-
The Linguistic
Feature of English Poetry
A THESIS FOR
THE STYLISTIC COURSE
外国语学院
英语
07-02
31
邹振焕
论文摘要
根据文体学及语言学的系统功能，
本文旨在研究诗歌的文体学特
点。
它着重强调诗歌的现实
性分析，
而
不是单纯的罗列文体学的各种理论。
本文也不是对现行文体学研究方法的简单调
查，相反，
它试图找寻更多的方法，
从介绍性的
概念到诗歌文本分析的现实技巧。
本文看中
的不是诗歌分析本身
而是诗歌意义的探求过程；
不是诗歌效果的肯定而是从文体学及功能角
< br>度对诗歌文体特征所进行的研究过程。
本文是为了构建更多的分析模式，
为读者提供更多的
角度来理解诗的意义和美学价值。
关键字：文体学
诗歌
特征
Abstract
This
article, based on stylistics and Systemic
Functional Linguistics, is designed as a
study on poem stylistics, which places
emphasis on practical analysis on poems rather
than on the presentation of various
theories in stylistics. It does not pretend to
give a
general survey of current
approaches to the study of literary styles,
instead, it aims at
developing
more
approaches,
from
introductory
generalities
down
to
the
practical
details of poem textual interpretation.
What is important here is not the interpretation
itself, but the process of exploration
of meaning; not the assertion of effects but the
investigation into the poem stylistic
features from stylistic and functional
perspectives,
the
purpose
of
which
is
to
constructs
new
patterns
of
analysis
and
provide
readers
more perspectives to
understand the meaning and aesthetic
value of poems.
We are
supposed to apply it to English
teaching.
Key Word:
Linguistic
Poetry
Feature
The Linguistic
Feature of English Poetry
I
Introduction
There
are
various
definition
of
stylistics
from
different
aspects.
Widdowson(1975:3)
states”
By
stylistics, I mean the study of
literary discourse from a
linguistic
orientation and I shall take the view that what
distinguishes stylistics from
literary
criticism on the one hand and linguistics on the
other is that it is essentially a
means
of
linking
the
two.”
He
explains
the
definition
from
the
morphological
make-up of the word, pointing
out that the?
styl
?
component relates stylistics to
literary
criticism, and the
?
istics
?
component
to linguistics. Leech demonstrates stylistics as
the
study
of
the
use
of
language
in
literature
is
a
meeting-ground
of
linguistics
and
literary
study(1962:2),and
then
he
further
indicates
stylistics
is
simply
the
study
of
literary
style,or,to make matters even more explicit, the
study of the use of language
in
literature(1969:1).From what Widdowson and Leech
say, we can see that stylistics
is an
area of study which straddles two disciplines:
literary criticism and linguistics. It
takes
literary
discourse(text)as
its
object
of
study
and
use
linguistics
as
a
means(Wangshouyuan,2000:2).
From
these
definitions,
we
can
see
that
stylistics
is
concerned
with
the
idea
of?
style
?
, with the
analysis of literary texts, and with the use of
linguistics.? Style?
is
usually understood within this area of
study of the selection of certain linguistic forms
or features over other possible ones.
By the discussion, we can simply define
stylistics as a discipline that studies styles
of language use from the linguistic
perspective.
In most general
interpretation, the word style, which stylistics
derived from, has a
fairly
uncontroversial
meaning:
it
refers
to
the
way
in
which
language
is
used
in
a
given
context,
by
a
given
person,
for
a
given
purpose,
and
so
on.
There
are
many
definitions describe
term
?
style
?
from different
perspectives. Here we are supposed to
discuss four of these
views:” style
as the
man
”
,
”
style as
choice
”
,
“
style as
deviation
”
,
and”
style
as
foregrounding
”
.
Compared with the view of
“
style as
choice”
and
“
style as
deviation”, the
view of
“
style as
foregrounding” leaves
much
less to personal judgment, i.e. the identification
and
selection
of
stylistically
relevant
features
for
analysis
are
less
of
a
problem
for
those
taking
the
view
of
style
as
foregrou
nding(Wangshouyuan,2000:21).Foregrounding
can
be
achieved
either
through deviation or
through over regularity in language use,
accounting for certain
aspects
of
non-deviant
language
in
literature
which
the
approach
of
“
style
as
deviation” fails
to do. In
other words, it is a broader view than the view of
“
style as
deviation
”
.
This article, based on stylistics and
Systemic Functional
Linguistics, is
designed
as a study on poem stylistics,
which places emphasis on practical analysis on
poems
rather than on the presentation
of various theories in stylistics. It does not
pretend to
give a general survey of
current approaches to the study of literary
styles, instead, it
aims
at
developing
more
approaches,
from
introductory
generalities
down
to
the
practical
details
of
poem
textual
interpretation.
