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A STUDY OF FOREGROUNDING: SAMUEL BECKETT’S SHORT STORY “PING”

Year 2023, Volume: 63 Issue: 1, 439 - 454, 20.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.33171/dtcfjournal.2023.63.1.18

Abstract

This study investigates the foregrounded patterns inosculated to form Nobel Prize-winning author, critic, and playwright Samuel Beckett’s short story “Ping” and aims to reveal his purpose of using these patterns. One of the remarkable contributions of Russian Formalism and Prag School Structuralism to stylistics is the concept of foregrounding by which writers bring a particular textual pattern (a phoneme, word, phrase, clause, etc.) to the fore by making it salient or deviant from what surrounds it to draw readers' attention to it and to make it both memorable and interpretable. Beckett, like many authors, takes two basic ways to foreground certain elements: foregrounding-through-deviation and foregrounding-through-parallelism/repetition. Besides its confinement to a single paragraph, from the beginning, the story stands out with the omission of punctuation marks, except for the full stop, sentences with no verb or with only non-finite verbs (the present and past participles), and the conversion of some adjectives into verbs. These deviant patterns enable Beckett to present a free-flowing form of (limited or impaired) consciousness and emphasize that the character is in his/her very last moment and s/he cannot move. By doing so, he invites readers to immerse themselves unreservedly in what the character feels or perceives. To reflect an instance of awareness or perception in an extreme situation where the character is on the brink of existence or non-existence and is struggling to find some meaning, Beckett also adopts other foregrounded patterns such as the repetition of a limited number of words and phrases with some alterations, employment of certain nouns in different positions in the sentences, and sentences that begin with particular words or phrases but end differently. Apart from those, Beckett offers another example of foregrounding at the end of the English version. Thus, he makes the readers aware of the fictionality of the story.d patterns such as the repetition of a limited number of words and phrases with some alterations, employment of certain nouns in different positions in the sentences, and sentences that begin with particular words or phrases but end differently. Apart from those, Beckett offers another example of foregrounding at the end of the English version. Thus, he makes the readers aware of the fictionality of the story.

References

  • Almaaroof, A. R., Aldaraji, A. H. S., Jabar, M. R. (2016). Drama as Appears in Samuel Beckett's "Ping" and "How It Is". Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 6 (14), 10-14.
  • Beckett, S. (1987 [1967]). Ping, The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories. M. Bradbury (Ed.) (pp. 29-31). England: Viking, Penguin Books Ltd.
  • Cuddon, J. A. (1998). Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Revised by C. E. Preston, England: Penguin Books.
  • Dearsley, K. S. (2014). Samuel Beckett's Ping. Retrieved from http://blogs.chi.ac.uk/shortstoryforum/samuel-becketts-ping/.
  • Erden, A. (2002). Kısa Öykü ve Dilbilimsel Eleştiri. İstanbul: Gendaş A. Ş.
  • Gray, B. (1973). Stylistics: The End of a Tradition. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 31 (4), 501-512.
  • Halliday, M. (1985). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold, A division of Hodder & Stoughton.
  • Imagism, New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Imagism.
  • Jeffries, L., McIntyre, D. (2010). Stylistics. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kopschitz, M. H. P. (2008). Conventional Criticism of an Unconventional Text: on Samuel Beckett's Ping (sic). Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language Literatures in English and Cultural Studies. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49617772_Conventional_Cr iticism_of_an_Unconventional_Text_on_Samuel_Beckett%27s_Ping_Conventional_Criticism_of_an_Unconventional_Text_on_Samuel_Beckett%27s_Ping.
  • Lodge, D. (1968). Some Ping Understood. Encounter, 30 (2), 85-89.
  • Menteşe, O. B. (2015). “Nothing is more Real Than Nothing” A Reading of Beckett’s “Ping” as a Postmodern Text. Retrieved from www.ide.hacettepe.edu.tr/ekitap2/6.pdf.
  • O’Hara, D. (2010). The Metronome of Consciousness. Samuel Beckett Today, Aujourd’ui, 22, 435-447. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/25781941.
  • Segrè, E. B. (1977). Style and Structure in Beckett's "Ping": "That Something Itself". Journal of Modern Literature, Samuel Beckett Special Number, 6 (1), 127-147, Indiana University Press. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/3831024.
  • Short, M. (1996). Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose. London: Addison Wesley Longman Limited.
  • Simpson, P. (2004). Stylistics, a resource book for students. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Van Dijk, T. A. (1985). Discourse and Literature. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
  • Wales, K. (2011). A Dictionary of Stylistics. Third Edition, England: Pearson Education Limited.
  • Young, Richard E., Becker, Alton L., Pike, Kenneth L. (1970). Rhetoric: Discovery and Change. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc.

