A corpus approach to identifying focalizers in Iris Murdoch’s novel “The Time of Angels”

Abstract

The article examines the role of verba sentiendi as key markers of focalization in a fiction text. Despite the fact that researchers point to different markers of focalization, they are quite unanimous in identifying verba sentiendi as an important means of constructing perspective in a literary work. Using the LancsBox corpus manager, we analysed the frequency of verb occurrences in Iris Murdoch’s novel The Time of the Angels, identified 13 most common verbs of perception, and divided them into 4 micro categories. The obtained data were used to compare the frequency of word usage of this category of verbs in the works of two other British authors and with the general corpus of fiction in BNC2014.In Iris Murdoch’s novel, the most common verbs of perception were lexemes belonging to the category of “mental activity”, namely think, know, suppose, understand, believe, mean, as well as a group of perception verbs (see, hear). The second largest category was verbs denoting psycho-emotional states (feel, want, seem). The verbs to love and to like, which belong to the category of attitude, were relatively common. These verbs are quite common both in fiction in general and in the works of other authors, which are also characterized by variable focusing. However, in each case, we note the peculiarities of the prevalence of certain verbs, which can be correlated with the plot of the novel. A deeper interpretive and semantic analysis of the chapters of Iris Murdoch’s novel showed that not all verbs of perception represent the mental space of the focalizer, but the vast majority of them (>50%) directly relate to the perspective of a particular focalizing character. These verbs not only help to determine who the focalizer is but also create the effect of immersing the reader in the character’s subjective perception of events, activating his/her role in constructing the meaning of events.