Lecture 4: The text as the object of stylistic analysis. Plan 1. The definition of the text and its main features. 2. The elements of the text. 3. Foregrounding and its types. 4. The stylistic analysis of the text.
The definition of the text and its main features. The text is an integrated and coherent message which is arranged in a special way to preserve and reveal information. The main features of the text: 1. Integrity 2. Non-separability 3. Communicative aim
Communicative aim A text has got a message. It`s created for realization of some communicative aim. Its main function is to influence emotional, voluntary and logical sides of the reader`s personality. Besides, it has some aesthetic influence on the addressee. Thus, the text has a communicative aim.
Non-separability The question of non-separability is more complicated. It`s up to the author to decide whether he thinks his message is complete or not. The outer signs of non-separability are: A literary work is published as a separate book. There is a title before the story itself The word “end” after the story Some information about where and when the story was written
Integrity The inner integrity is made up by logical, topical (thematic), structural and pragmatic completeness. The content of the text is not a mere sum of the contents of its components. The inner integrity is provided by paradigmatical, syntagmatical and integrative relations between its components.
. Paradigmatical relations are relations between the elements of one and the same level based on associations (characters are grouped). Syntagmatical are relations between the elements of one level based on their succession or sequence (succession of events). Integrative are relations between the elements of different level (words -> sentences -> paragraphs). The lexicothematic net formed of words, semes and meanings serves as the main basis for the integrity of the text.
The elements of the text. The text once completed leaves no possibility for variation. Its plot, structure, composition help to preserve its integrity and completeness. A plot is a sequence of events in which characters are involved and through which theme and idea are revealed. Events are made up of episodes. An episode is a small action detail. Every event that represents a conflict has a beginning, development and an end.
The plot consists of exposition, story, climax and denouement. In the exposition the necessary preliminary details are made out (time, place, subject of the actions) Also some light may be cast on the circumstances that will influence the development of the action. The story is the part of the story that represents the beginning of the collisions and the collisions themselves. The climax is the highest point of the action. The denouement is the event(s) that bring the action to an end.
A literary work has a theme and a message. The theme of a literary work is a represented aspect of life which reveals the interaction of human characters under certain circumstances in some psychological conflict and social conflict. Different writers may depict one and the same theme from different points of view. A reader needs more effort to decode the author`s message – that is the idea of the literary work. The idea of the literary work is an underlined thought and emotional attitude to theme of the literary work, it is transmitted to the reader by the whole poetic structure of the literary work.
Foregrounding and its types. Foregrounding is a special organization of the context that focuses the reader`s attention on the most important elements of the message and establishes (устанавливает) meaningful relations between near and distant elements of the text.
The main functions of foregrounding: 1. It helps to set the hierarchy of elements and meanings within the text by giving some prominence to some of them; 2. It provides the text with coherence and integrity; 3. It makes the text easier to understand. It protects the message from hindrances and makes the process of decoding easier: the information is arranged in such a way that the most important information is foregrounded and the unknown elements stand clear from the text; 4. Creating the aesthetic context: it increases the expressiveness of the text both of figurative and non-figurative nature.
Types of foregrounding: 1. Convergence – is a combination of 2 or more stylistic devices performing one and the same stylistic function, aiming at one and the same stylistic effect
The Vanity Fair «He was such a sharp landlord, that he could hardly find any but bankrupt tenants; and such a close farmer as to grudge almost the seed to the ground» [Thackeray W. M. ; 2001: 76], «… the whole baronetage, peerage, commonage of England, didn`t contain a more cunning, mean, selfish, foolish, disreputable old man. That blood-red hand of Sir Pitt Crawley`s would be in anybody`s pocket except his own» [Thackeray W. M. ; 2001: 77].
2. Coupling - is appearance of similar elements in similar position. It helps to keep the inner integrity of the text and it may be observed in any length of the text. Coupling is typical for proverbs, clichés, set-expressions. Exp: Like father, like son.
3. Defeated expectations. Predictability or non -predictability of an element is relevant for stylistic analysis. Any speech flow with its elements following each other makes us ready for the next coming element. If there appears a low-predictable or unpredictable element our perception slows down and to overcome this resistance we are to make some effort. This low-predictable element gets some extra significance and becomes foregrounded. This effect can be observed at any level of the text (phonetic, lexical, syntactical, logical). Defeated expectations are mostly characteristic of humour and satire. It`s used in puns and paradoxes.
The stylistic analysis of the text The 1 st type: you form a certain hypothesis formulating the main theme or idea of the text under analysis, then – consider lexical, morphological, syntactical and other peculiarities of the text that`ll help you to support or refute your guesses. If your idea is refuted you change the hypothesis and start the procedure from the very beginning. The 2 nd type: at first you single out smth. peculiar in the arrangement of the text (stylistic devices, word choice, syntax), then you find some explanations that will finally lead you to the main theme and idea of the text. You look for some details that`ll support your idea.
Stylistic context – a part of the text interrupted by the low-predictable element. It`s built by the opposition between a stylistic device and its surrounding. The aim of the stylistic context is not to restrict the meaning of the word to one lexico-semantic variant but to add some new shades to that meaning. The stylistic context helps the word to realize 2 or more meanings simultaneously, build some additional connotations to achieve maximum stylistic effect.
There are 2 main types of narration: 1. The author`s narrative 2. The entrusted (1 st person) narrative – a kind of narration in which the author presents the events from the viewpoint of one of his characters. This viewpoint may coincide with the author`s point of view or it may contradict it.
Types of speech: 1. Interior speech. The interior speech of the personage allows the reader to peep into his mind. The reflection of mental processes presented in the form of interior speech necessarily undergoes some linguistic structuring to make it understandable because the main function of the text is communicative. In the extreme cases the necessity to make the text understandable is outshadowed by the author`s effort to portray disjointed, purely associative manner of thinking. In this case the interior speech is almost incomprehensive. It`s called “the stream of consciousness technique”.
2. Represented speech. It is a peculiar blend of the viewpoints and language spheres of the author and one of his characters. Represented speech Represented uttered speech Represented inner speech Shows the mental shows the character`s reproduction thinking of once uttered remark Represented speech differs from the interior speech in form. The interior speech is expressed by the 1 st person singular, the represented speech is rendered in the 3 rd person singular and it may have the author`s qualitative words.
Compositional narrative forms: 1. Narrative proper – is an account of event in the plot. It`s very dynamic. 2. Description – supplies some details of the appearance of people and things (description of place, time of action) 3. Argumentation – reveals the causes and effects of the personages behavior, presents their considerations upon moral, ethical, ideological and other issues.
