Lecture 4

The Belles-Lettres Style

1. The Belles-lettres Style. General
Notion.
2. The language of poetry
3. The language of emotive prose
4. The language of drama
1. The belles - lettres style or the style of imaginative literature
A functional style of language is a system of language means which serves a definite aim
in communication. Each style can be recognized by one or more leading features which are
especially conspicuous. The belles - lettres style includes the language of poetry (verse),
emotive prose (fiction), and the language of drama otherwise it is called the style of creative
literature.
The purpose (the cognitive function) is not to prove but only to suggest a possible
interpretation of the phenomena of life by forcing the reader to See the viewpoint of the
writer.
The common features are as follows: 1. Individual, distinctive properties, aesthetic-cognitive
effect; 2. a vocabulary which will reflect to a greater or lesser degree of author's personal
evaluation of things or phenomena; 3. genuine (not trite) imagery; 4. The use of the words in
contextual and very often in more than one “dictionary meaning” (to create either humorous
effect or metaphorical one), or at least greatly influenced by the lexical environment; 5. A
peculiar individual selection of vocabulary and syntax, a kind of lexical and syntactical
idiosyncrasy; 6. The introduction of the typical features of colloquial language to a full degree
(in plays), in a lesser degree- (in emotive prose) or a slight degree, if any – (in poetry).
2. The Language of Poetry:
Poetry (from the Greek “poiesis”, a "making" or “creating”) is a form of literary art in
which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its
apparent meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may occur in
conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns or lyrics. Poetry might be defined,
initially, as a kind of language that says more and says it more intensely than does ordinary
language. William Wordsworth defined poetry as "the spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings, recollected in tranquillity." Poetry is the most condensed and concentrated form of
literature, saying most in the fewest number of words.
Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the
words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration,
onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects.
Poetry's use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often
leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly, metaphor and simile create a
resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of meanings, forming connections
previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may exist, between individual verses,
in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.
Whereas ordinary speech and writing, called prose, are organized in sentences and
paragraphs, poetry in its simplest definition is organized in units called lines as well as in
sentences, and often in stanzas, which are the paragraphs of poetry. Stanzas are denominated
by the number of lines included. Thus a collection of two lines is a couplet (or distich), three
lines a triplet (or tercet), four lines a quatrain, five lines a quintain (or cinquain), six lines a
sestet, and eight lines an octet. These lines may or may not relate to each other by rhyme or
rhythm. For example, a couplet may be two lines with identical meters which rhyme or two
lines held together by a common meter alone. Stanzas often have related couplets or triplets
within them.
 The most commonly used accentual-syllabic meter in English language poetry is
iambic pentameter, in which unaccented and accented syllables alternate in lines of ten
syllables. Other kinds of repetition in poetry include rhyme, the recurrence of sound clusters;
assonance, the echoing of vowels; and consonance, the echoing of consonants. Many early
poems included refrains, the repetition of lines or whole phrases.
With its resemblance to the rhythmic pattern of the English language, even a fairly
strict iambic pentameter line can result in the surprisingly natural rhythm of these lines by the
19th-century English poet Christina Rossetti:
We found her hidden just behind those screens,
The mirror gave back all her loveliness.
A queen in opal or in ruby dress,
A nameless girl in freshest summer-greens,
A saint, an angel—–every canvas means
The same one meaning, neither more nor less.
(“In an Artist's Studio,” 1896)
Prosody is the study of the meter, rhythm, and intonation of a poem. Rhythm and
meter, although closely related, should be distinguished. Meter is the definitive pattern
established for a verse (such as iambic pentameter), while rhythm is the actual sound that
results from a line of poetry.
English and Russian are stress-timed languages. Varying intonation also affects how rhythm
is perceived.
● iamb - one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable
● trochee - one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable
● dactyl - one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables
● anapest - two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable
● spondee - two stressed syllables together
● pyrrhic - two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually used to end dactylic
hexameter)

