Means of foregrounding :the concept of linguistic deviation
Stylistics is a multidisciplinary branch of science
STYLISTICS is largely approached nowadays as a consciousness-raising exercise as stylistic analysis brings to the conscious attention of the reader those underlying or overlooked linguistic phenomena of the text that are instrumental in meaning construction.
S. is an increasingly dynamic and moving discipline and nowadays it is very often regarded as a method of dealing with the big world, of looking for new forms and formulating new questions about the world we live in (reality).
(вставкаизбакалавриата)Stylistic nowadays is a hybrid science/ Modern and contemporary stylistics over the recent decades has expanded its field of research over literary criticism, cognitive linguistics, pragmatics+sociolinguistics+ rhetoric+ discourse analysis
1) Pragmatics and sociolinguisticsoverlap with stylistics in their study of social relations between writer/speaker and reader/listener. They also study how context, situation can influence the choice of linguistic means/language variety.
2) Discourse analysis and stylisticsboth try to answer the question why various means are used here, why text /message is organized this way.
3) Cognitive linguisticsrelates certain stylistically significant facts and our choice of those facts to cognitive structures and processes.
4) Rhetoricstudies effective reading and writing
Stylistics is a synthetic field:
Linguistics + Literary studies + Sociolinguistics + Pragmatics + Cognitive linguistics = Stylistics
Stylisticsis viewed as a “bridge discipline” as it draws upon theories and models from other disciplines
Stylistics. may be seen as incorporating the overlapping elements of other disciplines -> it is a mature and rapidly growing discipline
Stylistics is interested in the relationship between writer and text, reader and text, as well as context of production and reception of texts.
It accounts for how texts project meaning, how readers construct meaning and why readers respond in the way that they do
S. places the text at the centre of its concern. Stylistic phenomena turn in all sorts of texts and studies not only literary texts. All texts have the potential for stylistic effect (Cambridge scholars)
Different types of texts pose different questions
The emphasis is on practicalities of producing stylistic analysis that are objective, reproducible, falsifiable
Stylistics has its origin in the formal school of literary criticism (Russian formalists: R. Jacobson, БТомашевский)
The aims of the movement were to isolate properties and characteristics of literary language, to explore the concept of defamiliarisation in both art and literature. The purpose of all art is to defamiliarize the familiar in order to generate a new perspective on the topic under consideration. The mechanism is foregrounding.
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Initialy foregrounding was a psychological concept, however Мукаровский in 1954identifiedthat foregrounding in language refers to features in the text which in some sense stand out from their surroundings. Foregrounding features of a text are seen as memorable and highly interpretable. It is achieved by linguistic deviation or linguistic parallelism.
Linguistic parallelism - unexpected regularity arise out of a repeated structure
Linguistic deviation – occurrence of unexpected irregularity in language (surprises the reader) , may occur at any level (ex : a grief ago)
a) external (variation of normal usage)
b) internal (use of cap. Letters)
To do stylistics is to explore language and to explore creativity in language use.
Foregrounding
Linguist M.A.K. Halliday has interpreted foregrounding as motivated prominence: "the phenomenon of linguistic highlighting, whereby somefeatures of the language of a text stand out in some way"
It’s a very general principle of artistic communication that a work of art in some way deviates from norms which we, as members of society, have learnt to expect.
Such deviations from linguistic or other socially accepted norms are labeled foregrounding, which invokes the analogy of a figure seen against a background. (G.Leech)
In stylistics, the notion of foregrounding, a term borrowed from the Prague School of Linguistics, is used by Leech and Short (1981: 48) to refer to ‘artistically motivated deviation’.
The term foregrounding has its origin with the Czech theorist Jan Mukarovský: The term refers to the range of stylistic effects that occur in literature, whether at the phonetic level (e.g., alliteration, rhyme), the grammatical level (e.g., inversion, ellipsis), or the semantic level (e.g., metaphor, irony).
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Foregrounding is the opposite of automatization: the more an act is automatized, the less it is consciously executed; the more it is foregrounded, the more completely conscious it becomes. Objectively speaking: automatization schematizes an event; foregrounding means the violation of the scheme.
Foregrounding features of a text are seen as memorable and highly interpretable. It is achieved by linguistic deviation or linguistic parallelism.
Means of foregrounding :the concept of linguistic deviation
The purpose of all art was to defamiliarize the familiar in order to generate for the viewer or reader a new perspective on the topic under consideration. One of the most enduring concerns of literary stylisticians is the examination of deviation from the norm inherent in a given literary work among a body of related works. A deviant situation is always an interesting one as it brings new perception to usual things and calls for close scrutiny. It is relevant to add here that deviation can only occur where there is a point of reference which is commonly taken to be the norm, thus the existence of the norm suggests the possibility of deviation.
