STYLISTIC STUDIES AND THE
NOTION OF STYLE
CHAPTER II
STYLISTIC STUDIES AND THE NOTION OF STYLE : AN OVERVIEW
The systematic study in stylistics was initiated
more scientifically by many scholars such as,
Malinowski
(1923), Zoltan (1970), O'Donnel (1974), Leech (1981), Kumar
(1987),
etc.
Many
scholars
have
differentiated
distinguished stylistic studies in many ways.
scholars
are
convinced
relationship between
social
and
and
the
style
psychological
interlocutors.
language
the goal
and
and
Most of the
attested
its
factors
the
close
association with
related
to
the
Leech and Short take a different position
when they say ' literary
explicitly,
strongly
and
of
artistic
stylistics has implicitly or
explaining the
function'
relation between
(1981:13).
Artistic
function of the language takes the shape of style either in
the hands of the speaker or in the hands of the writer.
Chafe (1979) viewed and related style with communication of
messages.
While analysing the communicative
quality of
the messages they distinguish the spoken messages from the
written messages.
The
argument
is
that
spoken mode of
discourse, because of its association with direct context
and
locale' stylistically differs from the written mode of
18
discourse which cuts across time and space and it is
considered
to
be
highly
decontextualized.
Consequently
both these modes of communication differ in their stylistic
exposition.
Eventhough
style
is
always
associated
with
society, language use, context etc. one cannot isolate the
major role played by an
individual
in style.
It
is the
individual his talents, his capacity to use the language in
social situations - who plays a pivotal role in creating
various styles across social contexts. It is appropriate to
note at this juncture the notion of creativity in language
proposed by Chomsky:
'the distinctively human ability to
express
and
new
expressions
terms
of
to
thought,
instituted language,
understand
within
the
entirely
framework
of
new
an
a language that is a cultural product
subject to laws and principles partially unique to it and
partially reflections of general properties of mind'.
Further he distinguishes the creative aspect of
use into three categories namely,
language which is innovative
(ii)
(i)
language
normal
use of
normal use of language
which is free from the control of detectable stimuli,
either external or internal
is
coherence
(Chomsky,
and
1968:11).
its
and (iii)
appropriateness
Thus,
an
19
language use which
to
individual
the
as
situation
a
language
speaker has a major role to play in bringing out various
styles in a language.
In accordance with the views of the scholars and
their observation about the language users in a society,
one can come to a conclusion that every person has his/her
own
perception
about
the
style
and
consequently
the
expression differ.
The word style is used in
specialised ways
behaviour,
and
dressing,
means
adopted
general
by
speech pattern,
a
to denote
person,
writing
etc.
his
In
otherwords each and every individual has his/her own style
of speaking,
wearing dress,
walking and doing things.
According to the Oxford dictionary (vol.x.
1970) the word
'style' indicates "a kind, sort, or type, as determined by
manner of composition or
appearance"
kind,
sort,
construction,
or by outward
manner of writing or speaking.
Though from a lay man's point of view, the word style is
defined as indicated above, in practical life the style of
a particular person whether
it
is
his
speech,
writing,
walking or behaviour is distinguished through certain
parameters and subsequently the society formulates certain
unmarked rules and demarcates the style of one person from
the style of the other person.
Since the parameters for
defining style is unmarked , the term style is recognised
20
by people with different outlooks and it depends on the
frames of mind also.
In otherwords one can identify the
writing style of a person and distinguish his style from
the writing style of another person
own
perception
about
style.
in accordance with his
Identification
of
the
parameters related to various styles is based mainly on the
sensitivity of the observer and also on certain stylistic
intuitions on the part of the person who observes or tries
to identify the style of the
other.
The term style looses
its value and strength if one has difficulty in identifying
variations
on
the
basis
of
the
clearly
parameters.
Having observed the existence of variants both
in the spoken and written variety of
the
identified
same
language
Hockett defines style as follows:
'Roughly speaking,two utterances in the
same
language which convey approximately
the
same
information
but
which
are
different in their linguistic structure
can be said to differ in style'
(Hockett
1958:665)
One can associate the word style with writing
only.
On
the basis
of
the
21
arguments
given
above,
the
written style of various
into consideration
the
authors can be identified, taking
idiosyncratic
forms
of
usage the
particular author incorporates in his/her writings.
These
peculiar features of the language as used by the writers
can
be
author.
quantified
to
assess
the
specific
style
of
the
This type of scientific approach to the study of
style is termed as
stylistics'.
In a nutshell one can say
that modern stylistics is a systematic, scientific study of
the patterns of
language
use
appearing
in
a
variety of
texts created by many authors or a single author.
language
has
a
systematic
acceptable
structure
Every
and
any
attempt to deviate from these systematic structural norms
of that particular language will not be normally accepted
by
the
speakers
of
that
language.
But
creations it is possible to have a deviant
without following the
structural
Language use has more
societal
norms
of
in
literary
language use
the
language.
and contextual
relevance
whereas language structure is decided only by grammatical
or structural factors.
