Introduction to Stylistics (13 of 16)

MAJORSHIP

Area: ENGLISH

Focus: Introduction to Stylistics

LET Competencies:

1. apply the basic stylistic principles to arrive at meaning of literary texts2. demonstrate skills in a principled analysis of literary texts to produce less

impressionistic or subjective interpretation3. grasp the ‘grammar of literature’ through various linguistic tools

A. Definition of Stylistics1. Some of the more common definitions of stylistics follow.

1.1. Stylistics is the application of concepts from linguistics and allied disciplines in the analysis and interpretation of samples of communication through language (Otanes, ms.).

1.2. The linguistic study of different styles is called stylistics (Chapman, 1973:11).1.3. Stylistics is a linguistic approach to the study of literary text (Brumfit and Carter,

1997:93).1.4. Stylistics is the study of literary discourse from a linguistics orientation. What

distinguishes it from literary criticism… is that it is a means of linking the two (Widdowson, 1975).

1.5. Practical stylistics is the process of literary text analysis which starts from a basic assumption that the previous interpretative procedures used in the reading of a literary text are linguistic procedures (Carter, 1991:4).

2. Three basic principles of a linguistic approach to literary study and criticism (Carter):2.1. That the greater our detailed knowledge of the working of the language system, the

greater our capacity for insightful awareness of the effects produced by the literary texts2.2. That a principled analysis of language can be used to make our commentary on the

effects produced in a literary work less impressionistic and subjective2.3. That because it will be rooted in a systematic awareness of language, bits of language

will not merely be spotted and evidence gathered casually and haphazardly. Analysis of one linguistic pattern requires checking against related patterns across the text. Evidence for the text will be provided in an overt or principled way. The conclusions can be attested and retrieved by another analyst working on the same data with the same method. There is also less danger that we may overlook textual features crucial to the significance of the work.

3. Importance of practical stylistics:3.1. It can provide the means whereby the student of literature can relate a piece of literary

writings to his own experience of language and so can extend that experience.3.2. It can assist in the transfer of interpretative skills, on essential purpose of literary

education.3.3. It can provide a procedure for demystifying literary texts.3.4. The focus of a literary text in itself provides a context in which the learning of aspects of

language can be positively enjoyed.

4. Grid of Relationships of Stylistics with other Disciplines

Introduction to Stylistics | 1

Disciplines: Linguistics Literary Criticism

Stylistics

Subjects: Language Literature

5. Some Useful Concepts in Stylistics:Foregrounding – emphasis on a textual feature; may be achieved through unusual or strange collocations, meaningful repetitions, contrast, deliberate deviation from the norms/ rules/ conventions.

Collocation – the co-occurrence of certain words

Reference vs. Representation – Reference is the indexical function of language, pointing to different aspects of reality. Representation is manipulating language to stand for an experience/ situation.

Diegesis and Mimesis – Diegesis is telling/ narrating; mimesis is showing.

Co-operative Principle – According to Grice, people can engage in meaningful extended conversation because, under normal conditions, the interlocutors observe certain principles, which he calls the four conversational maxims. The maxim of Quality upholds the value of truth/ sincerity; the maxim of Manner refers to the avoidance of obscurity of expression and ambiguity, and to be orderly (Pratt, 1977, pp. 129-130, in Weber, 1996).

Four convention maxims in carrying out a conversation(The co-operative principle and its regulative conventions)

1. The maxim of quantity: make your contribution as informative as is required – don’t give too much or too little information.

2. The maxim of quality: make your contribution one that you believe to be true.3. The maxim of relation: be relevant4. The maxim of manner: avoid unnecessary prolixity, obscurity of expression and

ambiguity, and be orderly.

Four cases when maxims are often violated:a) A speaker may unostentatiously violate a maxim; this accounts for lies and deceits.b) He may opt out of the co-operative principle, e.g., government officials’ refusal to

answer questions requiring classified information.c) Faced with clash, he may break one maxim or another.d) He may ostentatiously flout a maxim, so that it is apparent to his interlocutors.

