Interpreting Foregrounding with the Figure/Ground Theory with a Case Study

孫冬陽(yáng)

【Abstract】The current study introduces the notion of foregrounding in stylistics and figure/ground in cognitive linguistics. By merging the two theories， the author adopts a cognitive stylistic approach to poetry interpretation with a case study of A Widow Bird Sate Mourning for Her Love.

【Key words】stylistics； foregrounding； figure/ground； paradigmatic； syntagmatic

1. Introduction

Foregrounding is an important concept in stylistics and literature critics. It is widely used in interpretation of poems and fictions. Foregrounding intrinsically correlates to certain properties of the figure/ground theory in cognitive linguistics. This relation may offer a new perspective in interpreting literature.

2. Theoretical framework

2.1 Foregrounding

Foregrounding is a form of textual patterning which is motivated specifically for literary-aesthetic purposes （Simpson， 2004：50）. The Prague School scholar Mukarovsky held that foregrounding is the opposite of automatization. The standard language， which is automatized， is“the background against which is reflected…the intentional violation of the norm of the standard” （Mukarovsky， 1964）. This intentional violation attracts peoples attention to the foregrounded language.

There are two types of foregrounding：paradigmatic and syntagmatic. The former means deviation from a norm by breaking up rules or expectations so as to attract the readers attention. The latter refers to parallelism：repetitive and contrasted structures. The repetitive structure does not mean absolute duplication. Instead， it requires some variable features of the pattern – some contrasting elements which are parallel with respect to their position in the pattern.

2.2 Figure and ground

Figure and ground are derived from psychology. The Figure is a moving or conceptually movable entity whose path， site， or orientation is conceived as a variable， the particular value of which is the relevant issue. The Ground is a reference entity， one that has a stationary setting relative to a reference frame， with respect to which the Figures path， site， or orientation is characterized. （Li， 2008：308， original bolds）

2.3 Linking foregrounding and figure/ground

For Stockwell （2002：14）， the phenomenon of figure/ground is closely related to foregrounding：“the formal devices in the text and the part of the experience that strikes you most strongly lies in the description of figure and ground.”endprint

3. Case study

In this section， we will interpret Percy Bysshe Shelleys A Widow Bird Sate Mourning for Her Love. The interpretation is aimed at discussing the foregrounding features in relation to figure/ground. The poem is as follows：

A widow bird sate mourning for her love（1）

Upon a wintry bough；（2）

The frozen wind crept on above， （3）

The freezing stream below.（4）

There was no leaf upon the forest bare， （5）

No flower upon the ground， （6）

And little motion in the air， （7）

Except the mill-wheels sound.（8）

3.1 Paradigmatic foregrounding and figure/ground

Personification. Personification is one way of paradigmatic foregrounding. It gives human form or feelings to animals， or life and personal attributes to inanimate objects， or to ideas and abstractions. （Feng， 2012：190） The image that is personified becomes different from the readers expectation and attracts attention. From a cognitive perspective， the personified image is the （paradigmatic） figure； its original self and those images that are not personified are the ground.

Two verses contain personification：（1） and （3）. In （1）， the bird is a female – a widow – that sat mourning. This is totally different from what we would normally expect of a bird as an animal because it has feelings and emotions：she is sad because her love has passed away. The widow bird is thus the figure， and the rest images of the poem constitute the ground. The figure is prominent and foregrounded. Note that the widow bird is the only image that is animate and personified. This distinguishes it from the other images in the poem which are neither animate nor personified. The distinction adds to the loneliness of the widow bird. The ‘wind in verse （3） is described by the adjective ‘frozen and by the verb ‘creep. Personification lies in the use of the verb. If we consider ‘creep as the motion of people or animal， that is， to move slowly， quietly and carefully， in order not to be seen or heard， then the ‘frozen wind which ‘crept on above is personified.

Lexical deviation. The majority of the images in this poem are visual， except the mill-wheel in （8）. Instead of using visual nouns such as ‘rotation， Shelley uses ‘sound. ‘Sound indicates that the mill-wheel is not in sight and that its existence can only be perceived by listening. The contrast between vision and audition intensifies the silence of the scene and leaves the widow bird much lonelier.endprint

Deviation of historical period. In verse （1）， the verb ‘sate deserves attention because it is a deviation of historical period – ‘sate is an Old English form of ‘sat in modern English. This deviation creates a foregrounding effect that adds solemnity to the poem.

3.2 Syntagmatic foregrounding and figure/ground

The function of syntagmatic foregrounding is intensifying – making emotions stronger. Cognitively speaking， parallelism adds more prominence to the figure so it becomes more distinguished from the ground.

Verses （3） and （4） depict the wind and the stream by two cognate words that create alliteration：frozen and freezing. They are morphologically， phonologically， and semantically similar. Parallelism in this case intensifies the coldness which reflects the sadness of the bird. Verses （5）-（7） contain parallel structures. And there is a shift of figure/ground， which will be explained later. To observe the parallel structures more clearly， lets first reconstruct the verses：

The parallel structure from （5）-（7） is what the figure and verse （8） ‘Except the mill-wheels sound is correspondingly the ground， because （8） differs syntactically from the other three verses. As the verses show， upon the forest bare and upon the ground， there were neither leaf nor flower； and， in the air， there was little motion， which can be understood somewhat as no motion. All in all， everything in sight is static and does not make sounds. There is only silence， which reflects and strengthens the birds loneliness.

The poem has not ended yet. There is a ‘shift of figure/ground. Syntactically and rhetorically speaking， verses （5）-（7） are the figure and verse （8） is the ground. However， if we read this poem again and reversely， we find that the mill-wheel becomes the figure and the rest of the images the ground. The silence so far created in （5）-（7） paves way for the existence of the invisible mill-wheel. And the mill-wheels sound actually indicates its motion – it is not static， but moving. After a review of verses （5）-（7）， we find that images in these verses are static. Actually， images in verses （1）-（7） are all static. The shift pushes forward the most important contrast in the poem which is theme-related. Now we narrate the story this way：

In a cold winter， the widow bird was grieving for her love. Looking around， she found everything silent：there was little wind， and the stream too frozen to flow. Upon the forest bare， upon the ground， and in the air， nothing was moving and making a sound. However， a mill-wheel could be heard， though not in sight.endprint

The silence and static state create senses of coldness， loneliness and sadness， which is in line with the birds feelings. But the mill-wheel seems indifferent：it still works as usual. This may be understood as telling the bird：Though you have lost your love， its not the end of the world. Birth and death are nothing more than Nature. Theres no need to be too sad. Life still goes on anyway.

4. Conclusion

This paper reviews the concepts of foregrounding and figure/ground. We conducted a cognitive stylistic analysis of a poem by the two theories. Our case study suggested that foregrounding and figure/ground are closely related and they are effective in interpreting literature.

References：

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[2]李福印.認(rèn)知語(yǔ)言學(xué)概論[M].北京大學(xué)出版社，2008.

[3]Mukarovsky.（1964）.“Standard Language and Poetic Language”.

[4]Simpson，P.（2004）.STYLISTICS：A resource book for students.Routledge.

[5]Stockwell，P.（2002）.Cognitive Poetics：An Introduction.Routledge.endprint