Stylistics, sometimes called lingvo-stylistics, is a branch of general linguistics. It has now been more or less definitely outlined. It deals mainly with two interdependent tasks: a) the investigation of the inventory of special language media which by their ontological features secure the desirable effect of the utterance and b) certain types of texts (discourse) which due to the choice and arrangement of language means are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of the communication. The two objectives of stylistics are clearly discernible as two separate fields of investigation. The inventory of special language media can be analyzed and their ontological features revealed if presented in a system in which the co-relation between the media becomes evident.
The types of texts can be analyzed if their linguistic components are presented in their interaction, thus revealing the unbreakable unity and transparency of constructions of a given type. The types of texts that are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of the communication are called functional styles of language (FS); the special media of language which secure the desirable effect of the utterance are called stylistic devices (SD) and expressive means (EM). ' . .
The first field of investigation, i.e. SDs and EMs, necessarily touches upon such general language problems as the aesthetic function of language, synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea, emotional colouring in language, the interrelation between language and thought, the individual manner of an author in making use of language and a number of other issues.
The second field, i.e. functional styles, cannot avoid discussion of such most general linguistic issues as oral and written varieties of language, the notion of the literary (standard) language, the constituents of texts larger than the sentence, the generative aspect of literary texts, and some others.
In dealing with the objectives of stylistics, certain pronouncements of adjacent disciplines such as theory of information, literature, psychology, logic and to some extent statistics must be touched upon. This is indispensable; for nowadays no science is entirely isolated from other domains of human knowledge; and linguistics, particularly its branch stylistics, cannot avoid references to the above mentioned disciplines because it is confronted with certain overlapping issues.
The branching off of stylistics in language science was indirectly the result of a long-established tendency of grammarians to confine their investigations to sentences, clauses and word-combinations which are "well-formed", to use a dubious term, neglecting anything that did not fall under the recognized and received standards. This tendency became particularly strong in what is called descriptive linguistics. The generative grammars, which appeared as a reaction against descriptive linguistics, have confirmed that the task of any grammar is to limit the scope of investigation of language data to sentences which are considered well-formed. Everything that fails to meet this requirement should be excluded from linguistics.
But language studies cannot avoid subjecting to observation any language data whatever, so where grammar refuses to tread stylistics steps in. Stylistics has acquired its own status with its own inventory of tools (SDs and EMs), with its own object of investigation and with its own methods of research.
The stylistics of a highly developed language like English or Russian has brought into the science of language a separate body of media, thus widening the range of observation of phenomena in language. The significance of this branch of linguistics can hardly be over-estimated. A number of events in the development of stylistics must be mentioned here as landmarks. The first is the discussion of the problem of style and stylistics in "Âîïðîñû ÿçûêîçíàíèÿ" in 1954, in which many important general and particular problems were broadly analyzed and some obscure aspects elucidated. Secondly, a conference on Style in Language was held at Indiana University in the spring of 1958, followed by the publication of the proceedings of this conference (1960) under the editorship of Thomas Sebeok. Like the discussion in "Âîïðîñû ÿçûêîçíàíèÿ" this conference revealed the existence of quite divergent points of view held by different students of-language and literature. Thirdly, a conference on style and stylistics was held in the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages" in March 1969. At this conference lines were drawn along which studies in lingvo-stylistics might be maintained. An interesting symposium was also held in Italy, the proceedings of which were published under the editorship of professor S. Chat man in 1971.
A great number of monographs, textbooks, articles, and dissertation papers are now at the disposal of a scholar in stylistics. The stream of information grows larger every month. Two American journals appear regularly, which may keep the student informed as to trends in the theory of stylistics. They are Style issued at the Arkansas University (U.S.A.) and Language and Style published in Southern Illinois University (U.S.A.) (See also the bibliography on p. 324).
It is in view of the ever-growing significance of the exploration of language potentialities that so much attention is paid in lingvo-stylistics to the analysis of expressive means (EMs) and stylistic devices (SDs), to their nature and functions, to their classification and to possible interpretations of additional meanings they may carry in a message as well as their aesthetic value.
In order to ascertain the borders of stylistics it is necessary to go at some length into the question of what is style.
The word s t ó I e is derived from the Latin word 'stylus' which meant a short stick sharp at one end and flat at the other used by the Romans for writing on wax tablets.
Now the word 'style1 is used in so many senses that it has become a breeding ground for ambiguity. The word is applied to the teaching of how to write a composition (see below); it is also used to reveal the correspondence between thought and expression; it frequently denotes an individual manner of making use of language; it sometimes refers to more general, abstract notions thus inevitably becoming vague and obscure, as, for example, "Style is the man himself" (Buffon), "Style is depth" (Derbyshire);* "Style is deviations" (Enkvist); "Style is choice", and the like.
All these ideas directly or indirectly bear on issues in stylistics. Some of them become very useful by revealing the springs which make our utterances emphatic, effective and goal-directed. It will therefore not come amiss to quote certain interesting observations regarding style made by different writers from different angles. Some of these observations are dressed up as epigrams or sententious maxims like the ones quoted above. Here are some more of them.
