Stylistics:It’sConcernsLecturer:黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院Part0Stylistic
s:Illustrations1)没有最好,只有更好,北大方正人的追求(北大方正电脑)2)牙好,胃口就好。吃嘛嘛香,身体倍
棒(蓝天六必治牙膏)3)海尔冰箱,质量保障！4)IntroducingFITNESSmagazine.It’sab
outhealth,it’saboutexercise,it’saboutyourimage,yourener
gy,andyouroutlook.向您推荐《健康》杂志,说健康,说锻炼,说形象,说精力,说展望。Part1
Stylistics:Definitions1)文体学是一门研究文体的学问。……文体学的任务不在列举若干文体的名目，而在
观察和描述若干主要文体的语言特点，亦即它们各自的语音、句法、词汇与篇章的特点，其目的在于使学者能够更好地了解它们所表达的内容和在恰
当的场合分别使用它们。(王佐良丁往道,1987:i)2)Stylistics:风格学/语体学语言学的一个分支,
研究语言在情景中不同用法(语言变体)的特征,并试图确立一些原则来说明个人和社会群体使用语言的特定选择。Generalsty
listics(一般风格学):研究一种语言内遇见的各种非方言变体的总和(或总存)。Literarystylistics(文
学风格学):研究作为一种语体的文学作品和作家个人“风格”特有的各种变化。Appliedstylistics(应用风格学):
研究语言在语境中的不同变体,特别是考察文学和非文学篇章的风格。Stylostatistics/stylometry(风格统
计学/风格度量学):风格型式的量化研究。Phonostylistics(语音风格学):研究语音的表达或美学功能。（Davi
dCrystal.ShenJiaxuan.Trans.Adictionaryoflinguisticsandp
honetics.Pp341-342.)3)“Stylisticsisabranchoflinguistics
whichappliesthetheoryandmethodologyofmodernlinguisticsto
thestudyofStyle.Itstudiestheuseoflanguageinspecificc
ontextsandattemptstoaccountforthecharacteristicsthatmark
thelanguageuseofindividualsandsocialgroups.Althoughstyl
isticssometimesincludesinvestiga-tionofspokenlanguage,iti
susuallyconcernedwiththeexaminationofwrittenlanguage,par
ticularlyliterarytexts.Thestylisticanalysisofatextinvolv
esthedescrip-tionofawriter’s/speaker’sverbalchoiceswhic
hcanbeabstractedasstyle.Astylisticianwouldusuallyprocee
dtodiscusstherelevanceoftheanalysistointerpretation,the
possiblemeaningoreffectevokedbytheadoptionofacertains
tyle.”(QianYuan,2006:1)4)“Simplydefined,Stylisticsisad
isciplinethatstudiesthewaysinwhichlanguageisused:itis
adisciplinethatstudiesthestylesoflanguageinuse.”“The
stylisticswearediscussinghereisModernStylistics,adiscipl
inethatappliesconceptsandtechniquesofmodernlinguisticsto
thestudyofstylesoflanguageuse.”(XuYouzhi,2005:2)Gener
alstylisticsconcentratessolelyonthegeneralfeaturesofvari
oustypesoflanguageuse.Itstudiesthestylisticfeaturesoft
hemainvarietiesoflanguage,coveringthefunctionalvarieties
fromthedimensionoffieldsofdiscourse(differentsocialactiv
ities),formalvsinformalvarietiesfromthedimensionoftenors
ofdiscourse(differentaddresser-addresseerelationships),and
thespokenvswrittenvarietiesfromthedimensionofmodesofdi
scourse(differentmediums).Meanwhile,generalstylisticscover
sthevariousgenresofliterature(fiction,drama,poetry)init
sstudy.Butitfocusesontheinterpretationoftheoverallchar
acteristicsofrespectivegenres,withselectedextractsofliter
arytextsassamples.Literarystylistics:concentratessolelyon
uniqueandoveralllinguisticfeaturesofthevariousgenresof
literature.Thescopeofgeneralstylisticsandthescopeoflite
rarystylisticsareonlypartlyoverlapping,asisshowninFigur
e1.Part2:ViewsonLanguage1)Differentviewsonlangua
ge:asystemofsigns(Modernlinguistics:F.deSaussure’
lectures:1906-11)aunifiedstructure,acollectionofh
abits(Americanstructuralism:Bloomfield)asystemofinna
terules(thetransformational-generative(TG)linguists:NoamCh
omsky,fromthelate1950son)asocialsemiotic,aninstru
mentusedtoperformvariousfunctionsinsocialinteraction,ess
entiallyasocialactivity(thesystemic-functionallinguists:M.
