A summary of the story “A Friend in Need”.

1. General Notes on Styles and Stylistics

The subject of stylistics has so far not been definitely outlined. This is due to a number of reasons.

First of all there is a confusion between the terms style and stylistics. The first concept is so broad that it is hardly possible to regard it as a term. We speak of style in architecture, literature, behaviour, linguistics, dress and other fields of human activity

Even in linguistics the word style is used so widely that it needs interpretation. The majority of linguists who deal with the subject of style agree that the term applies to the following fields of investigation.:

1) the aesthetic function of language;

2) expressive means in language;

3) synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea;

4) emotional colouring of language;

5) a system of special devices called stylistic devices;

6) the splitting of the literary language into separate subsystems called stylistic devices;

7) the interrelation between language and thought;

8) the individual manner of an author in making use of language.

The origin of the term Style and Stylistics.

Lat - stylus - a stick made of material for writing.

Stylistics - from French " Stylistique " -instrument for Writing.

          1. There is a widely held view that style is the correspondence between thought and expression. The notion is based on the assumption ; that of the two functions of language, (language is said to have two functions: it serves as a means of communication and also as a means of shaping one's thoughts). The first function is called communicative, the second - expressive, the latter finds its proper materialization in strings of sentences especially arranged to convey the ideas and also to get the desired response.

          Indeed, every sentence uttered may be characterized from two sides: whether or not the string of language forms expressed is something well-known and therefore easily understood and to some extent predictable; whether or not the string of language forms is built anew; is, as it were, an innovation made on the part of the listener to get at the meaning of the utterance and is therefore unpredictable.

Many great minds have made valuable observations on the interrelation between thought and expression. The main trend in most of these observations may be summarized as follows the linguistic form of the idea expressed always reflects the peculiarities of the thought. And vice versa, the character of the thought will always in a greater or lesser degree manifest itself in the language forms chosen for the expression of the idea.

       2. Another commonly accepted connotation of the term style is embellishment of language. This concept is popular and is upheld in some of the scientific papers on literary criticism. Language and style are regarded as separate bodies, language can easily dispense with style, which is likened to the trimming on a dress. Moreover, style as an embellishment of language is viewed as something that hinders understanding. In its extreme, style may dress the thought in such fancy attire that one can hardly get at the idea hidden behind the elaborate design of tricky stylistic devices.

This notion presupposes the use of bare language forms deprived of any stylistic devices of any expressive means deliberately employed. Perhaps it is due to this notion that the word "style" itself still bears a somewhat derogatory meaning. It is associated with the idea of something pompous, showy artificial, something that is set against simplicity, truthfulness, the natural. Shakespeare was a determined enemy of all kinds of embellishments of language.

          3. A very popular notion among practical linguists, teachers of language, is that style is technique of  expression. In this sense style is generally defined as the ability to write clearly, correctly and in a manner calculated to the interest of the reader. Style in this utilitarian sense should be taught, but it belongs to the realm of grammar, and not to stylistics. It sets up a number of rules as to how to speak and write and discards all kinds of deviations as being violations of the norm. The norm itself becomes rigid, self-sustained and to a very great extent inflexible.

         4. The term style also signifies a literary genre. Thus we speak of classical style or the style of classicism; realistic style; the style of romanticism and so on. On the other hand, the term is widely used in literature, being applied to the various kinds of literary work, the fable, novel, ballad, story etc. Thus we speak of a story being written in the style of a fable or we speak of the characteristic features of the epistolary style or the essay and so on.

Finally there is one more important application of the term style. We speak of the different styles of language. A style of Language is a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in communication. The peculiar choice of language means is primarily dependent on the aim of communication.

Thus we may distinguish the following styles within the English literary language: 1) the belles- letters style; 2) the publicistic style; 3) the newspaper style; 4} the scientific prose style; 5) the style of official documents and presumably some others. The classification presented here is not arbitrary, the work is still in the observational stage. The classification is not proof against criticism, though no one will deny that the five groups of styles exist in the English literary language.

