No description available.

This thesis deals with the cognitive process of cinematic character construal and explores the question of how narrative film viewers presumably understand characters and make impressions about them as a result of the interplay of different types of schema. Based on the cognitive concept of schema (Barlett [1932] 1995), Speech Act Theory (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969) and cognitivist film theory (Bordwell,1985), a cognitive framework, which is inscribed within the cognitive stylistics theories and analytical frameworks, is proposed for character impression formation. The model posits that viewers understand characters in terms of the interactions between three planes of background knowledge: 1. Social knowledge (knowledge of real-life people, social roles, and interpersonal relations), 2. Narrative film knowledge (knowledge of film narrative, style and techniques), 3. Pragmalinguistic knowledge (knowledge of linguistic and pragmatic norms. The focus of the linguistic plane is on Speech Act Theory). This research argues that film draws on medium-specific, multimodal devices to tell the story and create characters. With regard to the multimodality of film discourse, this thesis suggests a toolkit for character creation and comprehension. The three planes of social, film and pragmalinguistic schemas and also the marked aspects of the suggested cinematic character creation toolkit are all applied to three art auteur films: The Piano Teacher (2001), Autumn Sonata (1987), and Ten (2001), whose comprehension is challenging for viewers Pragmalinguistic because of their deviations from the conventional norms of Hollywood cinema in terms of narrative, characterization, cinematic style and techniques. Methodologically, this analysis is informed by multimodal analysis (Kress and van Leeuwen, 1996), and multimodal transcription (Baldry and Thibault, 2006) in particular, which consider text as an ensemble of different communication modes all of which contribute to meaningmaking. Thus, this analysis presents a detailed account of viewers' plausible understanding trajectory, and an explanation of linguistic and visual/cinematic strategies to narrative (as the context in which characters are created and developed), and particularly character creation within the scope of the films mentioned above.

Diss.--Göttingen. / Vita. Bibliography: p. 153-164.

At first glance, one might perceive fictional characters as straightforward beings. Upon closer examination, however, one discovers what multi-faceted entities they really are. This essay deals with the complexity of the nature of characters by focusing on several theoretical and practical aspects thereof. With the help of several theorists (such as Todorov, Greimas, and Hamon) this paper uses theoretical concepts as a springboard for a discussion of strategies and pitfalls in the creation of fictional characters. Virginia Woolf, Julien Green, Milan Kundera and Gabrielle Roy are some of the writers whose knowledge was tapped for the portion of the essay dealing with the creation of characters. / La vie a travers un kaleidoscope (Life as seen through a kaleidoscope) is a collection of seven short stories in which some of the characters were inspired by people encountered by the author. The focus on character in the essay is therefore a natural extension of the creation of these short stories.

This investigation is about characterization in the Fourth Gospel as it relates to the "disciple"---the mysterious, anonymous figure that pervades the structure of allusions in this narrative. The question as to who this character is and what s/he does in this gospel text has both attracted and intrigued generations of biblical scholars. / The first part of the investigation examines divergent views of premodern, modern and reader-oriented criticism with regard to the "disciple's" identity and function, highlighting the respectively allegorical, historical and reader-oriented understanding of his/her character as proposed by these three critical approaches. / The second part of the investigation re-examines the question with a novel approach. The approach involves a detailed analysis of the structure of allusions. This analysis concludes that the allusions constitute a set of interactive linguistic phenomena which are meant to shed light on the anonymous figure within them. On the basis of this finding, the investigation proposes a new understanding of the structure of allusions and of the question of identity and function that it raises.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 261-280).

Halle, Phil. diss. v. 5. Jan. 1912, Ref. Deutschbein.

Thesis (M.A.)--Southern California College, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität zu Köln, 1972. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-141).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1928. / Vita. Published also as Teachers college, Columbia university, Contributions to education, no. 315. Bibliography: p. 44.