Stylistics

Members

Jesa Mae Amas

Clarisse May Beloira
Christylle Louisse Catacutan
Ma. Claire Jamito
Mary May Lisondra
Aigie Sarmiento
Limbert Yaco

a. What do you think are the nature and goals of stylistics?

b. What is style and its three forms?
i. Norm
ii. Individual
iii. Functional

Sarmiento

Stylistics
- Stylistics is a branch of applied linguistics concerned with the study of style in texts,
especially, but not exclusively, in literary works. Also called literary linguistics,
stylistics focuses on the figures, tropes, and other rhetorical devices used to provide
variety and distinctness to someone's writing
- a branch of linguistics investigating principles and the results of selection and use of
lexical, grammatical , phonetic and other language use for the transfer of thoughts
and emotions under different circumstances of communication.

The difference between Stylistics and Literary Criticism

- literary criticism directs attention to the larger-scale significance of what is
represented in verbal art, stylistics focuses on how this significance can be related to
specific features of language, to the linguistic texture of the literary text.

Style
- A person’s distinctive language habits or the set of individual characteristics of
language use
- Themes, situations, characters, ideas

Nature of Stylistics
- Deals with the significance of the literary style, language of the literary style,
language of the writers, literary devices and techniques that writers employ.
- The nature of stylistics is that it always focuses on the language used in a particular
text, literary or non- literary texts. Stylistics looks at style in such dimension as:

● Style as Choice
● Style as a Deviation
 ● Style as Situation
● Style as a Temporal Phenomenon
● Style as the Individual

Amas

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
- Ex : Edgar Allan Poe’s Tell Tale Heart
- True! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why
will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses — not
destroyed — not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I
heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell.
How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily — how calmly I
can tell you the whole story.

Style as a Deviation
- What does not conform to the standard and is said to be stylistically significant
- Can also be at any level of language description
- Ex : E.E Cummings
- Deviating from the usual way
- It's not a mistake, it's a stylistic choice
- anyone lived in a pretty how town
- E. E. Cummings - 1894-1962
anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did.

Catacutan

Style as a Situation
- This situation is the context in which a text comes to life
- Could be physical, socio-cultural, pragmatic, etc.
- Ex : Manifesto to Certain Filipino by Jose Rizal
- "MANIFESTO TO CERTAIN FILIPINOS"
by José Rizal

Fellow countrymen: Upon my return from Spain I learned that my name was being
used as a rallying cry by some who had taken up arms. This information surprised and
grieved me but thinking that the whole affair was finished, I refrained from commenting on
something that could no longer be remedied. Now, rumors reach me that the disturbances
have not ceased. It may be that persons continue to use my name in good or in bad faith; if
so, wishing to put a stop to this abuse and to undeceive the gullible, I hasten to address
these lines to you so that the truth may be known.
Style as a Temporal Phenomenon
- This deals with the time of relevance of style, that is whether it is still in vogue or not
- Ex : Dollhouse by Henrik Ibsen

-
- Depending on trend
- Ex : epistolaries
- https://www.wattpad.com/user/astraiaaa
- Lost in the mail
- Friends Series
- University Series by Gwy Saludes
- City Series by Syljan Sison
- City of Love Series by Raine Martinez
- Seniors Series by AlluringLi
- Costa Leona Series by Jonah Pacala (Jonaxx)

Stylistic as an Individual
- This focuses on the specific features that are associated with particular individuals
- Their genre and focus
- Ex: Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

- Ex :
- Ali Hazelwood Novels
- Sue Grafton’s The Alphabet Series
- C.S. Lewis’ Books on Theology
- Suzanne Collins’ Dystopian
Goals of Stylistics

Beloira

1. To establish discourse peculiarities

- Stylistics studies the peculiarities that characterise the discourse of a writer, speaker,
period, people or genre. Hence, stylistics could bring out certain features of Soyinka’s
works which are different from Osofisan’s works.
- It could help identify the British English style different from American English Style|

2. To induce appreciation of discourses

- Stylistics involves the appreciation of a discourse in order to increase our enjoyment
of the discourse. It opens the reader's mind to the form and function of a particular
discourse. Stylistics are sensitive to different linguistic manipulations and choices in a
given text. It unfolds the beauty in authorial and characters’ linguistic choices and
opens the reader or listener’s mind to the aesthetic appeals of such choices.

Yaco

3. To ascertain linguistic habits

- An author’s style is the product of a particular linguistic habit, conditioned by some
social, cultural and ideological environments. The objective of stylistics is to help
determine the linguistic background and orientation of a given writer or speaker.
Thus, according to Charman (1971), every analysis of style can be seen as an
attempt to discover the artistic principles that underpin the choice a writer has made.

Style and its Three Forms

1. Norm

Norm – is an invariant, which should embrace all variable phonemic, morphological,

lexical, and syntactic patterns with their typical properties circulating in the language at a
definite period of time.

Jamito

2. Individual

Individual style implies the peculiarities of a writer’s individual manner of using language
means to achieve the effect he desires. The speech of any individual, which is characterized
by particular elements, is called an idiolect that reveals his breeding and education. A writer
will try to avoid showing his idiolect, instead he would leave room for genuine SD. Alexander
Block once said that the style of a writer is so closely connected with the content of his soul
that the “experienced eye can see the soul through his style.”The components of individual
style are the following:
 ● composition of phrasal units
● rhythm and melody of utterances
● system of imagery
● preference for definite stylistic devices and their correlation with neutral language
media
● interdependence of the language means employed by the author and those
characteristic to his personages.

Lisondra

3. Functional Style

Functional Style is a system of interrelated language means serving a definite aim in

communication. It is the coordination of the language means and stylistic devices which
shapes the distinctive features of each style and not the language means or stylistic devices
themselves.

1) Official(documents and papers);

2) Scientific (brochures, articles, other scientific publications);
3) Publicistic (essay, public speech);
4) Newspaper style(mass media);
5) Belles-lettres style(genre of creative writing);

1) scientific style
- is employed in professional communication to convey some information. Its most
conspicuous feature is the abundance of terms denoting objects, phenomena and
processes characteristics of some particular field of science and technique.
- Also precision clarity and logical cohesion.

2) Official style
- is the most conservative one. It uses syntactical constructions and archaic words.
Emotiveness is banned out of this style.

3) Publicistic style
- is famous for its explicit pragmatic function of persuasion directed at influencing the
reader in accordance with the argumentation of the author.

4) Newspaper style
- special graphical means are used to attract the reader's attention.

5) Belles-lettres style
- the richest register of communication besides its own language means, other styles
can be used besides informative and persuasive functions, belles-lettres style has a
unique task to impress the reader aesthetically.