The norm- is an assemblage of stable means objectively existing in the language and systematically used. Norm is an invariant, which should embrace all variable phonemic, morphological, lexical and syntactic patterns with their typical properties circulating in the language at a definite period of time. The normal arrangement of the text both in form and content is based on its predictability which means that the appearance of any element in the text is prepared by the preceding arrangement and choice of elements, e.g. the subject of the sentence will normally be followed by the predicate, you can supply parts of certain set phrases or collocation after you see the first element, etc.
Deviation
When an idea is presented in a way that is different from the expected way, then we say that such a manner of carrying it out has deviated from the norm. Deviation in stylistics is concerned with the use of different styles from the expected norm of language use in a given genre of writing ( the departure from common practice). Language deviation refers to an intentional selection or choice of language use outside of range of normal language Trangott and Pratt believe that the idea of style and deviance is favored by the "generative frame reference". It is an old concept stemming from the works of Mukarovsky. He relates style to foregrounding and says that "the violation of the norm of the standard is what makes possible the poetic utilization of language". The foregrounding features of a text are often seen as memorable and highly interpretable. Deviation - occurrence of unexpected irregularity in language and it results in foregrounding as the regularity is surprising for reader. It may occur at any level ( ещераз -определениеСескутовой)Deviation may occur at any level of language description e.g. phonological, graphological, syntactic, lexico-semantic.
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External deviation shows variations of normal usage in relation to the text ( itis a deviation which is external to the text, it is connected with violating system of norms, namely the rule-system which constitutes the English language.)
Examples:
1) lexical deviation : When a poet makes up a word which did not previously exist. This is usually called neologism.
"The boys are dreaming wicked or of the bucking
Ranches of the night and the jollyrodgeredsea."
The jolly rodger is, of course, the name for the pirates’ skull and crossbones flag. The result of this double invention is a sea which is imbued with piracy and the romantic associations attached to that notion.
2)Phonological and graphological deviation: In Crow’s First Lesson by Ted Hughes, God is trying to teach Crow to speak by getting him to pronounce the word ‘love’:
1 ‘Love’, said God.’ Say, Love’. (Stanza 1)
2 ‘No, no,’ said God, Say Love. Now try it. LOVE.’ (Stanza 2)
3 ‘A final try’, said God. ’Now, LOVE’. (stanza 3) (Ted Hughes, ’Crow’s First Lesson’).
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The capital letter in the first three instances of the word Love indicates that it has to have some kind of special pronunciation. Then, when we come to the version of the word written in capitals and it illustrates increasingly marked phonetic form as God is becoming more and more exasperated at his unGodlike failure to cope with Crow’s education.
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Internal deviation- the norm is set up by the text itself .
Example:
Internal deviation is a deviation against a norm set up by the text itself. Very often, it is the reverse of parallelism. Suppose that a poem is written in rhyming couplets, but then the 5th couplet does not rhyme.This couplet will thus be foregrounded as a result of the internal deviation :
1The stranger lighted from his steed,
2 And ere he spake a word,
3 He seiz’d my lady’s lily hand,
4 And kiss’d it all unheard.
5 The stranger walk’d into the hall,
6 And here he spake a word,
7He kiss’d my lady’s cherry lips,
8 And kiss’d them all unheard.
9 The stranger walk’d into the bower- 5thcouplet
But my lady first did go,-
11Aye hand in hand into the bower,
12 Where my lord’s roses blow.
13 My lady’s maid had a silken scarf,
14 And a golden ring had she,
15 And a kiss from the stranger, as off he went
16 Again on his fair palfrey.
4.Means of foregrounding :the concept of linguistic parallelism. Definition and subtypes.
One of the methods of achieving foregrounding is linguistic parallelism. It can be defined as unexpected regularity within a text.
The necessary condition in parallel construction is identical, or similar, syntactical structure in 2 or more sentences or part of a sentence in close succession. (repetition of words (lexical) & prepositions (Polysyndeton). Parallel construction is most frequently used in enumeration, antithesis and in climax. The device of parallelism always generates rhythm.
There may be
1) complete parallelism - typical of poetry. The structures here have the same syntactical pattern. (the construction of the second sentence fully copies that of the first one)
Example:
‘The warm sun is failing
The bleak wind is wailing
The bare bushes are sighing
The pale flowers are dying’.
2) Partial parallelism, i.e. structural similarity of some parts of successive units.
(only the beginning or the end of several sentences are structurally similar)
Example:
‘The wind blew faster
It dragged now at his coat,
It blew its space about him
It echoed silently a lonely spaciousness.’
Example:
‘We have seen the state of our union in the endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion. We’ve seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew and Arabic. We have seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own.’
The extract from President Bush’s speech is composed of three sentences that are syntactically similar. Firstly, each sentence is in the present perfect tense, the effect of which is to emphasize the fact that although what Bush is talking about took place in the past, it is still relevant to events in the present.
Secondly, each sentence begins with the subject “we” and the predicator “have seen”, after which there follows a noun phrase, or string of noun phrases, within which are embedded prepositional phrases. The parallelism sets up a pattern between the three sentences and invites the reader to look for parallel meaning between them. As a result of the parallelism the positivity expressed by the noun phrase “the decency of a loving and giving people…” is carried over onto the previous two sentences.
