Introduction to Pragmatics

Author: Qian Minru
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: For readers who are familiar with recent trends in linguistic science, seeing the title Introduction to Textual Pragmatics would likely lead them to think that this book focuses on the integration of textual linguistics and pragmatics. Indeed, this is the case, as it reflects the objective scientific trend of the overlap and intersection of these two fields. The analysis of texts inevitably involves the analysis of various forms and processes of language use, and pragmatics research also cannot bypass the textual level of language, although such discussions are often scattered across the literature of both textual linguistics and pragmatics. In recent years, research in textual linguistics has increasingly recognized various extralinguistic factors, and the scope of pragmatics research has also broadened. Therefore, the main purpose of this book is to present the dominant trends of current related research to the readers. Throughout the book, I do not merely list the explorations and achievements made in the fields of textual linguistics and pragmatics. Instead, in several chapters, I turn my attention to situations beyond textual linguistics and textual research to observe the current use of texts, their historical roles, and their various connections with people and the world. I hope to clarify the significance of the formation and development of textual pragmatics and the contributions it will make to linguistic science through this approach. During the writing process of this book, I was filled with one question after another as I explored the works of researchers in adjacent disciplines. Subsequently, I filled the book with commas, semicolons, and periods one by one. Finally, I couldn’t help but exclaim in awe at the omnipresence of language.