The
function of language use' is
the result of constant interaction between the 'structure
of the language' and the
language use' which is context
bound as stated earlier.
22
Language structure
Context
compatibility
Language use
Style
Language function
Written
Oral
Z
\
Societal
As
Documentation
explained in the diagram, 'language use'
context sensitive, it should have a compatible
with
the
unique
language
feature
structure and every use
inbuilt in it which is the
particular exposition.
as 'verbal art'.
interaction
has
its
own
style
of
the
Aesthetic use of language is termed
Verbal art can be identified or
both in oral as well as in written expressions.
reflects
both
'literature'
'aesthetics' and 'beauty' in the
or
for that matter it can be
in
observed
Verbal art
works
any
verbal
tremendous
expert
feelings
art
in
versatality
author
the
hands
of
an
expert
by
the
an
finer
sentences
involving
native expressions, culture specific features of
language,
various
and emotions of human minds
etc.
assumes
and potentiality and there
can expose through his writings
of
other
piece of literary work such as novels, short stories,
This
is
metaphors and
idiomatic expressions are
23
employed
in the verbal art and this gives a tremendous scope for the
study of stylistics and the identification and formulation
of stylistic features with reference to any writings under
study.
This brings in the characterization of style on
linguistic
principles.
Theoretically
speaking,
the
totality of verbal art or the verbal art of a particular
work together constitute literature.
branch
of
Applied
linguistics
importance and hence
But stylistics as the
receives
in modern,
considerable
linguistics the term
linguistic stylistics' was evolved (Crystal
1969:314
concept
e'.
of
and
Davey
The main reason for the development of the
linguistic
stylistics'
is
the
general
theoretical awareness among the researchers that stylistics
is a sort of linguistic activity in the sense that both
linguistics and stylistics deal with language variation at
different
levels..
When we
are
concerned
with
language
variation, the domains of language use and the phenomenon
of
contextualization
inevitable
and this
relationship between
of
linguistic
consequently
stylistics'
items
establishes
and
become
a
close
sociolinguistics'.
The unequivocal commonness between these two disciplines
can be perceived through the concept contextualization
related to
literary style' and concept of
related to sociolinguistics (Gargesh 1990).
social meaning'
Social meaning
is perceived through the variety of speech made by member
24
of
a
society
situations.
in
In
accordance
other words
with
social
the
various
meaning
is
social
obtained
through the functionality of the language and style which
vary
from situation
context.
to
situation
or
from
context
to
The style here includes both verbal and nonverbal
expositions.
It
is
with
this
perspective
as
the
main
focus, several scholars consider stylistics as an immediate
branch of sociolinguistics.
Kumar (1988) claims that style
can be viewed from two perspectives.
The broader view of
style is in consonance with sociolinguistic principles, and
the narrower view of style is restricted to the literary
corpus.
Widdowson (1975) states stylistics as
the study
of the social function of language and is a branch of what
has come to be called sociolinguistics.
claims,
stylistics
and
Spi lner
sociolinguistics
are
(1974)
indeed
concerned with the same problem of utterances conveying the
same information and having the same semantic value,
differing
either
information...
or
in
in
some
some
additional
information
but
aesthetics
qualifying
speaker as to his membership in some social group...
the
while
accepting the fact that style has a considerable role to
play in the context or in a social group, one can derive
different semantic representations of a single utterance on
the basis of the context which may be socio-cultural
linguistic.
For
instance,
the
25
following
three
or
sentences
give different meanings depending upon the context and the
relationship between the speaker and the hearer.
i.
you go to the city today.
ii.
will you go to the city today.
iii. can you go to the city today.
The first sentence may be an assertive one, the
second and the third may mostly question the ability or the
willingness of the addressee.
Variation
in the
use
of
various
utterances
leading to the perception of style can arise due to three
parameters.
They are:
i.
Speech community
ii.
Discourse and
iii. Individual.
The
relationship
between
these
three
broad
grounds of style can be seen as follows:
Speech community,
are the primary source
Discourse and the Individual
for the creation
of various styles
and these three primary components can be seen in both oral
and written media.
26
2.1. Speech Community
The
language
of
a
speech
community
shows
dialectal variations the standard dialect and the regional
dialect and societal variations. This societal variations
of style may be differentiated between the social dialects.
That is,
every social dialect has certain identifying
features on the basis of the choice of the lexical items,
deviant
phonological
features
etc.
The
style
here
encompasses the components specified above and the overall
use of language which probably function as the demarcating
feature for identifying one variety of style from another.
This
stylistic variation
or
variation
in
the
use
of
language depend upon social parameters such as caste and
class.
Each caste within a speech community in Indian
context has its own specialised expression,
language use
and this can be verified through the sounds, lexical items
each caste groups makes use of in their speech.
factor controlling the variation
thereby
it has
some
connection
Class is a
in
language
use
with
style.
Class
established on the basis of economy and education.
and
is
Taking
education as a point of reference, one could establish that
the way in which illiterates use language is different from
the
way
in
which
literates
or
educated
groups
use
the
language i.e. language style differs on the basis of one's
education.
