Stylistics as a branch of linguistics. The problem of stylistic research

Narrator types

  An “Overt” narrator is one who refers to him/her in the first person (I, we), one who directly or indirectly addressees the narrator, one who offers readers friendly exposition whenever it is needed, one who exhibits a discoursal stand towards characters and events, especially in his/her use of rhetorical figures, imagery.

A “Covert” narrator – he/she is one who neither refers to him or herself nor addressees any narrates, one who has a more/less “neutral” (non-distinctive) voice and style, one who is sexually indeterminate, one who does not provide exposition even when it is urgently needed. One who doesn’t interfere, one who lets the story events unfold in their natural sequence and tempo, one whose discourse fulfils no obvious phatic, appellative or expressive functions.

Genette’s narrative types

Genette’s two basic types of narratives are:

1. Homodiegetic narrative.

In a homodiegetic narrative the story is fold by a (homodiegetic) narrator who is presented as a character in the story (a text is homodiegetic if among its story-related-action sentences there are some that contain first-person pronouns (I did this. I saw this. etc), indicating that the narrator was at least a witness to the events depicted).

2. Heterodiegetic narrative

In a heterodiegetic narrative the story is fold by a (heterodiegetic) narrator who is not present as a character in the story (a text is heterodiegetic if all of its story-related-action sentences are third-person sentences (She did it, this was what happened to him, etc.)).

Lanser’s rule

In the absence of any text-internal clues as to the narrator’s sex, use the pronoun appropriate to the author’s sex; i.e. assume that the narrator is male if the author is male, and that the narrator is female if the author is female respectively.

 

7.  ‘Voice Markers’ that project a narrative voice. Stanzel’s (proto-)typical narrative situation. Main aspects of first-person narration. Basic features of authorial narrative

“Voice markers” that project a narrative voice

1. Content matter – appropriate voices for sad and happy, comic and tragic subjects (though precise type of intonation never follows automatically);

2. Subjective expressions – expressions (or “expressivity markers”) that indicate the narrators’ education, his/her beliefs, convictions, interests, values, political and ideological orientation, attitude towards people, events and things.

3. Pragmatic signals – expressions that signal the narrator’s awareness of an audience and the degree of his/her orientation towards it.

Stanzel’s (proto-)typical narrative situations

1. A first-person narrative is told by a narrator who is present as a character in his/her story; it is a story of events she/he has experienced him/herself, a story of personal experience,

The individual who acts as a narrator (narrating I) is also a character (experiencing I) on the level of action.

2. An authorial narrative (heterodiegetic overt) is fold by a narrator who is absent from the story, i.e. does not appear as a character in the story. The authorial narrator tells a story involving other people. An authorial narrator sees the story from an outsider’s position, iften a position of absolute authority that allows her/him to know everything about the story’s world and its characters.

3. A figural narrative (heterodiegetic covert plus internal focalization) – the specific configuration of a heterodiegetic covert narrative which backgrounds the narrator and foregrounds internal focalization.

The technique of presenting something from the point of view of a story by an internal character is called internal focalization.

The character through whose eyes the action is presented is called an internal focalizer.

Figural narrative is a narrative which presents the story events as seen through the eyes of a third-person internal focalizer.

The narrator of a figural narrative is a covert heterodiegetic narrator hiding behind the presentation of the internal focalizer’s consciousness, especially his/her perceptions and thoughts.

Because the narrator’s discourse closely mimics the focalizer’s voice its own vocal quality is largely indistinct. One of the main effects of internal focalization is to attract attention to the mind of the reflector-character and away from the narrator and the processes of narratorial mediation.

The full extent of figural techniques was first explored in the novels and short stories of 20^th century authors such as Henry James, Franz Kafka, Dorothy Richardson, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and many others.

 

8. Scene and summary as narrative modes. Description and commentary as narrative modes

Narrative Modes

• Showing. In a showing mode of presentation, there is little or no narratorial mediation, overtness (очевидность) or presence. The reader is basically cast in the role of a witness to the events.
• Telling. In a telling mode of presentation, the narrator is in overt control (especially durational control) of action presentation, characterization and point-of-view arrangement.
• Scene/scenic presentation. A showing mode which presents a continuous stream of detailed action events. Durational aspect: isochrony (story time and discourse time are mapping (отображать)).
• Summary. A telling mode in which the narrator condenses a sequence of action events into a thematically focused and orderly account. Durational aspect: speed-up.