Syntactical affinity is achieved by all kinds of parallelism (as in the example from President Bush’s speech) and syntactical repetition – anadiplosis, anaphora, framing, chiasmus, epiphora, etc.
+ Chiasmus is based on the repetition of a syntactical pattern, but it has a cross order of words and phrases. The structure of two successive sentences or parts of a sentence may be described as reversed parallel construction, e.g. in the 1st sentence we have a+b and in the 2nd - b+a. (. In chiasmus the central part of the sentence – the predicate remains the hinge around which occur syntactical changes – the subject of the first sentence becomes the object of the second and vice versa.)
Example: ‘Pleasure is a sin. And sometimes sin a pleasure.’
The author emphasizes the 2nd part of the utterance. There is a pause after the 1st part of the utterance and then an unexpected change of word-order.
Chiasmus is often used for epigrams and paradoxes; it may have a humorous effect.
Example : ‘When we are happy we are always happy, but when we are good we’re not always happy’.
Linguistic parallelism is a particular kind of syntactical affinity of textual elements, but S. Levin (introduced the notion of couplingwhich deals not only with the syntactical, but also can be found on any level of the language.
Coupling – is the affinity of elements that occupy a similar position and contribute to the cohesion, consistency and unity of the text form and content. Coupling may be different in nature; it may be phonetic, structural or semantic.
1)The phonetic expressive means are cases of alliteration, assonance (resemblance of sounds), paranomasia (words similar in sound but different in meaning), and such prosodic features as rhyme, rhythm and meter.
2)Semantic coupling is achieved by the use of synonyms and antonyms, both direct and contextual, root repetition, paraphrase, sustained metaphor, semantic fields, recurrence of images, connotations or symbols.
Illustrations of the coupling technique are found in the composition of proverbs and sayings, bywords and catch–words: Hedges have eyes and walls have ears; Like father, like son…
The concept of Burying
Burying presupposes that an item is placed with the intention that it should not be easily found. We distinguish between foregrounding and backgrounding. The normal expectation of the readers is that foregrounding will be used to highlight significant information and the relatively insignificant parts of a text will fall in the background. The notion of backgroundingis little studied in stylistics.
The most common examples of burying are advertisements and contracts when unpalatable details are hidden in small print. Moreover, politicians may hide unpopular details in the less prominent parts of their speeches.
Burying strategies in BBC’s Sherlock:
- Television series rarely have a linear plot
- The usage of flashbacks
- Musical clues
- Colour schemes
- Other film devices
If we speak about analysis, it is necessary to focus on the linguistic, visual and auditory methods of burying. Because the aim is to come with a very detailed analysis.
Example from Christie ‘Sparkling Cyanide’:
“I enjoy myself immensely. I’ve seen a good deal of life, Ruth. I’ve done almost everything. I’ve been an actor and a storekeeper (кладовщик) and a waiter and an odd job man, and a luggage porter, and a property man in a circus! I’ve sailed before the mast in a tramp steamer.”
Explanation – it is the first mention of a character, who will turn out to be a murder (this information is buried and the reader understands it only at the end of the story). The mention of a waiter is placed between two unskilled jobs to de-emphasize skills which are viewed as important. The information about the waiter is presented to highlight that Victor (a murder) has had many jobs, but readers may not engage fully with the ‘knowledge and techniques’ that a waiter would possess, which can be seen as necessary to commit the crime.
Stylistics and creativity.
Stylistics is largely regarded today as a consciousness-raising exercise as stylistic analysis brings to the conscious attention of the reader those underlying or overlooked linguistic phenomena of the text that are instrumental of meaning construction.
Stylistics is a dynamic and moving discipline; it is often regarded as a method of dealing with the big world, a method of looking for new forms and formulating questions about the world we live in.
Stylistics is a rapidly growing discipline, interested in the relationship between the writer and the text, the reader and the text, contexts of production and reception in texts. It accounts for how texts project meaning, how readers construct meaning, why the readers respond in the way that they do.
To do stylistics is to explore language and to explore creativity in language use.
Creativity is a dynamic process involving making new connections, crossing disciplines and using metaphors and analogy. It also involves making critical judgements.
- It is a highly personal process;
- It is not a linear process;
- It presupposes a two way street;
Linguistic creativity pertains to both high literary arts and everyday communication. It is characterized by
- Literariness;
- Foregrounding;
- Defamiliarisation;
- It is artful, playful, imaginative;
- Evaluation;
We could use a textual lens to look at how languages are manipulated in different ways;
We could use a contextual lens (historical, situational, social);
We could use a critical lens (examining the values and assumptions embedded in the text);
Strategies of meaning extension:
- Metaphorical extension: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.”
- Intertextuality;
- Phonological similarities: Join the Kew for the Bloom with the Phew. Tongan for toddlers.
- Stylistically marked words;
- Class shift; (He laughed me out of the room)
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