A study on historical and social background and the newness of language use in „Pride and Prejudice‟ by Jane Austen Nguyễn Kim Oanh Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15 Người hướng dẫn: Dr. Phạm Đăng Bình Năm bảo vệ: 2012 Abstract. The study firstly aimed at giving some certain information about the temporary English society and literature of the early eighteenth and late nineteenth centuries. Secondly, Jane Austen‟s distinctive writing style was thoroughly discussed through the language use in three leading conversations between the two main characters -Darcy Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Bennet - in her „Pride and prejudice‟, which satired the vices of her society, as portraying the concepts of „sincerity and vulgarity‟; so powerful that none could escape from. The result of the study briefly expressed the researcher‟s own viewpoint about the matter of love and love expressing; as well as major findings and contributions were also stated to recommend a number of things for readers to consider in the choice of widening their knowledge in literature. Keywords. Ngôn ngữ; Tiếng Anh; Sử dụng ngôn ngữ Content This initial part stated the problem and the rationale of the study, together with the aims, objectives, the scope of the study, and the overview of the rest of this research paper. Above all, it was in this part that the research question was identified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research. 1. Rationale of the study In the eighteenth century, the readers were delighted by a new form of prose, which was called „novel‟ for the first time by Daniel Defoe – the first considerable British novelist. A „novel‟ with a certain length did bring amusement, pleasure and joy to those who were concerned when the contemporary British society was dreadfully chaotic in the virtue of the changes in the monarch. In the innovation of this new form of prose, there appeared a remarkable number of writers and their works. They were coined to emphasize not only the social changes but also the imaginary stories, which exposed their hope for a better life, so even the family or social class problems were best put down in words by one of the most famous female novelist in Britain and all over the world – Jane Austen. Peter Washington in his commentary once implied that Jane Austen belonged to the fantastic side of the English comedy that appealed so strongly to the readers, not only in Britain but also from all over the world. She was also said to be the first novelist capable of “conveying both interior and exterior of human life” as well as “developing the means of representing the totality of human life” (Ian Watt, 1957) In the six novels written during the very last decades of the eighteenth century, she truly succeeded in describing “the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life which to me the most wonderful I‟ve ever met with … that a pity such a gifted creature dies so early” as Walter Scott (1826) once stated in his commentary. All the certain circumstances were just within the leading involvement of one family and their neighbours and friends in which Austen created “some heroines who were credible with minds, with the capacity to think for themselves with ambition and wit”; and „Pride and Prejudice‟, the novel about marriage, was said to be the best of them all. „Pride and Prejudice‟ was coined to construct the frame of the contemporarily social satire, within the relationship between people from the middle and upper classes. It initially commenced the era of „country family novels‟ which set a “prying inquiry into the manner, human dignity and great strain” on the characters and the society they were living in, which made her novels connected to the contemporary world more than the traditional society of the eighteenth century as Diệp Minh Tâm (2002) once commented. Further more, it ranked one of the greatest novels of all time following “Wuthering heights” by Emily Bronte - 1847) and was read even if it was not taught at school. The researcher was impressed by the name of the novel at first and became overexcited about the novel since she finished reading it for the first time. The novel was really linked to both of the real world and the emotional changes inside individuals, especially the female. Therefore, putting extra effort in investigating what impressed her really fed her desire to understand the people and society at the time. 2. Aims of the study This study was carried out with the hope of exploring the background of the temporary Britain leading to the remarkable changes in its literal history of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries especially in the view on British novels. The study also aimed at answering the question: “What is Jane Austen‟s distinctive writing style?”. The answer to the question would help the students of Linguistics, the novel's readers as well as those who wished to specialize in English Literature realize what made Austen one of the most successful female novelist of the century. Right from the start, the researcher expected to find out the historical and social background of the British Literature and briefly analyze the language use in „Pride and Prejudice‟ which exposed Austen‟s distinctive writing style. Last but not least was the researcher‟s desire to understand the novel, which was really related to the controversial matter of love and love expressing. 3. Methodology of procedures 3.1. Design of the study The study was divided into three main parts. While Part One dealt with the general information which contained the rationale, aims and objectives, methodology and scope of the study, Part Two went into further details of the historical and social background; and the newness of language use in Jane Austen‟s Pride and Prejudice through four chapters. The suggestions for further research would not be omitted in the last part. 3.2. Data collection and data analysis The study used the descriptive and contextual methods of data collecting and analyzing. Basing on the huge resources of library and internet materials, the researcher analyzed and then agglutinated those ideas into her own brief clear and understandable viewpoints. On the other hand, several differences in the changeable literal trends of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries would be briefly stated in her Analysis on how main characters exposed their own „pride‟ and „prejudice‟ in some certain circumstances through the three volumes. 4. Scope of the study As could be seen from the title, the study strongly focused not only on the historical and social background but also on the language use of the novel which played the most important role. To understand that newness of language use in the novel, the researcher had to pay her full attention to the main characters‟ leading conversations in the three volumes which helped expose the cherish love and the theory of „pride‟ and „prejudice‟ – the main themes of the novel. Amongst the three conversations, the first two would be thoroughly analyzed, for the reason that the first „conversation‟ brought the two main characters by their mistaken first impression and the second conversation was about the conflicts finally resolved. References Vietnamese 1. Diệp Minh Tâm, (2002). Kiêu hãnh và định kiến. NXB Hội nhà văn. 2. Nguyễn Hòa, (2006). Phân tích diễn ngôn phê phán: lý luận và phương pháp, NXB. Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội, Hà Nội. 3. Đỗ Hữu Châu & Nguyễn Việt Hùng, (2008). 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In Michael Halliday and Ruqaiua Hasan, eds., Language, . and data analysis The study used the descriptive and contextual methods of data collecting and analyzing. Basing on the huge resources of library and internet materials, the researcher analyzed. the general information which contained the rationale, aims and objectives, methodology and scope of the study, Part Two went into further details of the historical and social background; and