Файл: 1. Stylistics as a branch of linguistic science. Subject, methods, related research and the differences between them.docx

31. Stylistic characteristics of the language of drama.

The language of drama

· The third subdivision of the literary style

Parameters

1) Kind of speech

Drama is almost entirely dialogue

Stage remarks, directions (the author`s voice) (elements of description)

We can study the language of drama similarly to spoken discourse

Characteristics of drama

· Imprecision

· Tendency towards exaggeration and intensification

· Neologisms

· Use of repetitions, hedges (phrases that allow us to soften smth, express uncertainty about smth), adjacency pairs (remarks which always elicit a response) (ex – plans about holidays – reaction, what time is it? – thank you)

· The l-ge of drama is never an exact reproduction of norms of colloquial language

· Drama is a variety of the written language --- balance between spoken and written variety!

The solution – any kind of the departure from established norms is possible before it destroys the aesthetic appeal of the work of literature (before a person says – it`s not literature)

L-ge of drama is stylized

Texts are written in the literary style unless they have a particular aim in mind to use non-literary forms

The degree of stylisation can vary

The 16^th century (Shakespeare) – the influence of renaissance --- dramatic texts contain a lot of colloquial language (there are extracts with no poetic conventions)

The 18^th century – the enlightenment –-- characters are using literary language, even lower classes, dr texts don`t reflect the speech of the day

Galperin: «The place demonstrates to the greatest degree the conventional character of any literary work»

Signs of stylisation

1) People are supposed to talk to one another before the audience as if the audience is not there (we look at the stage of through the glass) --- the violation of this principle creates a certain aesthetic effect

2) The dialogue contrary to its spontaneous and fleeting character is meant to last and to be reproduced by numerous different actors each of whom could interpret the same dialect differently (the dialogue retains its form, but not its essence) (different presentation of dialogue – vivid and boring)

3) The individualisation of characters` speech necessarily serves to reveal the inner psychological and intellectual traits of characters (the villains have different height of voice – to show the character)

4) The text still needs to perform the aesthetic and cognitive functions despite these features and modifications

Features of dramatic texts which reveal stylisation:

· The dialogue is characterised by the redundancy of information (the remarks are longer, a lot more info is verbalised than in spoken speech)

· In spoken discourse we can find signals of attention (well, ok, I see, oh dear), it doesn’t happen in drama (they listen to the speaker attentively, but don`t say anything)

· The dialogue can be closer to monologue (ex - the remark of one person includes several rhetorical questions during the dialogue ----emotionally charged monologue)

· In real conversation we omit as much as possible, connection between the phrases through the context; in dramatic texts a lot of remarks contain these connectives

Drama is meant to be seen or performed, not read.

Types of texts in drama:

· Primary text (most of the info is communicated through it – dialogues)

· Secondary text(the list of characters, the author’s description of the characters, stage remarks, description of the scenery)

Sometimes the author may introduce a narrator as a figure (the content of the play can be given through the words of the narrator – Shakespeare, R and J)

· The soliloquy

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(a special kind of monologue – when the character is alone on the stage) (ex- Hamlet’s to be or not to be)

· The aside (character says something to oneself or the words can be spoken to another character, can be directed to the public – like secret that is shared to the public)

Stylistic devices are found in dramatic texts + variety of lexical, grammatical, phonetic means which are subordinate to the author`s intentions

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32. The publicist style. General functions and critical discourse.

Mass communication discourse

Includes several varieties:

• 
  Newspaper language
  
• 
  Magazine publishing (journalise)
  
• 
  The l-ge of TV and radio programs
  
• 
  The l-ge of religion
  

What unites them?

Social functions:

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  The informative function
  
• 
  Transmission of information
  
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  Warning surveillance (mass communication discourse try to prevent something negative, a watchdog)
  
• 
  Interpretation function (aims at shaping public opinion and views)
  
• 
  Joining together of different elements of society (different groups of people are brought together to pursue a common aim – green peace)
  
• 
  The socialisation function (transmission of values)
  
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  The entertaining function (we enjoy the language, humour, sarcasm)
  

They do NOT have to be performed simultaneously

Publicist style (spoken variety): oratory and speeches + radio and TV commentary

Written variety:

· essays, book reviews

· journalistic article (political, social, economic, literary, satirical issues)

GALPERIN :

The publicistic styte of language became discernible as a separate style in the middle of the 18th century.

Falls into three varieties :

Ø spoken variety, namely, the oratorical substyle;

Ø the radio and TV commentary ;

Ø The other two substyles are the essay (moral, philosophical, literary) and journalistic articles (political, social, economic) in newspapers, journals and magazines. Book reviews in journals, newspapers and magazines and also pamphlets are generally included among essays.

The general aim of publicistic style is to exert a constant and deep influence on public opinion, to convince the reader or the listener that the interpretation given by the writer or the speaker is the only correct one and to cause them to accept the point of view expressed in the speech, essay or article not merely through logical argumentation but through emotional appeal as well.

This brain-washing function is most effective in oratory, for here the most powerful instrument of persuasion, the human voice, is brought into play.
publicistic style has features in common with the style of scientific prose, on the one hand, and that of emotive prose, on the other. Its coherent and logical syntactical structure, with an expanded system of connectives' and its careful paragraphing, makes it similar to scientific prose.

Its emotional appeal is generally achieved by the use of words with emotive meaning, the use of imagery and other stylistic devices as in emotive prose; but the stylistic devices used in publicistic style are not fresh or genuine. The individual element essential to the belles-lettres style is, as a rule, little in evidence here. This is in keeping with the general character of the style.

The manner of presenting ideas, however, brings this style closer to that of belles-lettres, in this case to emotive prose, as it is to a certain extent individual.
publicistic style is characterized by brevity of expression.

In essays brevity sometimes becomes epigrammatic.

ü The oratorical style of language is the oral subdivision of the publicistic style. It has already been pointed out that persuasion is the most obvious purpose of oratory.
oratorical style belongs to the written variety of language, though it is modified by the oral form of the utterance and the use of gestures.

Certain typical features of the spoken variety of speech present in this style are:

o direct address to the audience (ladies and gentlemen, honourable member(s),

o the use of the 2nd person pronoun you, etc.),

o sometimes contractions (I’ll, won’t, etc.)and the use of colloquial words.

This style is evident in speeches on political and social problems of the day, in orations and addresses on solemn occasions, as public weddings, funerals and jubilees, in sermons and debates and also in the speeches of counsel and judges in courts of law.

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The stylistic devices employed in oratorical style are determined by the conditions of communication. If the desire of the speaker is to rouse the audience and to keep it in suspense, he will use various traditional stylistic devices. But undue prominence given to the form may lead to an exaggerated use of these devices, to embellishment.
Repetition can be regarded as the most typical stylistic device of English oratorical style. As the audience rely only on memory, the speaker often resorts to repetitions to enable his listeners to follow him and retain the main points of his speech. Repetition is also resorted to in order to convince the audience, to add weight to the speaker’s opinion.
Questions are most frequent because they promote closer contact with the audience. The change of intonation breaks the monotony of the intonation pattern and revives the attention of the listeners.

ü Essay

As a separate form of English literature, the essay dates from the close of the 16th century. The name appears to have become common on the publication of Montaigne’s “Essays”, a literary form created by this French writer. The essay is a literary composition of moderate length on philosophical, social, aesthetic or literary subjects. It never goes deep into the subject, but merely touches upon the surface. Personality in the treatment of theme and naturalness of expression are two of the most obvious characteristics of the essay. An essay is rather a series of personal and witty comments than a finished argument or a conclusive examination of any matter.

The most characteristic language features of the essay:

1. 
   brevity of expression, reaching in good writers a degree of epigrammaticalness
   
2. 
   the use of the first person singular, which justifies a personal approach to the problems treated
   
3. 
   a rather expanded use of connectives, which facilitate the process of grasping the correlation of ideas,
   
4. 
   the abundant use of emotive words,
   
5. 
   the use of similes and sustained metaphors as one of the media for the cognitive process. It is in the interrelation of these constituents that the real secret of the essay substyle consists.
   

Some essays, depending on the writer’s individuality, are written in a highly emotional manner resembling the style of emotive prose, others resemble scientific prose, and the terms review, memoir or treatise are more applicable to certain more exhaustive studies.

ü Journalistic articles

Irrespective of the character of the magazine and the divergence of subject matter—whether it is political, literary, popular-scientific or satirical, all the already mentioned features of publicistic style are to be found in any article.

Functions of publicist style:

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  · persuading (shaping public opinion)
  
• 
  · conveying information
  
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  · expressive (expression of emotions and attitudes of the addressor)
  
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  · manipulative (manipulation of public opinion – negative connotation (for sb`s specific gain, the audience is often not aware of it)
  
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  · directing (exerting influence on behaviour – getting the public to vote, people are invited to buy telephones)
  
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  · phatic (maintaining contact – pronouns (we), phrases (thank you for having me, reference to background knowledge)
  
• 
  · aesthetic (creating an aesthetic effect – can be studied from the point of view of their linguistic
  

Critical discourse

Refers to evaluation in general (negative + positive evaluation): reviews

Features:

o Provides judgement

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  - Evaluation (the work is impressive, horrible)
  
• 
  - Functional assessment (whether smth is adequate, inadequate for a purpose) (the students will find this book useful)
  
• 
  - Correctional (certain pages of the book may be augmented, the book must be seen as an essay in sociology, not linguistics)
  
• 
  - interpretation (John Blogg – Mr Blogg has written a scholarly and entertaining text = provide characterisation)
  

o Argument (is needed to support judgement (it is so because))

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Demonstration:

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  - citation
  
• 
  - Examination
  
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  - Classification
  
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  - Comparison of details
  

o Affective element (words with connotations, words with emotional overtones)

o Stylistic devices (lexical – metaphors, similes, oxymoron, antithesis, hyperbole, litotes)

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