Anaphora and Referential Continuity in Boule de Suif by Guy de Maupassant

Abstract

  This study examines anaphora and referential continuity in Guy de Maupassant’s short story Boule de Suif. It falls within the field of textual linguistics and aims to investigate the main linguistic processes that ensure the maintenance, retrieval, and identification of referents throughout the narrative. Particular attention is paid to the different forms of referential retrieval, including pronouns, proper names, definite noun phrases, and other nominal expressions that contribute to the construction and development of reference chains.

First, the study presents the essential theoretical notions related to textual cohesion, reference, anaphora, and referential continuity. These notions highlight the role of referential relations in the organization and interpretation of the narrative text. Second, the analysis focuses on several characters in Boule de Suif in order to identify the various linguistic strategies used to designate and refer back to them throughout the narrative. Particular attention is given to the ways in which variations in forms of designation establish links between different occurrences of the same referent and ensure textual progression.

The analysis shows that anaphoric processes play a fundamental role in constructing textual cohesion and maintaining referential continuity. Referential retrieval does not merely serve to avoid the repetition of the same expressions; it also contributes to specifying the identities of the characters, shaping the reader’s perception of them, and highlighting certain aspects of their characterization. Thus, the study of anaphora in Boule de Suif provides a better understanding of the relationship between linguistic mechanisms of reference, narrative cohesion, and the discursive construction of characters.