A.K.Halliday)(Formore:DavidCrystal.2002:197.ShenJiaxu
an.Trans.)2)Languageasasocialactivity.“Language
isalsoasocialphenomenon,orinstitution,wherebypeoplecomm
unicateandinteractwitheachother.Alanguageofaparticular
societyispartofthesociety’sculture.Languageactivitiesop
eratewithinsocialactivities.Thelanguageofaparticipantin
asocialactivityreflectshissocialcharacteristics(suchashi
sstatus,ethnicgroup,ageandsex).Italsoreflectshisawaren
essofthevariousfactorsofasocialsituationinwhichhefind
shimself.Heshouldadjusthislanguageinaccordancewiththem
ediumofcommunication(speechorwriting),thesetting(priv
ateorpublic),therelationshipwiththeaddressee(intermsof
thedegreeofintimacyorsocialdistance),thesubjectmatter(t
echnicalornon-technical),andthepurpose(toinform,topersua
de,etc.)”.“Appropriateuseoflanguageisconsideredthekeyto
effectivecommunication.Thereistheconventionthatacertain
typeoflanguageisappropriatetoacertainuse.Thestyleappro
priatetopublicspeakingisinappropriatetolegaldocuments;th
estyleusedinadvertisementsisill-suitedtoascholarlyartic
le.Thetotalityoflanguagevarietiesusedbyaspeechcommuni
tyinallsocialsituationsconstitutestheverbalrepertoireof
thatcommunity.Englishcanbecalltheverbalrepertoireofthe
communityofEnglishspeakers.Inthissense,itsubsumesawide
rangeofvarieties,usedinallkindsofsituations,inmanypart
softheworld,servingvariouscommunicativeneeds.”(QianYuan,
2006:2)3)thephilosophicalviewoflanguage“Thephi
losophicalviewofLanguageorAlanguageisrelatedtotheactua
loccurrenceoflanguageinsociety–whatarecalledlanguagea
ctivities.Peopleaccomplishagreatdealnotonlythroughphysic
alactssuchascooking,eating,bicycling,runningamachine,cl
eaning,butalsobyverbalactsofalltypes:conversation,telep
honecalls,jobapplicationletters,notesscribbledtoroommate,
etc.Allutterances(whetheraword,asentence,orseveralsent
ences)canbethoughtofasgoal-directedactions.(Austin,1962;
Searle,1969)Suchactionsascarriedoutthroughlanguage
areSpeechActs.Socialactivitiesinwhichlanguage(eitherspok
enorwritten)playsanimportantrolesuchasconversation,disc
ussion,lecture,etc.,areSpeechEvents.”“Mostoftheseevents
aresequentialandtransitory(thatis,theyoccurinsequencea
ndcannotlastforalongtime).Itisdifficulttoexaminethem
atthetimeoftheiroccurrence.Sowehavetorecordtheevents
.Anysuchrecord,whetherrecalledthroughmemory,orcommitted
toatape,orwrittendownonpaper,orprintedinabook,ofa
speechevent,isknownasaText.”4)Languageasacode“Languag
eisoftencomparedtoaCode,asystemofsignalsorsymbolsuse
dforsendingaMessage,apieceofinformation.Inanyactofve
rbalcommunication(bothspokenandwritten,primarilyspoken),l
anguagehasbeenregardedasasystemfortranslatingmeaningsin
theAddresser’s(thespeaker’s/writer’s)mindintosounds/l
etters,i.e.,Encoding(meaning-to-sound/letter),orconversely,
fortranslatingsounds/lettersintomeaningsintheAddressee’s(
thehear’s/reader’smind,ieDecoding(sound/letter-to-meanin
g),withlexisandgrammarastheformalcodemediatingbetweenm
eaningandsound/letter.”“Butwemustkeepinmindthat,unlik
eothersignalingcodes,languagecodedoesnotoperateinafixe
dway–itisopen-endedinthatitpermitsgenerationofnewmea
ningsandnewforms(suchasmetaphoricalmeanings,andneologism
s);ieitisinawaycreativelyextendible.”“Text,then,isver
balcommunication(eitherspokenorwritten)seenasamessageco
dedinalinearpatternofsoundwaves,orinalinearsequenceo
fvisiblemarksonpaper.”(XuYouzhi,2005:4)Part3:Text
“Atextisanypassage,spokenorwritten,ofwhateverlength,th
atformsaunifiedwhole.Itmaybetheproductofasinglespeak
er/writer(e.g.asign,aletter,anewsreport,astatute,anov
el),orthatofseveralspeakers(e.g.apieceofconversation,a
debate).”(QianYuan,2006:11)Atextisrealizedbyasequenc
eoflanguageunits,whethertheyaresentencesornot.Theconne
ctionamongpartsofatextisachievedbyvariouscohesivedevic
es,andbysemanticandpragmaticimplication.”Practice1.Const
ructatextfromthefollowingdisconnect-edsentences.a.Tw
oboysstoodnearajeweler’sshop.b.Twoboyssawamanbr
eakawindowofajeweler’sshopandstealallthewatches.
c.Twoboystookamanwithseveralwatchesinhishandforathi
ef.d.Twoboysranafteramanwithseveralwatchesinhis
hand.Toconnectthesentencesintoatext,weneedtomakeseve
ralmodificationssothatthesentencesbecomecohesivewithone
another:Twoboysstoodnearajeweler’sshop.Theysawama
nbreaktheshopwindowandstealallthewatches.Theyranafter
him,becausetheytookhimforathief.Inthetextyouma
ynoticethefollowingmodifications,whichserveasgrammatical
cohesivedevices:a.theuseofthedefinitearticleonse
condmention,e.g.ashop→theshop,aman→theman;b.
thesubstitutionofpronounsfornouns,e.g.twoboys→they
c.theuseofconjunction,e.g.Theyranafterhim,because
…Thelexicalcohesioninthetextisrealizedbythecol
locationofthewordsthatareinsomewayorothertypicallyass
ociatedwithoneanother,e.g.stealwiththief;jeweler’sshopw
ithwatches.Practice2.Examinethefollowingconversation,find
outwhetherlinguisticunitsinitareovertlycohesiveornot.