BİR ÖNCELEME İNCELEMESİ: SAMUEL BECKETT'IN "PING" ADLI KISA HİKÂYESİ

Year 2023, Volume: 63 Issue: 1, 439 - 454, 20.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.33171/dtcfjournal.2023.63.1.18

Abstract

Bu çalışma Nobel ödüllü yazar, eleştirmen ve oyun yazarı Samuel Beckett'in kısa hikâyesini oluşturmak için bir araya gelmiş öncelenen yapıları incelemekte ve yazarın bu yapıları ne amaçla kullandığını açığa çıkarmayı amaçlamaktadır. Rus Biçimciliği ve Prag Okulu Yapısalcılığının biçembilime önemli katkılarından biri yazarların okuyucuların dikkatini çekmek ve hem akılda kalıcı hem de yorumlanabilir olmasını sağlamak amacıyla belirli bir yapıyı (bir ses birimi, sözcük, sözcük öbeği, cümle, vb.) kendisini çevreleyen diğer yapılardan daha belirgin hale getirerek ya da saptırarak kasıtlı olarak öne çıkarmalarını sağlayan önceleme kavramıdır. Birçok yazar gibi Beckett da belirli öğeleri öncelemek için iki temel yol kullanır: sapma-yoluyla-önceleme ve paralelizm/tekrar-yoluyla-önceleme. Hikâye tek bir paragraftan oluşmasının yanı sıra başından itibaren nokta dışında diğer noktalama işaretlerinin atılması, fiilsiz ya da çekimsiz fillerin (geniş zaman ve geçmiş zaman ortaçlarının) kullanıldığı cümleler, bazı sıfatların fiilleştirme adı verilen teknikle fiile dönüştürülmesiyle öne çıkmaktadır. Sapma yoluyla öncelenen bu yapılar Beckett’in (sınırlı veya bozuk) bir bilinç akışı biçimi sunmasını ve karakterin son anında olduğunu ve hareket edemediğini vurgulamasını sağlar. Böyle yaparak, Beckett okuyucuları kayıtsız şartsız karakterin hissettiklerine veya algıladıklarına kendilerini kaptırmaya davet eder. Karakterin varoluşun veya yokluğun eşiğinde olduğu ve bir anlam bulmaya çalıştığı istisnai bir durumda deneyimlediği bir farkındalık veya algı örneğini yansıtmak amacıyla Beckett ayrıca sınırlı sayıda sözcük ve sözcük öbeğinin bazı küçük değişikliklerle tekrarı, belirli merkezi isimlerin cümlelerde farklı konumlarda kullanılması ve belirli sözcüklerle veya sözcük öbekleriyle başlayan ama farklı bir şekilde biten cümleler gibi öncelenen diğer yapıları da kullanır. Bunların dışında, Beckett hikâyenin İngilizce versiyonunun sonunda kullandığı italik ifadeyle öncelemenin bir başka örneğini verir. Böylece okuyucunun hikâyenin kurgusallığının farkına varmasını sağlar.

References

  • Almaaroof, A. R., Aldaraji, A. H. S., Jabar, M. R. (2016). Drama as Appears in Samuel Beckett's "Ping" and "How It Is". Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 6 (14), 10-14.
  • Beckett, S. (1987 [1967]). Ping, The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories. M. Bradbury (Ed.) (pp. 29-31). England: Viking, Penguin Books Ltd.
  • Cuddon, J. A. (1998). Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Revised by C. E. Preston, England: Penguin Books.
  • Dearsley, K. S. (2014). Samuel Beckett's Ping. Retrieved from http://blogs.chi.ac.uk/shortstoryforum/samuel-becketts-ping/.
  • Erden, A. (2002). Kısa Öykü ve Dilbilimsel Eleştiri. İstanbul: Gendaş A. Ş.
  • Gray, B. (1973). Stylistics: The End of a Tradition. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 31 (4), 501-512.
  • Halliday, M. (1985). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold, A division of Hodder & Stoughton.
  • Imagism, New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Imagism.
  • Jeffries, L., McIntyre, D. (2010). Stylistics. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kopschitz, M. H. P. (2008). Conventional Criticism of an Unconventional Text: on Samuel Beckett's Ping (sic). Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language Literatures in English and Cultural Studies. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49617772_Conventional_Cr iticism_of_an_Unconventional_Text_on_Samuel_Beckett%27s_Ping_Conventional_Criticism_of_an_Unconventional_Text_on_Samuel_Beckett%27s_Ping.
  • Lodge, D. (1968). Some Ping Understood. Encounter, 30 (2), 85-89.
  • Menteşe, O. B. (2015). “Nothing is more Real Than Nothing” A Reading of Beckett’s “Ping” as a Postmodern Text. Retrieved from www.ide.hacettepe.edu.tr/ekitap2/6.pdf.
  • O’Hara, D. (2010). The Metronome of Consciousness. Samuel Beckett Today, Aujourd’ui, 22, 435-447. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/25781941.
  • Segrè, E. B. (1977). Style and Structure in Beckett's "Ping": "That Something Itself". Journal of Modern Literature, Samuel Beckett Special Number, 6 (1), 127-147, Indiana University Press. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/3831024.
  • Short, M. (1996). Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose. London: Addison Wesley Longman Limited.
  • Simpson, P. (2004). Stylistics, a resource book for students. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
  • Van Dijk, T. A. (1985). Discourse and Literature. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
  • Wales, K. (2011). A Dictionary of Stylistics. Third Edition, England: Pearson Education Limited.
  • Young, Richard E., Becker, Alton L., Pike, Kenneth L. (1970). Rhetoric: Discovery and Change. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc.
There are 19 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Language Studies, Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Ufuk Şahin

Early Pub Date June 10, 2023
Publication Date June 20, 2023
Submission Date April 5, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 63 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Şahin, U. (2023). A STUDY OF FOREGROUNDING: SAMUEL BECKETT’S SHORT STORY “PING”. Ankara Üniversitesi Dil Ve Tarih-Coğrafya Fakültesi Dergisi, 63(1), 439-454. https://doi.org/10.33171/dtcfjournal.2023.63.1.18

Ankara University Journal of the Faculty of Languages and History-Geography

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