On the use of manipulative techniques in Еnglish literary discourse

Abstract

Manipulation is inherently incentive, aimed at exerting covert influence and inducing the recipient to the actions necessary for the manipulator. Such control is, first of all, the control of the mind, i.e. the beliefs of the recipients, and indirect control of their actions, with their beliefs being manipulated. This paper explores pragmatics of manipulative techniques in English literary discourse. Manipulation happens in implicit communication. Reading between the lines and explicating the implications of a text has become a primary focus in literary analysis. The analysis of linguistic material is carried out by means of discourse approach and pragmalinguistic method of research. The relevance of this study is determined by the need to cover all forms of interpersonal manipulation in fictional dialogue: deception, pressuring, and exploiting emotional vulnerability or character defects. The analysis showed that exploiting emotional vulnerability occurs much more frequently in fictional dialogue than other forms of manipulation. The investigation has focused on manipulative techniques as closely related to narrative irony. In a short story or a novel, narrative irony serves as scaffolding for using manipulation, viz. for creating the situation favourable for accomplishing the manipulators scheme.