الفهرس 
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Abstract
The present thesis concentrates on analyzing implicature and speech act functions in Diana Abu Jaber’s novels (particularly Birds of Paradise) from the perspective of implicature and speech acts based upon a pragmatic point of view. Pragmatics, to begin with, studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social interaction and the effects of our choice on others. It is a systematic way of explaining language use in context. It seeks to explain aspects of meaning which cannot be found in the plain sense of words or structures, as explained by semantics. Pragmatics is the study of the ability of natural language speakers to communicate more than that which is explicitly stated. The ability to understand another speaker’s intended meaning is called pragmatic competence. An utterance describing pragmatic function is described as metapragmatic. As a discipline within language science, its roots lie in the work of Herbert Paul Grice on conversational implicature and the cooperative principle, and on the work of Stephen Levinson, Penelope Brown and Geoffrey Leech on politeness. This thesis concentrates on analyzing implicature and speech acts in Abu Jaber’s Birds of Paradise from a pragmatic point of view in terms of identity and culture in the novel under consideration. Why Diana Abu-Jaber? Abu-Jaber (1959–) is a novelist, food writer, known for her skillful treatment of the Arab-American immigrant experience. In addition, several reviewers of her work have commented on its contribution to dispelling traditional stereotypes of Arabs in America. Jean Grant suggested in a review of Arabian Jazz published in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in 1993 that “Abu-Jaber’s novel will probably do more to convince readers to abandon what media.