A:Seewhothatis.B:I’minpyjamas.A:OK.Lin
guisticunitsintheconversationarenotovertlycohesive.Inth
istext,therelevanceofB’sremarktoA’sfirstremarkisconve
yedbypragmaticimplication.“I’minpyjamas”impliesanexcuse
fornotcomplyingwithA’scommand(=“No,Ican’t,becauseI’mi
npyjamas.”)A’ssecondremarkimpliesthatheacceptsB’sexcuse
andundertakestodohimselfwhatheoriginallyaskedBtodo(=
OK.I’llgomyselfandsee.”Textsarethereforerecognizedasa
ppropriatelycoherentinactualuse.Afullunderstandingofate
xtisoftenimpossiblewithoutreferencetothecontextinwhich
itoccurs.Part4:AspectsoftheSpeechEvent“Languageistran
smitted,patterned,andembeddedinthehumansocialexperience.
Soitisbothpossibleandusefultodiscernthreecrucialaspect
sofaspeechevent:thesubstantial,theformal,andthesituat
ional.”(Gregory&Carroll,1978)“Languageistransmittedbymea
nsofaudiblesoundwavesintheairorvisiblemarksonasurfac
e.ThesesoundsormarksaretheSubstanceofthespeechevents.
Theaudiblesoundsorvisiblemarksarenotjumbledtogether–ra
ther,theyarearrangedinaconventionallyorderlyway,displayi
ngmeaningfulpatternsintheirinternalrelations.Thesemeaning
fulinternalpatternsaretheFormofthespeechevent.Language
activitiesdoesnotoccurinisolationfromotherhumanactiviti
es.Theytakeplaceinrelevantextra-textualcircumstances,ling
uisticandnon-linguistic.Theserelevantextratextualcircumstan
cesaretheSituationofthespeechevent.Anyspeecheventispa
rtofasituation,andsohasarelationshipwiththatsituation.
Indeed,itisthiscontextualrelationshipbetweenthesubstance
andformofspeecheventontheonehandandthesituationinwh
ichitoccursontheother,whichgiveswhatisnormallycalled“
meaning”toutterances.Inotherwords,contextdeterminesmeanin
goffeaturesinsituations.”(XuYouzhi,2005:4-5)“‘Contex
t’hasbeenunderstoodinvariousways.Itmaybelinguisticore
xtra-linguistic.LinguisticcontextisalternativelytermedasCo
-text,whichreferstothelinguisticunitsprecedingand/orfoll
owingaparticularlinguisticunitinatext.Extra-linguisticco
ntext(interchangeablewithContextofSituation)referstother
elevantfeaturesofthesituationinwhichatexthasmeaning.Ta
kingonabroadersense,thetermContextmayincludenotonlyth
eco-text,butalsotheextra-linguisticcontextofatext.”(Qi
anYuan,2006:14)Contextualfactorsthataresocially,regiona
llyorsitua-tionallyrelevanttotheproductionandinterpretati
onoftextsfallintothetwofollowingcategories:1)Char
acteristicsoftheUseroflanguage:a.Age;b.Sex;c.Socio-r
egionalorethnicbackground;d.Education2)Characteristic
softheUseoflanguageinsituation:a.Mediumofcommunication
–speechorwriting;b.Setting–privateorpublic;c.Role-r
elationshipbetweenaddresserandaddressee–thedegreeofintim
acy;thedegreeofsocialdistance;d.Purposeforwhichlanguag
eisused,e.g.toinform,tocommand,toexpressfeelings,toes
tablishsocialrelations,etc.;e.Subjectmatter(oflimitedst
ylisticsignificance.Linguistshaveemphasizedtheroleofconte
xtsofsituationasdeterminantsofstyle.Thereisanobservable
match(Correlation)betweenlinguisticfeaturesandcontextualf
actors.Letuscomparesomeexamplesconveyingmoreorlessthes
ameideaofaskingsomebodytocloseadoor.(Practice3)Practic
e3Comparethefollowingexpressions.a.I’msorrytotroub
leyou,butcouldIaskyoutoclosethedoorforme,please.
b.Wouldyoumindclosingthedoor(please)?c.Icoulddo
withoutthedraughtfromthatdoor.d.Shutthedoor,won’t
you.e.Shutthedoor,willyou!f.Door!g.Wereyo
uborn(AmE:raised)inabarn?h.Iknowalittleboywhone
verleavesthedooropen.Thesesentencesdifferfromeachother
inlinguisticform:(d)and(e)differinthechoiceofaquesti
ontagandinintonationpattern;(b),(c)and(f)insyntactics
tructure;(a),(c)and(g)inthechoiceofwordsorexpressions.
Practice4.Analyzethefollowingconversation(Jennycomes
toAlan’shouse.Sheisconductingasurveyforthegovernment.)
Alan:Won’tyoucomein,Miss-er-.Jenny:Cartwright,Jen
nyCartwright.Alan:I’mAlanMarlow.(AlanshowsJennyi
ntothelivingroom.)Alan:Ohwon’tyoumakeyourselfcomfor
table,Jenny?(Aftersomeminutesoftalk,whichisomittedh
ere)Jenny:Mr.Marlow…Alan:CallmeAlan.(TheMarlows
,Episode11)ThecontextshowsclearlythatAlanandJennya
retotalstrangers.Theconven-tionaladdressformbetweenstrang
ersisTitle+Sur-name(Mr./MissSo-and-so).ButAlanaddresses
thegirlbyherfirstnameandlateraskshertodothesame.His
adoptionoffirst-namingisanexampleofthemanipulationofla
nguage.Itisamovetowardsafriendlierrelationship,indicatin
gthatAlandoesnotwanttheirencountertobeformalanddistan
t,asitiscustomarybetweenstrangers.Incontrast,Jennychoos
estoremainformalanddistantbyaddressingAlanas“Mr.Marlow
”.(QianYuan,2006:17)Part5:Languagevarietiesandfunction
Variety[语言]变体社会语言学和风格学用来指任何一个语言表达系统，其用法受情景变项的支配。有的语言变体，情景的区别
性很容易说明，如许多地域变体和职业变体（例如伦敦英语，宗教英语）；而有的情景，如社会等级的研究，语言变体很难确定，因为涉及多个变项
的交叉（例如性别、年龄、职业等）。已经提出的语言变体的分类法有多种，涉及方言、语域、媒体、语场这样一些术语。有些社会语言学家对“语
言变体”的定义较狭窄，只指一类情景独特的语言，即一种方言内部的一类特殊化的语言，例如用于职业目的的语言.（DavidCr
ystal.ShenJiaxuan.Trans.Adictionaryoflinguisticsandphone
tics.Pp378.)“不同环境和场合产生的（语言）变体就叫做文体或语体。……影响文体变化的因素多种多样，主要可以归为三个
方面。第一方面是讲话内容(fieldofdiscourse)，第二是讲话方式(modeofdiscourse),第三是讲
话人和听话人的地位关系(tenorofdiscourse)。(王佐良丁往道,1987
:189-190)Asmentionedabove,whenlanguageisused,itisa
lwaysusedinacontext.Whatissaidandhowitissaidisoften
subjecttoavarietyofcircumstances.Inotherwords,speechev
entsdifferindifferentsituations,i.e.betweendifferentperso
ns,atdifferenttimes,indifferentplaces,fordifferentpurpos
es,throughdifferentmedia,andamidstdifferentsocialenvironm
ents.Weoftenadjustourlanguageaccordingtothenatureofthe
contextofsitua-tion.Somesituationsseentodependgenerally
andfairlyconsistentlyonaregularsetoflinguisticfeatures;
asaresult,therehaveappeareddifferenttypesofalanguagewh
icharecalled“Varietiesoflanguage”.SofarastheEnglishla
nguageisconcerned,therearedifferent‘Eng-lishes’tofitdiff
erentsituations:Old/ModernEnglish,British/AmericanEnglish,
BlackEnglish,legalEnglish,scientificEnglish,advertisingEn
glish,formal/informalEnglish,spoken/writtenEnglish,etc.(X
uYouzhi,2005:5-6)Inallthesevarieties,languageperform
svariouscommunicativeroles,i.e.Functions.Forexample,langu
ageisused(functions)tocommunicateideas,toexpressattitude
s,andsoon.Therolesthatlanguageplaysareeverchangingand
thenumberoftherolescanbenumerous.Therehavebeenmanyat
temptstocategorizetheserolesintoafewmajorfunctions.The
Ideational/Referentialfunctionservesforexpressingthespeak
er’s/writer’sexperienceoftherealworld,includingtheinnerw
orldofhis/herownconsciousness.TheInterpersonal,orExpressi
ve/Socialfunctionservestoestablishandmaintainsocialrelati
ons,fortheexpressionofsocialroles,andalsoforgettingthi
ngsdonebymeansofinteractionbetweenonepersonandanother.
TheTextualfunctionprovidesmeansformakinglinkswithinthet
extitselfandwithfeaturesofitsimmediatesituation.Thethr
eefunctionsrepresentthreecoexistingwaysinwhichlanguageha
stobeadaptedtoitsusers’communi-cativeneeds.First,ithas
toconveyamessageabout‘rea-lity’,abouttheworldofexperie
nce,fromspeaker/writertohearer/reader.Secondly,itmust
fitappropriate-lyintoaspeechsituation,fulfillingthepartic
ularsocialdesignsthatspeaker/writerhasuponhearer/reader.T
hird-ly,itmustbewellconstructedasanutteranceortext,so
astoservethedecodingneedsofhearer/reader.Thesefunctions
andtheneedstheyserveareinterrelated:successininterperso
nalorexpressive/socialcommunica-tiondependsinpartonsucces
sintransmittingamessage,whichinturndependsinpartonsuc
cessintermsoftextproduction.Differenttypesoflanguageha
verelationswithpredominatfunctions,e.g.advertisingwithper
suasion,TVcommentarywithinformation,addresstermswithsocia
lroles.Literarytextscanberegardedasatypeoflanguagewhi
chperformsadistinctsocialfunction–anaestheticorpoeticf
unction.Thefunctionsarenotmutuallyexclusive:anutterance
maywellhavemorethanonefunction.Part6:Style1)Theword
Stylehasusedinmanyways.Stylemayrefertoaperson’sdisti
nctivelanguagehabits,orthesetofindividualcharacteristics
oflanguageuse,as‘Shakespeare’sstyle’,‘Miltonicstyle’,‘Joh
nsonese’,or‘thestyleofJamesJoyce’.Often,itconcentrateso
naperson’sparticularlysingularororiginalfeaturesofspeaki
ngorwriting.Henceattheextremeendstylemayrefertoawrit
er’sdeviationsfromarelativelynormaluseoflanguage.Style
mayrefertoasetofcollectivecharacteristicsoflanguageuse,
i.e.languagehabitssharedbyagroupofpeopleatagiventime
,as‘Elizabethanstyle’,inagivenplace,as‘Yankeehumor’,am
idstagivenoccasion,as‘thestyleofpublicspeaking’,foral
iterarygenre,as‘balladstyle’,etc.Heretheconcentrationis
notontheindividualityofthespeakerorwriter,butontheir
similaritiesinagivensituation.Stylemayrefertotheeffecti
venessofamodeofexpression,whichisimpliedinthedefinitio
nofstyleas‘sayingtherightthinginthemosteffectiveway’
or‘goodmanners’,asa‘clear’or‘refined’styleadvocatedinm
ostbooksofcomposition.Stylemayrefersolelytoacharacteri
sticof‘good’or‘beautiful’literarywritings.Thisisthewide
-spreaduseofstyleamongliterarycritics,as‘grandstyle’,‘o
rnatestyle’,‘lucidstyle’,‘plainstyle’,etc.giventoliterar
yworks.Oftheabovefoursensesofstyle,thefirsttwo(esp.t
hesecond)comenearesttoourdefinitionofstyle.Tobeexact,
weshallregardStyleasthelanguagehabitsofapersonorgroup
ofpersonsinagivensituation.Asdifferentsituationstendto
yielddifferentvarietiesofalanguagewhich,inturn,display
differentlinguisticfeatures,soStylemaybeseenasthevariou
scharacteristicusesoflanguagethatapersonorgroupofperso
nsmakeinvarioussocialcontexts.Alllinguisticchoicesarem
eaningful,andalllinguisticchoicesarestylistic.Evenchoices
whichareclearlydictatedbysubjectmatterarepartofstyle.
Inourdiscussion,however,stylisticchoiceislimitedtothose
aspectsoflinguisticchoicewhichconcernalternativewayso
frenderingthesamesubjectmatter,orthoseformsoflanguagew
hichcanbeseenasequivalentintermsof‘referentialreality’
theydescribe,or,inotherwords,the‘synonymousexpressions’i
ntransmittingthesame‘message’.Weareinterestedinthewa
yinwhichchoicesofcodesareadaptedtocommunicativefunction
sforadvertising,newsreporting,sciencethesis,etc.,includin
gtheaestheticfunctionforliterature.Hencetheoccurrenceof
differentfunctionalstylesandofthevariousstylesofliteratu
re.Whenwelookatstyleinatext,wearenotlikelytobestru
ckbylocalorindividualchoicesinisolation,butratheratap
atternofchoices.If,forinstance,atextshowsarepeatedpref
erenceforpassivestructuresoveractivestructures,wearelike
lytoconsiderthispreferenceafeatureofstyle.Butlocalors
pecificfeaturesmayalsobenoteworthyfeaturesofstyleifthey
formasignificantrelationshipwithotherfeaturesinacoheren
t(consistent)patternofchoice.Consistencyinpreferenceisna
turallyreducedto‘frequency’:tofindoutwhatisdistinctivea
boutthestyleofatext,wejustmeasurethefrequencyofthefe
aturesitcontains.Themorewewishtosubstantiatewhatwesay
aboutstyle,themorewewillneedtopointtothelinguisti
cevidenceoftexts;andlinguisticevidencehastobecouchedin
termsofnumericalfrequency.Yetitisworthournotethataf
eaturewhichoccursmorerarelythanusualisjustasmuchapart
ofthestatisticalpatternasonewhichoccursmoreoftenthanu
sual;anditisalsoasignificantaspectofoursenseofstyle.
