"Speaking of dialect"

Auteurs

• Erik Redling

Paramètres

• Manuels
• Manuels universitaires

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The self-contained concepts of postmodern theories, often used in literary criticism, can lead to distorted interpretations when applied to dialect texts. To avoid these predetermined outcomes, Redling’s study examines specific characteristics of dialect writing, focusing on selected stories by African American writer Charles W. Chesnutt. It explores their potential translation into postmodern theory using George Steiner’s idea of “understanding as translation.” This involves confronting textual passages with theoretical terms, which are then tested against Chesnutt’s dialect stories. The approach to “understanding” utilizes the linguistic distinction between denotation and connotation. In the denotative process, critics translate elements from Chesnutt’s dialect texts into postmodern “systems of signification,” revealing both similarities and deviations among the six selected theories (Derrida, Lacan, Foucault, Bakhtin, Iser, and Jameson). The connotative translation process demonstrates how denotatively limited postmodern concepts can enhance a theory’s explanatory power, enriching the imaginative experience of a text. However, this approach also uncovers significant limitations in applying postmodern theories. Redling concludes that literary analysis must extend beyond postmodernism to develop a more comprehensive aesthetic that addresses the complexities of dialect texts.

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• Année de publication: 2006