This book deals with the study of style in language, how styles can be recognized, and their features. It examines how style is used in literary and non-literary texts, and how familiarity with style is a matter of socialization. The author also discusses the relationship between text and discourse, the production and reception of meaning as a dynamic contextualized interaction, the question of perspective and the variable representation of reality, and how stylistics can complement literary criticism. The final chapter deals with social reading and ideological positioning, including some thoughts on feminist stylistics and critical discourse analysis.
Readership: Teachers, trainee teachers, students of linguistics and literature, and teacher educators. Ideal for undergraduate university courses and pre-reading on MA courses.
"… the book undoubtedly offers a valuable and practical guide to the subject matter.- Patrick Studer, University College, Cork, Ireland"
"The argument is well illustrated with commentary, sometimes detailed, on several poetic and prose texts, which provides insightful observations on textual features. - Applied Linguistics Journal"
Preface Section 1 Survey 1: The concept of style Features of style: a newspaper headline Style as motivated choice Style in context Style and persuasive effect Conclusion 2: Style in literature Text type and style Text type and function Conclusion 3: Text and discourse The nature of text The nature of discourse Textual and contextual meaning The headline revisited The context of literary discourse The communicative situation in literary discourse Conclusion 4: Perspectives on meaning The double meaning of perspective Perspective in narrative fiction Stylistic markers of perspective and positioning Deixis Given and new information Ideological perspective Conclusion 5: The language of literary representation Perspective in third-person narration Speech and thought representation Conclusion 6: Perspectives on literary interpretation Literary criticism Interpreting a complete poem Substantiation by analysis Literary interpretation revisited Conclusion 7: Stylistics and ideological perspectives Social reading and ideological postioning Incorporation of literary criticism into linguistic criticism? Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) Conclusion Section 2 Readings Section 3 References Section 4 Glossary