Supportive Narrative Modes

• Description. A telling mode in which the narrator introduces a character or describes the setting. Durational aspect: pause.
• Comment/commentary. A telling mode in which the narrator comments on characters, the development of the action, the circumstances of the act of narrating, etc. Durational aspect: pause.

 

9. Semantics, semasiology, onomasiology, their links to stylistics

Stylistics and other linguistic disciplines

As is obvious from the names of the branches or types of stylistic studies this science is very closely linked to the linguistic disciplines philology students are familiar with: phonetics, lexicology and grammar due to the соmmоn study source.

Stylistics interacts with such theoretical discipline as semasiology. This is а branch of linguistics whose area of study is а most complicated and enormous sphere that of meaning. The. term semantics is also widely used in linguistics in relation to verbal meanings. Semasiology in its turn is often related to the theory of signs in general and deals with visual as well as verbal meanings.

Meaning is not attached to the level of the word only, or for that matter to оnе level at all but correlаtеs with all of them - morphemes, words, phrases оr texts. This is one of the most challenging areas of rеsеаrсh since prасtiсally all stylistic effects are based оn the interplay between different kinds of mеаning оn different levels. Suffice it to say that their are numerous types of linguistic meanings attached to linguistic units, such as grammatical, lexical,1ogical, denotative, connotative, emotive, evaluative, expressive and stylistic.

Onomasiology (or onomatology) is the theory of naming dealing with the choice of words when naming or assessing some object or рhеnоmеnоn. In stylistic analysis we often have to do with а transfer of nominal meaning in а text (antonomasia, metaphor, metonymy, etc.)

The theory of funсtionаl styles investigates the structure of the national linguistic space - what constitutes the literary language, the sublanguages and dialects mentioned more than оnсе already.

Literary stylistics will inevitably overlap with areas of literary studies suсh as the theory of imagery, literary genres, the art of composition, etc.

Decoding stylistics in many ways borders culture studies in the broad sense of that word including the history of art, aesthetic trends and even information theory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Tropes (brief outline: definition, classification). Figures of quantity

Trope is a rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words, i.e. using a word in a way other than what is considered its literal or normal form. Tropes comes from the Greek word “tropos” which means a “turn”. We can imagine a trope as a way of turning a word away from its normal meaning, or turning it into something else.

Tropes include: epithet, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, periphrasis, personification, simile, etc.

Epithet is an adj. or an adjective phrase appropriately qualifying a subject (noun) by naming a key or important characteristic of the subject.

Semantics-oriented epithet classification by prof. I.Screbnev: 1. metaphorical epithet (lazy road, ragged noise, унылая пора), 2. Metonymical (brainy fellow), 3. Ironic.

Structural characteristics of epithets: 1. Preposition, one-word epithet (a nice way); 2. Postposition, one-word or hyperbation (the eyes watchful); 3. Two-step (immensely great); 4. Phrase (a go-to-hell look); 5. Inverted (a brute of a dog, a monster of a man).

Metaphor is a transference of names based on the associated likeness between two objects, on the similarity of one feature common to two different entities, on possessing one common characteristic, on linguistic semantic nearness, on a common component in their semantic structures. e.g. ”pancake” for the “sun” (round, hot, yellow); e.g. ”silver dust” and “sequins” for “stars”

Metonymy is a transference of names based on contiguity (nearness), on extralinguistic, actually existing relations between the phenomena (objects), denoted by the words, on common grounds of existence in reality but different semantic (V.A.Kucharenko). e.g. ”cup” and “tea” in “Will you have another cup?”;

Oxymoron is a combination of two semantically contradictory notions, that help to emphasise contradictory qualities simultaneously existing in the described phenomenon as a dialectical unity (V.A.Kucharenko). e.g. ”low skyscraper”, “sweet sorrow”, “nice rascal”, “pleasantly ugly face”.

Periphrasis is a device which, according to Webster’s dictionary, denotes the use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter and plainer form of expression. e.g. The lamp-lighter made his nightly failure in attempting to brighten up the street with gas. \[= lit the street lamps\] (Dickens)

Personification is a metaphor that involves likeness between inanimate and animate objects (V.A.Kucharenko). e.g. ”the face of London”, “the pain of ocean”;

Simile is an imaginative comparison of two unlike objects belonging to two different classes on the grounds of similarity of some quality (V.A. Kucharenko).e.g. She is like a rose.

