Conclusion: Close Context and the Proximity of Pragmatics

Summary

Possibly more than any other aspect of linguistic study, the essential components of pragmatics intuitively resonate with all language users. Even though not everyone knows the terminology to describe the linguistic theory of pragmatics, we all employ pragmatics every day of our lives. From the moment we greet a colleague or friend each morning (Hi, how are you today?) to the evening meal when we need to season our food (Could you possibly pass the salt, dear?), we communicate by means of pragmatics. Our discourses are not just words placed one after the other; they are tapestries woven with the threads of our cultural and interpersonal contexts. This tapestry of language, culture, and relationship does not exist only in the abstract; it is not a philosophical construct; nor is it the product of a lone writer or the erudite few. It is ubiquitous. This book has sought to demonstrate the prevalence and nuance of pragmatic principles in the discourse of Old Norse-Icelandic literature. Not only did saga writers have an ability to present dialogue rich with illocution and implicature, but they also expected their audiences to understand those discourses as well. In itself, evidence of pragmatic principles in Old Norse-Icelandic linguistic communities should not be at all surprising, for, if the recent discoveries in pragmatics are to be trusted, all languages and linguistic communities use pragmatic principles. Thus, if we are to understand a culture's language usage in its entirety, then we must understand its usage of pragmatics. If illocution can only be fully comprehended in specific cultural and speech-situational contexts, then the closer we are to the contexts of a verbal exchange, the more likely we are to understand the fullness of its pragmatic quality. This “closeness” of pragmatics to cultural and interpersonal context stands at the heart of the present study.