TYPES OF STYLISTICS as the phonological, grammatical,

Diri I. TEILANYO & lexical and semantic patterns

Priscilla O. EFE-OBUKE without
attempting to relate these patterns
to the message in the text. This
1. General Stylistics or Stylistics: approach
This is stylistics viewed from the was popular at the early stages
broad notion of the linguistic study of the evolution of stylistics as a
of discipline
all types of linguistic events from where linguists viewed literary texts
different domains of life. It is used as merely as linguistic events and felt
a literary interpretation, involving
cover term for the analysis of thematic concerns or artistic
non- literary varieties of significance,
language, or registers were not of concern to them as
(Wales 458). Hence, one can linguists, especially as they involved
undertake a stylistic study of an
a religious understanding of the artist’s
sermon, a sport commentary, a legal intention which was hardly subject
document, a political speech, a to the
business conversation, etc. objective verifiability emphasized by
the scientific claim of modern
2. Literary Stylistics: linguistics.
This is the type of analysis 4. Interpretative Stylistics:
that focuses on literary texts. This is the practice engaged in by
In the broad most stylisticians nowadays. It
sense, such a study may be linguistic involves the analysis of the linguistic
or non-linguistic, but in the more data in a (literary) text, the
specialized sense, it is essentially unravelling
linguistic. To make this linguistic of the content or artistic value of the
orientation clearer, the terms text and the marrying of these two.
linguistic stylistics or linguostylistics As
are depicted in Leo Spitzer’s philological
sometimes employed to denote the circle, the interpretative stylistician
linguistic analysis or interpretation of relates linguistic description to
literary events. Other types of literary appreciation by seeking
stylistics below are largely subtypes artistic
of this function and relating it to the
linguistic literary stylistics. linguistic evidence or first seeking
the
3. Textualist linguistic features in the text and
Stylistics relating it to the artistic motivation.
(Textlinguistics): The
This is the type of stylistics which belief is that the linguistic patterns
engaged in an “empty technology” are chosen deliberately to express
of certain artistic or literary goals and
a text. It merely identifies the raw that the two can hardly be
linguistic patterns of a (literary) divorced.
text such
Interpretative stylisticians see two scholars. This may be seen as
themselves as both linguists and the
literary more wholistic approach to literary
critics and integrate the roles of the stylistics or the analysis of literary
texts terminology of discourse analysis in
in general. the explication of literary language
use.
5. Formalist and Ronald Carter explains it this way:
Functional Stylistics: [discourse stylistics] operates
These terms may be viewed as under the direct
alternatives for textualist stylistics influence of work in
and pragmatics, discourse
interpretative stylistics respectively analysis and text linguistics, and this
as discussed above. Formalist work
stylistics continues to provide the field of
concentrates on the linguistic forms stylistics with
in the texts, paying little attention to increasingly sophisticated means of
the function of these forms in discussing both longer stretches of
relation to the overall content of the text and,
text. indeed, longer texts…. In the basic
Conversely, functional stylistics elementary definition, it is the
emphasizes the contextual function application of
that the discourse analysis to literature. (5)
linguistic elements are used to Thus, an advantage of the discourse
perform. (See Taylor and Toolan) analysis approach is that it enables
us
6. Evaluative Stylistics: to study longer stretches of
This is a term used by Richard language beyond sentences, which
Bradford to designate the type of traditional
analysis which uses linguistic tools to linguistics may not reach. Such
assess or measure the worth or terms as “cohesion,” “coherence,”
merits “location,”
and demerits of a text. It assumes “perlocution,” “maxim,”
that the quality of a text is revealed “implicature,” “speech acts,” etc
in the which are regular in
quality of language patterns it pure discourse analysis are
employs. Such analyses may involve employed in literary explication.
the
juxtaposition of two or more texts for 8. Contextualist Stylistics:
comparative evaluation. This has various factions that
are united in their emphasis on
7. Discourse Stylistics: the
This is the stylistic approach which ways in which literary style is formed
employs the procedures and and influenced by its contexts. These
involve (1) the competence and
disposition of the reader; (2) the
prevailing
sociocultural forces that dominate all
linguistic discourse, including
literature; and (3) the systems of
signification through which we
process and
interpret all phenomena, linguistic stylistics is that it takes into
and non-linguistic, literary and cognizance the various contexts in
nonliterary” which a stylistic analysis is done. It is
(Bradford 73). actually reader-centred.
What happens with contextual
9. Phonostylistics: the language identifies particular
This has been described by Hartman socio-literary movements such
and Stork as “the study of the as the
expressive function of sounds” metaphysicals, the romanticists,
(223). In practice, phonostylistics African writers, imagists,
may not be expressionists,
considered as a distinct type of modernists etc.
stylistics but rather as one of the
phonological levels at which a 11. Feminist Stylistics:
stylistician could analyse a text, In the introductory pages of Sara
(other levels Mills’ Feminist Stylistics, she
of linguistic analysis being the describes the phrase feminist
grammatical, the syntactic and the stylistics as one which best sums up
morphological, the lexical her
(vocabulary), the semantic and the concern “first and foremost with an
contextual). analysis which identifies itself as
Such a phonological analysis would feminist and which uses linguistic or
involve the identification (and language analysis to examine texts”
functional (1). So the concern of feminist
interpretation) of both the segmental stylistics, according to Mills, is
patterns (vowels and consonants) beyond only
and describing sexism in texts but is
suprasegmental features (syllable, broadened to “analyse the way that
stress, rhythm, tone, intonation, point of
etc). Phonological schemes like view, agency, metaphor or
alliteration, assonance, consonance, transitivity are inexpectedly related
chiming, to matters of
volume, onomatopocia, etc are gender, to discover whether
discussed. women’s writing practices can be
described and
10. Sociostylistics: so on” (1).
This is actually a subject which Bradford sees feminist stylistics as
studies, for instance, the language of having a view of “discourse as
writers considered as social groups something which transmits social
(e.g. the Elizabethan University wits, and institutionalized prejudices and
pamphleteers, or fashions in ideologies, specifically the respective
language) (Wales 438). The roles, the mental and behavioural
emphasis is on how characteristics of men and women”
(86).
It is apparent from the two view
points that feminist stylistics cannot
be divorced from sexism and
gender-oriented issues.

