Файл: imoyak_Koksharova_lekcii_po_stilistike.pdf

e.g. I wouldn't mind him if he wasn't so conceited and didn't bore me, and bore me, and bore me." (E. Hemingway)

According to the place which the repeated unit occupies in a sentence (utterance), repetition is classified into several types:

·Anaphora – repetition of the first word or word-group in several successive sentences, clauses or phrases. Anaphora contributes greatly to creating a certain rhythm of the narrative.

e.g. I love your hills, and 1 love your dales. And I love your flocks a-bleating. (J. Keats)

·Epiphora – repetition of the final word or word-group.

e.g. I wake up and I'm alone, and I walk round Warlley and I'm alone, and I talk with people and I'm alone. (J. Braine)

The main function of epiphora is to add stress to the final words of the sentence.

·Anadiplosis (catch repetition) – repetition at the beginning of the ensuing phrase, clause or sentence of a word or a word-group that has occurred in initial, the middle or the final position of the preceding wordsequence.

e.g. With Benwick on my knee, I was then happy: happy at least in my own way.

·Framing, or ring repetition – repetition of the same unit at the beginning and at the end of the same sentence, stanza, or paragraph.

e.g. I cooled off where Frank was concerned; he didn't notice, but I cooled off (V. Pritchett);

How beautiful is the rain! After the dust and heat,

In the broad and fiery street In the narrow lane

How beautiful is the rain!

(H. W. Longfellow)

·Chain repetition presents several successive anadiploses – ...a, a...b, b...c, c. The effect is that of the smoothly developing logical reasoning.

e.g. A smile would come into Mr. Pickwick's face. The smile extended into laugh; the laugh into roar, the roar became general. (Ch. Dickens)

·Ordinary repetition has no definite place in the sentence and the repeated unit occurs in various positions – ...a, ...a..., a... Ordinary repetition emphasizes both the logical and the emotional meanings of the reiterated word (phrase).

e.g. She talked, in fact, and talked, and talked. (A. Berkley)

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·Successive repetition is a string of closely following each other reiterated units - ...a, a, a... This is the most emphatic type of repetition which signifies the peak of emotions of the speaker.

6.Enumeration is a stylistic device by which separate things, objects, phenomena, actions are named one by one so that they produce a chain, the links of which are forced to display some kind of semantic homogeneity, remote though it may seem.

e.g. "Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend and his sole mourner." (Ch. Dickens)

The principle production of these towns... appear to be soldiers, sailors, Jews, chalk, shrimps, officers, and dock-yard men.

7.Suspense (retardation) is arranging the matter of a communication in such a way that the less important, subordinate parts are amassed at the beginning, the main idea being withheld till the end of the sentence. Thus the reader's attention is held and his interest is kept up.

e.g. "Mankind, says a Chinese manuscript, which my friend M. was obliging enough to read and explain to me, for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw." (Charles Lamb)

Sometimes the conclusion of the suspended utterance goes contrary to the aroused expectations, a device often practised for humorous effects:

e.g. The little boy, whose heart was too full for utterance, chewing a piece of 'licorice stick he had bought with a cent stolen from his good and pious aunt, with sobs plainly audible and with great globules of water running down his cheeks, glided silently down the marble steps of the bank". (M. Twain)

8.Climax (gradation) is an arrangement of sentences (or homogeneous parts of one sentence) which secures a gradual increase in significance, importance, or emotional tension in the utterance.

e.g. Like a well, like a vault, like a tomb, the prison had no knowledge of the brightness outside.

e.g. Janet Spence's parlour-maid was... ugly on purpose ... malignantly, criminally ugly. (A. Huxley)

In climax we deal with strings of synonyms or at least semantically related words belonging to the same thematic group.

e.g. I am firm, thou art obstinate, he is pig-headed. (B.Ch.)

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The negative form of the structures participating in the formation of climax reverses the order in which climax components are used, as in the following example:

e.g. No tree, no shrub, no blade of grass that was not owned. (G.)

A gradual increase in significance may be maintained in three ways:

·logical – from the point of view of the concepts embodied; there is a logical widening of notions. e.g. Not only brute creatures, but men; nor they only, but likewise gods, yield to the violence of love.

·emotional and emphatic – gradation of emotional and emphatic tension. e.g. The first canvas caused a faint titter, the second a decided ripple of amusement, and by the time the final canvas was exhibited the crowd was laughing heartily. (A.J. Cronin)

·quantitative – a numerical increase (day by day, year by year). e.g. They looked at hundreds of houses; they climbed thousands of stairs; they inspected innumerable kitchens. (W.S. Maugham)

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto intensify of the utterance emotionally and logically;

Øthe actualise of the emotional intensity of the utterance;

Øto create an imagery characteristics of the personage;

Øto give a subjective evaluation of and the author's attitude to the object described;

Øto depict a phenomena dynamically.

9.Anticlimax is the reverse of climax. It may be of two types:

·first, it's an arrangement of ideas in ascending order of significance, so we speak about gradual drop in intensity: e.g. They walked upstairs ~ 5 flights. At the first landing they stopped and kissed; she was careful on the next landing; on the third more careful still. On the next she stopped halfway and kissed him fleetingly good-by. Finally it was good by with their hands and then the fingers slipping apart. (S. Fitzgerald)

·second, they may be poetical or elevated, but the final one, which the reader expects to be the culminating one, as in climax, is trifling or farcical. There is a sudden drop from the lofty or serious to the ridiculous. It's sudden break in emotive power. e.g. "This war-like speech, received with

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many a cheer, Had filled them with desire of flame, and beer." (Byron) e.g. He was inconsolable, for an afternoon.

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto convey a humorous effect;

Øto create a paradox.

10.Antithesis is based on relative opposition which arises out of the context through the expansion of objectively contrasting pairs.

e.g. A saint abroad, and a devil at home. (Bunyan)

e.g. Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. (Milton) e.g. They speak like saints and act like devils.

Antithesis emerges as a result of a contraposition of two or more words, the contraposed words being either antonyms, as in: brief – long, or contrastive in some of their meaning-components as in: wrath – friendship. Sometimes words generally not contrastive in meaning acquire this quality due to their contraposition as, for instance, Some people have much to live on, and little to live for", (O.Wilde)

Antithesis often goes along with other stylistic figures: anaphora, epiphora, alliteration, parallelism, chiasmus, in particular.

e.g. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the era of incredulity. (Ch. Dickens)

Antithesis is often observed on lower levels of language hierarchy, especially on the morphemic level where two antonymous affixes create a powerful effect of contrast:

e.g. Their pre-money wives did not go together with their post-money daughters. They were underpaid and overworked.

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto stress the contrast, the heterogeneity of the described phenomenon;

Øto rhythmically organise the utterance;

Øto emphasise the heterogeneous nature of the objects described.

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8.2. Syntactical stylistic devices based on the type of connection of the parts (asyndeton, polysyndeton, gap-sentence link).

The arrangement of sentence members, the completeness of sentence structure necessarily involve various types of connection used within the sentence or between sentences.

1.Asyndeton is a deliberate avoidance of conjunctions in constructions in which they would normally be used.

e.g. He couldn't go abroad alone, the sea upset his liver, he hated hotels.

As far as its stylistic role is concerned, asyndeton creates a certain rhythmical arrangement, usually making the narrative measured, energetic, and tense,

e.g. That's all I'm to do, all I want to do (D.Hammett);

e.g. Tree and hall rose peaceful under the night sky and clear full orb; pearly paleness gilded the building; mellow brown gloom bosomed it round: shadows of deep green brooded above its oak-wreathed roof (Ch. Bronte).

2.Polysyndeton - is an identical repetition of conjunctions: used to emphasize simultaneousness of described actions, to disclose the author's subjective attitude towards the characters, to create the rhythmical effect.

e. g. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. She had herself a rich ruby look, for what with eating and drinking, and shouting and laughing and singing her face was crimson and almost steaming. (J. Priestley)

These two types of connection are more characteristic of the author's speech.

3.Gap-sentence link – the second part of the utterance is separated from the first one by a full stop though their semantic and grammatical ties remain very strong. The second part appears as an afterthought and is often connected with the beginning of the utterance with the help of a conjunction, which brings the latter into the foregrounded opening position.

e.g. It wasn't his fault. It was yours. And mine. I now humbly beg you to give me the money with which to buy meals for you to eat. And hereafter do remember it: the next time I shan't beg. I shall simply starve. (S.L.)

Prison is where she belongs. And my husband agrees one thousand per cent. (T. C.)

This type of the connection is mainly to be found in various representations of the voice of the personage - dialogue, reported speech, entrusted narrative.

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8.3. Syntactical stylistic devices based on the peculiar use of colloquial constructions (ellipsis, aposiopesis, nominative sentences)

1.Ellipsis - is the omission of a word necessary for the complete syntactical construction of a sentence, but not necessary for understanding.

In contemporary prose ellipsis is mainly used in dialogue to reflect the natural omissions characterizing oral colloquial speech; in author's introductory remarks - to comment the speech of the characters.

It is the situational nature of our everyday speech which heavily relies on both speakers' awareness of the conditions and details of the communication act that promotes normative colloquial omissions. Imitation of these oral colloquial norms is created by the author through ellipsis, with the main function of achieving the authenticity and plausibility of fictitious dialogue. The stylistic function of ellipsis used in author's narration is to change its tempo, to connect its structure.

e. g. You feel all right? Anything wrong or what? If teenage baby-sitters typical, there's hope yet.

Being used in fiction, they result in achieving some stylistic effect by:

·giving speech characteristics, e.g. Not him, sir. Too pleased with himself. Some gentlemen can't - act... Too stiff. (A. Christie);

·emphasising some fact(s), e.g. The robbery Long Ago. Very valuable emeralds... The lady's made and the tweeny (A. Christie);

·imitating spontaneity, e.g. "Quick - in here." Poirot led the way into the nearest room... "And you - behind the curtain" (A. Christie).

2.Aposiopesis (Break-in-the narrative) is a sudden intentional break in the narration or dialogue, is a figure of speech based upon the aesthetic principle of incomplete representation. What is not finished is implied, the sense of the unexpressed is driven inside and the reader is expected to find it out for himself, the context of the situation being his guide. It reflects the emotional or/and the psychological state of the speaker: a sentence may be broken because the speaker's emotions prevent him from finishing it. Another cause of the break is the desire to cut short the information with which the sentence began. The graphic indication of an aposiopesis is, as a rule, a dash or dots.

The authors who refrain from being too outspoken often resort to this device. e. g. On the hall table there were a couple of letters addressed to her.

One was the bill. The other...

e.g. I'm sorry, Thomas. By the way, my name is Alden, if you care...

e.g. If you hadn't left your own people, your goddamned Old West berry, Saragota, Palm Beach people to take me on – (E. Hemingway)

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3. Nominative (one-member) sentences consist only of a nominal group, which is semantically and communicatively self-sufficient. In contrast with elliptical sentences, they have only one principal part, with or without words modifying it.

Isolated verbs, proceeding from the ontological features of a verb as a part of speech, cannot be considered one-member sentences as they always rely on the context for their semantic fulfillment and are thus heavily ellipticized sentences.

In creative prose one-member sentences are mostly used in descriptions (of nature, interior, appearance, etc.), where they produce the effect of a detailed but laconic picture foregrounding its main components; and as the background of dialogue, mentioning the emotions, attitudes, moods of the speakers.

Nominative sentences may produce the effect of:

·increasing the dynamism of narration, e.g. A remarkable woman – a dangerous woman. No waiting - no preparation. This afternoon - this very afternoon – with him here as witness... (A. Christie);

·acquainting the reader with the place or background of action, e.g. Three blocks more... Another three blocks. (D. Hammett)

8.4. Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Stylistic Use of Structural Meaning (rhetorical questions, litotes)

1.Rhetorical question is one that expects no answer. It is asked in order to make a statement rather than to get a reply. They are frequently used in dramatic situation and in publicist style.

e.g. What was the good of discontented people who fitted in nowhere? Is the day of the supernatural over? (A. Christie).

Rhetorical questions can often be found in modern fiction in the descriptions of the character's inner state, his/her meditations and reflections,

e.g. And then, like a douche of cold water, came the horrible thought, was she right? (A. Christie).

2.Litotes is a peculiar use of negative constructions aimed at establishing a positive feature in a person or thing.

e.g. He was not without taste ... It troubled him not a little ... Love overcomes no small things. He is not uncultured.

Usually litotes presupposes double negation. One through a negative particle (no, not), the other – through a word with negative meaning. Its function is to convey doubts of the speaker concerning the exact characteristics of the object or a feeling.

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e.g. He is no coward. – He is a brave man. He was not without taste. -

He's tasteful.

Litotes is especially expressive when the semantic centre of the whole structure is stylistically or/and emotionally coloured.

e.g. Her face was not unhandsome" (A.H.) or "Her face was not unpretty". (K.K.)

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto weaken positive characteristics of an object;

Øto express doubt/uncertainty as to the value or significance of the object described;

Øto create an ironic attitude to the phenomenon described.

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Lecture 9: Text

9.1.The text as a main language unit.

9.2.The literary text and its categories

9.1. The text as a main language unit

Comparatively not long ago the sentence was considered the highest level in the language hierarchy and the main communicative unit of speech. But not every sentence "expresses a completed thought". Though syntactically independent, it could be semantically bound with the previous context and could have no sense without it.

That is why another approach, focused on the text as the highest level of language hierarchy has gained in popularity. It's underlined that the language primarily exists in the text form, so the text is a linguistically meaningful primary language unit. Thus the text is a basis for any linguistic analysis, and smaller units, like sentences, only constitute it.

The definition of the text as a product of speech, the sequence of semantically coherent sentences, describes only the structure of the text.

More important is the communicative and pragmatic value of the text. With this in mind the Russian scholar Tourayeva defines the text as a number of logically and grammatically coherent sentences, which are able to convey particularly organized and directed information.

H. Glinz (the German scholar) gives such a definition "The text is a product of speech, created by the author with the intention of identical perception, and recorded for further identical influence usually, not on a singular recipient, but on some and even a great number of recipients".

Gindin S. suggested three types of text models:

·fixed/ rigid – in which the form and content are inflexible and fixed (applications, law documents, regulations, agreements, constitutions);

·usual – which have a certain permanent compositional scheme of components (thesis, reviews, newspaper commentaries, scientific papers);

·free/flexible – which are not subject to a strict modelling (literary fiction and publicist texts).

The text is a category, which is studied by many branches of Linguistics. Text linguistics investigates the structure and interrelation of textual categories, its aim is to develop/ work out text typology and to determine the place of a literary text in this typology, to define those textual categories

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which constitute a literary text, to establish the peculiarities of their functioning. Text linguistics aims at investigating the objective criteria concerning ways and means of constructing texts of different kinds and genres.

Text Interpretation is the assimilation of semantic, aesthetic and emotional information of any literary work by reconstructing (re-creating) the author's idea and reality apprehension.

9.2. The literary text and its categories

The literary texts are by definition fictional. A fictional text is an imaginative picture of reality and an artistic model of the outside world. The literary text is a mixture of reality and fiction, and as such it brings about an interaction between the given and imagined.

Every literary work is a result of the author's perception, apprehension and expression of the reality. A literary work emotionally and rationally influences the reader, due to its individual image bearing world's depicting by the author.

Text is a coherent whole which is distinguished by its structural, semantic, compositional and functional unity (and which is characterised by a certain set of categories/ text categories)

There isn't a complete and exhaustive list and description of text categories. Different linguists focus on different categories. We'll focus on the basic text categories relevant to text analysis discreteness, integrity, conceptuality, information, implicitness, modality, etc.

1. Discreteness deals with text formation of distinct parts. Discreteness is essential as it allows the reader to deal with the text

fragments of different size, thus giving an opportunity to follow the development of the plot, the changing of the viewpoints, the correlation of the themes. There are two types of discreteness:

Partitioning should not be mixed up with the compositional structure of the text. Partitioning is a spatial arrangement of its syntactical, graphical and logical units, it is dividing the text into chapters, parts and passages united by one idea. But the text, though built up of a succession of linear sentences, paragraphs and other fragments, is not a sum of its constituting elements. Text composition is a logical and aesthetic unity of the plot elements.

The plot elements which constitute the composition are the following:

·exposition,

·development of events (complication),

·climax,

·anticlimax,

·conclusion/denouement.

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The action of a literary text is usually divided into two parts: the rising action and falling action. During the rising action the author provides the exposition or background, introduces the characters, describes the scene (where, when) and sets the action in motion. It is usually to be found at the beginning of the story, but may also be interwoven in the narrative by means of flashbacks, so that the reader gradually comes up to the present situation.

Then the events develop (the complication begins). The main character, called the protagonist, encounters a conflict, a tension between him/herself and something else - the antagonist. The antagonist may be another character, a custom, or belief at odds with his/her own nature, an element in the physical environment or perhaps even an element in his/her own nature.

The tension or conflict increases as the story progresses; that is, the action "rises" until; a crisis, or turning point (climax), is revealed. Climax is the decisive moment on which the fate of the characters and the final action depend. It is the point at which the forces in the conflict reach the highest intensity.

After the crisis, the action changes to a falling action, in which the character either resolves the conflict or it changes in some way

The essential principle is that the action, the conflict and the crisis reveal to us something new about the character - an aspect or a truth that we were not aware of at the story's beginning.

The following diagram outlines the plot - the sequence of events - of a typical short story.

Not every story you read will conform exactly to this model. For example, not all the stories have a denouement. Some stories end right after the climax leaving it up to the reader to judge what will be the outcome of the conflict.

Every plot is an arrangement of meaningful events. No matter how insignificant or deceptively casual the events of the story may be, they are

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