Presented Discourse in Popular Science: Professional Voices in Books for Lay Audiences (Studies in Pragmatics)

Olga A. Pilkington

ISBN 10: 9004365966 / ISBN 13: 9789004365964

Published by Brill, 2018

About this Item

Hardcover, xvi + 190 pages, NOT ex-library. Minor handling wear. Book is clean and bright throughout with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Issued without a dust jacket. -- Contents: 1 Introduction: Popular Science, Overview of the Genre [Why Popular Science is Important and How It Shapes the Reader's; Perception of the Scientific Community; History of Popular Science; Language: Professional and Popular; Authors and Readers; A Genre with an Agenda; Conclusion] 2 Theoretical Perspectives [Presented Discourse: An Overview of Analytical Approaches; Leech and Short's (1981) Model; Semino and Short's (2004) Model; Short's (2007, 2012) Commentary on the Semino and Short (2004) and Leech and Short (1981) Models; Fictionality: Questions about Definition; Importance of Emotionality in Popular Science; Dramatization, Emotionality and Professional Science; Conclusion] 3 Analytical Background, Framework, Texts, and Methods [Introduction; General Role of Discourse Presentation in Fiction and Non-fiction; Framework for Presented Discourse Analysis of the Popular Science Corpus; Corpus Selection and Methodology; Why Study Popular Science Narratives?; Description of the Popular Science Corpus; Comparison of Frequency Information for the Popular Science Corpus with the Semino and Short Findings; Presentation of Communicated Discourse in the Narratives of Discovery and Speech/Writing Presentation in Semino and Short (2004); Presentation of Thought in the Narratives of Discovery and in Semino and Short (2004); Conclusion] 4 Dramatization in the Narratives of Discovery: The Roles of Communicated Discourse and Thought Presentation [Introduction; Dramatization in Presented Discourse: It is Not Just (F)DS; Dramatization through NPSA and NPTA; Dialogic NPSA; Strings of NPSA and Interaction of Discourse Presentation Types; Borderline Dialogic NPSA; Dramatization through (F)DS: Emotionality; Dramatization through (F)DS: Personal Perspective; Dramatization through IS and FIS: Emotionality and Dialogue; Conclusion] 5 Beyond Dramatization [Introduction; Hypotheses and Discoveries: Presentation of Thought is Not so Private; Scientific Hypotheses: NPTA and IT; Introduction of Discoveries: IT; Non-dramatizing Communicated Discourse: Explanation of Science; Indirect Speech; Narrator's Presentation of Speech Acts; (Free) Direct Speech; Conclusion] 6 Presented Discourse outside the Narratives of Discovery [Introduction; Celebratory Discourse; 'A Neutrino Walks into a Bar': Humor in Presented Discourse; 'All Healthy Bodies Resemble Each Other, While Each Unhealthy Body is Unhealthy in Its Own Way': Literary References in Presented Discourse; Speech Presentation versus Writing Presentation: Another Look; Confirming the Fusion of Non-fiction and Fiction-like Qualities of Presented Discourse in Popular Science; Fictionalized Reader in Popular Science; Conclusion] 7 Conclusion [Role of Presented Discourse in the Formation of Positive Bias]; Appendix: Practical Applications of Research Findings; Bibliography; Index of Subjects and Names -- In Presented Discourse in Popular Science, Olga A. Pilkington explores the forms and functions of the voices of scientists in books written for non-professionals. This study confirms the importance of considering presentation of discourse outside of literary fiction: popular science uses presented discourse in ways uncommon for fiction yet not conventional for non-fiction either. This analysis is an acknowledgement of the social consequences of popularization. Discourse presentation of scientists reconstructs the world of the scientific community as a human space but also projects back into it an image of the scientist the public wants to see. At the same time, Pilkington's findings strengthen the view of popularization that rejects the notion of a strict divide between professional and popular science.

Seller Inventory # 008271

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Presented Discourse in Popular Science: Professional Voices in Books for Lay Audiences (Studies in Pragmatics)
• Publisher: Brill
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004365966
• ISBN 13: 9789004365964
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

In Presented Discourse in Popular Science, Olga A. Pilkington explores the forms and functions of the voices of scientists in books written for non-professionals. This study confirms the importance of considering presentation of discourse outside of literary fiction: popular science uses presented discourse in ways uncommon for fiction yet not conventional for non-fiction either.

This analysis is an acknowledgement of the social consequences of popularization. Discourse presentation of scientists reconstructs the world of the scientific community as a human space but also projects back into it an image of the scientist the public wants to see. At the same time, Pilkington’s findings strengthen the view of popularization that rejects the notion of a strict divide between professional and popular science.

About the Author

Olga A. Pilkington, Ph.D. (2016), University of Birmingham (UK), is Assistant Professor of English at Dixie State University (USA). She is co-editor of Lab Lit: Exploring Literary Fictions about Science.