Stylistics

Stylistics Stylistics

Stylistics is a critical approach which uses the methods and findings of the science of linguistics in the analysis of literary texts. By 'linguistics' here is meant the scientific study of language and its structures, rather than the learning of individual languages.

The specific differences between conventional close reading and stylistics include the following:

What stylistic critics do

Close reading emphasises differences between literary language and that of the general speech community; it tends to isolate the literary text and see it as a purely aesthetic art object, or 'verbal icon' , whose language operates according to rules of its own. Stylistics uses specialised technical terms and concepts which derive from the science of linguistics, terms like 'transitivity' , 'under-lexicalisation' , 'collocation' , and 'cohesion' Stylistics makes greater claims to scientific objectivity than does close reading, stressing that its methods and procedures can be learned and applied by all.

They describe technical aspects of the language of a text -such as grammatical structures and then use this data in interpretation.

The purpose of doing this is sometimes simply to provide objective linguistic data to support existing readings or intuitions about a literary work.

At other times the purpose is to establish a new reading, which may be based only, or mainly, on this linguistic data, and may challenge or counter existing readings.