A Cognitive Semantic Study of Causal Interaction of Acts in Narrative

Abstract

Causality is one of the main prominent schematic components in language and cognition. In cognitive semantics, causality has received especial interest because of its significance as a basic element in our cognition. Langacker's (1990 and 1991) causal chain and Talmy's (2000) force dynamics are the most important models of causal structure in language and cognition. Talmy considers force dynamics as one of the schematic systems that structure events. His model is directed to the causal relation between clause components; while the current study investigates the causal relation out of the clause boundaries. It studies how a scene affects another one. The interaction between acts in terms of causality is part of the narrative structuring system in which causality is only one schematic component among others. The current study involves a new treatment of causality in narrative within the framework of cognitive semantics. It aims to answer the following three questions: first, how is causality formulated in narrative? Second, what are the causality forms in narrative? What is the role of causality in narrative? In order to answer these questions, the researcher builds a model on the basis of Talmy's force dynamics. It formulates the way in which related acts interact in terms of causality. The acts are selected and modified by the processes of extraction and conversion which pull out the schematic features of scenes. The model is applied to three events selected randomly from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novel.