Part7:ThestudyofstyleSomescholarscalltheobjectofstyli
sticssimplystyle,withoutfurtherqualifications.Indeed,thes
tudyofstyleinwesterncountrieshasbeenundertakenformoret
hantwothousandyears.Thedoctrineof‘decorum’orfittingness
ofstylehaspassedfromtherhetoriciansofAncientGreeceandR
ome,whoapplieditfirsttooratoryandthentowrittenlanguage
.Uptillthelate19thcentury,stylestudieshadalwaysbeencl
oselyintegratedwiththeartofwritingandtheevaluationofli
teraryworks.Infact,traditionalapproachestolanguagelaidsu
chheavystorebythequalityofwrittenlanguagethat‘goodstyl
e’orsometimessimply‘style’wasusedasadescriptionofwriti
ngthatwaspraiseworthy,skilfulorelegant.Attheturnofthe
century,FerdinanddeSaussure,inhisGenevalecturesof1906-11
,Coursdelinguistiquegenerale(1916),attackedthe19thcentur
yphilologistsfortheir‘diachronic’orhistoricalstudyoflang
uage(i.e.lookingatlanguageasitchangesthroughtime),andf
ortheirinterestinprescribingnormalor‘correct’usagemodele
don‘classic’literarywritings.Hisinfluencewassostrongtha
t,afterhim,theprofessionalstudyoflanguagesoonveeredaway
fromthehistoricalconcernofphilologytowardslinguistics,wh
ichclaimedtobeheavilydescriptiveandtodescribeagivenlan
guage‘synchronically’(i.e.synchronicstudy:lookingatlanguag
easitexistsatagiventime).Saussure,withhisinsistenceon
theprimacyofeverydayspeech,waslittleinterestedinthe
writtenlanguageandevenlessintheliterary.Heviewedlitera
rylanguageasspecialusesoflanguagewhichwerecomparatively
unimportantinthestudyoflanguageasawhole.Hispupil,Charl
esBally,whobeganthesystematicstudyofwhatwenowcall‘sty
listics’,againgavescantattentiontoliterature.Americanling
uistLeonardBloomfieldheldmuchthesimilarview.Thisisonly
toonatural,for,attheturnofthecentury,newlinguisticswas
yetfightingforitsautonomyandneededtoemphasizeitsdiffer
encefromtraditionallanguagestudies.Itwasnotuntilthefift
iesthatthereappearedaswayfromthisposition.NoamChomsky’
sSyntacticStructures(1957)revivedinterestinwhathadoncel
ookedadiscreditedconcernwith‘correctness’inspeechandwith
aninheritedsystemofrules.Chomskybelievesthatthehumanmi
ndmustbeconstitutedatbirthtoreceivecertainpatternsofla
nguage;otherwiseitwouldbeveryhardtoexplainhowinfantsle
arntheirmothertonguesoquicklyandwithlittleeffort.So
itmaynothavebeenabsurdoftheEuropeanRenaissancetohave
interesteditselfintheprospectofauniversalgrammarunderlyi
ngallhumanlanguages.Chomskydestroyedthedominanceofstruct
uralismandencouragedanewtoleranceofhistoricalgrammar.And
indoingthisheinitiatedanewinterestinliteratureamongpr
ofessionallinguistsandtheprospectofco-operationbetweencri
ticismandtheprofessionalstudyoflanguage.Bythe1950smost
oftheearlyanxietiesonthepartoflinguistshadbecomeunnec
essary.Thetoolsoflinguisticscouldbeusedinrelateddiscipl
ineswithoutthedangerofreducinglinguisticsitselftoamere
technologyoraservicestation.Onthecontrary,bythetimethe
ycamebacktoliterarylanguage,linguistshadbeenarmedtothe
teeth–withfreshinsightsandnewtheoriesaswellasaformid
abletechnicalvocabulary.Thistimetheywouldstudystyleina
muchmoredetailedandsystematicway.Theywouldnotstudyliter
aturetotheexclusionofothervarietiesoflanguage.Ratherthe
ywouldapproachliteratureasacomplexofvarietiesoflanguage
inuseandpointtotheaestheticfunctionofliterarylanguage.
The1960ssawtheflourishingofmodernstylistics:Twolandmar
kvolumesofpaperspresentedrespectivelytotheIndianaStyleC
onferencein1958(StyleinLanguage,MITPress)andtotheBella
gioStyleConferencein1969(LiteraryStyle:aSymposium,OUP)c
ameintobeing.MonographssuchasLinguisticsandStyle(Enkvist
etal,1964)andInvestigatingEnglishStyle(CrystalandDavy,
1969),ALinguisticGuidetoEnglishPoetry(Leech,1969)appeare
d.Newcoursesonstylewereofferedincollegesanduniversities
.TextbooksconcerningspokenvarietiesofEnglish(somewithacc
ompanyingrecordsortapes)suchasVarietiesofSpokenEnglish(
Dickinson&Mackin,1969),ScientificallySpeaking(Brookes,1971
)werepublished.Grammars,asAGrammarofContemporaryEnglish
(Quirketal,1972)widenedtheirscopetoincludeintheirs
tudy‘sentenceconnection’,‘focus’,‘theme’,‘emphasis’,and‘va
rietiesofEnglishandclassesofEnglish’.Dictionariesbeganto
givelabels(e.g.fml,colloquial,slang,etc.)towordsandph
rasesofstylisticcoloring.Fromthe1960sonward,application
ofvariouslinguisticmodelssuchastransformational-generative
linguistics,systemic-functionallinguistics,speech-acttheory,
discourseanalysis,etc.,instylisticanalysishasbeengaining
momentuminthepastdecadesofyears.Part8:TheConcernofSty
listicStudyHavingdiscussedwhatlanguageisandthesenseofs
tyle,wearenowinapositiontocometoamorerefineddefiniti
onofstylistics:Itisadisciplinethatstudiesthesumofstyl
isticfeaturescharacteristicofthedifferentvarietiesoflangu
age.Stylisticstudyconcernsitselfwiththesituationalfeature
sthatinfluencevariationsinlanguageuse,thecriterionforth
eclassificationoflanguagevariety,andthedescriptionandint
erpretationofthelinguisticfeaturesandfunctionsofthemain
varieties(bothliteraryandnon-literary)ofalanguage–here,
oftheModernEnglishlanguage.Asanindependentdiscipline,sty
listicsoffersacompara-tivelymorecompletetheoreticalframewo
rkandamorerigorousprocedureoflinguisticdescription,soth
atlearn-erswillhaveasystematicknowledgeofthefeaturesof
differentvarietiesoflanguage,makeappropriateuseoflanguage
intheircommunication,familiarizethemselveswiththestylisti
cfeaturesofthedifferentgenresoflitera-ture,anddeepenthe
irunderstandingandappreciationofliteraryworks.Besides,sty
listicsoffersusefulideasontranslationandlanguageteaching.
