Some reflections on the analysis of discourse and dramatic text: Stoppard's Jumpers

Abstract

Our proposal in this paper is basically to analyse dramatic texts according to the structure of those parts whose purpose is mainly dialogic in nature, mainly monologic, or, finally, those parts that emphasise the connection between writer and reader (or producer) from the organisational point of view. At the same time we also intend to study some basic pragmatic points such as reference, the informative nature of discourse, the kinds of illocutionary acts present in the text and the conversational norms broken. With this purpose in mind, we propose the application of a method of analysis of dramatic discourse to the play Jumpers, by Tom Stoppard.