● dimeter - two feet

● trimeter - three feet
● tetrameter - four feet
● pentameter - five feet
● hexameter - six feet
● heptameter - seven feet
● octameter - eight feet
Genres of Poetry:
In addition to specific forms of poems, poetry is often thought of in terms of different
genres and subgenres. A poetic genre is generally a tradition or classification of poetry based
on the subject matter, style, or other broader literary characteristics.
Narrative poetry is a genre of poetry that tells a story. Broadly it subsumes epic poetry,
but the term "narrative poetry" is often reserved for smaller works, generally with more
appeal to human interest.
Narrative poetry may be the oldest type of poetry. Many scholars of Homer have
concluded that his Iliad and Odyssey were composed from compilations of shorter narrative
poems that related individual episodes and were more suitable for an evening's entertainment.
Epic poetry is a genre of poetry, and a major form of narrative literature. It recounts, in a
continuous narrative, the life and works of a heroic or mythological person or group of
persons. Examples of epic poems are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, the
Nibelungenlied,
Dramatic poetry is drama written in verse to be spoken or sung, and appears in varying,
sometimes related forms in many cultures. Verse drama may have developed out of earlier
oral epics, such as the Sanskrit and Greek epics.
Poetry can be a powerful vehicle for satire. The punch of an insult delivered in verse can be
many times more powerful and memorable than that of the same insult, spoken or written in
prose. The Romans had a strong tradition of satirical poetry, often written for political
purposes. A notable example is the Roman poet Juvenal's satires, whose insults stung the
entire spectrum of society.
Lyric poetry is a genre that, unlike epic poetry and dramatic poetry, does not attempt
to tell a story but instead is of a more personal nature. Rather than depicting characters and
actions, it portrays the poet's own feelings, states of mind, and perceptions. While the genre's
name, derived from "lyre," implies that it is intended to be sung, much lyric poetry is meant
purely for reading.
The fable is an ancient, near-ubiquitous literary genre, often (though not invariably)
set in verse. It is a succinct story that features anthropomorphized animals, plants, inanimate
objects, or forces of nature that illustrate a moral lesson (a "moral").
Prose poetry is a hybrid genre that shows attributes of both prose and poetry. It may be
indistinguishable from the micro-story (aka the "short short story," "flash fiction"). Most
critics argue that it qualifies as poetry because of its conciseness, use of metaphor, and special
attention to language.
1. The Language of Emotive Prose (Fiction).
Emotive prose or Fiction has the same common features as have been pointed to belles-lettres
style, but they are correlated differently here. The imagery is not so rich, the percentage of
words with contextual meaning is not so high as in poetry, etc.
Emotive prose came into being rather late in the history of the English literary
language. It is well known that in early Anglo-Saxon literature there was no emotive prose.
Anglo-Saxon literature was mainly poetry, songs of religious, military and festive character.
The first emotive prose which appeared was translations from Latin of stories from the Bible
and the Lives of Saints.
Fiction has three main elements: plotting, character, and place or setting
Character
Characterization is often listed as one of the fundamental elements of fiction. A character is a
participant in the story, and is usually a person, but may be any personal identity, or entity
whose existence originates from a fictional work or performance.
Characters may be of several types:
Point-of-view character: the character from whose perspective (theme) the audience
experiences the story. This is the character that represents the point of view the audience will
empathise, or at the very least, sympathise with. Therefore this is the "Main" Character.
Protagonist: the driver of the action of the story and therefore responsible for achieving the
story's Objective Story Goal (the surface journey). In western storytelling tradition the
Protagonist is usually the Main Character.
Antagonist: the character that stands in opposition to the protagonist
Supporting character: A character that plays a part in the plot but is not major
Minor character: a character in a bit/cameo part.
Plot
Plot, or storyline, is often listed as one of the fundamental elements of fiction. It is the
rendering and ordering of the events and actions of a story. On a micro level, plot consists of
action and reaction. On a macro level, plot has a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Plot is
often depicted as an arc with a zigzag line to represent the rise and fall of action. Plot also has
a mid-level structure: scene and sequel. A scene is a unit of drama—where the action occurs.
Then, after a transition of some sort, comes the sequel – an emotional reaction and
regrouping, after effects. (Bickham 1993, pp. 23-62):)
