Olena Tykhomyrova
Kyiv National Linguistic University
Natalya Izotova
Kyiv National Linguistic University
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.
Alber, J., & Heinze, R. (2011). Introduction. Unnatural Narratives-Unnatural Narratology, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110229042.1
Alber, J. (2014). Unnatural Narrative. Handbook of Narratology, 887–895. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110316469.887
Bekhta, N. (2018). Reading experimental literature: Reading Today, 15–30. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20krxjt.6
Bhatia, V. K. (2010). Interdiscursivity in professional communication. Discourse & Communication, 4(1), 32–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481309351208
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
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.
Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (1999). Figments of reality: The evolution of the curious mind. Cambridge University Press.
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
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
Hutcheon, L. (2005). Irony’s edge: The theory and politics of irony. London: Routledge.
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
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
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.
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
Marchetti, G., Benedetti, G., Alharbi, A. (2015). Attention and meaning: The attentional basis of meaning. New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Pratchett, T. (1995). Lords and ladies. New York: Harper Prism.
Pratchett, T., Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (2013). The Science of Discworld. Ebury Press.
Pratchett, T., Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (2013). The Science of Discworld II: The Globe. Ebury Press.
Pratchett, T., Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (2013). The Science of Discworld III: Darwin’s Watch. Ebury Press.
Pratchett, T., Cohen, J., Stewart, I. (2014). The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day. Ebury Press.
Richardson, B. (2011). What Is Unnatural Narrative Theory? Unnatural Narratives-Unnatural Narratology, 23–40. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110229042.23
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.
Shang, B. (2019). Unnatural narrative across borders: Transnational and comparative perspective. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429458941
Sullivan, K. (2019). Mixed Metaphors. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350066076
Talmy, L. (2007). The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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.
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).
Wu, J. (2011). Understanding interdiscursivity: A pragmatic model. Journal of Cambridge Studies 6(2-3): 95–115. doi: 10.17863/CAM.1394
Copyright © 2024 Olena Tykhomyrova, Natalya Izotova
This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
