Rhetorical Analysis of Virginia Woolf’s Professions for Women from the Perspective of Kenneth Burke's Rhetoric_英语论文

摘要

肯尼斯·伯克的同一理论在演讲和广告中有广泛的应用，而在文学赏析的应用上却很少。本研究拟从伯克同一理论的新视角来分析弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫的作品《女性的职业》中的修辞运用。在伯克的理论基础上，本文首先分析《女性的职业》中的修辞情境，接着从修辞内容和修辞形式两大角度研究伍尔夫散文中采用的同一策略。修辞内容包括同情认同，对立认同和不准确认同；修辞形式则包括规约形式、前进形式、重复形式和比喻形式。最后，文章探讨了这些策略在《女性的职业》中是如何使作家和读者达到同一，进而使作家的目的得以实现。

本研究可以使读者从一个新的角度来更好地解读伍尔夫的散文《女性的职业》，同时有效地论证了伯克的同一理论在文学赏析中的适用性。

关键词：伯克同一理论  修辞分析  《女性的职业》  

Abstract

Burke’s identification theory has been widely applied in speeches and advertising, but seldom in literature. This thesis attempts to conduct a rhetorical analysis of Virginia Woolf’s essay Professions for Women from the perspective of Kenneth Burke’s identification theory, within which this thesis firstly analyzes the rhetorical situation of Professions for Women, and then it probes identification tactics manifested in the essay from the aspects of both identification via content and identification via form. The former refers to identification by sympathy, antithesis and inaccuracy while the latter refers to identification by conventional form, progressive form, repetitive form and figurative form. Finally, it unravels the procedure of how a writer achieves identification with his readers and discloses the functions of Burke’s rhetoric strategies.

This thesis aims to help people better interpret Professions for Women from a new perspective that differentiates from other studies and provide meaningful evidence for the applicability of Burke’s identification theory in the analysis of literary works.

Key words: Burke’s Identification Theory  rhetorical analysis  Profession for Women  

Contents

Chapter One  Introduction 1

1.1  The Background of the Study 1

1.2  The Purpose and the Significance of the Thesis 3

1.3  The Structure of the Thesis 3

Chapter Two  Literature Review 5

2.1  Previous Studies on Virginia Woolf’s Essays 5

2.1.1 Virginia Woolf 5

2.1.2 Previous Studies on Virginia Woolf’s Essays 6

2.2  Previous Studies on Burke's Rhetoric 7

2.2.1 Kenneth Burke 7

2.2.2 Previous Studies on Burke's Rhetoric 8

Chapter Three  Theoretical Framework 10

3.1  Overview of Burke's Identification Theory 10

3.2  Identification via Content 12

3.3  Identification via Form 13

Chapter Four  Rhetorical Analysis of Professions for Women 16

4.1  Introduction to Professions for Women 16

4.2  Introduction to Identification Analysis 17

4.3  Identification via Content 18

4.3.1 Identification by Sympathy 18

4.3.2 Identification by Antithesis 19

4.3.3 Identification by Inaccuracy 21

4.4  Identification via Form 23

4.4.1 Conventional Form 23

4.4.2 Progressive Form 24

4.4.3 Repetitive Form 26

4.4.4 Figurative Form 27

Chapter Five  Conclusion 29

5.1  Major Findings 29

5.2  Implications 30

5.3  Limitations 30

Bibliography

Acknowledgements