Abstract:
This study explores the novel Bringing Tony Home by Tissa Abeysekara,
focusing on the chemistry between its linguistic and poetic structures and their
manifestation of the form-content relationship within the text evoking the
writer’s nostalgia for the past. The novel portrays the life events of the
narrator, a filmmaker, recounting his youthful adventures and the return to his
childhood village to reminisce about the past and bring back his beloved dog,
Tony, to his new home. This qualitative study employs Sosnovskaya's
Analytical Reading as a methodology to analyze linguistic elements such as
phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and
discourse analysis, as well as poetic elements like tropes. Through a three
chapter structure, the novel unfolds various periods of the narrator's life, with
the first and last chapters linking with the second chapter through introspective
flashbacks, emphasizing the theme of nostalgia. The first-person narration
further immerses the reader into the narrator's emotional experiences, while
the use of compound sentences, hyphenated words, and dashes enriches the
detailed descriptions, enhancing the theme of nostalgia for the past. The
incorporation of Local Expressions and phrases and code switching reflects
the writer's identity as a Sri Lankan, arousing cultural familiarity and historical
connections. Additionally, the study analyzes the use of tropes such as the
month of March, pastoral elements, and diction of fairytales, which further
contribute to the narrator's nostalgia and cultural associations. The novel's
poetic structure, including auditory and visual imagery, creates a cinematic
quality, allowing readers to vividly experience the narrator's recollections. The
symbolic significance of train sounds and whistles underlines the transient
nature of life and memories. Ultimately, the findings indicate that the
linguistic and poetic structures in Bringing Tony Home are intertwined and
inseparable, effectively manifesting the theme of nostalgia for the past, and
presenting readers a prevailing vision into the profound form-content
relationship within the text. The novel's linguistic richness and poetic beauty
offer readers a powerful insight into the complexities of the human experience
and the lasting connections that nostalgia can evoke.
