A Deixis Analysis of the Short Story The Fly by Katherine Mansfield

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the types of deixis and their functions in the short story The Fly (1922) by Katherine Mansfield. The research applies a qualitative descriptive approach based on Creswell’s (2013) framework, employing pragmatic theory with a focus on deixis. The data were collected through documentation and content analysis by identifying utterances containing deictic expressions in the short story. The collected data were then analyzed qualitatively through data reduction, data display, and verification. The findings reveal a total of 181 deictic expressions, which are classified into five types: 110 data of person deixis (60.77%), 17 data of spatial deixis (9.39%), 29 data of temporal deixis (16.02%), 14 data of discourse deixis (7.73%), and 11 data of social deixis (6.08%). Each type of deixis demonstrates distinct functions within the narrative: person deixis clarifies participant roles and interpersonal relationships, spatial deixis indicates locations, temporal deixis specifies time references, discourse deixis maintains textual coherence, and social deixis reflects social status and relationships among characters. Overall, the study shows that deixis plays an important role in constructing meaning and enhancing narrative coherence in the short story The Fly (1922)