Setting
Setting, the location and time of a story, is often listed as one of the fundamental elements of
fiction. Sometimes setting is referred to as milieu ["mi:ljɜ:], to include a context (such as
society) beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. In some cases, setting becomes a
character itself and can set the tone of a story. (Rozelle 2005, p. 2)
Theme
Theme is the central idea or insight serving as a unifying element, creating unity and is an
answer to the question, 'What did you learn from the piece of fiction?' (Morrell 2006, p. 263)
Style
Style is not so much what is written, but how it is written and interpreted. Style in fiction
refers to language conventions used to construct the story or article. A fiction writer may
manipulate diction, sentence structure, phrasing, dialogue, and other aspects of language to
create style or mood. The communicative effect created by the author's style is sometimes
referred to as the story's voice. Every writer has his or her own unique style, or voice (Provost
1988, p. 8).
Uses of fiction
Although fiction may be viewed as a form of entertainment, it has other uses. Fiction has been
used for instructional purposes, such as fictional examples used in school textbooks. It may be
used in propaganda and advertising. Although they are not necessarily targeted at children,
fables offer an explicit moral goal.
A whole branch of literature crossing entertainment and science speculation is Science fiction.
A less common similar cross is the philosophical fiction hybridizing fiction and philosophy,
thereby often crossing the border towards propaganda fiction. These kinds of fictions
constitute thought experiments exploring consequences of certain technologies or
philosophies.
Emotive prose has the following peculiarities:
● There are always two forms of communication present – monologue (the speech of the
author) and dialogue (the speech of the characters);
● The language of the writer conforms (or is expected to conform) to the literary norms
of the given period in the development of the English literary language;
● The language of the characters undergoes transformation and words and expressions
are chosen to characterize his or her personality, this constitutes a very advantageous
device;
● Besides, emotive prose allows the use of elements from other styles as well. E.g.:
official style (the business correspondence between two characters in the novel “The
Man of Property” by Galsworthy); scientific style (“The Citadel” by Cronin), etc. But
nevertheless, all the styles incorporated into a work of fiction undergo a kind of
transformation.
2. The Language of Drama
The language of drama refers to plays. Just like other sub-styles of the Belles-Lettres
style, plays are written for readers to understand, analyze, interpret and express various ideas.
In plays, the script replicates real discourse; the dialogue is natural and accurate. The author’s
speech is almost entirely excluded except for the playwrights’ remarks and stage directions/
the language of the characters is in no way the exact reproduction of the norms of colloquial
language, although the playwright seeks to reproduce actual conversations as far as the norms
of the written language will allow the language of plays is always stylized, that is it strives to
retain the modus of literary English, unless the playwright has a particular aim which requires
the use of non-literary forms and expressions. The stylization of colloquial language is one of
the features of plays which at different stages in the history of English drama has manifested
itself in different ways revealing the general trends of the literary language and the personal
idiosyncrasies of the writer.
The natural conventionality of any literary work is most obvious in plays. People are made
to talk to each other in front of an audience, and yet as if there were no audience. Dialogue,
which is by its nature ephemeral and spontaneous, is made lasting. It is intended to be
reproduced many times by different actors with different interpretations. The individualization
of each character’s speech then is very important as is should reveal the inner, psychological
and intellectual traits of the character.
Any presentation of a play is an aesthetic procedure and the language of plays is of the
type which is meant to be reproduced. Therefore, even when the language of a play
approximates that of a real dialogue, it will nonetheless be stylized.

Questions for Self-Control:

1. What is the aim of the Belles-Letters Style? Name the characteristic features of the
style.
2. Which special devices are used to achieve musical or incantatory effects in poetry?
3. Explain the meaning of the following words: rhythm and meter. What types of rhythm
and meter do you know? What types of rhythm are used in English, Kazakh and Russian?
3. What kinds of poetry do you know? What is the difference between them?
4. What are the three main elements in fiction? Comment on each of them.
5. What are the main characteristic features of emotive prose?
6. Speak about the nature of dialogue in plays. Why do playwrights have to stylize
natural speech?