A Socio-Pragmatic Study of Caregiving Discourse in Selected English Novels

Abstract

The aim of the study is to explore the socio-pragmatic perspective of the discourse of caregiving in some selected novels in the English language. It investigates the linguistic nature of caregiving in terms of interactional practices, speech acts and politeness strategies in various social contexts. The study borrows from the eclectic approach that includes Searle's speech act theory, Brown and Levinson's politeness theory as well as socio pragmatic approach that takes into account the influence of sociological factors on discourse. The data are composed of two novels (My Sister's Keeper, 2004, and The Stone Diaries, 1993), and from which twenty extracts (ten from each novel) are selected for qualitative analysis. The study identifies four types of caregiving, each provided by a different type of person: professional, social, familial and institutional caregiving. It also explores the following aspects of care-giving: referential, interactional, directive, expressive, phatic, and regulative functions. The pragmatic strategies employed in the discourse of caregivers, especially politeness and mitigation strategies, and the impact of social factors like age, gender, power and social status are examined. This study has found that the act of caring in literary text is a socio-pragmatic act and depends on the use of language and social relations, and the most prominent functions of care-giving are: directive and interactional