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The Role of the Key Images in the Creation and

Enhancement of the Pragmatic Potential of the Text

Mariana Sargsyan
Yerevan State University

Abstract 

The present paper argues that the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the text pragmatics
can be enhanced at the expense of stylistic devices. Particularly, the case of simile is considered
with a view to exposing the pragmatic potential of the key images embedded therein. In line
with our research goals, with the account of internal and external factors underlying the
choice and application of language units, the pragmatic and pragmastylistic potential of the
chosen units in the creation and enhancement of text pragmatics is revealed. 

Key words: pragmatic orientation of text, qualitative and quantitative aspects of text
pragmatics, simile, key image.

Introduction

Presently, the traditional systematic-structural approach to the study of literary texts is
considered to be insufficient as far as the authentic understanding of the propositional and
communicative-intentional aspects of the text are concerned. As linguists tend to claim the
cutting-edge research should be directed toward the investigation of the internal and exter-
nal factors underlying the choice and application of this or that language means; otherwise
stated the research should be aimed at revealing the communication goals that the author
pursues. Pragmatics, the crucial aspect of the research on speech activity, accentuates the
importance of the communicative content of speech in various conditions and forms of
communication. Despite the fact that the frames of the pragmatic research have consider-
ably enlarged in the last decades, the pragmatic approach is still in the making.
Nevertheless, all the spheres of linguistic research, including Text Theory, display great
enthusiasm for enriching the pure linguistic scope of research with the pragmatic one. This
growing interest toward pragmatics is conditioned by the fact that the latter is oriented
toward the study of communication, regarding the latter as a means of linguistic interac-
tion. Pragmatics considers the language as a system of means for expression and investi-
gates how the language functions in certain conditions of communication. Complex study
of the process of communication demands that the role played by each component be
revealed, wherein the pragmatic aspect of communication plays a most important role. 

It follows from the aforementioned that within the frames of the pragmatic research the
traditionally established interest toward language and its systematic-structural properties is
gradually switching toward such issues as how the language means are applied and how
the language functions in various forms and conditions of communication.  

Toward Enhancing the Pragmatic Potential of the Text

Тhe pragmatic approach to the study of language phenomena contributes to the reve-

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lation of the communicative orientation of language units, their application on the part of
the author as a tool of interaction and influence, as well as to displaying the relation
between the message and the addressee’s response behavior. 

Text, the basic category of speech activity, is defined by objective purpose of carrying
out à certain function in the process of communication. Text is endowed with such proper-
ties as completeness, the latter concerning both the content and the syntactic-ideological
interaction of its units. The communicative property of language units is the main proper-
ty which we would like to especially highlight within the scope of the present research. By
communicative property of language units linguistic characteristics of the latter with the
account of author-text-addressee triad are first of all meant. This unity is the basic provi-
sion of pragmatics. Within the frames of the communicative approach to the study of lan-
guage the interest toward the language identity of the author and reader is enhanced, espe-
cially when we take into account the fact that it is during the communication between the
author and the reader that the formation and perception of the text is carried out. 

The study of language means necessitates that communicative-pragmatic approach be
applied as far as this pragmatic value is created only under certain circumstances. Thus,
it follows that text interpretation is to a great extent context-based. As far as the catego-
ry of text is concerned we can define text pragmatics as the expression of relations
between the author and the reader and their attitude toward a certain piece of information
that is contained in the text. 

The reader’s reaction is expressed implicitly and is formulated in the form of conclu-
sions derived through explicitly applied linguistic and non-linguistic means. Pragmatic
content of the word is developed in speech, in real contexts of communication. 

The complex pragmatic approach toward texts, i.e. the account of structural-gram-
matical, lexical-phraseological and syntactical peculiarities, makes it possible to investi-
gate the text in the unity of its propositional and communicative-intentional correlations.
However, this kind of approach also takes into account the pragmatic orientation of the
language means, which contributes to the creation and enhancement of the pragmatic
potential of the text. 

According to Arutyunova linguistic pragmatics involves a complex of issues related
to the speaker, the addressee and their interaction. Thus, it is to be concluded that the
rules governing the choice and the application of language units are to be treated from
the speaker’s point of view and in close interaction with the context (Arutyunova
1990:390).

According to Naer, the pragmatic aspect can be found in texts of various genres and
the difference between various pragmatic aspects is of either quantitative (i.e. intensity
of interaction) or qualitative character (texts differ by the pragmatic context and the
means of its expression) (Naer 1985).

Text is actualized in the process of its creation and in the consciousness of its
addressee not as a static, but rather a dynamic unit of language. Text is endowed with
structural-ideological properties, wherein information is the basic marker of ideology and
completeness – that of the structure.

