Apposition and affective communication

Abstract

This article focuses on the rhetorical effects of structures that involve the apposition of two (or more) segments with similar, but not identical, interpretations — for example, He felt depressed, flattened. Building on existing relevance theoretic accounts of poetic effects, it aims to show how these structures can be used to communicate an impression of emphasis or intensification that can be compared with the effects achieved by repetitions. It argues that these effects are not achieved in the same way, and that three different cases can be distinguished. First, the use of this structure may lie in the way it encourages the reader to explore the differences between the interpretation of the second segment and the interpretation of the first. Second, it may encourage the reader to explore the total set of contextual assumptions made accessible by both (or all) segments for the derivation of an interpretation that cannot be derived from any one segment alone. Finally, the article considers the use of these structures by authors who use free indirect style to represent a character's struggle to identify an emotion s/he is experiencing.