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Файл:Стилистика английского языка. English Stylistics. Учебное пособие
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91
Chapter 3. The News Media Style
Reuters Handbook of Journalism [Electronic resource]. Mode of access:
http://handbook.reuters.com/extensions/docs/pdf/handbook ofjournalism.pdf. –
Date of access: 05.03.2016.
The Language of the Media [Electronic resource]. Mode of access:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/studyguides/pdfs/
langmedia.pdf. – Date of access: 05.03.2016.
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
CHAPTER 4. THE BELLES-LETTRES STYLE
THEORY
The authors who describe the belles-lettres style among other
functional styles, like Galperin I.R. and his followers, isolate within it
such substyles as , ,
, and underline their common a e s t h e t ic o - c o g n i t iv e
f u nc t io n . It means that works of this style involve their readers in the
cognitive process by suggesting possible interpretations of life phenomena.
Additionally, the belles-lettres style performs a unique task to impress
the reader aesthetically by calling forth a feeling of pleasure from the
form in which a certain content is presented. Moreover, they point to the
common linguistic traits of the belles-lettres style. To such belong:
genuine imagery, created by purely linguistic means; ••
the use of words in contextual and often in more than one dictionary ••
meaning;
a peculiar •• individual selection of syntax and vocabulary, the latter
reflecting the author’s personal evaluation of things and phenomena.
POETRY
In fact, a really marked variety of the style is p o e t r y. It is characterized by brevity of expression, epigram-like utterances, and unexpected
umagery.
Imagery in poetry assumes a compressed form and is noticeable for its
abundance and diversity. Poetic images are often created by metaphors,
metonymies and similes. Though ways of their materialization cannot be
ever limited to certain means. Besides, the strong impact that poetry usually
produces is gained by a wide use of emotionally coloured words, highflown vocabulary and various structures of expressive syntax, e. g.
inversions, parallelism, polysyndeton, asyndeton, rhetorical questions, etc.
But what first of all distinguishes poetry is its phonetic arrangement.
Poetry rests on metre and rhyme whose established patterns arrange feet
within verse lines, group the lines into stanzas, and all in all make verses
easily identifiable. Furthermore, one of the favoured techniques here is
alliteration.
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Chapter 4. The Belles-Lettres Style
PROSE
In p r o s e the concentration of image creating devices and words
used in their contextual meaning is not so high as in poetry. However, the
amount of expressive means and their types greatly depend on the author
and his preferences. The originality of metaphor on whose power the
author counts, the choice of words and the order and manner of their
placement shape his invividual style. On the whole writers employ all the
means studied in stylistics at different language levels.
Prose in literature is usually a combination of two forms of presentation – monologue (the writer’s speech) and dialogue (the speech of the
characters). Though the writer’s speech is not always homogeneous. It
may be modified by the inclusion of the words of the character. The resultant cluster known as represented speech contributes to the overall
portrait of this character.
At first glance the words of the characters look like actual speech of
living people. But their close investigation shows that the language of
characters has undergone adaptation, i.e. has been stylized according to
the author’s way of writing and intentions. The selection of words and
syntactical structures, the arrangement of utterances correlate with the
the author’s purpose to depict his personages in a certain light and
consequently to characterize them. In this connection the presence of
vulgarisms, professionalisms, instances of incorrect grammar, dialectal
words, etc. stand for the social status and origin of those who speak.
Aposiopesis, rhetorical questions, repetitions, exclamations, etc. may
give out the psychological state of characters and reveal their true
nature.
As it is seen from the above suggested classification of the substyles
of the belles-lettres style, prose in literature may be qualified as emotive
for it aims at arousing the emotions of the reader. Frequently literary
prose as a term is treated as a synonym for fiction. It occurs due to the
fact that the works which belong here are completely or in some proportion
constructed around fictitious, imaginary and invented plots and facts.
Yet, literary prose may be nonfictional, i.e. reproduce realistic events and
describe real characters, and nevertheless afford artistic and emphatic
linguistic means.
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
DRAMA
The most prominent feature of d r a m a is its presentational manner as
drama is almost entirely dialogue or polylogue. The author’s speech is
practically absent but for the playwright’s remarks and stage directions.