Part9:StylisticsandOtherSpheresofStudyAformerlyverymu
chborderlinediscipline,stylisticstakesrootsinthesoilofm
odernlinguistics,usingmodelsandmethodsoflinguisticdescrip
tioninthestylisticanalysisoftexts.Stylisticsalsoabsorbs
nourishmentfromliterarytheories,andsoiscloselyrelatedto
them.Similartomodernlinguistics,stylisticslaysstressonth
estudyoflanguagefunctionsandthedifferentstructuresdictat
edbythesefunctions.Butlinguisticsstressesthedescriptiono
flinguisticstructureswhilestylisticsonthestylisticeffects
ofdifferentlanguagestructures.Stylisticsisthecontinuation
anddevelopmentofrhetoric.However,discardingthetraditional
practicesofrhetorictoestablishnormsforpeopletomodelon,
stylisticsturnstothepresentationofthefunctionalfeatures
oflanguage,--itisdescriptive,notprescriptive.Itdoesnot
aimataso-called‘refined’styleofwriting,butatamanner‘a
ppropriate’tothesituation.Stylisticssuppliesliterarycritic
ismwithabrand-newapproach.Sincethebeginningofthe20thce
nturythelinguisticturninliterarycriticismhasenabledthes
cientificschoolofliterarytheoristssuchasRussianformalism,
NewCriticism,Structuralism,etc.,toplacelanguageinthecen
tralpositionoftheirtheories.Withawholesetofmeta-languag
erenewedbymodernlinguisticsandmodernliterarytheory–devi
ation,prominence,function,situationalfactors,narrativepoint
sofview,modesofpresentingspeech,etc,andwiththemulti-le
velstructuralapproach,stylisticshaspushedthelinguistictur
ntoitsextreme.Makingliteraryresearchstillmorescientific
andmoreaccurate,itbroadensthevisionofliterarycriticism.
TheNeedforStylisticStudy1)Styleisanintegralpartofmea
ning.AsEFLlearners,weoftenfailtonoticethosestylisticsu
btletieswhichcontributesignificantlytomeaning.Stylistics–
thestudyofstyle–mayhelpusdevelopaconsistentmethodofl
anguageanalysisandsolveproblemsofinterpretationbybringing
intofocusthestylisticallysignificantfeaturesthatwemight
otherwiseoverlook.Practice5.Analyzethefollowingtext.Polic
eman:What’syourname,boy?Blackpsychiatrist:Dr.Poussiant.I
’maphysician.Policeman:What’syourfirstname,boy?Blackpsy
chiatrist:Alvin.Theword‘boy’maybeusedtoaddressamalei
nferior.Inaboveconversation,theformisusedtoaddressaphy
sician,whoisusuallyaccordedhighrespectintheUSandisadd
ressedas‘Dr.So-and-so’(Title+Surname).Insistentlyusingth
eform‘boy’,thewhitepolicemanshowshisracistcontemptofan
dprejudiceagainsttheblackpeople.2)Stylisticsmayhelpust
oacquirea‘senseofstyle’.Wehavealreadylearnedthatthek
eytoeffectivecommunicationistheabilitytouselanguageappr
o-priately.AnativespeakerofEnglishhasacquiredovertheyea
rsagreatdealofintuitiveknowledgeaboutlinguisticappropria
teness.Heknowshowtoadjusthisstyletodifferenttypesofsi
tuation:athomeorincourt,withfriendsorwithstrangers,wri
tingaloveletterorascholarlyessay.Ifwewishtocommunicat
einEnglishsuccessfully,wetooneedtodevelopa‘senseofsty
le’,‘asemi-instinc-tiveknowledgeoflinguisticappropriateness
and(moreimportantly)taboo,whichcorrespondsascloselyaspo
ssibletothefluentnativespeaker’s.Butthisawarenessofdiff
eringvarietiesofEnglishdoesnotcomeeasily.Muchtoourdis
–advantage,wehavenotbeenexposedtothevariouslanguageact
ivitiesinEnglish,inwhichanativespeakerisengageddaily.W
ecannothopetodevelopthissenseofstyleinthelongprocess
ofnaturalacquisitionasanativespeakerofEnglishmay.Stylis
ticsmayhelpspeeduptheprocessofacquisitionoftheability
byitssystematicdescriptionoflanguagevarieties,byitsempha
sisonpracticalanalysis,becausesuchanalysisisanenablingd
evice,which,onceacquired,willfacilitateone’ssensitivityto
languagevariation.3)Stylisticspreparesthewaytotheintri
nsicstudyofliterature.Inthestudyofliteraturetherearetw
ocomplementaryapproaches:extrinsicandintrinsic.Extrinsicst
udyattemptstointerpretaliteraryworkinthelightofitssoc
ialcontext,itsliterarytradition,anditsauthor’sbiographya
ndpsychology.Ontheotherhand,intrinsicstudyconcentrateson