27
LOWER OFFICIAL
TOWARDS
HIGHER OFFICIAL
MALE TO MALE
PEER GROUP
OFFICIAL
HIGHER OFFICIAL
TOWARDS
LOWER OFFICIAL
FEMALE TO
FEMALE
SOCIAL
LOWER CASTE
TOWARDS
HIGHER
SOCIAL
HIERARCHY
DEROGATORY USE
SON
TO
FATHER
HIGHER CASTE
TOWARDS
LOWER
FATHER
TO SON
KIN RELATION
BETWEEN
FEMALES
OTHER
RELATIONS
All these further has some attestation with
economy.
That is,
the lower literacy with lower economy
has different stylistic features when compared to the lower
literacy with higher economy.
with
lower
economy.
economy
and
Similarly, little education
little
education
higher
Also with higher education with higher economy
and higher education with lower economy.
style
with
and
language
use
varies
on the
The linguistic
basis
of
these
parameters which in turn have concordance with the higher
parameters for stylistic variations discussed earlier such
as caste,
standard dialect versus regional dialects etc.
All these sociolinguistic aspects and the language use of a
society can be brought in the written media by the writers.
In order to attest these, one has to adopt various styles
as propounded by the language users in the society.
ability of the writer,
with the
individual
no doubt,
style
of
the
This
should have concurrence
author.
In
order
to
effectively achieve this, the author has to follow several
techniques.
The next parameter one can adopt to bring in
the style of an observed within a speech community can be
through discourse.
2.2. Discourse
Communication in general centres around the main
focal
components
of
communication'
28
namely
addresser,
addressee, reference and the code used for the purpose of
communication.
Consequently the discourse can be speaker
centered, hearer centered, reference centered and code
centered. The study of literary style focuses any one of
these approaches.
style
is
person.
In the speaker centered approach,
exposed
by
quoting
the
specific
style
the
of
a
In the hearer centered approach, style is stacked
mainly on the emotional effect on the hearer,
whereas, the
reference centered approach is mainly concerned with the
relationship
between
represents.
the
style
and
the
subject
In any stylistic study the above mentioned
types of theoretical formulations of style cannot
segregated.
totality
Rather,
of
stylistic
it
style.
analysis
they will
This
is
invariably
be combined to
because
of
starts
with
the
be
form the
fact
discourse
that
and
' language does not occur in stray words or sentences, but
in connected discourse'
(Harris 1952).
scholars
(1972),
like
Van
Dijk
Subsequently many
Halliday,
M.
A.
K.
and
Hasan, R. (1976) and De Beaugrande (1980) attempted to find
out a systematic link or connection within a given text.
These
connections
or
links
can
be
references,
substitutions, ellipses and lexical relations (Halliday and
Hasan).
Hendricks (1976:36) has given an account of style
as viewed
"stylistics
from
linguistic
aims
at
point
of
view.
characterising
29
He
a
opines
writer's
systematically
transcend
recurring
any
one
choices
given
in
language
text".
use,
which
Discourse
analysis
generally concentrates on the aspect of cohesion.
That is,
the connectivity between the sentences found in the text.
Subsequently
the
stylistic
study
always
aims
at
the
cohesive aspect of the given text.
2.2.1. Style of discourse
The
style
of
discourses
can
be
broadly
classified as poetic, dramatic and narrative styles.
study
of
the
style
of
a
discourse
aims
to
study
The
those
aspects of written discourse which produce aesthetic effect
among the
written.
readers.
Discourse
can be
either oral
In both the cases there should be a context.
or
In
oral discourse the context is spontaneous and the discourse
is
also
spontaneous.
As opposed
to
this,
in
written
discourse, the context is created along with the message by
the author at an appropriate time.
author
lies
in creating
written discourse.
a
more
The efficiency of the
natural
environment
for
A stylistic study of written discourse
thus takes into account the following:
i.
Genre used in discourse.
ii.
Use
of
the
personal
pronouns
significance in the discourse.
30
and
its
iii. Dramatic forms used during the discourse.
iv.
Various paralinguistic features adopted by the
author.
v.
Narrative
style
variations
in
of
the
author
language use
adopted
and
the
by
the
and
the
author during the narration of events.
vi.
The
technique
of
characterization
verbal art.
2.3. Individual
Whatever be the feature of style observed in the
speech community or during discourse,
it cannot be denied
that it is the individual who becomes the creator of style
and
the
user of variant and deviant expressions.
The
important phenomenon will be the linguistic behaviour of an
individual as a single person
and the linguistic behaviour
of an individual when he is functioning linguistically in
the society.
In other words his linguistic behaviour while
he is enacting various roles in the society which always
have constant interaction with the various parameters so
far
discussed.
While
analysing
a
text
in
addition
to
identify the stylistic features of an individual in a
31
fictitious
text,
it
is
also
important
to
note
the
idiosyncratic expressions of the author who always speaks
through his characters in the novel.
As a result it is
always ideal to note the individuals linguistic behaviour
from the angle of personality and also from the angle of
his behaviour in a given context.
both the
environments
The language used in
should be understood
clearly.
32
and analysed