Figures of Replacement (Tropes) are divided into two classes:

Figures of quantity which are hyperbole or overstatement, i.e. exaggeration and meiosis or understatement, i.e. weakening.

Figures of quality which are metonymy, metaphor, irony.

Figures of quantity

Hyperbole is a stylistic device in which emphasis is achieved through deliberate exaggeration (V.A. Kucharenko). Hyperbole is a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration of a feature essential (unlike periphrasis) to the object or phenomenon (I.R. Galperin). It does not signify the actual state of affairs in reality, but presents the latter through the emotionally coloured perception and rendering of the speaker. e.g. My vegetable love should grow faster than empires. (A. Marvell); e.g. I was scared to death when he entered the room. (J.D.Salinger)

Meiosis deliberately expresses the idea, there less important than the action is. Meiosis is dealt with when the size, shape, dimensions, characteristic features of the object are intentionally underrated. It does not signify the actual state of affairs in reality, but presents the latter through the emotionally coloured perception and rendering of the speaker. e.g. ”The wind is rather strong” instead of “There’s a gale blowing outside”; e.g. She wore a pink hat, the size of a button. (J.Reed)

 

11. Tropes. Figure of quality

Trope is a rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words, i.e. using a word in a way other than what is considered its literal or normal form. Tropes comes from the Greek word “tropos” which means a “turn”. We can imagine a trope as a way of turning a word away from its normal meaning, or turning it into something else.

Tropes include: epithet, metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, periphrasis, personification, simile, etc.

Epithet is an adj. or an adjective phrase appropriately qualifying a subject (noun) by naming a key or important characteristic of the subject.

Semantics-oriented epithet classification by prof. I.Screbnev: 1. metaphorical epithet (lazy road, ragged noise, унылая пора), 2. Metonymical (brainy fellow), 3. Ironic.

Structural characteristics of epithets: 1. Preposition, one-word epithet (a nice way); 2. Postposition, one-word or hyperbation (the eyes watchful); 3. Two-step (immensely great); 4. Phrase (a go-to-hell look); 5. Inverted (a brute of a dog, a monster of a man).

Oxymoron is a combination of two semantically contradictory notions, that help to emphasise contradictory qualities simultaneously existing in the described phenomenon as a dialectical unity (V.A.Kucharenko). e.g. ”low skyscraper”, “sweet sorrow”, “nice rascal”, “pleasantly ugly face”.

Periphrasis is a device which, according to Webster’s dictionary, denotes the use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter and plainer form of expression. e.g. The lamp-lighter made his nightly failure in attempting to brighten up the street with gas. \[= lit the street lamps\] (Dickens)

Personification is a metaphor that involves likeness between inanimate and animate objects (V.A.Kucharenko). e.g. ”the face of London”, “the pain of ocean”;

Simile is an imaginative comparison of two unlike objects belonging to two different classes on the grounds of similarity of some quality (V.A. Kucharenko).e.g. She is like a rose.

Figures of Replacement (Tropes) are divided into two classes:

Figures of quantity which are hyperbole or overstatement, i.e. exaggeration and meiosis or understatement, i.e. weakening.

Figures of quality which are metonymy, metaphor, irony.

Figures of quality

Metaphor is a transference of names based on the associated likeness between two objects, on the similarity of one feature common to two different entities, on possessing one common characteristic, on linguistic semantic nearness, on a common component in their semantic structures. e.g. ”pancake” for the “sun” (round, hot, yellow); e.g. ”silver dust” and “sequins” for “stars”

Metonymy is a transference of names based on contiguity (nearness), on extralinguistic, actually existing relations between the phenomena (objects), denoted by the words, on common grounds of existence in reality but different semantic (V.A.Kucharenko). e.g. ”cup” and “tea” in “Will you have another cup?”;

Irony is a stylistic device in which the contextual evaluative meaning of a word is directly opposite to its dictionary meaning. The context is arranged so that the qualifying word in irony reverses the direction of the evaluation, and the word positively charged is understood as a negative qualification and (much-much rarer) vice versa. The context varies from the minimal – a word combination to the context of a whole book. e.g. It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one’s pocket.

