Forms of Discourse: The Significance of Direct Speech

Abstract: This article argues that the enduring critical preoccupation with free indirect discourse has distracted attention from direct speech. Using computational tools on a corpus of 898 nineteenth-century British novels, I show that direct speech makes up a substantial portion of the majority of these novels. I first suggest reasons for the longstanding obsession with free indirect discourse and then demonstrate how turning close, formal attention to direct speech can expand and refine our understanding of literary character. The article also shows how computational tools can redirect and supplement our reading of direct speech.