Communication and Language in Contemporary Campus Novels

This dissertation assesses and compares the depiction of communication and language in five US-American and British campus novels: Amanda Cross' Death in a Tenured Position (1981), Nathan Hill's The Nix (2016), David Lodge's Changing Places (1975) and Nice Work (1988) and Tessa McWatt's Higher Ed (2015). While the portrayal especially of academics in campus novels has often been discussed, little criticism has considered the portrayed communication and manner of expression of academics, students, alumni and non-academics. This dissertation shows whether and how the novels depict these groups in a certain way in order to differentiate them. Thus, a possible reproduction of stereotypes regarding (non-)academic manner of expression, such as academics' elaborate style, is assessed. The linguistic parameters used include Watzlawick's axioms of communication, Grice's Cooperative Principle, address, style including slang and jargon, the pragmatic marker 'like', uptalk, syntax, politeness and verbal (non-)immediacy as well as dialects.