The German Language: A Linguistic Introduction by Jean Boase-Beier , Ken Lodge (review)

Abstract

MLR, 100.2, 2005 537 interlocking of formal and functional aspects of discourse is central to the explo? ration of the relationship between text?that is, a work of literature, or as Warner suggests, adopting the term advanced by Nigel Fabb, 'verbal art'?and context. Also explicit in this approach is the assumption that there is a coherence or organizing structure that causes collections of words and sentences to coalesce around a unified discourse that has cultural significance for those who create and comprehend it. Finally, Warner considers as counterproductive the tendency taken perhaps to an indefensible extreme in post-structuralism whereby undue weight is ascribed to the elusiveness of textual meaning. Acknowledging and even celebrating the notion that literarytexts can have a number ofmeanings, such a position does not, however, j ustify the conclusion that such meanings are bafflinglyindeterminate. Indeed, the flexibility, multi-functionality, and contextual sensitivity of verbal communication, especially in the hands of producers of literary texts, are qualities that should be applauded. Warner demonstrates the worthiness of such an approach in a series of close examinations of some exemplary texts from the early modern Spanish writers mentioned above, some seemingly conventional, including Machado's 'El hospicio' and 'A Jose Maria Palacio', while others are more problematical, such as Valle-Inclan's esperpento Los cuernos de don Friolera, or downright experimental, as evinced in his analysis of Garcia Lorca's experimental play Asi quepasen cinco anos. In all of these meticulously developed arguments, Warner makes it clear that his theoretical framework is pre? cisely that, a loose rather than strict model that allows forthe individual initiative of old-fashioned close reading and personal inspiration and idiosyncrasies. In the final analysis, the book is a demonstration of how one might put such a critical perspective to use. Now that I have complimented the author on some genuine achievements, I must confess to a certain scepticism with regard to the study's potential capacity to gain adherents to the cause of a written literature ofutterances. The factthat an entire book is devoted to the elucidation of the benefits of approaching only a handful of texts, ex? emplary readings to be sure, nevertheless makes one wonder if,in the long run, it was worth such a long run. It also needs to be stated that the actual readings are not com? prehensive interpretations of even this small number of texts. The attention to detail and the meticulousness of the argument seem to be almost goals in themselves. While the readings are certainly intelligent, they are not complete in an ultimately satisfying sense. The closest one comes to this is in the treatment of Lorca's Asi que pasen cinco anos, which most critics agree is to be interpreted as a staged dream. Again, the issue ofhow the utterances of the subconscious might differfromthose that are consciously articulated is not raised. There is nothing on the novel. Thus, while I certainly think that this has been a worthwhile effort,I am leftto wonder about the lasting influence that this book will have on the study of early modern Spanish literature. Tulane University, New Orleans C. Christopher Soufas, Jr The German Language: A Linguistic Introduction. By Jean Boase-Beier and Ken Lodge. Oxford: Blackwell. 2003. 254 pp. ?5? (pbk ?14.99). ISBN 0-63123138 -2 (pbk 0-631-23139-0). This book, intended for second- and final-year undergraduates, is more demanding than, say, Sally Johnson's Exploring the German Language (London: Arnold, 1998) or Charles Russ's The German Language Today: A Linguistic Introduction (London: Routledge, 1994). It takes a broadly generativist approach (in marked contrast to the decidedly anti-generativist one in Christopher Beedham's German Linguistics: An Introduction (Munich: iudicium, 1995)) which even non-generativists like myself 538 Reviews can appreciate for the consistent theoretical framework it provides. An introductory chapter (1) is followed by chapters on syntax (2), morphology (3), phonetics (4), phonology (5), and lexis (6), then stylistics (7), historical background (8), and con? temporary variation (9). Chapter 1's introduction to E-language and I-language, principles and parameters, structure dependency, and the modular language faculty might seem daunting, but in fact offersa very readable guide...