Investigating the Psychopathic Mind style of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32792/tqartj.v1i49.735Keywords:
mind style, cognitive stylistics, text world theory, construalAbstract
the current study aims at analyzing Patrick Bateman's psychopathic mind style in American Psycho novel by the American writer Bret Easton Ellis by adopting a cognitive stylistic perspective. The study aims at exploring how the mind style of the character is constructed textually and investigating the main textual cues and strategies that construe Bateman's mind style. This is conducted by adopting text world theory and cognitive grammar construal. The analysis concludes that world building elements used in the novel contribute to shaping the mind style of Bateman's character. These elements reflect the characters' priorities and establish the foundations for their psychological and cognitive frames. Additionally, The linguistic strategies that contribute to the construal of a psychopathic mind style include certain aspects of construal such as specificity, prominence, dynamicity, and perspective. The importance of such strategies lies in the fact that they show how language presents unique ways through which characters explain, perceive, and represent the real world.
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