RESONANCE AND AMBIENCE IN E.M. FORSTER’S A PASSAGE TO INDIA: A STOCKWELLIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This study applies a Stockwellian perspective to examine how resonance and ambience are constructed in E.M. Forster's A Passage to India across linguistic levels, including the clausal, discourse, and point-of-view levels. Focusing on how language shapes emotional and cognitive experiences, the paper focuses how lexical choices, syntactic structures, and narrative perspectives create emotional echoes (resonance) and the overall mood (ambience). It also analyzes how stylistic elements help shape the overall mood of the novel and influence the reader’s engagement with its colonial and postcolonial themes. This qualitative study explores that these elements affect the mental representation of characters and cultural undercurrents, offering insights into the complex relationship between language, cognition, and emotional atmosphere in postcolonial literature.