"Style is a quality of language which communicates precisely emotions or thoughts, or a system of emotions or thoughts, peculiar to the author." (J. Middleton Murry)
"... a true idiosyncrasy of style is the result of an author's success in compelling language to conform to his mode of experience." (J. Middleton Murry)
"Style is a contextually .restricted linguistic variation." (Enkvist) "Style is a selection of non-distinctive features of language." (L. Bloom-field)
"Style is simply synonymous with form or expression and hence a superfluous term." (Benedetto Croce)
"Style is essentially a citation process, a body of formulae, a memory (almost in the cybernetic sense of the word), a cultural and not an expressive inheritance." (Roland Barthes) •" - . *~
Some/ linguists consider that the word 'style' and the subject of linguistic stylistics is confined to the study of the effects of the message, i.e. its impact on the reader. Thus Michael Riffaterre writes that "Stylistics will be a linguistics of the effects of the message, of the output of the act of communication, of its attention-compelling function".1 This point of view has clearly been reached under the influence of recent developments in the general theory of information. Language, being one of the means of communication or, to be exact, the most important means of communication, is regarded in the above quotation from a pragmatic point of view. Stylistics in that case is regarded as a language science which deals with the results of the act of communication
To a very considerable degree this is true. Stylistics must take into consideration the "output of the act of communication". But stylistics must also investigate the ontological, i.e. natural, inherent, and functional peculiarities of the means of communication which may ensure the effect sought.
Archibald A. Hill states that "A current definition of style and stylistics is that structures, sequences, and patterns which extend, or may extend, beyond the boundaries of individual sentences define style, and that the study of them is stylistics."1
The truth of this approach to style and stylistics lies in the fact that the author concentrates on such- phenomena in language as present a system, in other words, on facts which are not confined to individual use.
The most frequent definition of style is one expressed by Seymour Chatman: "Style is a product of individual choices and patterns of choices (emphasis added) among linguistic possibilities."2
This definition indirectly deals with the idiosyncrasies peculiar to a given writer. Somehow it fails to embrace such phenomena in text structure where the 'individual' is reduced to the minimum or even done away with entirely (giving preference to non-individualistic forms in using language means). However, this definition is acceptable when applied to the ways men-of-letters use language when they seek to make it conform to their immediate aims and purport. A somewhat broader view of style is expressed by Werner Winter who maintains that "A style may be said to be characterized by a pattern of recurrent selections from the inventory of optional features of a language. Various types of selection can be found: complete exclusion of an optional element, obligatory inclusion of a feature optional elsewhere, varying degrees of inclusion of a specific variant without complete elimination of competing features."3
The idea of taking various types of selection as criteria for distinguishing styles seems to be a sound one. It places the whole problem on a solid foundation of objective-criteria, namely, the interdependence of optional and obligatory features.
There is no point in quoting other definitions of style. They are too many and too heterogeneous to fall under one more or less satisfactory unified notion. Undoubtedly all these diversities in the understanding of the word 'style' stem from its ambiguity. But still all these various definitions leave impression that by and large they all have something in common. All of them4 point to some integral significance, namely, that style is a set of characteristics by which we distinguish one author from another or members of one subclass from members of other subclasses, all of which are members-of the same general class.4 What are these sets of characteristics typical of a writer or of a subclass of the literary language will be seen in the analysis of the language means of a craven writer and of the subclasses of the general literary standard.
Another point the above quotations have in common is that all of them concentrate on the form of the expression almost to the detriment of the content. In other words, style is regarded as something that belongs exclusively to the plane of expression and not to the plane 'of content. l This opinion predominantly deals with the correspondence between the intention of the writer whoever he may be—a man of letters, the writer of a diplomatic document, an article in a newspaper, or a scientific treatise—and the effect achieved. The evaluation is also based on whether the choice of language means conforms with the most general pattern of the given type of text—a novel, a poem, a letter, a document, an article, an essay and so on.
It follows then that the term 'style', being ambiguous, needs a restricting adjective to denote what particular aspect of style we intend to deal with. It is suggested here that the term individual style should be applied to that sphere of linguistic and literary science which deals with the peculiarities of a writer's individual manner of using language means to achieve the effect he desires. Deliberate choice must be distinguished from a habitual idiosyncrasy in the use of language units'/every individual has his own manner and habits of using them. The speech of an individual which is characterized by peculiarities typical of that particular individual is called an I d i î I e ñ t. The idiolect should be distinguished from what we call, individual style, inasmuch as the word 'style' presupposes a deliberate choice.
When Buffon coined his famous saying which, due to its epigrammatical form, became a by-word all over the world, he had in mind the idiolect, i.e. those qualities of speech which are inherent and which reveal a man's breeding, education, social standing, etc. All these factors are, however, undoubtedly interwoven with individual style. A man's breeding and education will always affect his turn of mind and therefore will naturally be revealed in his speech and writing.But a writer with a genuine individual style will as much as possible avoid those language peculiarities which point to his breeding and education in order to leave room for that deliberate choice of language means which will secure the effect sought.