An introduction to stylistics

We know what language is and how it changes and varies according to circumstances. Linguistics is concerned with the science of describing language and showing how it works; stylistics is that part of linguistics which concentrates on variation in the use of language. The word stylistics, although not a stylish word, is somewhat connected. The French write la stylistique and Germans analyse die stylistik. The word 'stylistics' itself means the study of style, with a suggestion of a scientific or methodical study.

 

We know what language is in the sense that we can identify that I am using language right now, though when we think about it, there is perhaps something unusual about this language. As I sit at a desk in a summery suburb of Brighton, looking from time to time out of the window on a day more sunny that we usually have, to see the breeze stirring leaves upon the branches of trees, you are at another time and circumstance unknown to me, so the way in which we are communicating is not the most normal. In fact it is more abnormal than first thought, since I have amended the words I first wrote in Brighton, looking out from time to time from a different desk in a rather cold and blustery suburb of Eastbourne.

 

Within stylistics the preferred field of study is literature, but can also be other forms of written texts such as text from the fields of advertising, politics or religion for example. Stylistics is a distinctive term used to define the connections between the form and effects within a particular type of language. It focuses on the ways in which meaning is created through language in prose, using models, theories, frameworks and other analytical tools. It collects data based on lexical, syntactic, semantic and stylistic deviation of the prose, in order to collate together an explanation for a particular style of writing or linguistics. It also aims to explain how and why a text works in the way it does, concentrating on how we come from the words on the page to its meaning.

 

Stylistics aims to include most features of language; perhaps the most commonly studied are features of phonology, grammar, lexis, semantics, pragmatics and discourse. Stylistics also helps to provide useful tools and methods to allow stylisticians to conduct informed analysis of the ways in which meaning is created in texts by linguistic means.

 

Although the stylistic approach to text analysis may seem objective, it is important to note that in spite of stylisticians concern with severity, no stylistic analysis can be completely objective, as it will always be influence by numerous factors, such as stylisticians preference and the theory or hypothesis used for analysis or method of research.

 

It is also important to take into consideration that no study of style will ever be complete as there are always new styles of prose emerging, in turn meaning that there is always room for further analysis and explanation.

 

 

Imogen Stark