A MULTIMODAL-STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF FOREGROUNDING IN E. E. CUMMINGS' VISUAL LOVE POEM "ALL IN GREEN WENT MY LOVE RIDING": A CASE STUDY

Document Type : Original Article

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Institute for Language Studies (ILS) Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AASTMT) Alexandria – Egypt

Abstract

E. E. Cummings is acknowledged for his bold experimentation with poetic forms and eccentric deviation from linguistic norms. His peculiar distribution of lines and unerring rhetorical skills have been given special zest and prominence on account of his twin obsessions (i.e. poetry and painting). The study is premised on the tenets that foregrounding is the dominant feature of Cummings’ visual poetry and that the multitude of semiotics in his poetic texts adds new layers of discourse that are worthy of investigation. The aim of the case study at hand is to: a) unravel the poetic effects of the foregrounding devices employed in the love poem under scrutiny, all in green went my love riding, and b) explore the potential of a Systemic-Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) to the poetic work. To this end, the meta-functions of Systemic Functional Theory and Visual Grammar are used as the basis of analysis. The researchers argue that even with the less deviant of Cummings’ poems, both verbal and visual semiotics in the poetic text are carriers of meaning potentials.

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History

  • Receive Date: 17 October 2016
  • Revise Date: 22 November 2016
  • Accept Date: 17 December 2016

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