Date of Award

3-2010

Thesis Type

PhD

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Languages and Linguistics

Department

Department of Malaysian Languages and Applied Linguistics

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

This study focuses on the use of the Tamil language and stylistic devices adopted by Re. Karthigesu, one of the best known Tamil creative writers in Malaysia. The four novels selected for the study are : va:nattu ve:lihaL (1981), te:Tiyirukkum taruNangaL (1993), antima ka:lam (1998) and su:ta:TTam a:Tum ka:lam (2005). These novels are written on social themes which center around the Tamil communities living in Malaysia. Re. Karthigesu’s novels are selected for this study because he has extensively discussed the social networks prevalent in Malaysia and also used variations in language use with reference to the sociolinguistic environments they are in.  This study also emphasises the use of sentences and rhetoric which are unique and can be called as the representative style of the author. The data for the study was taken from the above mentioned four novels. The researcher has constructed a suitable theoretical framework by incorporating and modifying the existing theoretical models in stylistics in consultation with the supervisors to analyse the data. This study examines the language use of the author from three perspectives : (i) linguistic description of style (ii) sociolinguistic aspects (iii) the use of rhetoric. These three parameters are used to analyse the stylistic devices used by Re. Karthigesu. The theoretical framework of speech act as well as the cooperative principles of pragmatics are employed to show the utterances used to convey the themes and messages with suitable examples from the novels. At the linguistic level, the study discusses the language reflected in narrations, soliloquy and the style of description of the author. Morphological and phonological reductions, syntactic features and different kinds of lexical usages are also discussed with relevant examples drawn from the novels. Besides that, from the sociolinguistic point of view, six speech events containing various speech acts are discussed. In addition to that, thought acts, non-verbal communication and communication through letters are also analysed. The use of rhetoric also forms an important aspect of the discussion. The language used by Re. Karthigesu envisages the use of common linguistic features found among the Tamil middle class families in their regular interactions. The author has properly disseminated the relationship between the theme and messages through his style of language. Often the author has used a set of loan words from English which are normally used by people in their day-to-day communications. The author has also adopted appropriate quotations from ancient Tamil ethical literature and devotional verses to substantiate his narrations. There are active and passive discourses in Re.Karthigesu’s novels: these form some of the significant stylistic devices used by the author to create the setting of narration to be more realistic and natural. The two varieties of Tamil (spoken and written Tamil) are well utilized by the author in all the four novels. In conversational settings the cooperative and turn-taking principles are followed as highlighted by Searle (1969). It is identified that Tamilisation of English words and loan blends are extensively used in narrations. Also, in order to enhance the description of the character’s emotions the author has used reduplicative and repetitive forms. This study was able to identify and highlight the unique style of Re. Karthigesu. Based on the findings from this study some recommendations are given in the final chapter for further investigations by other scholars who have interest in stylistics in order to investigate the areas which are not within the purview of this study.

Initial

khm

Additional Information

Thesis (PhD) – Faculty of Languages and Linguistics

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