Stylistics Raison Dtre The Purpose of Stylistic Analysis

Stylistics Raison D'être: The Purpose of Stylistic Analysis

Purpose of Stylistic Analysis • To understand the raison d'être of stylistic analysis, we need to answer the following questions: 1. What is stylistic analysis is used for? 2. What contribution(s) can it make to literary criticism? 3. What contribution(s) can it make to linguistics?

Purpose of Stylistic Analysis • Stylistics investigates, from a linguistic perspective, the aesthetic values of texts and their psychological effects on readers. • Traditionally , the study of literature is often deemed a branch of aesthetics, as it deals with the effect of literary texts as artistic works. • Stylistics, as method of textual analysis, was born as a reaction to the perceived subjective and impressionistic nature of literary studies. • Stylistics originally aimed at developing an objective approach to the study of literature.

Purpose of Stylistic Analysis • The function of stylistic analysis, from a linguist’s viewpoint is “why does the author here choose this form of expression? ” From the literary critic‘s angle, “it is how is such-and-such an aesthetic effect achieved through language? ”(Leech& short, 1981: 11). • Widdowson (1975) indicates that stylistics takes the language of the text as “primary whereas its artistic values are regarded as incidental to linguistic description. Literary studies, on the other hand, takes the artistic values of [the text ]as primary and refers to language in so far as it serves as evidence for aesthetic assessments”.

Purpose of Stylistic Analysis • Leech & Short (1981, 11) state that stylistics, “simply defined as the (linguistic) study of style, is rarely undertaken for its own sake, simply as an exercise in describing what use is made of language but rather to explain something, and in general, literary stylistics has, implicitly or explicitly, the goal of explaining the relation between language and artistic function”. • This textual focus of stylistic analysis is also well reflected in Simpson’s (2004: 2) definition of stylistics, which stipulates that stylistics is “a method of textual interpretation”.

Purpose of Stylistic Analysis • Stylistic analysis , thus, involves both description and interpretation of texts. It describes the linguistic patterns found in a text, highlights their textual functions and provides a contextually enriched literary (aesthetic) interpretation of this text. • The trajectory of stylistic analysis moves from the linguistically based textual description to contextually enriched interpretation. Text Description Interpretation Text Contextual Enrichment

Purpose of Stylistic Analysis • The linguistic description of texts, which is rather rigorous and objective, can empirically substantiate the interpretation of the texts’ aesthetic and affective features. • Without this linguistic description, interpretation of literary texts becomes quite impressionistic and subjective.

Purpose of Stylistic Analysis • I this sense, stylistic analysis straddles the borderline between linguistics and literary studies. • It is, then, expected to contribute to both disciplines. • This is aptly pointed out by Simpson (2004: 3), who states that stylistic analysis is “as much about deriving insights about linguistic structure and function as they are about understanding literary texts. Thus, the question ‘What can stylistics tell us about literature? ’ is always paralleled by an equally important question ‘What can stylistics tell us about language? ’”

Stylistics and Linguistics • Stylistic analysis firstly provides a chance to test the effectiveness of linguistics theories across different genres. • For instance linguistic phenomena such as the manifestation of attitude through language (modality; see entry), the linguistic construction of experience (transitivity; see entry) as well as pragmatic aspects of meaning-making can be investigated in across naturally produced text and fictional (literary) texts. • Stylistic analysis also “enriches our ways of thinking about language and, as observed, exploring how language offers a substantial purchase on our understanding of (literary) texts” (Simpson, 2004: 3). • For instance stylistic analysis can show us whether deviations in literary texts should be thought of as a departure from linguistic norms or as an attainment and reinforcement of norms.

Stylistics and Linguistics • In brief, doing stylistic analysis contribute to the ongoing discourse that reflects on the linguistic structures and their multiple functions in our cultures and “seeks to revise and renew our shared understanding of language forms and functions” (Toolan, 2014: 30 -31). • Stylistic analysis can also probe “under the surface of language, to decode the stylistic choices which shape a text’s meaning” (Simpson, 1993: 8).

Stylistics and Literature • Stylistic analysis can highlight the aesthetic and affective features of texts through identifying the literary a properties of texts and contexts. • Wales (2001: 331) indicates that the goal of most stylistic analyses is "is not simply to describe the formal features of texts for their own sake, but in order to show their functional significance for the interpretation of text; or in order to relate literary effects to linguistic causes. " • Toolan (ibid. ) asserts that stylistics can also be used as a means of demystifying literary responses, understanding how varied readings are produced from the same text.

Stylistics and Literature • Stylisticians tend to “avoid assuming a sharp separation between the ‘lay’ readers’ reading and their own technical analyses, since the technical analyses derive their strongest rationale from being explanatory accounts of the effects that a text’s texture works upon the ordinary reader” (Toolan, 2014: 18). • Toolan (1990, 42– 6) points out stylistics can be used for a variety of purposes when it comes to the study of literature, including the teaching of different literary genres.

References • Leech, G. N. & M. H. Short (1981). Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose. London: Longman. • Nørgaard, N. ; Busse, B. & Montoro, R. (2010). Key Terms in Stylistics. London & New York: Continuum. • Simpson, P. (1993). Language, Ideology and Point of View. London: Routledge. • Simpson, P. (2004). Stylistics: A resource book for students. London: Routledge. • Toolan, M. (1990). The Stylistics of Fiction : a Literary Linguistic Approach. London: Routledge • Toolan, M. (2014). Theory and Philosophy of Stylistics. In Stock well, P. & Whitely, S. (Eds. ) The Cambridge Handbook of Stylistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Wales, K. (2001). A Dictionary of Stylistics. 2 nd edn. London: Pearson Education Limited. • Widdowson, H. G. (1975). Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature. London: Longman.