Helmers, Miriam;
(2024)
'Like the Dickens': Charles Dickens and Simile.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
This thesis proposes that Dickens’s prolific and distinctive use of simile is essential to his style. It takes a cross-disciplinary approach, using stylistic analysis and literary criticism to identify the features of simile and interpret the effects of Dickens’s use of simile. It builds on previous linguistic scholarship to expand the definition of simile to include any explicit linguistic structure that creates direct figurative comparison. ‘Similic’ language, or structures of direct figurative comparison, underpins much of Dickens’s unique figurative style. The language of analogy, and similes in particular, was commonly used by Dickens’s contemporaries, and he was thus not unusual in the number of similes he employed. However, ‘Dickensian simile’ is highly unconventional in its remarkably self-conscious and peculiar character: his comparisons often manipulate the ordinarily clarifying and explanatory aspect of a similic comparison to create exaggerated, absurd, or bizarre imagery to serve his narrative purposes. The chronological approach of the thesis shows how Dickens’s use of simile developed throughout his career. From Sketches by ‘Boz’ to Martin Chuzzlewit, simile can be identified as emphasising Dickens’s authorial flair; it is typically hyperbolic and self-conscious, often with comical effect. From Dombey and Son onwards, Dickens uses simile for increasingly subtle narrative strategies of characterisation. Even in his last, unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dickens was still experimenting with simile. From a discussion of his transition from journalistic reporting to writing fiction, to a discussion of how his similic style in his letters works to create the image of himself as the ‘Inimitable,’ this thesis shows how simile is a significant authorial signature of Dickens.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | 'Like the Dickens': Charles Dickens and Simile |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2024. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | simile, similic, corpus stylistics, literary stylistics, Charles Dickens |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Dept of English Lang and Literature |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10193448 |
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