A Cognitive Stylistic Approach to Mind Style in the Memoir Man’s Search for Meaning

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Published: Jun 16, 2021
Keywords:
mind style cognitive stylistics text-world theory schema theory Man’s Search for Meaning

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Bupha Sirinarang
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Raksangob Wijitsopon
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Abstract

 The present study aims to examine the mind style, a distinctive perspective held by a character in a narrative, of a real-person narrator in the memoir Man’s Search for Meaning, Dr. Viktor E. Frankl, by applying the Text World and Schema theories. To investigate how his mind style is constructed textually and potentially enacted within the mind of the reader, four excerpts from the book were selected and analyzed. Through the Text World theory, the study captures a range of linguistic features into text-building elements and relates them, via the Schema theory, to the different ways in which they can interact with readers’ background knowledge to arrive at an interpretation of the extraordinary mind style of the narrator. The in-depth cognitive stylistic analysis reveals semantic contrast in the narrator’s outer and inner worlds, illustrating how he was able to attain inner riches and freedom amidst great difficulties in life in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The study not only sheds light on the linguistic portrayal of Dr. Frankl’s mind style but also contributes to the potential of cognitive stylistic approaches to mind style.

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How to Cite
Sirinarang, B., & Wijitsopon, R. (2021). A Cognitive Stylistic Approach to Mind Style in the Memoir Man’s Search for Meaning. Journal of Studies in the English Language, 16(1), 21–52. Retrieved from https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jsel/article/view/247503
Issue
Vol. 16 No. 1 (2021): January - June
Section
Research Articles
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