The Language Of Entertainment Business In Graham Swift’S Here We Are

The analysis at hand, of Graham Swift’s novel Here We Are, consists of three main parts, which display a progressively increased degree of complexity. We are looking at the language of the entertainment business in post-war Brighton unpretentious summer shows. The first part focuses on linguistic terms and phrases that describe this business, i.e. the actual place and actors, so the level of interpretation is mainly the basic, denotative one. In the second part, we look at how the entertainer is described, drawing the conclusion that one of the main features assigned to him is versatility and a multifaceted personality. This versatility is further taken in the spotlight in the third part as the common denominator of the linguistic expression in the novel, and we look at the examples provided in the book and the subtle meanings that they convey. In the Conclusions, we pair this ambivalent linguistic manner of expression with the overall interpretations of the characters and situations, revealing the fact that they are mutually illustrative of each other. The approach is linguistics combined with cultural studies.