Sylvia Plath and the Language of Affective States: Written Discourse and the Experience of Depression

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Focusing on the first journal in The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, this book writes a convincing case for the value of corpus-based stylistics and narrative psychology in the analysis of representations of the experience of affective states. Situated at the intersection between language study, psychology and healthcare, this study of the personal writing of a poet and novelist showcases a cutting-edge combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches, including metaphor analysis, corpus methods, and second person narration. Techniques that systematically account for representations of experiences of affective states, such as those in this book, are rare and crucial in improving understanding of these experiences. The findings and methods of this book therefore potentially have bearing on the study, diagnosis and treatment of depression and other mental illnesses. Zsfia Demjn follows the cognitive turn in both literary studies and linguistics here, emerging with a greater understanding of Plath, her diarized output and her experience of her inner world.

Reviews

An excellent example of the benefits that can be reaped by [broadening the boundaries of stylistic approaches] ... By combining qualitative and quantitative methods with narrative, cognitive and psychological insights, Demjn is particularly well equipped to draw conclusions with regard to the linguistic projection of Plath's renowned depressive bouts. ... She impressively combines all these interests and insightfully highlights possible applications of stylistics work for the understanding of depression in general. * The Year's Work in Stylistics *
Demjns analyses combine qualitative insights with quantitative corpus findings, adopting a range of approaches and analytical techniques, from SFL to metaphor theory ... Those who are curious about the mechanics of Plaths style, and not just about her experience of depression, will find a fascinating dissection of the out-of-hours workings of Plaths genius. * Discourse & Society *
An important contribution to the widening field of stylistics and will be of interest to anyone wanting to understand the relationship between language and emotion, and what is actually being articulated about an individuals state of mind through their linguistic choices. * Language and Literature *
Zsfia Demjn has written a meticulous and illuminating interdisciplinary study of Sylvia Plath's journals. She makes a strong case for their capacity to provide real insight into the writer's experiences of mental illness. I was particularly struck by Demjn's emphasis on the usefulness of these journal entries to others, as articulations of suffering that we often cannot voice ourselves. Though academically rigorous and methodical, the book also makes for fascinating and highly compelling reading. Whilst rightly careful to discourage a reading of Plath's entire published creative output through a simplistic biographical lens, Demjn's evaluation of these journals validates our instinct to regard Plath's depression as relevant to an understanding of the writer and her work. -- Rachel Kelly, author of 'Black Rainbow: how words healed me - my journey through depression'
This book is a major incursion of a linguist into the realms of clinical psychology and psychopathology and one which I welcome. It lays down very well the variety of tools discourse analysis offers in helping understand the experiences which have hitherto been the domain of mental health care professionals. -- Dariusz Galasinski, Professor of Discourse and Cultural Studies, University of Wolverhampton, UK
This is a rich, timely and fascinating book. Zsfia Demjn deftly and intricately combines methodological and analytical approaches in order to examine, with true rigour and insight, the language of one of the 20th Century's most powerfully and disturbingly eloquent stylists. Focusing on Plath's intimate and affecting 'Smith Journal', Demjn systematically explores the interface between emotional turmoil and its textual encoding, revealing how this alluringly manneristic writer harnesses the resources of language in order to articulate profound psychological distress. Sylvia Plath and the Language of Affective States will be of interest to students and scholars of literature and language, not to mention the more general reader piqued by all things Plath. -- Kevin Harvey, Lecturer in Sociolinguistics, University of Nottingham, UK

Author Bio

Zsfia Demjn is Lecturer of English Language and Applied Linguistics at The Open University, UK.