The readers or the audience in the theatre make their judgements about
the message of a dramatic work and its personages by evaluating primarily
what they say and how they do it. That is why the influential power of a
play is largely the result of the playwright’s thorough work of choosing
necessary words and aristic means of language and putting them together
into the uttrences of the characters. Therefore, dramatic dialogue like the
speech of characters in prose is compiled in accordance with the author’s
intention to potray his characters in a certain way, and presents the socalled stylized version of actual conversation.
Stylization also becomes evident while comparing actual and dramatic
dialogue. On the one hand in drama a live talk seems to be reproduced.
This impression is created due to the presence of elliptical sentences,
interjections, contractions, colloquialisms, etc. On the other hand in plays
we may observe a very careful selection of vocabulary or a succession of
questions which is not quite typical of actual dialogue; utterances may be
longer than in real conversation and their number may turn the speech of
one of the characters into a monological account. Besides, the words of
the personages in drama are never interrupted spontaneously. This switch
is purposeful and signals the direction which the explication of the idea
takes.
S e l f - c o n t r o l q u e s t i o n s
Into what substyles does the belles-lettres style fall?1.
What unites all the substyles of the belles-lettres style?2.
What makes poetry the most outstanding variety of the style?3.
What stylistic devices can be found in literary prose and what 4.
does their choice depend on?
Whose words do works of prose and drama consist of and what 5.
leads to the conclusion about the stylization of the characters’ speech
in both?
What are the structural and linguistic signs of the stylization of 6.
dramatic texts?
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Chapter 4. The Belles-Lettres Style
PRACTICE
ASSIGNMENTS FOR CLASS WORK
Assignment 1. Examine the given poem by Robert Frost and pick out the
usual traits of verse. Compare the original with the translation by Ivan Kashkin
and state if they differ in style.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other soundʼs the sweep
Of easy wind and downy f lake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Assignment 2. Read closely William Somerset Maugham’s short story and
identify the expressive language means of all levels that the author chooses
to develop the idea.
Прервал я санок легких бег,
Любуясь, как ложится снег
На тихий лес,— и так далёк
Владеющий им человек.
Мой удивляется конёк:
Где увидал я огонёк,
Зовущий гостя в тёплый дом
В декабрьский тёмный вечерок;
Позвякивает бубенцом,
Переминаясь надо льдом,
И наста слышен лёгкий хруст,
Припорошенного снежком.
А лес манит, глубок и пуст.
Но словом данным я влеком:
Мне ещё ехать далеко,
Мне ещё ехать далеко.
When I was a very small boy I was made to learn by heart certain of
the fables of La Fontaine, and the moral of each was carefully explained
to me. Among those I learnt was The Ant and the Grasshopper which is
devised to bring home to the young the useful lesson that in an imperfect
world industry is rewarded and giddiness punished. In this admirable
fable (I apologize for telling something which everyone is politely, but
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
inexactly, supposed to know) the ant spends a laborious summer gathering
its winter store, while the grasshopper sits on a blade of grass singing to
the sun. Winter comes and the ant is comfortably provided for, but the
grasshopper has an empty larder: he goes to the ant and begs for a little
food. Then the ant gives him her classic answer:
“What were you doing in the summer time?”
“Saving your presence, I sang, I sang all day, all night.”
“You sang. Why, then go and dance.”
I do not ascribe it to perversity on my part, but rather to the
inconsequence of childhood, which is deficient in moral sense, that I could
never quite reconcile myself to the lesson. My sympathies were with the
grasshopper and for some time I never saw an ant without putting my foot
on it. In this summary (and as I have discovered since, entirely human)
fashion I sought to express my disapproval of prudence and common
sense.
I could not help thinking of this fable when the other day I saw George
Ramsay lunching by himself in a restaurant. I never saw anyone wear an
expression of such deep gloom. He was staring into space. He looked as
though the burden of the whole world sat on his shoulders. I was sorry for
him: I suspected at once that his unfortunate brother had been causing
trouble again. I went up to him and held out my hand.
“How are you?” I asked.
“I’m not in hilarious spirits,” he answered.
“Is it Tom again?”
He sighed.
“Yes, it’s Tom again.”
“Why don’t you chuck him? You’ve done everything in the world for
him. You must know by now that he’s quite hopeless.”
