RELEVANCE AND LITERARY INTERPRETATION AT WORK:  THE CASE OF SYLVIA PLATH’S “ARIEL”

Beyond the Frontiers: Perspectives on Pragmatic Theory and Practice (2026) [pp. 159-173]  

AUTHOR(S) / AUTOR(I): Mirjana Mišković-Luković, Tijana Matović
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.46793/BeyondFront.159ML
ABSTRACT / SAŽETAK:

The aim of this paper is twofold: one, more general, explores the applicability of the relevance-theoretic framework to literary interpretation; the other, more specific, reconsiders the issue of interpretation of Sylvia Plath’s poem “Ariel”.

The paper is organised around the following sections: section 1 summarises the main postulates of relevance theory pertinent to our analysis and discussion; section 2 highlights certain issues related to the interpretation of “Ariel” as evidenced in literary criticism; section 3 paves the way for a cognitively and communicatively grounded inferential approach, such as relevance theory, to understanding “Ariel”; the final section wraps up our approach to the topic at hand.

KEYWORDS / KLJUČNE REČI:

affective effects, affective mutuality, interpretation, optimal relevance, processing effort, Sylvia Plath, weak communication

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT / PROJEKAT:

The research in this paper was funded by the Ministry of science, technological development and innovation (Republic of Serbia) according to the agreement on the transfer of funds for financing the scientific research work of teaching staff at accredited higher education institutions in 2026 (451-03-34/2026-03/200198).

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