An Overview of Stylistics
1.1 The Nature of Stylistics
Stylistics is a borderline discipline between language and literature. It focuses on language use
in both literary and non-literary texts.
Stylistics looks at style in such dimension as:
1. Style as Choice: This considers style as the characteristic choices that a writer/speaker
makes in a text at the various levels of language description.
2. Style as Deviation: What is deviant ie. what does not conform to the 'standard' is said to
be stylistically significant.
3. Style as Situation: The situation is the context in which a text comes to life. This could
be physical, socio-cultural, pragmatic, etc.
4. Style as Temporal Phenomenon: This deals with the time of relevance of style. That is,
whether it is still in vogue or not (ancient or modern). A good example is Old English
versus Modern English.
5. Style as the Individual: This focuses on the specific features that are associated with
particular individuals i.e. writers' or speakers’ idiolects.
1.2 The Goals of Stylistics
To establish discourse peculiarities:
Stylistics studies the peculiarities that characterize the discourse of a writer, speaker, period,
people or genre.
To induce appreciation of discourses: Stylistics involves the appreciation of a discourse in
order to increase our enjoyment of the discourse.
To ascertain linguistic habits: An author's style is the product of a particular linguistic habit,
conditioned by some social, cultural and ideological environments.
2. Rhetoric and the History of Stylistics
● Rhetoric and stylistics have a deep-rooted history that dates back to ancient times.
● Both are integral parts of language and communication studies.
● Rhetoric, as an art of persuasion, was first formalized in ancient Greece, notably by
Aristotle in his work "Rhetoric".
● He defined it as the ability to "see the available means of persuasion" in a given
situation.
● Stylistics emerged around the 19th and 20th centuries Russian formalist approach to
literary meaning.
3. Influences: Analogists (Caesar) Vs Anomalists (Cicero)
CAESAR and the Analogists
● stressed regularity and system rules focused on facts and data their aim was to create
simple, clear and straightforward speeches other representatives were Seneca and
Tacitus.
CICERO and the Anomalists
● Aimed at the creation and development of 'Ornate Dicere' that is flowery language.
● Used unnatural syntactic patterns, sought for innovative often artificial sentence
structures.
● Created anomalies on all language levels.
● Due to their approach, where the true message and communicated content were
secondary to the form of presentation, Rhetoric was called the "mother of lies".
● Cicero built his theory of rhetoric on the distinction between three styles: high, middle
and low.
4. What is style?
It's the distinct voice that sets one writer apart from another, including word choice, sentence
structure, and literary devices.
● Norm: refers to the rules and conventions that most writers adhere to in a particular
language or genre.
● Individual Style: refers to the unique way a specific author writes.
● Functional Style: refers to the way of writing that is suitable for a particular purpose or
audience.
5. Denotation, Connotation, Lexical vs Stylistic Meaning
Denotation (Denotative) is the literal dictionary definition of a word.
Examples:
1. Take Note
- to write the important details of the session.
2. Rose
- it is a flower with thorns in its stem
Connotation is the underlying emotion or feeling associated with a word. Connotations can be
positive, neutral, or negative in their meaning.
Examples:
1. Take Note
- to always remember
2. Rose
- a symbol of beauty and love
Lexical refers to the meaning of a word as it is found in a dictionary or lexicon. It is the basic,
literal meaning of a word, as opposed to its connotations or figurative meanings. Examples:
1. Take care of
2. By the way
3. Traffic light
Stylistic Meaning is liable to change as it is affected by extralinguistic factors. These are the
things relating to the methods and techniques used in creating a piece of writing, music, or art.
Examples:
1. room (chamber)
2. tooth (dental)
3. try (endeavor)
6. Linguistic vs. Extralingual Contexts
Linguistic Context is the encirclement of a language unit by other language units in speech. It
includes information about the grammatical structure, words and phrases and their meaning in
relation to each other.
Types of Linguistic Context
1. Micro Context is the context of a single utterance (sentence).
Example:
"I need to change the battery in my watch."
2. Macro Context - is the context of a paragraph in a text.
Example:
"Despite being a common affliction, anxiety can be incredibly debilitating for those who
experience it. It can lead to a range of symptoms, including sweating, heart palpitations,
and difficulty concentrating. “
3. Mega Context - is the context of a book chapter, a story or the whole book.
Example:
The novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
Extralingual Context is formed by extralingual conditions in which communication takes place.
Example: The commands of a surgeon in an operating room, such as "scalpel", "pincers"
or "tampon", are understood by his assistants correctly and without any additional
explanations about what kind of tampon is needed.
Two Factors:
1. Physical Context - refers to the tangible and observable conditions in which
communication takes place.
2. Abstract Context - refers to the intangible and less observable factors that influence
communication.
7. Expressiveness vs Emotiveness
1. Expressiveness- refers to the author's skill in communicating their intended meaning in
a clear, vivid, or imaginative way. It's about how an author uses words, phrases, and
literary devices to express their viewpoint or to create a particular mood or atmosphere.
2. Emotiveness: This, on the other hand, refers to the ability of language to evoke
emotions in the reader. It's about how the words, phrases, or images in a text make the
reader feel.
8. Expressive Means, Stylistic Devices, and Functional Means in Language
a. Expressive Means: refers to the linguistic tools that an author uses to convey their
thoughts, emotions, or ideas effectively.
b. Stylistic Devices: refers to thespecific techniques that an author uses to create certain
effects in their writing such as literary techniques.
c. Functional Means in Language: refers to the ways in which language is used to fulfill
specific functions or purposes in a text.
Members
1. Alviola, James Francis L.
2. Balonio, Dexcie B.
3. Coronado, Merslyn M.
4. Gabas, April Joy P.
5. Lagunero, Laiza C.
6. Lingkod, Richel L.
7. Mocorro, Jean Christine Mae
8. Ragay, Maria Czarena Keith B.
9. Vargas, Ricki Mae R.
10. Villa, Ronalyn
11. Villamor, Sheralyn