General Notes on Styles and Stylistics

To define the limits of stylistics it is necessary to state what we mean under its main term – style. This word is of Latin origin derived from the word stilus which meant a short sharp stick used by the Romans for writing on wax tablets. Stylistics comes from French “Stylistique” -instrument for writing.

Now the word style is used in many senses that is why it has become a permanent source of ambiguity. It may denote:

- The correspondence between thought and expression ;

- An individual manner of making use of language ;

- The set of rules how to write a composition – sometimes style is associated with very simple notions like “style is the man himself (Buffon 18thc.)

The subject of stylistics has so far not been definitely outlined. This is due to a number of reasons. First of all there is confusion between the terms style and stylistics. The first concept is so broad that it is hardly possible to regard it as a term. We speak of style in architecture, literature, behavior, linguistics, dress and other fields of human activity.

Major Scholars and Landmarks of Stylistics Development as a Science.

Some scholars claim that stylistics is a comparatively new branch of linguistics, which has only a few decades of intense linguistic interest behind it. The term stylistics really came into existence not too long ago.

The problem that makes the definition of stylistics a curious one deals both with the object and material of studies. Another problem has to do with a whole set of special linguistic means that create what we call ‘style’. Style may be belles–letters or scientific or neutral or low colloquial or archaic or pompous, or a combination of those. Style may also be typical of a certain writer – Shakespearean style, Dickensian style, etc. There is the style of the press, the style of official documents, the style of social etiquette and even an individual style of a speaker or writer – his idiolect.

Some linguists consider that the word “style” and the subject of linguistic stylistics are confined to the study of the effects of the message, its impact on the reader. Stylistics in this case is regarded as a language science which deals with the results of the act of communication.

Stylistics deals with styles. Different scholars have defined style differently at different times. Out of this variety we shall quote the most representative ones.

In 1971 Prof. I.R. Galperin offered his definition of style ‘as a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in communication.’

According to Prof. Y.M. Skrebnev, whose book on stylistics was published in 1994, ‘style is what differentiates a group of homogeneous texts (an individual text) from all groups (other texts) … Style can be roughly defined as the peculiarity, the set of specific features of a text type or of a specific text.’

All these definitions point out the systematic and functionally determined character of the notion of style.

The authors of handbooks on German, English and Russian stylistics published in our country over the recent decades propose more or less analogous system of styles based on a broad subdivision of all styles into two classes: literary and colloquial and their varieties. These generally include from three to five functional styles.

Stylistics– is a branch of general linguistics. It deals with 2 interdependent objectives

 Investigation of special language media which secure the desirable effect of the utterance – they are called stylistic devices(SD) and expressive means(EM). Stylistics studies the nature, functions and structure of SDs and EMs

 The second field of investigation is concerned with certain types of texts which due to the choice and arrangement of language means are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of communication. These types are called functional styles of language.

In dealing with the objectives of stylistics one should mention its close interrelations with other sciences and disciplines such as theory of information, literature criticism, psychology, logic and even to some extent statistics.

Thus , stylistics - is a science, a branch of linguistics, investigating principles and the results of selection and use of lexical, grammatical, phonetic and other language means for the transfer of thoughts and emotions under different circumstances of communication.

Therefore, stylisticsis concerned with such issues as :

1) aesthetic function of language (inherent in poetry and prose);

2) expressive means in language (with the purpose of effecting the reader: poetry, fiction, oratory, rarely in technical texts);

3) synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea;

4) emotional colouring in language (with the aim to make a text a highly lyrical or satirical piece of description);

5) a system of special devices called stylistic devices;

6) splitting of the literary language into separate systems called style (also with sub–standard speech as slang, barbarisms, vulgarisms, taboo, etc.);

7) interrelation between language and thought (this is the subject of decoding stylistics);

8) individual manner of an author in making use of the language (a unique combination of language units, expressive means and stylistic devices peculiar to a given writer, which makes the writer’s works or even utterances easily recognizable).