Speech Act – The theory that “many utterances are significant not so much in terms of what they say, but rather in terms of what they do” (Sullivan, et al., 1994, p. 293).

The speech act has three conditions:1. Introduction of context or the preparatory and sincerity conditions.

Ex. I promise to return the book next week.

2. Marking of clear social relationships.Ex. Normally, a servant cannot threaten a master.

3. Observance of felicity conditions before and post speech event.Ex. “From Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett

Vladimir: Well, shall we go?Estrogen: Yes, let’s go.(They do not move).


B. Some Common Ways of Interpreting (Literary Texts) in Stylistics1. Systematic Grammar in Literary Analysis (Halliday, 1970 in Carter, 1991).

Halliday sees language in terms of three functions: (1) The ideational (2) The interpersonal, and (3) the textual. The ideational function is concerned with cognitive meaning, the interpersonal with describing the relations between persons (hence, questions and answers, positive and negative forms, are part of this function), and the textual with process enabling the speaker or writer to construct texts as a logical sequence of units.

One possible option with the ideational function, Halliday goes on to say, is the transitivity function, to illustrate how stylistics may profit from applying a grammatical model to analyze a literary text. The transitivity function has three elements:

(a) the process represented by the verb. Ex.: Alex watered the plants. (b) the participants – the roles of persons and objects. In the above sentence,

Alex is the actor, the plants object/goal.(c) circumstantial function - in English typically the adverbials of time, place, and

manner.Roles come in the form of (a) actor, (b) goal or object of result, (c) beneficiary or

recipient as in Rykel gave his brother Shen some cookies, and (d) instrument of force as “The tree was hit by a lightning.”

In dealing with clause types, Halliday distinguishes three types: those of (a) action, (b) mental process, and (c) relation. The mental process verbs are further divided into verbs of perception, reaction, cognition, and verbalization, all having a processor and phenomenon, rather than having actor and goal as participant roles.

Ex. Shen heard his younger brother (person)the reason (abstraction) the singing of the anthem (event) bracketed wordsthe radio (object) are phenomena

Relational clauses are those in which the process describes or states a relation between two roles.

Ex.: 1. Arnel Pineda acts as the lead singer. (attributive type) 2. The Journey band is as popular as the Jonas. (equative type)

Halliday also classifies action clauses and mental process clauses in terms of the ergative function in which an affected participant has an inherent role associated with action clauses and which is the goal in a transitive clause and the action in an intransitive clause.

Ex..: 1. Raskolnikov fell ill. (the affected participant)2. The theory consumes him. (‘causer’ of the process)

2. Meaning Beyond The SentenceThe kernels of meaning in long-winding sentences, particularly in the stream-of-

consciousness technique, may be derived by listing them down to create a discourse or arrive at meaning.


In this regard Chapman (1973) enumerates 9 of the most frequently used connectives, as among the essential features of discourse.

a. Conjunctions and conjunctive adjectives (e.g., however, but, furthermore, nevertheless).

Ex. In Dapitan, Rizal engaged in farming, sculpture, poetry-writing and other useful activities, but life there proved routine until Josephine Bracken came to his life.

b. Pronominal linkage with a preceding noun.Ex. “For an hour and a half he wondered aimlessly up and down side

streets, immersed in solving some problem – chess, of course – the meaning of which suddenly had become the meaning of his whole existence on earth.”

Leonid Leonov’s “The Wooden Queen”

c. Repetition of a keyword or proper name, either identically or in a different grammatical form:

Ex. “He was a formidable player; few dared play with him for his stakes were so high and reckless.”

Hesse’s Siddhartha

d. Use of synonyms or related word or phrase:Ex. “For they sometimes, perhaps even on the majority of occasions,

waited for their squires to grow old, and then when they were cloyed with service, having endured bad days and worse nights, they conferred upon them some title, such as count, or at least marquis.

Cervantes’s Don Quixote

e. Deictic words – ‘pointers’ like the, this, that – either governing a noun or referring back to the whole sentence.