What
is
important
here
is
not
the
interpretation
itself,
but
the
process
of
exploration
of
meaning;
not
the
assertion
of
effects
but
the
investigation
into
the
poem
stylistic
features
from
stylistic
and
functional perspectives,
the purpose of which is to construct new patterns
of analysis
and provide readers more
perspectives to understand the meaning and
aesthetic value
of poems. We are
supposed to apply it to English teaching.
II
The Linguistic Feature of English
Poetry
Different subjects, contexts,
aim concern different strategies of rhetoric.
Therefore,
the
concept
of
?
style
< br>?
originates
from
the
use
of
rhetorical
techniques
to
achieve
certain
effects
in
discourses.
So
far
various
studies
on
stylistics
have
been
done
in
China, the achievements of which are
notable. However, most of these studies focus
on the stylistic theories and the
stylistic analysis on education. This article ,
based on
Systemic
Functional
Linguistics,
is
supposed
to
study
English
poems,
which
places
emphasis
on
practical
analysis
on
poems
rather
than
on
the
presentation
of
various
theories in
stylistics. The purpose is to construct a new
pattern of stylistic analysis on
poems
and
provided
readers
a
new
perspective
to
understand
the
meaning
and
aesthetic value of poems.
1
The meaning of poetry
The
definition
of
poetry
is
difficult
to
define.
Poetry
is
an
art
from
in
which
human
language
is
used
for
its
aesthetic
qualities
in
addition
to
,
or
instead
of,
its
notional
and
semantic content.
It
consists
largely
of oral
or literary
works
in
which
language
is
used
in
a
manner
that
is
felt
by
its
user
and
audience
to
differ
from
ordinary prose. Now
we
?
ll discuss the definition
of poetry and the distinctiveness of
poetic language. It is
“
the art of poet;
composition in verse or metrical language, or in
some equivalent patterned arrangement
of language; the product of this as a form of
literature; the expression or
embodiment of beautiful or elevated thought,
imagination
and
emotions
(Shorter
Oxford
English
Dictionary,2002:2256).Poetry
is
piece
of
literature written by a poet in meter
or verse expressing various emotions which are
expressed
by
the
use
of
variety
of
techniques
including
metaphors,
similes
and
onomatopoeia. The emphasis on the
aesthetics of language and the use of techniques
such
as
repetition,
meter
and
rhyme
are
what
commonly
used
to
distinguish
poetry
from prose. Poems often make heavy use
of imagery and word association to quickly
convey emotions.
The
term
begs
many
questions,
of
course,
but
poetry
today
is
commonly
an
amalgam
of
three
distinct
viewpoints.
Traditionalist
argues
that
a
poem
is
an
expression
of a vision that is rendered in a form
intelligible and pleasurable to others
and so likely to arouse kindred
emotions. For Modernists, a poem is an autonomous
object that may or may not represent
the real world but is created in language made
distinctive
by
its
complex
web
of
reference.
Postmodernists
look
on
poems
as
collages
of
current
idioms
that
are
intriguing
but
self-contained__they
employ,
challenge and /or mock preconceptions,
but refer to nothing beyond them.
The
structure used in poems varies with different
types of poetry. The structural
elements
include
the
line,
couplet,
strophe
and
stanza.
Poets
combine
the
use
of
language
and
a
specific
structure
to
create
imaginative
and
expressive
work.
The
structure used in some poetry types is
also used when considering the visual effect of
a finished poem.
2
The Distinctiveness of
Poetic Language
What
distinguishes
poetry
from
other
literary
compositions
meant
to
convey
meaning
in
a
less
condensed
way
is
the
increased
emphasis
on
the
aesthetics
of
language
and
the
deliberate
use
of
features
such
as
repetition,
meter
and
rhyme.
Poetry
may use condensed from to convey an emotion or
idea to the reader or listener,
or it
may use devices such as assonance, alliteration
and repetition to achieve musical
or
incantatory effects. This does not imply poetry is
always illogical. Poetry is often
created from the desire to escape the
logical, as well as expressing feelings and other
expression in a tight, condensed
manner. Furthermore, poems often make heavy use
of
imagery,
word
association,
and
musical
qualities
because
of
its
reliance
on
”
accidental
”
features
of language and convocational meaning. Similarly,
poetry
?
s
use of
nuance and symbolism can make it difficult to
interpret a poem or can leave a
poem
open
to
multiple
interpretations.
Thus,
there
can
rarely
be
a
single
definitive
interpretation of
a given poem.
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