A Performative Approach to Aporia in The Turn of the Screw  

作　　者：YE La-mei 

机构地区：[1]Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

出　　处：《US-China Foreign Language》2011年第7期421-431,共11页美中外语（英文版）

摘　　要：Certainly a masterpiece among his oeuvre, Henry James＇s The Turn of the Screw （1960） is a fascinating thriller that bewilders readers and critics alike for more than 100 years since its publication. Based upon the research findings of the deconstrucitionists＇ performative model of literary language analysis, this paper seeks to locate the recurrence of aporia through the analysis of literary tropes. An analytical study reveals that the metonymic relationship between the master and the law set by him in Bly, the rhetorical device of prosopopoeia applied in ascribing voice and faces to the apparitions, and the ironic tone used in characterizations, all contributed to the cloudy effect of the novel. The author argues that literary tropes, in the deconstrucitionists＇ view, are where the performative power of language lies and meanwhile where ambiguity comes in. This study intends to broaden critics＇ horizon and diversify the appreciation of this work.

关 键 词：literary tropes performative power APORIA The Turn of the Screw 

分 类 号：TP391.12[自动化与计算机技术—计算机应用技术] O313.3[自动化与计算机技术—计算机科学与技术]