Riffatere (1964): stylistics - a linguistics of the effects of the message of the output of the act of communication, namely of its attention-compelling function.

Since the aim of communication is transmitting certain information, stylistics may be said to border on the theory of information. The latter can be of 2 kinds:

 Denotative – concerned with the essence of the utterance

 Connotative – dealing with or reflecting the attitude of the interlocutors to what is being said and to the conditions of communication. This information refers to emotive, expressive, evaluative and functional components of human speech.

Stylistics description and analysis aim at investigation of interdependence and interrelation between these 2 types of information contained in the text. Michael Riffatere enlarges upon his definition of stylistics in terms of the theory of information: “Stylistics is a science studying those aspects of the utterance, which transfer to the Receptor decoding the text the mode of thinking peculiar to the Source”. Thus the term decoding stylisticshas appeared. Its main theoretician in this country was I.V.Arnold from St.Petersburg University.

·         3. What we here call individual style, therefore, is a unique combination of language units, expressive means and stylistic devices peculiar to a given writer, which makes that writer's works or even utterances easily recognizable. Hence, individual style may be likened to a proper name. It. has nominal character. The analogy is, of course, conventional, but it helps to understand the uniqueness of the writer's idiosyncrasy. Individual style is based on a thorough knowledge of the contemporary language and also of earlier periods in its development.
Decoding stylistics is the most recent trend in stylistic research that employs theoretical findings in such areas of science as information theory, psychology, statistical studies in combination with linguistics, literary theory, history of art, literary criticism, etc.
Decoding stylistics helps the reader in his or her understanding of a literary work by explaining or decoding the information that may be hidden from immediate view in specific allusions, cultural or political parallels, peculiar use of irony or euphemism, etc.
The term ‘decoding stylistics’ came from the application of the theory of information to linguistics by such authors as M. Riffatrre, R. Jacobson, P. Guiraud, F. Danes, Y. Lotman, I. V. Arnold and others.
In a rather simplified version this theory presents a creative process in the following mode. The writer receives diverse information from the outside world. Some of it becomes a source for his creative work. He processes this information and recreates it in his own esthetic images that become a vehicle to pass his vision to the addressee, his readers. The process of internalizing of the outside information and translating it into his imagery is called ‘encoding’.
The reader is supposed to decode the information contained in the text of a literary work.
However to encode the information does not mean to have it delivered or passed intact to the recipient. There are more obstacles here than meet the eye. In contrast to the writer who is always concrete the reader who is addressed is in fact an abstract notion, he is any of the thousands of people who may read this book. This abstract reader may not be prepared or willing to decode the message or even take it. The reasons are numerous and various.
In M. Tsvetaeva’s essay «Poets on Critics» in which she maintains that reading is co-creative work on the part of the reader if he wants to understand and enjoy a work of art. Reading is not so much a hobby done at leisure as solving a kind of puzzle. What is reading but divining, interpreting, unraveling the mystery, wrapped in between the lines, beyond the words, she writes. So if the reader has no imagination no book stands a chance.
From the reader’s point of view the important thing is not what the author wanted to say but what he managed to convey in the text of his work. That’s why decoding stylistics deals with the notions of stylistics of the author and stylistics of the reader. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis and types of foregrounding
Decoding stylistics investigates the levels phonetic, graphical, lexical, and grammatical. It studies expressive means provided by each level not as isolated devices that demonstrate some stylistic function but as a part of the general pattern on the background of relatively lengthy segments of the text, from a paragraph to the level of the whole work. The underlying idea implies that stylistic analysis can only be valid when it takes into account the overall concept and aesthetic system of the author reflected in his writing.
Ideas, events, characters, emotions and an author’s attitudes are all encoded in the text through language. The reader is expected to perceive and decipher these things by reading and interpreting the text. Decoding stylistics is actually the reader’s stylistics that is engaged in recreating the author’s vision of the world with the help of concrete text elements and their interaction throughout the text. 