12. Computational Stylistics:

This is a subdiscipline of
computational linguistics. It
evolved in the
1960s and involves the use of area of
statistics and other data that “stylometry,” the computer is used
are readily to generate data on the types,
generated by the computer to treat number
different problems of style. In the and length of words and sentences
which aid the stylistician in his study their inner selves. Thus, there is
of the concept of style as idiolect, that
texts, ensuring the objectivity each
required. Such data from different language user has some linguistic
texts may traits that not only mark him/her out
even be used for comparative but
purposes as well as for the also expresses his/her personality.
authentification of The obvious weakness of this
authorship. For example, stylometric approach is the probability that
data may be used to determine writers
which change their personality and
author a piece of disputed writing language over time and text and
belongs to according to whether the that a change
stylometric data in it conform to in one does not necessarily
stylometric data already associated accompany a change in the other.
with the
author. The risk here are that 14. Pedagogical Stylistics:
it forecloses the possibility of This refers to the employment of
an author stylistic analysis for teaching and
changing his style from text to learning purposes. Literary texts
text and the possibility of two may sometimes be difficult for
authors writing learners to
alike. appreciate. Hence, a teacher may
analyse the linguistic patterns in the
13. Expressive Stylistics: text,
This approach is often considered breaking down complex linguistic
“old-fashioned” (Wales 166) in units to smaller ones, converting
seemingly upholding the view excerpts
“Stylus virum arguit” (“The style in verse form prosaic form,
proclaims the hyperbaton (syntactic inversion) to
man,” that is the author). regular forms
This approach emphasizes an in the belief that such will help the
identification of how learner to grasp the message
the style, the linguistic elements, therein.
reveal the personality or “soul” of Wales remarks on this as follows:
the Because of its eclecticism, stylistics
author. It pursues the belief that has
the artists employ language to increasingly come to be used as a
express teaching
tool in language and literature
studies for
both native and foreign speakers of
English;
what can be termed pedagogical
stylistics.
(438)
Carter and McRae claim that
stylistics in its pedagogical
application “has
been accused of tending towards the they
simplistic” (xxxi). However, since the seem, pedagogical stylistics would
aim of teaching and learning is to be considered a positive
make things clearer or simpler than development.
 However, the term is often applied
more consistently to the studies in
the West from the 1970s which
employed the latest principles of
15. Radical Stylistics: structuralism, poetics and reader-
This is a term introduced by D. response criticism in the analysis of
Burton in 1982 to designate a literary texts.
stylistic
approach which tends to go beyond
the identification of the artistic
effects of
language use to analyse how
language is used to express different
ideologies Conclusion
of world views. The radical From the foregoing, it is obvious that
stylistician is interested in the choice while there are different
of linguistic approaches or types of stylistic
patterns to reflect such ideological analysis, there are several overlaps
slants as communism, socialism, between
capitalism, welfarism, etc. Thus, the many and the dividing line between
stylistician attempts to discover in some is rather thin.
the Accordingly, it may not be
text certain jargons associated with satisfactory or convenient for a
such ideologies. This is allied to stylistician
sociological criticism. The label to be rigid on a particular type to
suggests that such an analyst would employ. Indeed, stylistics being a
have a multidisciplinary discipline often
passion for the reflection or rejection adopts an eclectic orientation. Thus,
of an ideological bias. in the
analysis of a particular text, a
16. New Stylistics: stylistician may employ more than
This is a rather vague term used to one tool or
denote some fresh models of approach depending on the data that
stylistic analysis. Such models cease is evident in the text, the analyst’s
to be “new” as soon as “newer” resourcefulness in his or her range of
models reference for the identification of
evolve. For example, Leo Spitzer’s evidence and interpretation of such
ideas about stylistics as one of its evidence.
originators in Western Europe were
considered “new.”