theanalysisoftheliteraryworkitself,whosemediumislangua
ge.Literarylanguageisanotherexampleoflanguageinuse.Iti
snon-literarylanguagecreativelyexploitedinparticularcontex
t–literarygenres.Stylisticanalysiscanenhanceourunderstan
dingofthewaysinwhichimpressions,effectsandmeaningsarec
ommunicatedbylanguageinliterarywork.Questions1.Severalw
aysofaskingaboutthetimearelistedbelow.Pleaseidentifyth
eaddresser-addresseerelationshipandthepossibleoccasiononw
hicheachofthemisused.1)Excuseme,couldyoutellmetheri
ghttime,please?2)Whattimeisit,please?3)What’sthetime?
4)Time?5)Howmuchlongerhavewegot?6)Mywatchseemstoha
vestopped…(O’Donnel,W.R.&Todd,L.,VarietiesinContemporar
yEnglish,1980)2.ThefollowingpassageistakenfromErnestHe
mingway’swell-knownnovelForWhomtheBellTolls(Ch.13).Read
itcarefullyandcommentonthewriter’suseoflanguagefromyou
rintuitiveknowledgeofstyleandstylistics.(Forexample,does
thewriterusesimplelanguageorinvolvedlanguage?Doesthepa
ssagesounddirectorindirect?Why?)Becausenowhewasnotther
e.Hewaswalkingbesideherbuthismindwasthinkingofthepro
blemofthebridgenowanditwasallclearandhardandsharpas
whenacameralensisbroughtintofocus.Hesawthetwopostsa
ndAnselmoandthegypsywatching.Hesawtheroademptyandhes
awmovementonit.Hesawwherehewouldplacethetwoautomatic
riflestogetthemostlevelfieldoffire,andwhowillserveth
em,hethought,meattheend,butwhoatthestart?Heplacedth
echarges,wedgedandlashedthem,sunkhiscapsandcrimpedthem
,ranhiswires,hookedthemupandgotbacktowherehehadplac
edtheoldboxoftheexploderandthenhestartedtothinkofal
lthethingsthatcouldhavehappenedandthatmightgowrong?TH
EEND黄新祥,湖北经济学院外国语学院,2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥,湖北
经济学院外国语学院,2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥,湖北经济学院外国语学院,2
010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期Lectur
esonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistic
s黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国
语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylisticsa.I’msorrytotroubleyou,
butcouldIaskyoutoclosethedoorforme,please.b.Would
youmindclosingthedoor(please)?c.Icoulddowithoutthedra
ughtfromthatdoor.d.Shutthedoor,won’tyou.e.Shutthed
oor,willyou!f.Door!g.Wereyouborn(AmE:raised)inabarn?
h.Iknowalittleboywhoneverleavesthedooropen.黄新祥湖北经
济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylisticsTable1.Contextofsit
uationandspeaker’spossiblechoiceContextofsituationi.Sett
ingpublicprivateii.Speaker-hearerrelationshipd
istantintimateiii.Speaker’sintentiontorequest
tohinttopersuadetocommandtorebukeSpeaker’spo
ssiblechoice–(f)(d)–(h)–(d)(e)–(h)(a),(b),(d)
(c)(h)(e),(f)(g)黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStyli
stics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济
学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季
学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期Lectureson
Stylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥
湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院20
10年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期Lecture
sonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥,湖北经济学院外国语学院,2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥,湖北经济学院外国语学院,2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥,湖北经济学院外国语学院,2010年春季学期LecturesonStylisticsHuangXinxiangHubeiUniversityofEconomicsLecturesonStylisticsLecturesonStylistics黄新祥,湖北经济学院外国语学院,2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥,湖北经济学院外国语学院,2010年春季学期黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylisticsFigure1:SubdivisionsofModernStylisticsandtheirscopesModernStylisticsGeneralStylisticsLiteraryStylisticsVarietyFeaturesGenreFeaturesLiteraryTextStyleXuYouzhi(2005:2):黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics黄新祥湖北经济学院外国语学院2010年春季学期LecturesonStylistics |
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