Гальперин И.Р. Стилистика, Арнольд И.В. Стилистика англ. яз., Лебедева Л.Б. 10 Lectures in stylistics

Introduction to stylistics

1. The notion of style in a broad and narrow perspectives. Definitions of style.

2. The objects of stylistics.

3. Linguo-stylistics vs. literary stylistics. Stylistics of encoding and decoding the author's message.

4. Foregrounding vs. automatisation. Convergence.

5. Connotation and denotation. Kinds of connotation.

6. Sources of language connotation.

1

Style in a broad perspective is a manner of doing smth., the manner of performing a specific kind of activity. Etymologically style goes back to Greek “stilos” - “a pen”. Therefore in the narrow perspective style is a manner of writing, but it also extends to speaking.

There are hundreds of (vague) definitions of style:

“Style is depth” (Darbyshire)

“Style is deviations” (Enkvist)

“Style is using proper words in proper places” (J. Swift)

“Style is the product of individual choices and patterns of choices among linguistic possibilities” (S. Chatman)

By patterns of choices Chatman means vocabulary and syntactical of an oral or written text (discourse) produced with a special purpose in this or that typical communicative situation.

Stylistic studies the following objects:

1. It may study various trends in literature and its peculiar characteristics.

2. To teach studies of a language to write effective papers, graduation papers.

3. To study a set of expressive means that a language possesses

4. Examines various functional styles, that is types of discourse which require typical patterns of choices, which have different functions and a specific target audience.

5. Studies the peculiarities of a writer that make him or her unique and recognisable.

6. Studies the peculiarities of a specific work of fiction, as sometimes the writer's vision may remain practically the same or alter, but the system of expressive means can be almost unrecognisable.

5 and 6 belong to textual stylistics

Branches of stylistics

From the point of view of branches it is subdivided into:

1. linguo-stylistics

2. textual stylistics (including literary)

3. functional stylistics

As to approaches of analysis we can speak about stylistics of encoding and decoding. If we take the reader's view point – it's decoding/ as to stylistics of decoding – every act of reading or listening is a dialogue between the sender of information and the recipient. But when we have read the story we look back upon it and analyse it in retrospect as a complete whole.

Aspects of stylistics:

• lexical

• morphological

• syntactical

• phonetic

• functional

• graphical

Foregrounding vs. Automatisation

The longer a piece of fiction is, the more textual elements are likely to be used merely to convey factual information. And vice versa, in a very short text nearly every word or perhaps every factual detail carries double weight. They have a meaning beyond the language meaning. When a textual element conveys nothing but facts, we perceive it automatically, we take it for granted. Sometimes a textual element leaps to the eye, arrests our attention, this happens when it violates predictability. And such elements are foregrounded. This term is suggested by the Prague school (выдвижение, актуализация). An element can become foregrounded, when the author invents a new word, it can be a pun, repetition. Linguo-stylistics is chiefly about different ways in which elements can become foregrounded and suggest the additional mode of meaning. As to factual details, they may also become foregrounded, but very often it happens in retrospect.

Levels: graphical, phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactical

Convergence – coming together at one point. It means that 2 or more expressive means “collaborate”, “help each other” within a rather limited context to produce the desired effect.