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Discourse Structure and Rhetorical Elaboration in Mocho Personal Narrative
Author(s) -
Martin Laura
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of linguistic anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.463
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1548-1395
pISSN - 1055-1360
DOI - 10.1525/jlin.1994.4.2.131
Subject(s) - rhetorical question , elegance , narrative , agency (philosophy) , repetition (rhetorical device) , power (physics) , sociology , linguistics , rhetorical modes , narrative network , aesthetics , psychology , epistemology , social psychology , narrative inquiry , philosophy , narrative criticism , social science , physics , quantum mechanics
Two versions of a Mocho (Mayan) personal narrative about killing a large snake are subjected to close comparative analysis. The greater rhetorical elegance of one is the sum of a series of modest elaborations and strategic revisions at various levels, from lexical to episodic, rather than the result of large‐scale revisions in discourse structure. Repetition makes a substantial contribution to the aesthetic power of the elaborated version. The goal of the revisions is shown to be associated with issues of personal agency and heightened narrator participation.