The Prague School linguist Mukarovsky introduced the concept of deviation in his workStandard Language and Poetic Language.As a prominent figure of the structuralist school,hestated that deviation violated the norm of the standard.Besides,Mukarovsky(1970)enabledpeople to have a clear understanding about relation between poetic language and standardlanguage.Jacobson(1960)also made significant contributions to the research on linguisticdeviations,highlighting that linguistic deviations could be considered a type offoregrounding.
Functional stylistics endeavors to find out features of language and summarizes thepragmatic function inherent in language.Leech and Short(2001)distinguished between three terms:foregrounding,deviation,and prominence,viewing linguistic deviation as a conceptstatistically.Additionally,Leech(1969)outlined eight types of linguistic deviations andintroduced some principles governing these linguistic deviations along with their functions inpoems.He asserted that“the distinctiveness of poetic language mainly lies in the original useof established possibilities of the language and the creation of new communicativepossibilities which are already used in the language”(Leech,1969:24).According to ZhangDelu(2005),Halliday categorized deviation into qualitive prominence and quantityprominence,with the former breaking norms and the latter aiming to enhance regularity.
2.2 Previous Studies on Dickinson’s Poems
Emily Dickinson,an outstanding American poet,wrote approximately 1800 poems,themajority of which failed to be published during her lifetime.Her poetry characterized byunique,compressed and complicated diction,and irregular use of language expressionscaptures readers’interest and gives them rich imagination space.In the 19th century,herpoems have not been accepted by most critics.However,in the 20th century,more and morescholars paid attention to and recognized her poetry and letters.Furthermore,her fancifulexpressions exerted a significant impact on modern poetry.
2.2.1 Previous Studies on Dickinson’s Poems Abroad
Research on Dickinson’s poetry abroad can be divided into three periods.
The first period begins from 1890 to 1955.Her first volume of poems came into readers’view in 1890.Then,many kinds of editions about her poetry,letters,and biographies alsocame out.During this period,scholars primarily paid more attention to exploring her personallife,the value,and content of her poems.They studied the implications within her poemsfrom the perspectives of region,gender,and sexual instinct.New England Culture and EmilyDickinson written by Tate who was a leading exponent of the New Criticism was a notablecontribution in Dickinson’s research during this period.Tate stressed that“her fusion ofsensibility and thought made her a prime example of the New Critical ideal”(Grabner&Miller,1998:305).
Chapter Three Theoretical Framework....................17
3.1 Cognitive Linguistics........................17
3.2 Foreground/Background Theory....................................19
Chapter Four Description of Linguistic Deviations in Dickinson’s Poems.......................23
4.1 Grammatical Level...................................23
4.1.1 Ellipsis................................24
4.1.2 Inversion......................................25
Chapter Five Functions of Linguistic Deviations in Dickinson’s Poems...........................39
5.1 Aesthetic Function.................................39
5.1.1 The Beauty of Music.................................40
5.1.2 The Beauty of Wonder....................41
Chapter Six Analysis of Linguistic Deviations in Dickinson’sPoems from FBT
6.1 The Interpretation of Poems Concerning Love within FBT
According to Yang Dianhong(2001),Dickinson has written over 300 love poems.Thethesis would choose two typical poems which were focused by other researchers.One is thepoem The Daisy Follows Soft the Sun－and t