Irony can be of three kinds: verbal irony is a type of irony when it is possible to indicate the exact word whose contextual meaning diametrically opposes its dictionary meaning, in whose meaning we can trace the contradiction between the said and implied (e.g. She turned with the sweet smile of an alligator. (J.Steinbeck) (V.A. Kucharenko); Dramatik irony  happens when a reader or viewer knows more information that a character in book or in a movie; Situational irony is a kind of joke that is against you or situation.

 

12. The structure of metaphor. Types of metaphor

Metaphor is a transference of names based on the associated likeness between two objects, on the similarity of one feature common to two different entities, on possessing one common characteristic, on linguistic semantic nearness, on a common component in their semantic structures. e.g. ”pancake” for the “sun” (round, hot, yellow)

The expressiveness is promoted by the implicit simultaneous presence of images of both objects – the one which is actually named and the one which supplies its own “legal” name, while each one enters a phrase in the complexity of its other characteristics.

The wider is the gap between the associated objects the more striking and unexpected – the more expressive – is the metaphor.  e.g. His voice was a dagger of corroded brass. (S. Lewis); e.g. They walked alone, two continents of experience and feeling, unable to communicate. (W.S.Gilbert).

Metaphors, like all SDs can be classified according to their degree of unexpectedness. Thus metaphors which are absolutely unexpected, i.e. are quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors. Those which are commonly used in speech and therefore are sometimes even fixed in dictionaries as expressive means of language are trite metaphors, or dead metaphors. Their predictability therefore is apparent and they are usually fixed in dictionaries as units of the language (I.R. Galperin); prolonged metaphor is a group (cluster) of metaphors, each supplying another feature of the described phenomenon to present an elaborated image (V.A.Kucharenko).

The constant use of a metaphor, i.e. a word in which two meanings are blended, gradually leads to the breaking up of the primary meaning. The metaphoric use of the word begins to affect the dictionary meaning, adding to it fresh connotations or shades of meaning. But this influence, however strong it may be, will never reach the degree where the dictionary meaning entirely disappears.

How metaphor works (according to Leikoff and Johnson)

Source domain is a realm with the help of which the imagianary and verbal representation are made. Taken from the Source Domain (область-источник) images and words are applied to a Target Domain (область-цель).

Types of metaphors (according to Leikoff and Johnson)

1. Oriental metaphors (up and down, front and back, in and out, near for, etc.)

2. Antological metaphors, associate with activity motions – personification

3. Structural metaphors (argument is war, life is a journey, etc.)

 

 

13. Syntagmatic semasiology. Semantic figures of  co-occurrence (general remarks on classification)

Semantic Figures of Co-occurrence

1. Figures of Identity

a. simile; b. quasi-identity; c. replacers

2. figures of inequality

a. specifiers; b. climax; c. anti-climax; d. pun; e. zeugma; f. tautology; g. pleonasm

3. Figures of contrast

a. oxymoron; b. antithesis

As distinct from syntagmatic semasiology investigating the stylistic value of nomination and renaming, syntagmatic semasiology deals with stylistic functions of relationship of names in texts. It studies types of linear arrangement of meanings, singling out, classifying, and describing what is called here 'figures of co-оссuгrеnсе', bу which term combined, joint арреаrаnсе of sense units is understood.

The interrelation of semantic units is unique in аnу individual text.

Yet stylistics, like any other branch of science, aims at generalizations.

The most general types of semantic relationships саn bе reduced to three. Меаnings саn bе either identical, or different, оr else opposite. Let us have а more detailed interpretation.

1.Identical meanings. Linguistic units co-occurring in the text either have the same meanings, or аrе used аs nаmеs of the same object (thing, phenomenon, process, property, etc.).

2. Different meanings. The correlative linguistic units in the text аrе perceived as denoting different objects (phenomena, processes, properties).

3. Opposite meanings. Two correlative units аrе semantically polar. The meaning of one of them is incompatible with the meaning of the second: the one excludes the other.

The possibility of contrasting notions stand in nо logical opposition to each other (as do antonyms long - short, young - old, uр - down, etc.).

As for the second item discussed (difference, inequality of co-occurring meanings), it must bе specially underlined that we are dealing here not with аnу kind of distinction or disparity, but only with cases when carriers of meanings are syntactically and/or semantically correlative. What is meant here is the difference manifest in units with homogeneous functions.