Traditionally, text pragmatics includes the following components: the pragmatic con-

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tent, the pragmatic setting, the author and the reader (addressor and addressee), the pre-
dictable pragmatic effect (Naer 1985:5). Consequently, text pragmatics involves the
author’s intention expressed through various means in the author’s and characters’
speeches, with the aim of affecting the reader, thus contributing to a deeper interpretation
of these means and consequently that of the text. 

In terms of creating and enhancing the communicative interaction it is to be noted that
text pragmatics is created as a result of the interaction between verbal and non-verbal
components of speech. 

Not aiming to undermine the role of non-verbal components in the creation of the
pragmatic meaning, basing our assumption on our own observations, it is to be highlight-
ed that on a large scale the verbal components of text pragmatics prevail over the non-
verbal ones. Stylistic devices, in particular, metaphors, similes, epithets, hyperboles, allu-
sions, intensifiers of various text levels, idioms, proverbs as well as inversion are the
basic means contributing to the creation of text pragmatics. 

Above all, key images (e.g. the image-symbol), which concentrate the ideological and
aesthetic information of the text, contribute to the creation and further enhancement of
the text pragmatics. As has already been shown in our previous papers on the topic  from
the functional-communicative perspective, the key image, or the image-symbol, is an
essential element of the text via which communication is established between the writer
and the reader which serves as a powerful tool for bridging the communication gaps
(Gasparyan, Sargsyan 2011:135; Sargsyan 2013:41). 

Qualitative and Quantitative Aspects of Text Pragmatics

Text pragmatics created at the expense of key images can be treated and analyzed
from different perspectives. But here, in line with our research goals, we will regard text
pragmatics from quantitative and qualitative aspects that get enhanced due to the appli-
cation of key images. As will be argued below, ideologically and aesthetically overloaded
images contribute to the enhancement of both quantitative and qualitative parameters of
the author’s communication goals, thus resulting in an increased pragmatic load of lan-
guage units and  intensity of interaction.

Let us note at this point that the study of text pragmatics with the account of SDs and
EMs of language bring our research closer to Pragmastylistics, the principles and methods
of which are now being widely developed with a view to providing a firm ground for
decoding the pragmatic intention embedded in the text (Hickey 1993).

According to the results obtained by the study of a considerable amount of material,
the quantitative aspect (i.e. the intensity of interaction) of the pragmatic aspect can be
established through the repetition or frequent occurrence of words or images encompass-
ing the basic themes and concepts underlying the writer’s message. Thus, frequency of
occurrence contributes to a deeper penetration into the text message and enhances the
understanding of the latter. Frequently repeated words or images bring forth certain emo-
tional expressive and modal meanings which turn into kernel signals conveying the
writer’s pragmatic intention.

To demonstrate this specifics let us turn to the analysis of the Lawrencean image of

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flower. The themes of womanhood and woman nature are one of the central themes
exploited in D.H. Lawrence’s literary tradition. A whole arsenal of masterfully developed
images is applied for the depiction of the woman nature, woman’s role in the family and
society. Among these images a crucial role can be ascribed to the word flower which
encompasses such emosemes as beauty, admiration, innocence, fragility, naturalness,
fruitfulness, continuation of life, etc.

Now let us adduce a passage to demonstrate the aforementioned:

Now, washed all clean by her tears, she was new and frail like a
flower just unfolded a flower so new, so tender, so made perfect by

inner light, that he could not bear to look at her, he must hide himself,
cover his eyes against her. She had the perfect candour of creation, some-
thing translucent and simple, like a radiant, shining flower that moment
unfolded in primal blessedness. She was so new, so wonderful, clear, so
undimmed. Her soul was new, undefined and glimmering with the unseen.

(D.H. Lawrence “Women in Love” 1956,  p.881)

As is evident from the adduced excerpt, the literary image of flower is realized in sim-
iles, the latter being the most successfully exploited and frequently applied device in the
writer’s narrative technique.  In the mentioned context we deal with an extended simile,
the pragmatic and emotional potential of which is enhanced by the repetition of the word
flower on the one hand and the application of pre-position (new, frail, radiant, shining)
and post-position (just unfolded, so new, so tender, so made perfect by inner light,
unfolded in primal blessedness)  epithets, parallel constructions (so new, so tender, so
made perfect by inner light) on the other.  If viewed in the global context of Lawrence’s
works, the frequent use of similes helps the word flower get enriched with a wide scope
of inherent meanings and emotional-evaluative overtones. This observation directs us to
the conclusion that the pragmatics of the passage is dependent on the character of the
interaction between the pragmatic meaning of the applied language units (the image of
flower realized in the simile) and the context. All the aforementioned allows us to state
that the passage under consideration compared to others incorporating the image of
flower and simile is especially effective in terms of enhancing both the quantitative and
qualitative aspects of text pragmatics. 