Ex. “Is that the way they do things where you’ve been,” he asked. “– for the ladies to escort the gentleman home?”That was a nasty hit for Eleseus; he turned red…”

Hamsun’s Growth of the Soilf. Repetition of opening structure

Ex. We work when the sun rises, We rest when the sun sets. We dig wells for drink, We plow the land for food. What has the power of the Emperor

to do with us? Shih Shing (Book of Songs)

g. Class-member relationships, or relationships of the parts of referent to the wholeEx. “They were friends, yet enemies; he was master, she was mistress;

each cheated the other, each feared the other, each felt this and knew this enemy time they touched hands…”

Virginia Woolf’s “Duchess and the Jeweler”


h. Loosen semantic connection without repetition of items.Ex. I had soon realized I was speaking to a Catholic, to someone who

believed – how do they put it? – in an omnipotent and omniscient Deity, while I was what is loosely called an Agnostic.”

Graham Greene’s “The Hint of an Explanation”

i. Clear sequence of eventsEx. “Those were the happiest years of my life, my friendship with Lojzik

and stamp-collecting. Then I had scarlet fever and wouldn’t let him come to see me, but he used to stand in the passage and whistle so that I could see him.”

Karel Capek, “The Stamp Collection”

3. Pedagogical StylisticsCarter (in Weber, 1996) bats for a more extensive and integrated study of

language and literature which are better given as pre-literary, linguistic activities.

3.1 Predicting how the narrative will develop after omitting the title, or after reading the first paragraph. This can be done by paired group. Lyric poems or texts which evoke descriptive states do not benefit from

this activity. Texts with a strong plot component do Even the best narrative could make students read back and project

forward.3.2 Use of cloze procedure

Focus on individual words/sequence of words, rather than on stretches of texts.

Do some lexical prediction during the act of reading/ after a story is read. Show careful/close reading. Do reasonable and supportable predictions to be alerted to the over-all

pattern of the story.3.3 Summarizing strategies

Limit the summary, from 25-40 words to: (a) re-structure, delete, re-shape their word to meet the word limit, (b) focus on structure and shape of the narrative.

Compare and criticize alternative summaries.3.4 Forum: Debating opposing viewpoints

Mobilize discussion and debate. Do small-group activity. Provide counter-examples from other groups to listen. Use their prior knowledge and the text in question.

3.5 Guided re-writing Recognize the broader discourse patterns of texts and styles appropriate

to them. Re-write stretches of discourse to change its communicative value. Rewrite a set of instructions, as a description, or turning a lecture

transcript into academic discourse. Specify clearly information about audiences/purpose. Rewrite one style into another to explore connections between styles and

meaning, particularly juxtaposing literary and non-literary texts. Focus on varied ways in instructing information for readers in different

texts.


Infer more on semantic overlaps, degrees of information supplied to a reader, even the omission of certain expected propositions assigned thematic significance.

E. Pragmatic StylisticsBelow is a grid showing six major speech act functions and sub-functions, (cited in

Hatch, 1992): Kind of Exchange Examples Speech Act Equivalent

1. Factual Informationidentify, ask, report, say, think

2. Intellectual Informationagree/disagree, remember/forget, certain/uncertain, ask/give, accept/decline, capable/incapable

3. Emotional attitudessurprise, hope, fear, worry,

preference, gratitude, intention, want, desire

4. Moral attitudesapology, approval, appreciation, regret, indifference

5. Suasionsuggest, request, invite, instruct, advice, warn, offer

6. Socializinggreet, take leave, introduce, propose, congratulate, etc.

a)The IIRC report inflicts many.b)The plane departs at 7:10.c)Is Sunshine Corazon a threat

to Lea Michelle?

a)These arguments are correct.b)Sorry, I can’t attend the

meeting!c)Global warming melts the Artic.

a) I’m worried about my term papers.

b) Usec Puno intends to resign.c) Make my coffee black.

a)I appreciate your help.b)He regretted his decision.c)The mother abandons the

baby.

a)Hand in your assignments.b)Watch out for falling debris!c)The doctor suggests that Ana

lessen her sugar intake.

a)Hi, Larry, how are you?b)You made it! I’m happy for you.c)See you tomorrow!

