Schema theory and the analysis of text worlds in poetry

Abstract

This article demonstrates an approach to the study of text worlds in poetry based on the theory of background knowledge and comprehension generally known as schema theory. It is argued that such an approach constitutes a useful alternative to the possible-world models which have traditionally been applied to the description of fictional worlds. From a cognitive point of view, text worlds can be seen as resulting from the application of certain portions of the reader's background knowledge (schemata) to the interpretation of texts. The reader's perception of a particular text world will depend on the extent to which his or her existing schemata are confirmed or challenged during the process of interpretation. Following Cook (1990 and forthcoming), I describe the former outcome as 'schema reinforcement' and the latter as 'schema refreshment'. Two contemporary poems (Seamus Heaney's 'A Pillowed Head' and Sylvia Plath's 'The Applicant') are analysed in detail, in order to:i. show the possibility of combining linguistic description and schema theory in the analysis of texts, andii. demonstrate the usefulness of the notions of schema reinforcement and schema refreshment in accounting for the differences between the worlds projected by different texts.A partial redefinition of the notion of schema refreshment is suggested in the light of the analyses.

Possible Worlds in Poetry

“…My analyses in the course of this paper have repeatedly highlighted the need to consider such a relationship. As I have shown elsewhere (Semino 1995), possible-world frame-works can be usefully complemented by a more cognitive approach, in which fictional worlds are seen äs the result of the interaction between comprehenders and texts in the process of Interpretation.…”

Analyzing the changing character and sophistication of TV advertisements in the People’s Republic of China

“…If we counted all such inferences we could well end up with comparative figures which would not illuminate the interpretative process, and, in any case, we could not be entirely sure we had spelled out every single inference that could be made. It is interesting to note that Schema theory (e.g., Schank and Abelson, 1977;Rumelhart, 1980; and see Semino [1995] for textual applications), which in part helps us to explain how we 'fill in' pieces of Information which are not explicitly mentioned or shown, tends to work with the higher level, more abstract aspects of situations rather than the sort of 'nitty gritty' inferential work of the kind that we have illustrated above. Clearly there is an issue concerning how one decides which inferences to include.…”

Multimodality, Cognitive Poetics, and Genre: Reading Grady Hendrix’s novel Horrorstör

“…7 Stockwell (2003: 255) in fact cites the restaurant event schema as a "classic example". 8 Schema theory has been used in literary analysis to account for how readers create imagined text worlds (Semino 1995), understand Science Fiction (Stockwell 2003), conceptualise and read hypertext fictions (Bell 2014), as well as the way different reading audiences respond to crossover fiction (Walsh 2007).…”