-
Lecture 1 Introduction
Step I Introduction to the course
1. The importance of this course
To sharpen our sense of style in
English
To help
us
with
their
systematic
study
of
English
rhetoric
so
that
they
will
be
able
to
read
and
write better
To raise our levels of attainment in
English
To facilitate
students? understanding of the history of rhetoric
in human history
To make a
comparison of English and Chinese
rhetoric
2. Requirements
Class attendance is required, not
optional.
Study should not be confined
to the teaching material.
3. Reference books
《英语修辞大全》<
/p>
，冯翠华，外语教学与研究出版社
《英
语文体学引论》
，王佐良、丁往道，外语教学与研究出版社
<
/p>
《文体学概论》
，刘世生、朱瑞青，北京大学出版社
Step II What is
stylistics?
王宗炎，
《英汉教学语言学词典》
Stylistics
Different
definitions of “style”
Style
as rhetoric
Style as form
Style as eloquence
Style as
proper words in proper places
Style as
personal idiosyncrasy
Style as
technique of exposition
Style as the
highest achievement of literature
Style as saying the right thing in the
most effective
Style as a shell
surrounding a pre-existing core of thought or
expression
Style as the choice between
alternative expressions
Style as a set
of collective characteristics
Style as equivalence
Style as function
Style as
foregrounding
突出
Style as
deviation
变异
Style
as transformation
Style as meaning
potential
Style as expressiveness
General speaking
Stylistics
is the
Stylistics is a
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 uses linguistics as a means to that end.
How to understand “style as
rhetoric”?
In China:
1973
年，陈望道《修辞学发凡》是中国现代文体学的开端。
1980
年，中国修辞学会成立，标志着中国文体学
研究进入了新阶段。
90
年代童庆炳
主编的《文体学丛书》
，展示中国文体学论注重向西方文体论借鉴。
In western countries,
Stylistic
study
originates
from
rhetoric
in
ancient
Greece
[
Plato
(427-347
BC)
and
Aristotle
(384-322 BC)] and Roman [Cicero (106-43
BC) ].
Attention:
In
ancient
China,
rhetoric
dates
back
to
the
Chinese
philosopher,
Confucius
(551-479
BC), and
continued with
later followers.
The
tradition of Confucianism emphasized the use of
eloquence in speaking.
Step
III What is rhetoric?
Etymology of
rhetoric
Rhetoric: derived
from Greek “rhetorike”, through Old French and
medieval Latin.
It refers to
“that which is said or spoken, word,
saying.”
In its broadest
sense, rhetoric concerns human discourse.
The definition of
rhetoric
Early rhetoricians offered the
following definitions:
Aristotle:
Rhetoric
may
be
defined
as
the
faculty
of
observing
in
any
given
case
the
available means of
persuasion. This is not a function of any other
art.
Wayne Booth
(1921-2005): The art of changing
one
?
s minds.
Francis Bacon: Rhetoric is a technique
making it possible to apply reason to imagination,
for
the better moving of will.
Cicero:
…
eloquence
to
persuade
their
fellows
of
the
truth
of
what
they
had
discovered
by
reason.
Dictionary definitions of
rhetoric
Longman Modern
English Dictionary
: The art or science
of communication in words; this art or
science practiced or taught as a formal
discipline, esp. the doctrine formulated by
Aristotle and
taught
throughout the Middle Ages; overornate or
ostentatious language.
The Oxford
English Dictionary
, 1933:
The art of using language so as to
persuade or influence
others;
the
body
of
rules
to
be
observed
by
a
speaker
or
writer
in
order
that
he
may
express
himself with eloquence.
The
Concise Oxford Dictionary
, 1982: The
art of persuasive or impressive speaking or
writing;
language designed to persuade
or impress (but perhaps insincere or exaggerated).
From all the
definitions above, we find that:
--
In
Aristotle?s
time,
rhetoric
was
considered
to
be
the
science
of
orator
y
and
the
art
of
persuasion.
--Today, rhetoric is regarded as a
science of heightening linguistic effective
expressions, and
the art of effective
communication.
Classification of
Rhetoric