Representative (judged for truth value, may either be hedged or aggravated)

Representative

Expressive

Expressive (states joy, disappointment, likes, dislikes, etc.)

Directive (makes a request to be complied with

Directive (i.e., Tell me how you are.)

Other speech acts include:1. Commissives are statements that function as promise or refusals for action.

Like directives, commissives vary in strength – either strong or highly hedged in either positive or negative directions.

Ex. Don’t worry, I’ll be there.

2. Declaratives (To Austin, declaratives are performatives). When uttered, they bring about a new state of being.

Ex. a) I now pronounce you husband and wife! b) You won the lotto! c) Here are your walking papers!


F. Recent Trends in StylisticsStructural Stylistics

Objectivist Affective

Formalist Functionalist

1. As viewed by Taylor and Toolan (in Weber, 1996), structural stylistics is split into Objectivist and Affective theories. While the Objectivist stylisticians hold that style is an inherent property of the text itself, if not an utterance, Affective stylisticians consider “unarbitrary cultural myths and tastes, if not renewed awareness of the provisionality of interpretations” (Toolan), both ‘limiting and enabling’ (Armstrong, 1983).

2. Within the objectivist camp, the two factions of formalists and the functional exist. The functionalists, “take the stylistic system of a language to be bi-planar linking formal stylistic features with specific stylistic functions (or ‘effects’ or ‘values)” as in comparing the synonyms of an expression, for their stylistic potential. By contrast, the formalists prefer purely formal criteria in identifying stylistic patterns and features.

3. The “Achilles heel” of functional stylistics, to Toolan, is the problem of criterial perspective, other than an eclecticism of methods, ideas and techniques derived from: (a) Griceian pragmatics, (b) generative syntax, (c) Prague school of functionalism, (d) quantitative stylistics, (e) speech-act theory, (f) structuralist poetics, (g) discourse analysis, and (h) French semiotics.

4. Applying Halliday’s two notions on function used in describing language – (a) in the sense of ‘grammatical’ (or “syntactic’) function to refer to elements of linguistic structures such as actor and goal or subject and object or theme and rheme, as roles occupied by classes of words phrases, and the like in the higher structural units; (b) to the generalized notion of ‘functions of language’ – ideational, interpersonal, and textual.


5.

IDEATIONAL INTERPERSONAL TEXTUAL

rank: function: Experiential Logical

PARATACTIC COM

PLEXES (all ranks) coordination apposition

CLAUSE

TRANSITIVITYtypes of process participants and circumstances (identity clauses) (things, facts, and reports)

HYPOTACTIC CO

MPLEXES O

F CLAUSE, GRO

UP, AND WO

RD

conditionadditionreport

POLARITY

MOODtypes of speechfunctionmodality(the WH-function)

THEMEtypes of message(identity as text relation)(identification, predication, reference, substitution)

COHESIO

N (“above the sentence”: non-structural relations)reference; substitution & ellipsis; conjunction; lexical cohesion

Verbal GROUP TENSE(verb classes) catenation

secondary tensePERSON(“marked” options)

VOICE(“contrastive” options)

Nominal GROUP

MODIFICATIONepithet function enumeration(noun classes)(adjective classes)

classificationsub-modification

ATTITUDEattitudinal modifiersintensifiers

DEIXISdeterminers“phoric” elements(qualifiers)(definite article)

Adverbial (incl. prepositional GROUP)

“MINOR PROCESSES”prepositional relations (classes of circumstantial adjunct)

narrowing sub-modification

COMMENT(classes of comment adjunct)

CONJUNCTION(classes of discourse adjunct)

WORD (incl. lexical item)

LEXICAL “CONTENT”(taxonomic organization of vocabulary)

compounding

derivation

LEXICAL “REGISTER”(expressive words)(stylistic organization of vocabulary)

COLLOCATION(collocational organization of vocabulary

INFORMATION UNIT

TONEintonation systems

INFORMATIONdistribution and focus


Introduction to Stylistics (13 of 16)

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