     One of the fundamental concepts of decoding stylistics is

foregrounding. The essence of this concept consists in the following. Foregrounding means a specific role that some language items play in a certain context when the reader’s attention cannot but be drawn to item. In a literary text such items become stylistically marked features that build up its stylistic function.
There are certain modes of language use and arrangement to achieve the effect of foregrounding. It may be based on various types of deviation or redundancy or unexpected combination of language units,

. 18.Metaphor

Metaphor is a figure of speech in which an explanation of an object or idea is produced through juxtaposition of disparate things with a similar characteristic, such as describing a courageous person as having a "heart of a lion".

Allegory — a sustained metaphor continued through whole sentences or even through a whole discourse. For example: "The ship of state has sailed through rougher storms than the tempest of these lobbyists."

Newmark distinguishes six types of metaphors:

1. dead metaphor: this type of metaphor frequently relates to universal terms of space and time, the main part of the body, general ecological features and the main human activities. Dead metaphors have lost their figurative value through overuse and their images are hardly evident. Some examples of a dead metaphor include 'at the bottom of the hill', 'face of the mountains', and 'crown of glory'.

2. cliché metaphor: this type of metaphor is known to have outlived its usefulness, and is used as a substitute for clear thought, often emotively, but without corresponding to the facts of the matter. Some examples include 'a jewel in the crown', 'to make one's mark', and 'backwater'.

3. stock or standard metaphor: is defined as an established metaphor, which in an informal context is an efficient and concise method of covering a physical and/or mental situation both referentially and pragmatically. He also states that stock metaphors, in contrast to dead metaphors, are not deadened by overuse. Examples of this type also mentioned by Newmark are: 'to oil the wheels', 'he's in a giving humour', and 'he's on the eve of getting married'.

4. adapted metaphor: this type of metaphor is actually a stock metaphor that has been adapted into a new context by its speaker or writer, for example, the stock metaphor 'carrying coals to Newcastle' can be turned into an adapted metaphor by saying ' almost carrying coals to Newcastle'.

5. recent metaphor: this type of metaphor is produced through coining and is spread in the SL rapidly. Examples of this kind are 'spastic', meaning stupid, and 'skint', meaning without money.

6. original metaphor: this type of metaphor is "created or quoted by the SL writer", and in the broadest sense, "contains the core of an important writer's message, his personality, his comment on life".

Writers sometimes use metaphors and similes to help create a vivid image in the reader's mind. A simile explicitly compares two things using the word like or as. A metaphor also compares two things, but it does not use the word like or as.

E.g.: My father grumbles like a bear in the mornings (simile).

My father is a bear in the mornings (metaphor).

A metaphor is a relation between the dictionary and contextual logical meanings based on the affinity or similarity of certain properties or features of the two corresponding concepts. Metaphor can be embodied in all the meaningful parts of speech, in nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and sometimes even in the auxiliary parts of speech, as in prepositions. Metaphor as any stylistic devices can be classified according to their degree of unexpectedness. Thus metaphors which are absolutely unexpected, are quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors. e. g. Through the open window the dust danced and was golden. Those which are commonly used in speech and are sometimes fixed in the dictionaries as expressive means of language are trite metaphors or dead metaphors e. g. a flight of fancy, floods of tears. Trite metaphors are sometimes injected with new vigour, their primary meaning is re - established alongside the new derivative meaning. This is done by supplying the central image created by the metaphor with additional words bearing some reference to the main word. e. g. Mr. Pickwick bottled up his vengeance and corked it down.

The verb «to bottle up» is explained as «to keep in check», to conceal, to restrain, repress. So the metaphor can be hardly felt. But it is revived by the direct meaning of the verb «to cork down». Such metaphors are called sustained or prolonged. Stylistic function of a metaphor is to make the description concrete, to express the individual attitude.

The tongue is fire → Язик горить, страва дуже гостра.