Foregrounding

Foregrounding is a concept in literary studies that concerns making a linguistic utterance (word, clause, phrase, phoneme, etc.) stand out from the surrounding linguistic context, from given literary traditions, or from more general world knowledge.[1] It is "the 'throwing into relief' of the linguistic sign against the background of the norms of ordinary language."[2] There are two main types of foregrounding: parallelism and deviation. Parallelism can be described as unexpected regularity, while deviation can be seen as unexpected irregularity.[3] As the definition of foregrounding indicates, these are relative concepts. Something can only be unexpectedly regular or irregular within a particular context. This context can be relatively narrow, such as the immediate textual surroundings (referred to as a 'secondary norm'[4]), or wider such as an entire genre (referred to as a 'primary norm'[5]). Foregrounding can occur on all levels of language[6] (phonology, graphology, morphology, lexis, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics). It is generally used to highlight important parts of a text, aid memorability, and/or invite interpretation.

  1. ^ Leech, G. and Short, M. (2007) Style in Fiction (2nd ed.) Pearson Education Ltd.
  2. ^ Wales, K. (2001) Dictionary of Stylistics (2nd ed.) Pearson Education Ltd. p157
  3. ^ Leech, G. (1969) A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry. Longman
  4. ^ Leech, G. and Short, M. (2007) Style in Fiction (2nd ed.) Pearson Education Ltd.
  5. ^ Leech, G. and Short, M. (2007) Style in Fiction (2nd ed.) Pearson Education Ltd.
  6. ^ Simpson, p (2004) "Stylistics, A Resource Book". London: Routledge