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Stylistics: The New Critical Idiom

Darius Cox

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Stylistics is a branch of linguistics that studies the style of a text, focusing on the choices that a writer makes in order to create a particular effect. It is a relatively new field of study, with its roots in the New Criticism movement of the early 20th century.

New Criticism

Stylistics (The New Critical Idiom)

by Richard Bradford

4.6 out of 5

Language	:	English
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New Criticism was a movement in literary criticism that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s. It was a reaction to the prevailing critical methods of the time, which focused on the author's biography, the historical context of the work, and the moral or philosophical message that it contained.

New Critics argued that these approaches did not pay enough attention to the text itself. They believed that the meaning of a work of literature could be found only by close analysis of its language and structure.

Stylistics

Stylistics emerged as a way of putting New Critical principles into practice. Stylisticians use a variety of linguistic tools to analyze the style of a text, including:

Phonology: The study of speech sounds.
Morphology: The study of word formation.
Syntax: The study of sentence structure.
Semantics: The study of meaning.
Pragmatics: The study of how language is used in context.

Stylisticians use these tools to identify the patterns and regularities in a text. They then use this information to interpret the text and to make inferences about the author's intentions.

The Stylistic Approach

The stylistic approach to literary criticism has several key features:

It is text-based: Stylisticians focus on the text itself, rather than on the author's biography or the historical context of the work.
It is objective: Stylisticians attempt to avoid making subjective judgments about a text. They instead focus on describing the text's linguistic features and on interpreting their significance.
It is holistic: Stylisticians believe that the style of a text is a complex and integrated whole. They therefore avoid isolating individual features of the text and instead focus on the way that these features work together to create a particular effect.

The Benefits of Stylistics

The stylistic approach to literary criticism has several benefits:

It can help us to understand the meaning of a text more deeply. By analyzing the style of a text, we can gain insights into the author's intentions, the mood of the work, and the overall impact that it is intended to have on the reader.
It can help us to appreciate the artistry of a text. The style of a text is often a key factor in its aesthetic appeal. By analyzing the style of a text, we can gain an appreciation for the author's craftsmanship and for the ways in which language can be used to create art.
It can help us to make comparisons between texts. By comparing the styles of different texts, we can identify similarities and differences between them. This can help us to understand the different ways that authors use language to achieve different effects.

Stylistics is a powerful tool for the analysis of literary texts. It can help us to understand the meaning of a text more deeply, appreciate the artistry of a text, and make comparisons between texts. By studying the style of a text, we can gain a deeper understanding of the author's intentions, the mood of the work, and the overall impact that it is intended to have on the reader.

Stylistics (The New Critical Idiom)

by Richard Bradford

4.6 out of 5