I suppose every family has a black sheep. Tom had been a sore trial to
his for twenty years. He had begun life decently enough: he went into
business, married, and had two children. The Ramsays were perfectly
respectable people and there was every reason to suppose that Tom
Ramsay would have a useful and honourable career. But one day, without
warning, he announced that he didn’t like work and that he wasn’t suited
for marriage. He wanted to enjoy himself. He would listen to no
expostulations. He left his wife and his office. He had a little money and
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Chapter 4. The Belles-Lettres Style
he spent two happy years in the various capitals of Europe. Rumours of
his doings reached his relations from time to time and they were profoundly
shocked. He certainly had a very good time. They shook their heads and
asked what would happen when his money was spent. They soon found
out: he borrowed. He was charming and unscrupulous. I have never met
anyone to whom it was more difficult to refuse a loan. He made a steady
income from his friends and he made friends easily. But he always said
that the money you spent on necessities was boring; the money that was
amusing to spend was the money you spent on luxuries. For this he
depended on his brother George. He did not waste his charm on him.
George was a serious man and insensible to such enticements. George
was respectable. Once or twice he fell to Tom’s promises of amendment
and gave him considerable sums in order that he might make a fresh start.
On these Tom bought a motor–car and some very nice jewellery. But
when circumstances forced George to realize that his brother would never
settle down and he washed his hands of him, Tom, without a qualm,
began to blackmail him. It was not very nice for a respectable lawyer to
find his brother shaking cocktails behind the bar of his favourite restaurant
or to see him waiting on the box–seat of a taxi outside his club. Tom said
that to serve in a bar or to drive a taxi was a perfectly decent occupation,
but if George could oblige him with a couple of hundred pounds he didn’t
mind for the honour of the family giving it up. George paid.
Once Tom nearly went to prison. George was terribly upset. He went
into the whole discreditable affair. Really Tom had gone too far. He had
been wild, thoughtless, and selfish, but he had never before done anything
dishonest, by which George meant illegal; and if he were prosecuted he
would assuredly be convicted. But you cannot allow your only brother to
go to gaol. The man Tom had cheated, a man called Cronshaw, was
vindictive. He was determined to take the matter into court; he said Tom
was a scoundrel and should be punished. It cost George an infinite deal
of trouble and five hundred pounds to settle the affair. I have never seen
him in such a rage as when he heard that Tom and Cronshaw had gone off
together to Monte Carlo the moment they cashed the cheque. They spent
a happy month there.
For twenty years Tom raced and gambled, philandered with the
prettiest girls, danced, ate in the most expensive restaurants, and dressed
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
beautifully. He always looked as if he had just stepped out of a bandbox.
Though he was forty-six you would never have taken him for more than
thirty-five. He was a most amusing companion and though you knew he
was perfectly worthless you could not but enjoy his society. He had high
spirits, an unfailing gaiety, and incredible charm. I never grudged the
contributions he regularly levied on me for the necessities of his existence.
I never lent him fifty pounds without feeling that I was in his debt. Tom
Ramsay knew everyone and everyone knew Tom Ramsay. You could not
approve of him, but you could not help liking him.
Poor George, only a year older than his scapegrace brother, looked
sixty. He had never taken more than a fortnight’s holiday in the year for a
quarter of a century. He was in his office every morning at nine-thirty
and never left it till six. He was honest, industrious, and worthy. He had a
good wife, to whom he had never been unfaithful even in thought, and
four daughters to whom he was the best of fathers. He made a point of
saving a third of his income and his plan was to retire at fifty-five to a
little house in the country where he proposed to cultivate his garden and
play golf. His life was blameless. He was glad that he was growing old
because Tom was growing old too. He rubbed his hands and said:
“It was all very well when Tom was young and good-looking, but he’s
only a year younger than I am. In four years he’ll be fifty. He won’t find
life so easy then. I shall have thirty thousand pounds by the time I’m
fifty. For twenty-five years I’ve said that Tom would end in the gutter.
And we shall see how he likes that. We shall see if it really pays best to
work or be idle.”
Poor George! I sympathized with him. I wondered now as I sat down
beside him what infamous thing Tom had done. George was evidently
very much upset.
“Do you know what’s happened now?” he asked me.
