Atti linguistici e testo drammatico. Saggio applicativo su 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead' di Tom Stoppard

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether speech act theory can be usefully adopted in the definition and analysis of a dramatic text. The key notions are presented ina few introductory remarks on speech acts and text theory. The idea of macro-speech act is employed in an attempt to define both the literary text in general and the dramatic text as a macro-act of fiction based on a principle of cooperation in construction. The case study presented is that of of dialogue in Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead".