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Chapter nine
Language and literature
9.1 introduction
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The history of style
The definition of stylistics
The features of stylistics in different periods:
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
Remarks of 申丹：plural-heads developments
Different schools of stylistics compete for
development and new schools emerge now and
then.
9.2 some general features of the
literary language
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Features of literary language are displayed
in the following three aspects:
1. phonology
2. grammar
3. semantics
Literay language differs from non-literary
language in that the former is
foregrounded in the above three aspects.
The term “foregrounding”
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Definition
Deviation of language involves all
levels of language: vocabulary,
sound, syntax, meaning,
graphology,etc.
Repetition is also a kind of deviation.
Alliteration, parallism, and many
figures of speech are the examples
of foregrounding in literary language.
9.2.1 foregrounding and the
grammatical form
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In literary texts, the grammatical
system of the language is often
exploited, experimented with, or in
Mukarosky’s words, made to “deviate
from other, more everyday, forms of
language, and as a result creates
interesting new patterns in form and
in meaning”.
9.2.2 literal language and figurative
language
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The definitions of the two
Is non-literary language the same as literal
language?
Is literary language the same as figurative
language?
What the difference of the two groups of ideas?
Literary language
Non-literary language
Literal language
Figurative language
Trope
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It is another word for the figurative
use of language, which refers to
language used in a figurative way for
a rhetorical purpose.
Some forms of trope
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Simile
Metaphor
Metonymy
Synecdoche
Why people use language in a
figurative way?
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The figurative use of language has
the effect of making the concepts
under discussion more domestic and
acceptable. Readers can……
9.2.3 the analysis of literay
language
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Procedures we should follow when we analyze the
grammatical structure and meaning of a literary
text.
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The function of the figurative use of
language
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It might be to make the abstract
seem concrete; to make the
mysterious or frightening seem safe,
ordinary and domestic, or to make
the everyday usage seem wonderful
and unusual.
9.3 the language in
poetry
9.3.1 sound patterning
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Rhyme is salient feature of poetry.
End rhyme occurs at the end of a line in a
poem, the pattern is cVC. The last word of
a line has the same final sounds as the
last word of another line, sometimes
immediately above or below, sometimes
one or more lines away.
End rhyme is very common in some poetic
styles, and particularly in children’s poetry.
It is also a feature in plays and songs.
9.3.2 different forms of sound
patterning / different rhymes
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Internal rhyme:
Alliteration: the initial consonants are identical in
it (Cvc).
Assonance : it describes syllables with a common
vowel (cVc).
Consonance: it describes syllables with the same
consonants (cvC). It is also called half-rhyme.
Reverse rhyme: syllables sharing the vowel and
initial consonant, CVc, rather than the vowel and
the final consonant as is the case in end rhyme,
Cvc.
Pararhyme: two syllables having the same initial
and final consonants, but different vowels (CvC),
they pararhyme.
Repetition: two exactly same syllables.
9.3.3 stress and metrical patterning
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Stressed syllable
Unstressed syllable
Which syllable is stressed is decided by two
elements:
1.
2.
Rhyme: the repetition of a sound or sound
combination. (韵）
Rhythms （节奏）come out of the arrangment of
stressed and unstressed syllables.
When stress is organized to form regular rhythms,
the term used for it is meter. (韵律）
Units of meter are called feet. (音步）
The types of feet
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Iamb:
Trochee:
Anapest :
Dactyl:
Spondee:
Pyrrhic:
Lines with different numbers of feet
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Dimeter: a line with two feet.
Trimeter:
Tetrameter:
Pentameter:
Hexameter:
Heptameter:
Octameter:
9.3.4 conventional forms of meter
and sound
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Couplet
Quatrains
Blank verse
Sonnet
Free verse
Limericks
? What is the difference of blank
verse and free verse?
The poetic functions of sound and
metre
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Why do poets use sound and
metrical patterning in their poetry?
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9.3.6 how to analyse poetry?
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Areas of discussion should be covered
when we analyse poetry?
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2.
-a
-b
-c
-d
-e
-f
9.4 the language in fiction
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Three levels of discourse to account
for the language of fictional
prose( i.e. a novel or short story)
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At least there are six viewpoints to
analyse the discourse structure of a
fictional prose.
I-narrators/ the first person
narration
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叙述者以“我”的口吻说话，并且他本人
就是小说中的一个人物。如：The
Catcher in the Rye, Wuthering
Heights, Moby Dick.
Strong points of it ……
Weak points of it……
Third-person narration
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叙述者是故事的局外人，他谈到作品本身
的人物时，只呼其名或以“他”、“她”、
“他们”来称呼。如Tom Jones by
Henry Fielding
Schema-oriented language
Given and new information
deixis
9.4.2 speech and thought
presentation
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(1) speech can be presented in five
ways:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5) free indirect speech
examples
Thought presentation
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(2) thought can be presented also in
five ways.
As the effects associated with NRT,
NRTA or IT are roughly the same as
those associated with speech
presentation, attention will be
focused on the discussion of DT and
FIT.
Direct thought
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The usage of it
The difference of direct thought and
soliloquy.
Free indirect thought
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The typical effect of it……
The marked difference of FIS and
FIT
stream of consciousness writing
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Limited point of view of the thirdperson narration
The features of stream of
consciousness writing
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The most free version of DT
Highly elliptical sentence structure
……
Prose style
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Authorial style
Text style
9.4.4 how to analyse the language
of fiction
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9.5 the language in drama
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A play exists in two ways---- on the
page, and on the stage.
The different features of the two
types of play
9.5.1 how should we analyse
drama?
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Drama as poetry
Drama as fiction
Drama as conversation
9.5.2 analyze the dramatic
language
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turn quantity and length
exchange sequence
production errors
the cooperative principle
status marked through language
register
speech silence
9.5.3 how to analyze dramatic texts?
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9.6 the cognitive
approach to literature
9.6.1 theoretical background
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Three cognitive tools
Figure and ground
Image schemata
Cognitive metaphor
9.6.2 an example of cognitive
analysis