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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
J *
SYMBOL10 ACTION IN THE ORAL INTERPRETATION
OF ROBINSON JEFFERS' "ROAN STALLION"
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF TILE REQUIREMENTS
for the degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
SCHOOL OF SPEECH
By
ROBERT STEPHEN BREEN
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS
SEPTEMBER 1950
ProQuest Number: 10095821
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TABZiS OF COHTENTS
PART ONE: THE NATURE OF SYMBOLIC ACTION
Page
INTRODUCTION........... * ............ ............ 2
A* Purpose
B. Method
0. Limitations
D* Just1floatIon
Chapter
I* THE ESTHETIC FUNCTION OF LITERATURE ........ 13
XX, EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOR..........................35
III* MOTOR BEHAVIOR ........ . ................ 77
IV* SPEECH BEHAVIOR............................107
V* LITERATURE AND SYMBOLIC ACTION......... . 139
PART TWOS SYMBOLIC ACTION IN "ROAN STALLION"
VI. THE ANALYSIS OF POETRY......... .... 158
VII* THE TEXT OF "ROAN STALLION15 .......... 168
VIII. THE PROSODIC ANALYSIS OF "ROAN STALLION" . * 184
Definition of Prosody
The Substance of "Hoan Stallion"
The Structure of "Roan Stallion"
The Theme of "Roan Stallion"
ii
Chapt er Fag©
IX. THE PHONEMIC ANALYSIS OF »RQAN STALLION* * . 330
Introduction
The Phonemic Analyst0 of (tRoan stallion*
X. SYMBOLIC ACTION IN» R0AN STALLION* ......... 341
Motor Rh^th®
Emotions and Symbolic Action
Classification of Symbolic Action
Adaptive behavior
Emotional behavior
Emp&thie behavior
Conventional behavior
XX. CONCLUSION. . . . . . .................... 390
BIBLIOGRAPHY....... ............................ 394
VITA................................ .......... 406
ill
PART OHS
THE WATORE OP 8YMB0I.I0 AOTIOH
XMTO0OT0TIOW
A. Purpose
The oral Interpretation of literature is a com
plex art* It involves the making of esthetic judgments,
critical evaluations, and intuitive estimation© of style
it presupposes some knowledge of the historical develop
ment of literature and considerable sensitivity to the
subtleties of language. The oral interpreter must
possess, in addition, a flexible and well-controlled
voice and body. His training is long and arduous.
The position of the oral reader involves a dual
relationship: first, it i® that of an appreoiator of
the experience created in the words of the author in the
written text, and second, it is that of communicator of
the experience to the audience* With regard to the
first relationship, there are a number of critical
methods which may lead the interpreter to an understand
ing of the text; with respect to the second relationship,
there is considerable uncertainty. Some would have the
oral reader remain neutral, letting the words pass
through him uninfleoted and without "interpretation";
other®, recognising that such "Ideal passivity" would
in itself constitute an "interpretation,41 are content if
the oral reader will only not intrude himself too openly
between the text and the audience- These attitudes have
little to offer in the way of a positive clarification
of the audience-speaker dynamic® as we meet them in the
rather special situation of thd oral interpreter.
Perhaps a viable relationship between the oral
reader and his audience cannot be established in any
a priori fashion- It may be, however, that an examina
tion of the function of literature and its esthetic
nature would give the oral interpreter a modus operand!
that would relieve him of the embarrassment he may feel
as an Intruder between the text and the listener. It is
the purpose of this study to establish, if possible, a
"mode Of act!onH which will permit the oral reader to
function congruently with the literature he is inter
preting and cooperatively with the best interests of the
audience-
B. Method
The establishment of a satisfactory "mode of
action" for the oral interpretation of literature must
depend on a satisfactory integration of the function of
literature and the function of the human organism. The
oral reader projects the literature through his trained
vocal mechanism. Facial expressions and the grosser
bodily attitude® and movement® are further means at his
command* Audience® are accustomed to making judgments of
a speaker9® emotional tone or attitude from the evidence
of hi® vocal inflections, facial expressions and bodily
postures. If we assume that literature "functions by
reinstating, clarifying, and extending the primary
experiences of the reader,we may go on to assume that
the activity of the oral reader will likewise reinstate,
clarify, and extend those same experience®.
In support of these assumptions, evidence will be
sought among the sethetlclans, whose province it Is to
define the esthetic process and to explore the nature of
the esthetic object* We will find that there is some
disagreement among them concerning the function of litera
ture and the manner of its psychological operation*
Additional evidence, therefor®, will be sought in the
statement© of literary critics as well as the creators of
literature. It is to b© hoped that there will be suffi
cient evidence in all to justify some conclusions that
will minimise the difference® between esthetic experience
and direct or actual experience*
If the experiences recorded in literature oan be
regarded in any significant way as real, then the human
behavioral patterns studied by physiologists and
psychologist® *n&y have a close relation to the patterns
^Frank Harlg, "Some Uleraentary Contributions of
Aesthetics to Interpretative Speech," p. 539.
