Stylistics

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西方古代的文体学研究

古希腊时期
智者派(The Sophists, 500 - 300 B.C.) Oratory–Persuasion in public - Verbal Artistry– Embellishment
–Probability - Neutrality in Truth and Virtue – Logos and Pathos 柏拉图(Plato,427-347 B.C.)
Criticism of style over substance – Emphasis on ethical
application in training of rhetoric (or style)
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西塞罗和昆提良的文体层次说

High or grand style：calling for strong emotions and elevated

However, in Linguistic Criticism, Roger Fowler makes the point that, in non-theoretical usage, the word stylistics makes sense and is useful in referring to an enormous range of literary contexts, such as John Milton‟s „grand style‟, the „prose style‟ of Henry James, the „epic‟ and „ballad style‟ of classical Greek literature, etc. (Fowler, 1996: 185).

16th-century: Revival and Rebirth of Classical Rhe6-1536): Preference to elocution, and tropes and schemes, Latin Vives (1492-1540): Preference to letter writing, Latin
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Lead-in Questions

What do you know about the stylistic studies in China? How does linguistic theories affect the studies on stylistics?
What do you know about the different schools of thoughts in stylistics?
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In addition, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the form and effects within a particular variety of language.
language, to move, or to sway an audience to resolution and decision Middle style：calling for sweetness, smoothness and flowingness, to please, or to win an audience by charming conciliation Low or plain style： calling for quiet simplicity and unadorned language, to teach, or to convince an audience by argument

St. Augustine (354-430): the rhetoric of the sermon 智者派占上风，强调雄辩技巧的重要性。

修辞文体研究的三个流派：


传统派：Five Canons 拉莫斯派：Elocution/style + delivery

修辞手段派：tropes
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Stylistics is the study of varieties of language whose properties position that language in context. For example, the language of advertising, politics, religion, individual authors, etc., or the language of a period in time, all belong in a particular situation. In other words, they all have „place‟.

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Stylistics “studies the features of situationally distinctive uses (varieties) of language, and tries to establish principles capable of accounting for the particular choices made by individual and social groups in their use of language.” (Crystal 1980)
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Many linguists do not like the term „stylistics‟. The word „style‟, itself, has several connotations that make it difficult for the term to be defined accurately.


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Literary Stylistics: Crystal (1987) observes that, in practice, most stylistic analysis has attempted to deal with the complex and „valued‟ language within literature, i.e. „literary stylistics‟.
Therefore, stylistics looks at what is „going on‟ within the language; what the linguistic associations are that the style of language reveals.

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Review
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Stylistics also attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language, such as socialisation, the production and reception of meaning, critical discourse analysis and literary criticism.

Forensic: Judicial, to decide the truth/falsity of past events Deliberative: Political, to decide necessity of future actions Epideictic: Ceremonial, to praise or blame present values


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古罗马时期
西塞罗(Cicero, 106-43 B.C.)
五艺说（Five Canons): Invention, Disposition or arrangement,
Elocution or Style, Memory, Delivery
昆提良（Quintilian, 35-100 A.D.）


The scope is sometimes narrowed to concentrate on the more striking features of literary language, for instance, its „deviant‟ and abnormal features, rather than the broader structures that are found in whole texts or discourses. For example, the compact language of poetry is more likely to reveal the secrets of its construction to the stylistician than is the language of plays and novels.
Socrates'(469-399 B.C.) accusation and death of sophistry– True/False Rhetoric – Virtues - Ethos -
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亚里士多德（Aristotle,384-322 B.C.）

Three Offices: Invention, Arrangement, Style Three types of rhetorical proof: Logos, Pathos, Ethos Three types/genres of civic rhetoric: