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Article published In: Interdisciplinary approaches to the language of pop culture
Edited by Rocío Montoro and Valentin Werner
[English Text Construction 16:2] 2023
► pp. 119–143

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Tarantino’s eloquent villains

A pragma-stylistic approach to suspense

 | University of Vechta
Published online: 29 February 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.22022.sch
Abstract
Suspense as an aesthetic effect is a key narrative strategy of thriller movies, serving the function of entertainment for wide audiences. As the plot unfolds, arcs of suspense rely on triggering an appealing sense of anticipation that calls for a resolution. The present study examines the creation of suspense throughout fictional dialogue in Quentin Tarantino’s popular feature films Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, Quentin (dir.). 1994. Pulp Fiction. Los Angeles, CA: Miramax Films.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), Inglourious Basterds ( (dir.). 2009. Inglourious Basterds. Universal City, CA: Universal Pictures.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), and Django Unchained ( (dir.). 2012. Django Unchained. Culver City, CA: Columbia Pictures.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). In these movies, dialogic interaction is often dominated by eloquent villains who skilfully flout the conversational maxims of Grice’s cooperative principle, thereby exercising verbal power over other interlocutors. As is demonstrated in a qualitative pragma-stylistic framework, the villains’ discursive strategies amount to stylistic deviation resulting in suspenseful implicatures. In particular, suspense is commonly caused by digressing from current topics, by giving too little information or too many details, by being insincere or ironic, and by making equivocal or redundant statements.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Operationalising the cooperative principle
  • 3.Theoretical approaches to suspense
  • 4.Three eloquent Tarantino villains
  • 5.Dataset and method
  • 6.Suspense based on the non-observance of conversational maxims
    • 6.1Relation: Digressing from given topics
    • 6.2Quantity: Giving too little or superfluous information
    • 6.3Quality: Being insincere or ironic
    • 6.4Manner: Using ambiguity or redundancy
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Filmography [DVDs]
  • References
References (44)
Filmography [DVDs]
Tarantino, Quentin (dir.). 1994. Pulp Fiction. Los Angeles, CA: Miramax Films.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(dir.). 2009. Inglourious Basterds. Universal City, CA: Universal Pictures.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(dir.). 2012. Django Unchained. Culver City, CA: Columbia Pictures.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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