A Pragma-Stylistic Analysis of Deixis in Beckett's Mimic Act Without Words-I in terms of Levinon's (1983) Model

Abstract

Beckett's dramatic works represent a significant reference for linguistic investigations as they reflect his style and dramatic language as they directed through theatre, radio, movies, and T.V screens. Act Without Words-I has considered one of his master theatricals mimics plays in which deictic expressions play a critical textual role. Hence, a pragmatic interpretation of these expressions may contribute to to the critical literature of this play. The present paper attempts to carry out a pragma-stylistic analysis and interpretation of Beckett's first mime play, Act Without Words I (1956), based on his employment of deixis. For analysis purposes, Levinson's (1983) model of deixis uses.  Levinson categorizes deixis into personal deixis, spatial deixis, temporal deixis, social deixis, and discourse deixis. The main aim of the study is to shed light on the deictic expressions that have been employed by the playwright. It is concluded that the playwright adeptly uses deixis categories in a way they play a crucial role in developing the discourse processes and structure as they underlie specific linguistic codes of the play in terms of its dramatic interpretation and plot development. Also, Levinson's (1983) model of deixis finds to be an excellent linguistic tool for the analysis and interpretation of dramatic works.