CLiC Dickens - characterisation in the representation of speech and body language from a corpus stylistic perspective.

CLiC狄更斯项目通过语料库文体学展示了计算机辅助方法如何用于研究文学文本，并对读者如何感知虚构人物产生新的见解。我们采用和开发的方法主要位于语料库语言学的更广泛领域，其中使用文本的数字化版本和定制软件来查找在显式意识意识水平上下运行的重复文本模式。许多频繁出现的文学模式在人们的意识之下，但已被证明对读者产生了挥之不去的影响，并对人物塑造过程产生了重要影响（Stockwell 2009）。这一见解对文学语言学家的认知诗歌工作具有重要意义，正如我们将在我们的项目中展示的那样。我们提出了一种创新的方法，将语料库语言学方法与认知诗学的研究问题结合起来，特别是读者在特征描述过程中参与“心智建模”的方式（Stockwell 2002）。我们特别感兴趣的是有助于读者感知虚构人物的文本模式。作为一个案例研究，我们将重点放在查尔斯·狄更斯的小说上，这位作家以其娴熟的虚构人物创作和丰富的人物塑造而闻名。我们将研究人物讲话中的文本模式，以及伴随讲话的描述性肢体语言在文本中呈现的方式。我们已经进行了初步的试点研究，这些研究表明，在计算机方法的帮助下，文本模式为表征的文本技术提供了一个全新的视角（Mahlberg 2012, Mahlberg & Smith 2012， Mahlberg等人即将出版）。基于这些初步的发现，当前的项目旨在通过开发一种工具——CLiC——来显著扩展我们之前的工作，该工具支持对虚构语音和文学肢体语言的分析。CLiC（语料库语言学在柴郡）将是一个基于网络的工具，用于搜索和注释（文学）文本。在复杂的搜索中，精确定位目标单词、短语和结构与其他有趣的特征（引用的演讲、思想表达、肢体语言描述）和文本位置（靠近章节和段落的中断、叙述或报道的材料）之间的关系尤其有效。CLiC将有助于提供一个经验基础，发展一个全面的认知诗歌解释框架，用于分析虚构人物。因此，我们将提出一种将语料库语言学和认知诗学以创新的方式结合在一起的方法。我们将在网上免费提供CLiC，以便其他研究人员可以使用该工具。CLiC和我们方法的基本理论见解对文学教学也有更广泛的相关性。我们的目标是通过举办研讨会，包括为学生和教师举办的活动，来说明该工具和我们的方法的潜力。我们还将出版一本活动手册（一本动手研究手册和教材），其中包含研究中产生的完整分析。

The CLiC Dickens project demonstrates through corpus stylistics how computer-assisted methods can be used to study literary texts and lead to new insights into how readers perceive fictional characters. The methods we employ and develop are mainly situated in the wider field of corpus linguistics, in which digitised versions of texts and customised software are used to find recurrent textual patterns which operate both above and below the level of explicit conscious awareness. Many frequently-occurring literary patterns fall below consciousness, and yet have been demonstrated to have lingering readerly effects and important consequences for the process of characterisation (Stockwell 2009). This insight has important implications for the cognitive poetic work of literary linguists, as we will show with our project. We suggest an innovative approach by combining corpus linguistic methods with research questions from cognitive poetics, specifically the way that readers engage in 'mind-modelling' in the process of characterisation (Stockwell 2002). In particular, we are interested in the textual patterns that contribute to the reader's perception of fictional characters. As a case study, we focus on novels by Charles Dickens, an author who is renowned for his skilful creation of fictional characters and his rich characterisation. We will study textual patterns in the speech of characters and ways in which the descriptive body language that accompanies speech is presented in the text. We have conducted initial pilot studies which suggest that textual patterns brought to light with the help of computer methods provide an entirely new perspective on the textual techniques of characterisation (Mahlberg 2012, Mahlberg & Smith 2012, Mahlberg et al. forthcoming). Based on these initial findings, the current project aims to significantly extend our previous work by developing a tool - CLiC - that supports the analysis of fictional speech and literary body language. CLiC (Corpus Linguistics in Cheshire) will be a web-based tool for searching and annotating (literary) texts. It is particularly effective in complex searches, pinpointing target words, phrases and structures in relation to other interesting features (quoted speech, thought presentation, body language descriptions) and positions in the text (near chapter and paragraph breaks, narrated or reported material). CLiC will help to provide an empirical foundation for the development of an over-arching cognitive poetic interpretative framework for the analysis of fictional characters. Hence we will suggest an approach that brings corpus linguistics and cognitive poetics together in innovative ways. We will make CLiC freely available on the web so that other researchers can use the tool. CLiC and the fundamental theoretical insights of our approach also have relevance more widely for the teaching of literature. We aim to illustrate the potential of the tool and our approach by running workshops, including events for students and teachers. We will also publish an Activity Book (a hands-on research manual and coursebook) with fully-worked analyses arising from the research.