If the quantitative aspect of text pragmatics can be enhanced by means of frequent
repetition of key images, the qualitative aspect is dependent on to what extent this or that
image becomes overloaded with aesthetic and ideological information, as well as the
density of the pragmatic orientation of expressivity.

The frequent repetition of the image of flower in works by the author contributes to
the enhancement of the communicative impact on the reader. On a large scale, the image
becomes an aesthetically, ideologically and pragmatically overloaded unit of text con-
densing the author’s pragmatic intention to a great extent. 

To reinforce our argument, let us switch to the analysis of another type of frequently
applied Lawrencean similes containing names of animals.

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She always kept a bright, blithe manner, and was pleasant to all the
teachers.  For she felt like a swan away the geese, of superior heritage
and belonging.                              (D.H. Lawrence “The Rainbow”, p.358)

She felt like a bird flying in the air, as her voice soared out, enjoyed
herself extremely in the balance and flight of the song, like the motion of
a bird’s wings...                           (D.H. Lawrence “Women in Love”, p.906) 

Maurice was feeling, with curious little movements, almost like a cat
kneading her bed for his place, his knife and fork and his napkin.

(D.H. Lawrence “The Blind Man”, p.358).

In this respect it should be mentioned at this point that in Lawrence’s metaphysical
view of the world the emotional aspect of the man’s essence should dominate over ration-
ality, this postulate being substantiated by the author’s assertion that men would feel bet-
ter if they went back to nature, set free the animal residing their subconsciousness and
gave way to emotions, letting the instincts guide them. The emosemes of emotionality
and instinctiveness are implicitly realized by the application of the images of animals
materialized in similes.

All the above presented similes serve the purpose of conjuring a certain imaginary
view of the true human nature and suggest definite attitude toward the problem reflected
in the text. In the reader’s consciousness the latter generates certain attitude toward the
reality as seen by the author.  

It should also be observed that all the similes under consideration are reduced from
the author’s speech and this peculiarity in its turn enhances the informative, emotional-
evaluative, aesthetic, stylistic and pragmatic potential of the units under consideration.
Text pragmatics is supported and enhanced due to the author’s intention and his imme-
diate evaluation of the reality.

Conclusion

Тhe obtained results allow us to conclude that text pragmatics is the expression of
relations between the author and the reader and  their attitude toward a certain piece of
information that is contained in the text. In the text the author’s attitude and intention is
observable on all the text levels, where the elements serve one and the same communica-
tive-pragmatic task, i.e. the impact on the reader, formation of certain attitude toward
reality, persuasion in the rightness of the arguments, etc. The pragmatic and pragmastyl-
istic potential of the text can be enhanced due to the application of stylistic devices.
Meanwhile, the impact of stylistic devices on enhancing the qualitative and quantitative
aspects of text pragmatics may be increased at the expense of key images.

References: 

1. Arutyunova, N.D. (1990) Diskurs. // Lingvisticheskij jenciklopedicheskij slovar’.
Moscow. Sov. jencikl., p.390.

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2. Gasparyan, S.K.; Sargsyan, M.S. (2011) Simvolicheskie obrazy v kontekste hudozh-
estvennogo proizvedenija. // Vestnik Khar’kovskogo nacional’nogo universiteta . N
972, Vyp.. 67. Kharkov, Ukraine, pp. 134-138.

3. Grajs, G. P. (1985) Logika i rechevoe obshhenie // Novoe v zarubezhnoj lingvistike.
Vyp. XVI: Lingvisticheskaja pragmatika. Moscow:  Progress, N 16, pp. 217-257.

4. Dijk, Teun A. van.  (1976) Pragmatics and Poetics. // Pragmatics of Language and
Literature 2. / Ed. by T.A. van Dijk. Amsterdam: North-Holland, pp. 22-57.

5. Hickey, L.  (1993) Stylistics, Pragmatics and Pragmastylistics. // Revue Belge de
Philologie et d’ Histoire LXXI,  pp. 573-586.

6. Naer, V.L. (1985) Pragmatika teksta i ee sostavljajushhie. // V sb. nauch. trudov.
Moscow, p. 245.

7. Sargsyan, M. (2013) Utilization of Key Images toward Enhancing Text
Informativeness. // Armenian Folia Anglistika. International Journal of English
Studies. N8 (1). Yerevan: Lusakn Publishers, pp. 40-46.

Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the RA MES State Committee of
Science, in the frame of the research project № SCS13 YR – 6B0025.

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