[Book review] Review of Clark, Billy - Relevance theory (Cambridge University Press)

Abstract

One of the latest additions to the ‘Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics’ series, Billy Clark’s ‘Relevance Theory’ is a state-ofthe-art overview of the popular cognitive account of pragmatics. In this respect, it aims to serve not only as an accessible introduction for university students with an interest in pragmatics, but also as a useful reference point for researchers familiar with work within the field. This is clearly also mirrored in the structure of the book’s contents: the first four chapters form part of an ‘Overview’ of the main tenets of relevance theory (henceforth RT) against the Gricean background of studying inferential pragmatics, while the latter eight discuss the issues that have so far been in the forefront of the attention of relevance theorists. A useful appendix summarising the key notions of RT is also included at the end. [Excerpt]