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FOREGROUNDING1 (1)

Foregrounding is a linguistic concept introduced by Paul Garvin that emphasizes making certain features of a text prominent to create special effects. It is closely related to deviation, which involves violating linguistic norms to attract attention, and can manifest through various stylistic devices like unusual capitalization and repetition. Foregrounding is significant in both literary and non-literary texts, including advertisements and obituaries, to enhance memorability and engage readers.

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3 views

FOREGROUNDING1 (1)

Foregrounding is a linguistic concept introduced by Paul Garvin that emphasizes making certain features of a text prominent to create special effects. It is closely related to deviation, which involves violating linguistic norms to attract attention, and can manifest through various stylistic devices like unusual capitalization and repetition. Foregrounding is significant in both literary and non-literary texts, including advertisements and obituaries, to enhance memorability and engage readers.

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aimaereylyn
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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FOREGROUNDING

Paul Garvin (1964) introduced the term as a concept in language analysis: “aktualisace” which literally
means actualization.

Foregrounding refers to the concept of making certain features prominent in a text. Some linguistic
features are made prominent for special effects against the background features in a text.

Many scholars who examined the term as used in literary enterprise as being for PURELY AESTHETIC
exploitation of language which has the aim of making what is familiar UNFAMILIAR in order to attract
attention.

The concept of DEVIATION is closely related to foregrounding - what is foregrounded is made to deviate
from the familiar pattern…provides the basis for a reader’s recognition of style.

For Michael Halliday (1994) says foregrounding is prominence that is motivated. Prominence is a
general name for the phenomenon of linguistic highlights where some features stand out in some way. A
feature that is brought into prominence will be foregrounded only if it relates to the meaning of the
whole text.

Purpose of Foregrounding (linguistic or non-linguistic) : to add an unusual and unique idea to the
language.

MANIFESTATIONS of Foregrounding in a text


 Unusual capitalization
 Italicization
 Bold words
 Contractions
 Underlining
 Picture/artworks

The use of these foregrounding devices creates some VISUAL IMAGERY which adds to the memorability
of a text, drawing one’s attention to the multimodal nature of texts.

Katie Wales (1989) categorized foregrounding into two main types: Deviation and Repetition

Deviations are violations of linguistics norms: grammatical/ semantic norms, strange metaphors, similes
or collocations that are deployed to achieve special effects in a text.

Repetition is said to be a kind of deviation as it flouts the ‘normal rules of usage by over-fluency.
Repetition of sounds or syntactic patterns have the tendency to strike the readers as uncommon and
thereby engage their attention.

Foregrounding is stylistically significant in literary and even non-literary texts. Other texts such as
advertisements, postals, obituary notices may also deploy foregrounding to create some effects.

David S. Miall and Don Kuiken (1994) present differences between foregrounding techniques, parallelism,
and deviation:

Deviation Parallelism
Phonemic  Consonance  Assonance
 Metrical  Alliteration
deviation  Metrical repetition
 Enjambment  Rhyme: at line-ends, internal
Grammatical  Inversion  Phrase structure repeated
 Ellipsis  Syntactic repetitions
Semantic  Unusual words  Recurrent words or
 Metaphor synonyms
 Simile  Oppositions
 Metonymy  Arguments ('as', 'so', etc.)
 Oxymoron
 Irony

COMPILED BY: RPAMAMIO


STYLISTICS.2ND SEM.2023-2024
John Hopkins's 'The Wreck of the Deutschland' (1918) features deviation in its choice of words.

Types of Deviation Description


Involves either morphological or syntactic deviations such as
Grammatical
bad grammar or syntax rearrangement.
Playing with word meanings and definitions to create new
Lexical
words.
How language and sounds are affected by omissions or dialect
Phonological
spellings.
Semantic The play of meaning, often exploring absurdity and nonsense.
Textual How text is affected by the deviation.
Graphological Visual patterning of words, punctuation, or the poem itself.
Dialectical The borrowing of features of regional or social dialects/slang.
A 'language variety used by a particular group of people who
Register share the same occupation.' Register mixing as a register
deviation.
Genre mixing or using archaic expressions of words in modern
Historical Period
contexts, or vice versa.

Foregrounding is stylistically significant in literary and even non-literary texts. Other texts such as
advertisements, postals, obituary notices may also deploy foregrounding to create some effects.

COMPILED BY: RPAMAMIO


STYLISTICS.2ND SEM.2023-2024

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