figments of reality: The evolution of the curious mind. Cambridge University Press.
[8] Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and Text: Linguistic and Intertextual Analysis within Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society, 3(2), 193–217. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926592003002004
[9] Fairclough N (2013) Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. UK: Taylor & Francis. Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical Discourse Analysis. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315834368
[10] Hutcheon, L. (2005). Irony’s edge: The theory and politics of irony. London: Routledge.
[11] Izotova, N. (2021). Ludic effects in fiction: A case study of J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace and its Russian and Ukrainian translations. SHS Web of Conferences, 105, 01006. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202110501006
[12] Izotova, N. (2022). The interplay of linguistic means managing the reader’s attention: the slow reading method. Language. Culture. Discourse, 33–50. https://doi.org/10.15587/978-617-7319-60-2.3
[13] Leiby, D. (2002). The jaws of the intellect grip the flesh of occurrence: Order in Time Travel. In: Westfahl G, Slusser G, Leiby D (editors). Travel Worlds Enough and Time: Explorations of Time in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Westport, London: Greenwood Press, pp. 37–47.
[14] Logan, G. D. (1995). Linguistic and Conceptual Control of Visual Spatial Attention. Cognitive Psychology, 28(2), 103–174. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1995.1004
[15] Marchetti, G., Benedetti, G., Alharbi, A. (2015). Attention and meaning: The attentional basis of meaning. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
[16] Pratchett, T. (1995). Lords and ladies. New York: Harper Prism.
[17] Pratchett, T., Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (2013). The Science of Discworld. Ebury Press.
[18] Pratchett, T., Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (2013). The Science of Discworld II: The Globe. Ebury Press.
[19] Pratchett, T., Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (2013). The Science of Discworld III: Darwin’s Watch. Ebury Press.
[20] Pratchett, T., Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (2014). The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day. Ebury Press.
[21] Richardson, B. (2011). What Is Unnatural Narrative Theory? Unnatural Narratives-Unnatural Narratology, 23–40. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110229042.23
[22] Ryan, M. L. (2015). The text as world versus the text as game. In: M-L Ryan Narrative as Virtual Reality 2: Revisiting Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, pp. 117-136.
[23] Shang, B. (2019). Unnatural narrative across borders: Transnational and comparative perspective. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429458941
[24] Sullivan, K. (2019). Mixed Metaphors. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350066076
[25] Talmy, L. (2007). The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[26] Tykhomyrova, O. (2011). The play by a fictitious author in “Kulinarniy knyzi Nanni Ogg”. Naukovi pratsi: naukovo-metodychnyy zhurnal (Czech). Filolohiya, Literaturoznavstvo 164(152): 126–129.
[27] Tykhomyrova, O. (2014). The game in “dityachu knyhu” as a narrative strategy in fenteziynykh tsyklakh. Naukovi pratsi: naukovo-metodychnyy zhurnal (Czech). Filolohiya, Literaturoznavstvo 239(227).
[28] Wu, J. (2011). Understanding interdiscursivity: A pragmatic model. Journal of Cambridge Studies 6(2-3): 95–115. doi: 10.17863/CAM.1394
Copyright (c) 2024 author(s)
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author(s) warrant that permission to publish the article has not been previously assigned elsewhere.
Author(s) shall retain the copyright of their work and grant the Journal/Publisher right for the first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under:
OA - Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). This license allows for the copying, distribution and transmission of the work, provided the correct attribution of the original creator is stated. Adaptation and remixing are also permitted.
This broad license intends to facilitate free access to, as well as the unrestricted reuse of, original works of all types.