I was prepared for the worst. I wondered if Tom had got into the hands
of the police at last. George could hardly bring himself to speak.
“You’re not going to deny that all my life I’ve been hardworking,
decent, respectable, and straightforward. After a life of industry and thrift
I can look forward to retiring on a small income in gilt-edged securities.
I’ve always done my duty in that state of life in which it has pleased
Providence to place me.”
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Chapter 4. The Belles-Lettres Style
“True.”
“And you can’t deny that Tom has been an idle, worthless, dissolute,
and dishonourable rogue. If there were any justice he’d be in the
workhouse.”
“True.”
George grew red in the face.
“A few weeks ago he became engaged to a woman old enough to be
his mother. And now she’s died and left him everything she had. Half a
million pounds, a yacht, a house in London, and a house in the country.”
George Ramsay beat his clenched fist on the table.
“It’s not fair, I tell you, it’s not fair. Damn it, it’s not fair.”
I could not help it. I burst into a shout of laughter as I looked at George’s
wrathful face, I rolled in my chair, I very nearly fell on the floor. George
never forgave me. But Tom often asks me to excellent dinners in his
charming house in Mayfair, and if he occasionally borrows a trifle from
me, that is merely from force of habit. It is never more than a sovereign.
Assignment 3. Read the one-act play by O’Henry who is better known for
his short stories often written in a humorous or even ironic manner. Specify
what means ascribe humorous sounding to his dramatic work. Besides, comment
on the general structural and linguistic arrangement of the play.
Sound and Fury
PERSONS OF THE DRAMA:
Mr. PENNE, An Author
Miss LORE, An Amanuensis
SCENE
Workroom of Mr. Penne’s popular novel factory.
Mr. PENNE. Good morning, Miss Lore. Glad to see you so prompt.
We should finish that June installment for the Epoch to-day. Leverett is
crowding me for it. Are you quite ready? We will resume where we left
off yesterday. (Dictates.) “Kate, with a sigh, rose from his knees, and –”
Miss LORE. Excuse me; you mean “rose from her knees,” instead of
“his,” don’t you?
Mr. PENNE. Er – no –”his,” if you please. It is the love scene in the
garden. (Dictates.) “Rose from his knees where, blushing with youth’s
bewitching coyness, she had rested for a moment after Cortland had
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
declared his love. The hour was one of supreme and tender joy. When
Kate – scene that Cortland never –”
Miss LORE. Excuse me; but wouldn’t it be more grammatical to say
“when Kate SAW,” instead of “seen”?
Mr. PENNE. The context will explain. (Dictates.) “When Kate – scene
that Cortland never forgot – came tripping across the lawn it seemed to
him the fairest sight that earth had ever offered to his gaze.”
Miss LORE. “Oh!”
Mr. PENNE (dictates). “Kate had abandoned herself to the joy of her
new-found love so completely, that no shadow of her former grief was
cast upon it. Cortland, with his arm firmly entwined about her waist,
knew nothing of her sighs – “
Miss LORE. “Goodness! If he couldn’t tell her size with his arm
around –”
Mr. PENNE (frowning). “Of her sighs and tears of the previous night.”
Miss LORE. “Oh!”
Mr. PENNE (dictates). “To Cortland the chief charm of this girl was
her look of innocence and unworldiness. Never had nun –”
Miss LORE. How about changing that to “never had any?”
Mr. PENNE (emphatically). “Never had nun in cloistered cell a face
more sweet and pure.”
Miss LORE. “Oh!”
Mr. PENNE (dictates). “But now Kate must hasten back to the house
lest her absence be discovered. After a fond farewell she turned and sped
lightly away. Cortland’s gaze followed her. He watched her rise – “
Miss LORE. “Excuse me, Mr. Penne; but how could he watch her eyes
while her back was turned toward him?”
Mr. PENNE (with extreme politeness). Possibly you would gather my
meaning more intelligently if you would wait for the conclusion of the
sentence. (Dictates.) “Watched her rise as gracefully as a fawn as she
mounted the eastern terrace.”
Miss LORE. “Oh!”
Mr. PENNE (dictates). “And yet Cortland’s position was so far above
that of this rustic maiden that he dreaded to consider the social upheaval
that would ensue should he marry her. In no uncertain tones the traditional
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