Sylvia Plath and the Language of Affective States: Written Discourse and the Experience of Depression [Hardcover]

Focusing on the first journal inThe Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, this book writes a convincing case for the value of corpus-based stylistics and narrative psychology in the analysis of representations of the experience of affective states.

Situated at the intersection between language study, psychology and healthcare, this study of the personal writing of a poet and novelist showcases a cutting-edge combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches, including metaphor analysis, corpus methods, and second person narration. Techniques that systematically account for representations of experiences of affective states, such as those in this book, are rare and crucial in improving understanding of these experiences. The findings and methods of this book therefore potentially have bearing on the study, diagnosis and treatment of depression and other mental illnesses. Zs?fia Demj?n follows the cognitive turn in both literary studies and linguistics here, emerging with a greater understanding of Plath, her diarized output and her experience of her inner world.

Zs?fia Demj?nis Lecturer of English Language and Applied Linguistics at The Open University, UK.

An excellent example of the benefits that can be reaped by [broadening the boundaries of stylistic approaches] ... By combining qualitative and quantitative methods with narrative, cognitive and psychological insights, Demj?n is particularly well equipped to draw conclusions with regard to the linguistic projection of Plath's renowned depressive bouts. ... She impressively combines all these interests and insightfully highlights possible applications of stylistics work for the understanding of depression in general. The Year's Work in Stylistics

Demj?n's analyses combine qualitative insights with quantitative corpus findings, adopting a range of approaches and analytical techniques, from SFL to metaphor theory ... Those who are curious about the mechanics ol£ž