The focus of this study is in the area of pragmatic-stylistics. The study argues that pragmatic tools such as (im)politeness theory and cooperative maxims can be applied to literary discourse to explain different dynamics in the conversation of dramatic and fictional characters in literary texts in relation to their sex, power, social distance, and interactive role. It also examines how these factors interrelate in explaining the tension in the characters’ dialogues. Brown and Levinson’s model of politeness and Culpeper’s framework of impoliteness, as well as Grice’s cooperative principle, have been used as a theoretical background to review critically the dialogues between the dramatic and fictional characters. The data of this study consists of four literary works. Two of them are written in English by Irish dramatists. These are Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw (1912), and The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895). The other two texts are Fate of a Cockroach (1966) by the Arab dramatist Tawfiq Al-Hakim. The second Arabic work is Palace of Desire by Egyptian novelist Najuib Mahfouz (1954). Each text is analyzed to see how sex, power, social distance, and interactive role affect characters’ use of (im)politeness. Following this analysis, a chapter on the discrepancies of the translation of (im)politeness formulas is presented. The aim is to discover whether characters’ (im)politeness utterances in English have the same pragmatic equivalence as the original Arabic texts. It has been found that, especially in the case of invocations; an exact English equivalent often does not exist, thereby causing a loss in meaning and degree of conveying of the politeness or impoliteness utterance. The dissertation concludes that the pragmalinguistic tools – politeness and impoliteness theories as well as Grice’s cooperative principles are useful in explaining the dynamics of characters in literay discourse, and in explaining the interactive role of characters in literary texts. This in turn can leave us with some evidence to the themes tackled by the writers such as presenting the female discourse to be stronger and more out spoken than the male discourse in the four selected texts to reflect on the themes in each text. The thesis also contemplates further areas of research, especially in Arabic literature and media discourse in the Arab world. By keeping this research’s findings in mind, it sheds light on the cultural aspect of language, hopefully drawing the focus away from the mere science of the language.

This study focuses upon elements of continuity and change in the developing landscape of the parish of Baschurch in north Shropshire during the period c.1550-2000. In considering a relatively neglected part of the English rural landscape, the writer examines whether landscape change in this area was unique or mirrored experiences in neighbouring parishes and the county as a whole. Shropshire as a county is understudied in terms of its landscape history and so this research project aims to redress this balance, whilst at the same time contributing to the growth of knowledge regarding rural landscape studies generally. The writer examines the themes of population, farm and fieldscape, land use, settlement and buildings, and transport. Analysis draws upon a wide range of documentary sources including a large collection of probate inventories, existing primary and secondary literature and oral testimonies, alongside an examination of structures and features in the present landscape. Analysis reveals the diverse nature of the landscape of the parish. It exhibits varying patterns of landownership, enclosure, field systems, land use and settlement. Research shows that in some instances experiences mirror those exhibited by neighbouring parishes: for example with regard to the enclosure of open arable lands, the rise of dairy farming and the emergence of settlement in areas of former woodland. Overall, this research demonstrates the importance of landownership during the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries in influencing the extent of landscape change. Landowner involvement affected field systems, farm size, land use, settlements and emerging transport networks. Research shows that single landownership of a township has often led to landscape change, whereas change has occurred more slowly, or has been inhibited, in areas exhibiting multiple landownership. This study reveals that during the twentieth century the role of the dominant landowner as a major influence on the landscape has been superseded by local government planning departments. Although subject to landowner involvement, the importance of transport developments in understanding landscape change is also highlighted. In addition to enhancing our knowledge of the rural landscape of north Shropshire, this research project reveals that through its varying patterns of landownership, field systems and settlements, the parish of Baschurch is a microcosm of the west midlands and borderlands landscape as a whole.