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II. Brief Introduction to Stylistics
Stylistics is a branch of linguistics which applies the theory and methodology of modern linguistics to the study of style. Some believe that stylistics is an area of study that straddles two disciplines: literary criticism and linguistics, and it takes literary discourse (text) as its object of study. There is no a generally acknowledged definition existing. Though stylists consider stylistics as the study of styles they do not hold identical views about study objects and purposes of stylistics, which is caused by the fact that they do not have identical understanding to the meaning of “style”, and it seems difficult to reach a consensus until now. Simply defined, stylistics is a discipline which study styles guided by modern linguistic theories and approaches (Qin Xiubai, 2004).
According to Zhang Huahong, the objectives of stylistics include:1.to identify those typical features restricted to certain kinds of style through analyzing various language habits. 2. to explain why such features have been used as opposed to others. 3. to classify the stylistic features into categories based upon a view of their function in the social context. Different styles have different features at any language level—word, phrase, sentence, paragraph and discourse.
According to the London School, a language variety is a set of formal and/or substantial features that correlates regularly with a particular type of socio—situational features. They classify varieties of language into two major types:1varieties according to userdi—alectal varieties, and 2 varieties according to use—diatypic varieties (also registers). Halliday(1964) defined register as follows: language varies as its function varies; it differs in different situations. The name given to a variety of a language distinguished according to use is “register”. In 1978, Halliday gave another definition: register “is the set of meanings, the configuration of semantic patterns, that are typically drawn upon under the specific conditions, along with the words and structures that are used in the realization of these, meanings”. He classifies situational context into three broad categories: field of discourse, tenor of discourse and mode of discourse. Field is “the linguistic reflection of the purposive role of the language user in the situation in which a text has occurred”(Hu Zhuanglin, 1989). Field of discourse mainly encompasses two situational factors the—setting and the subject matter. Tenor is “the linguistic reflection of the personal relationship between speaker/writer and hearer/reader and of what the user is trying to do with the language for/to his or her addressee” . Tenor of discourse expresses the social roles, statuses and personal attitudes of the participants in a language event—personal tenor, or what the language user is tying to do in a language event (to inform. direct. persuade. etc.)—functional tenor. Mode is “the linguistic reflection of the relationship the language user has to the medium of transmission”. It is primarily refers to the means by which communications are conducted—speaking or writing. Field, tenor and mode of discourse are three variables of register. Three register variables delineate the relationships between language function and language form. In other words, a register is constituted by “the linguistic features which are typically associated with a configuration of situational features—with particular values of the field, mode and tenor”(Halliday, 1976).