A COGNITIVE-STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF INTERTECTUALITY IN THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW BY C.S. LEWIS

Abstract

This honours thesis is centred on a new and revolutionary semantic expansion of the term ‘intertextuality’, which extends from its basic level definitions to schematic intertextuality and intratextuality between alternating text-worlds. This thesis challenges Birch’s (1991) argument that the status of writer-oriented meaning encoded in a text should be diminished and instead, holds writer-oriented meaning in high regard and hypothesises that readers develop a deeper connection with the narrative text if they activate the intertextual elements signalled by the author. This hypothesis is tested through the qualitative analysis of primary data using two theories within cognitive stylistics: schema theory and text world theory. Twenty-five participants were recruited to read, analyse and answer a set of questions on a scene of temptation extracted from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis. This small-scale study suggests that the hypothesis is mostly correct – where the activation of proximal schemas signalled by the author (as opposed to distal schemas) and the construction of hypothetical text-worlds painted by the author immerses readers into the text to connect deeply with its literary parameters, such as characterisation, themes, plot, setting and so forth. However, the study also suggests that it seems unnecessary for readers to connect with the narrator to deeply connect with other literary parameters. Ultimately, this cognitive-stylistic analysis of intertextuality highlights the importance of converging with the author’s signalled intentions, as this would yield a deeper connection to the text.