英语文体学要略.docx
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英语文体学要略.docx
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Chapter1Introduction
DefinitionofStylistics
Areasonablestartforabookofthisnatureistobrieflyexaminehowthefieldhasbeendefined.Walesdefinesstylisticssimplyas"thestudyofstyle"(1989:
437).Thisdefinitionisclearandconcise,butitdoesnottellusmuchaboutthefielduntilwehavehadagooddiscussionofwhatstyleis.Widdowsonprovidesamoreinformativedefinition:
"Bystylistics,ImeanthestudyofliterarydiscoursefromalinguisticorientationandIshalltaketheviewthatwhatdistinguishesstylisticsfromliterarycriticismontheonehandandlinguisticsontheotheristhatitisessentiallyameansoflinkingthetwo"(1975:
3).Hefurtherexplainsthedefinitionfromthemorphologicalmake-upofthewordstylistics,pointingoutthatthe'styl'componentrelatesstylisticstoliterarycriticism,andthe'is-tics'componenttolinguistics.Leechholdsasimilarview.Hedefinesstylisticsasthe"studyoftheuseoflanguageinliterature"(1969:
1),andconsidersstylisticsa"meeting-groundoflinguisticsandliterarystudy"(1969:
2).FromwhatWiddowsonandLeechsay,wecanseethatstylisticsisanareaofstudywhichstraddlestwodisciplines:
literarycriticismandlinguistics.Ittakesliterarydiscourse(text)asitsobjectofstudyanduseslinguisticsasameanstothatend.Thusdefined,wemayexcludetwokindsof'borderline'studies,workwhichisinsomewayslinguisticallyorientedbutnotdirectlyrelatedtoliteraryinterpretation(e.g.computer-orientedstudyofauthorship),andworkwhichisclaimedtodealwithstylebutdoesnotmakeuseoflinguisticfactsandtheory.
EmergenceofStylisticsasanInterdisciplinaryFieldofStudy
Thedatewhenstylisticsbecameafieldofacademicinquiryisdifficulttodetermine.However,itmaybesaidthatitwasnotuntilthelate1950'sthatstylisticsbegantoadvancewithsignificantandmeasurablestrides.In1958,thefirstconferenceonstylisticswasheldatIndianaUniversity,U.S.A.andelevenyearslater,anotherconferencewhichattractedspecialistsfromovertencountrieswasconvenedinBellagio,Italy.Thepaperspresentedanddiscussedatbothconferenceswerecharacterizedbysystematicandobjectiveanalysisofthelanguageofliteratureandwerelaterpublished.Thisgreatlyhelpedstylisticstogainpopularityandledtoagrowinginterestinthesubject.Consequently,anumberofmorecoherentandsystematicworksofbothatheoreticalandapracticalnaturewerepublishedinthefield.Now,stylisticshasdevelopedintoaninterdisciplinaryareaofstudywithexplicitaimsandeffectivetechniques,andpromisestoofferusefulinsightsintoliterarycriticismandtheteachingofliterature.
EnglishstylisticshasdevelopedonthebasisoftraditionalrhetoricwhichmaybetracedbacktoAristotle'stime.Nevertheless,itwasthe'threerevolutions'insocialsciences(Lott,1988)thatbroughtittotherighttrackandbroughtaboutitspresentstatus.
Oneoftherevolutionsisthemodernistmovementinartandliterature,lastingfrom1890tothebeginningofWorldWarⅡ.Toagreatextent,therevolutionwasabreakwithtraditioninthewaysitinfluencedboththecontentandlanguageofliterature.Fromthismovementonwards,creativewritersexercisenorestraintsonthesortoflanguagetheyuseintheirwritings.Inmodernistliterature,readerscouldfindmuchtosurprisetheminrespectofcontentaswellaslanguage.
Anotherrevolutionistheoneinliterarycriticismwhichhashadaprofoundandradicalinfluenceonstylistics.Inthe1930's,thecriticaltheorist,I.A.Richards,expressedhisdissatisfactionwiththosecriticsofhisage.Inhisopinion,theyseemedtobetoomuchpreoccupiedwithliterature'sroleineducatingthereadersmorallyandemotionally.Hecalledforamoreobjectiveapproachtoliterarytexts.Inhisfamousbook:
PracticalCriticism(1929),heestablishedanapproachtopoetrywhichdependedonclosereadingofthetext.HewasjoinedbyscholarssuchasWilliamEmpsonwhoseworkSevenTypesofAmbiguity(1930)hadawideinfluenceandpromotedtheconceptofambiguityasadefininglinguisticcharacteristicofpoetry.Theirinsistenceonclosereadingofthetextandanalysisofthelanguageofthetextcoincideswiththestartingpointofstylistics,thusgreatlyfacilitatingitsdevelopment.
Thethirdrevolutiontookplaceinlinguisticsciencestartinginthelate1950's.ItwasinitiatedbytheworkofNoamChomskyandMichaelHallidaywhosethoughtsweredirectlyorindirectlyinfluencedbythelinguistictheoryofF.deSassure,thefounderofmodernlinguistics.Chomsky'stransformational-generativegrammarrevealedasystemofsurfacestructureanddeepstructureinEnglishsyntax.Italsobroughtaboutanewawarenessofhowthehumanmindisinnatelyabletosystematizerealitybytheuseoflanguage.Halliday'ssystemicgrammarhasofferedmanyinsightsintothemethodsoftextanalysis,particularlyinrespectofcohesionbetweensentencesindiscourse.Theworkdoneinthefieldoflinguisticsinthelastthreedecadeshasprovidedthestylisticianswitheffectiveandcompletelynewtoolsforinvestigatinglanguageinuseinbothliteratureandothertypesofdiscourse.
Theabove-mentionedrevolutions,intheirownways,haveplayedafundamentalroleinshapingstylisticsintotheimportantinterdisciplinaryfieldofacademicstudythatitistoday.
TwoImportantAssumptionsofStylistics
Thefirstimportantassumptionofstylisticsisthatliteratureismadeoflanguage.ThispointismostexplicitlymadebyHallidayinthe"Foreword"hewritesforCummingsandSimmons'bookLanguageandLiterature(1983).Hestates:
"Perhapsthefirststeptowardsbecomingastylistician...willbetorecognizethatliteratureismadeoflanguage"(1983:
vii).Hallidayobservesthatthewayliteratureismadeoflanguageisnotanalogoustothewaythatarchitectureismadeofsteelandconcrete;steelandconcreteareformlessuntilthebuilderimposessomepatternonthem.Butlanguageisalreadymeaningfullystructuredandsystematized.Acloseanalogytothewayliteratureismadeoflanguage,accordingtoHalliday,wouldbethewaythatdancingismadeofthemovementsofthebody.Dancingstartsfromeverydayactionslikeleaping,balancingandreachingandthesetooarenotformless.Theyarealreadyhighlyorchestrated,'meaningful'patternsofbodilymovement.Butoutofthesepatterns,furtherpatternscanbecreated;anditiswhenwebecomeawareofthesesecondorderpatternsthatwecometorealizesomethingwecalldancingorbodilyart.
Sinceliteratureismadeoflanguage,linguisticswhichisthescientificstudyoflanguageshouldinprinciplebemosthelpfultousinanalyzingandinterpretingliterarytexts.
Thesecondassumptionofstylisticsisjustasbasicandimportantasthefirstone.Thatistheassumptionthatliteratureisatypeofcommunicativediscourse.Notmanystylisticianshavemadethepointexplicitly,butWiddowsonhasgivenaclearstatement:
"apieceoflanguageuse,literaryorotherwise,isnotonlyanexemplificationoflinguisticcategories...butisalsoapieceofcommunication,adiscourseofonekindoranother"(1975:
29).Thispointisnotdifficulttosee.Astudyofanyliterarytextwillrevealthatstylisticfeaturesdonotoccurrandomlyinitbutformpatterns.Inotherwords,theyhavecohesion.Theyareunderstood,therefore,notsimplywithreferencetothelinguisticsystem,butalsowithreferencetothecontextinwhichtheyappear.
Theassumptionthatliteratureisatypeofdiscourseallowsstylisticianstoaccountforliterarytextsnotjustintra-sententiallybutalsointer-sententially,notonlyintermsoflinguisticfactsandtheorybutalsointermsofsociolinguisticfactsandtheory.Thus,itispossibletostudyliteraturefromawiderdimension.
TheGoals,ComponentsandProcedureofStylisticInquiry
Hallidayidentifiestwopossiblegoalsofstylisticinquiry.Thefirstis"toshowwhyandhowthetextmeanswhatitdoes"(1983:
x).Thisgoal,accordingtoHalliday,ismoreimmediateandunquestionablyattainable.Inattainingthegoalitisnecessarytodescribeandinterpretthetext,intheprocessofwhichwemayfindthatwehavedonemorethansimplyshowwhythetextmeanswhatweknewitmeantalready.Wemayhavediscoveredfreshmeaningswehadnotpreviouslybeenawareof,thoughwemayhavebeenreactingtothemunconsciously.Toattainthisgoalmeansthatweshouldbeabletosay"IcandemonstratewhythistextmeansallthatIsayitmeans"(1983:
x).
ThesecondgoalHallidayputsforwardismuchmoredifficulttoattain.Itisthatof"showingwhythetextisvaluedasitis"(1983:
x).This,Hallidaysays,mightbetakenasanaimthatischaracteristicofstylistics,asdistinctfromtextanalysisingeneral.Toattainthisgoalmeansthatoneshouldbeabletosaywhythistextisgoodandthatoneisnot,orwhythistextisbetterthanthatone,orwhythistexthasbeenreceivedintothecanonofmajorliteraryworks.Thisisindeedachallengingtask,sinceatthemomentweknowverylittleofhowvalueinheritsinthetext.ThisisperhapswhyLeechandShortsaythat"itiswithinterpretationthatstylisticsismoredirectlyconcerned"(1981:
13).
Nowletusconsiderthecomponentsandtheprocedureofstylisticanalysis.Indiscussingthegoalsofstylisticinquiry,wemighthaveobservedthatastylisticanalysisinvolvesdescription,interpretationandevaluation.Whendiscussingcomponentsofliterarycriticism,Shorthaspointedout:
"thethreepartsarelogicallyordered:
Description←Interpretation←Evaluation"(1984:
15).Descriptionislogically
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