A Cognitive Stylistic Analysis of Alienation in J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye

Abstract

This study aims at providing a cognitive stylistic analysis to the concept of alienation in J. D. Salinger's (1951) The Catcher in the Rye. It pursues this aim through using cognitive theories and frameworks. To do this, the study has three main central goals: Firstly, exploring the types of image schemes that can contribute to the concept of alienation in the novel. Secondly, identifying the cognitive domains that can lead to the concept of alienation in the novel. The analysis reveals that each of previous frameworks deals with specific feature of the literary text and the combination of them can lead to a very fruitful strategy that may introduce a comprehensive investigation of the selected novel. To do this work, the study follows a number of steps which are providing the theoretical knowledge concerning the stylistics and cognitive linguistics with reference to the cognitive stylistics and the cognitive framework like domain and image schema. Applying the previous frameworks too different selected texts of the novel. The study ends up with a number of conclusions. Within this study, the researcher has delimited the main cognitive frameworks: domains and image schemas, all of them within the blurry boundaries with each other are employed in the analysis in order to focus how different linguistic items can generate the concept of alienation in the novel.