The Questions as Narrative Strategy in two Tales from Ines Arredondo

Abstract

In this article we apply some ideas of two contemporary philosophers, Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, Polish analytical philosopher, and Herbert Paul Grice, British analytical philosopher, on the semantic and pragmatic aspects of questions and answers in ordinary language. We apply their ideas to the literary analysis of two stories En Londres and Sahara, by Inés Arredondo, a writer from Sinaloa, in the north-west of Mexico. Questions and answers are an essential part of the narrative, especially in the dialogues, and their functions are multiple. We describe some dialogues and highlight their role within the plot and narrative strategy of our author.