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Salient inferences: Pragmatics and The Inheritors

This article considers the role of accounts of inferential processes in the stylistic analysis of texts. It approaches this question by considering the range of contributions an account of inferential processes might make to the stylistic analysis of William Golding's 1955 novel The Inheritors. It considers what such an account might add to insights already provided by previous analyses, including Halliday's famous analysis ('Linguistic Function and Literary Style', 1971) and Hoover's more recent corpus-based work (Language and Style in 'The Inheritors', 1999), both of which say relatively little about inferential processes. This article suggests that an account of inferential processes is in principle a vital part of any adequate account of how texts create effects, even though it is not always practical to offer a detailed account. In some cases, including the case of The Inheritors, the nature of the inferential processes which the text gives rise to makes an important contribution to how we understand and respond to the text.