文学文体学考试内容

文学文体学考试内容
I.Decide whether the following statements are true or false. Write T for true and F for false. (10×1=10%)
II. Please define the following terms. (6×5=30%)
1.Stylistics 文体学（论）
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. Stylistics is a branch of linguistics which applies the theory and methodology of modern linguistics to the study of style.
2.Zeugma轭式修饰法
zeugma, in which a word is used to modify two or more words although its use is grammatically or logically correct with only one.
3.lexical deviation 词汇变异
Lexical deviation refers to the divergence in frequency from
a norm on the lexical level.
4.cataphoric reference 前照应
At the syntactic level, there are a number of devices that can be employed to make literary texts cohesive. In this section, we will look at three of them: co-reference, ellipsis, linkage.
Co-reference is the means of referring to something elsewhere in the text. It is thus an important device for linking sentence with sentence and at the same time avoiding repetition. Co-reference consists of two types: anaphoric reference and cataphoric reference.
The former refers to something that has already been mentioned in the text, while the latter refers to something that is yet to come.
The two types of references are chiefly signalled by the third person pronouns (he, she, it, they, him, her, them) and the definite article (the)
5. mind style 思维风格
1) cumulatively, consistent structural options, agreeing in cutting the presented world to one pattern or another, give rise to an impression of a world-view, what I shal l call a…mind style?. (Fowler)
2) The term …mind style? can also be applied to more restricted domains of style: for example, the Lok-language of Golding?s The Inheritors.
3）More narrowly, mind style can be associated with quite local stylistic effect, for example in the description of a character or a landscape.
6.Denotation 指示意义
Denotation is seen as the basic or central conceptual or referential meaning of words or signs, without the associations or metaphorical meanings which they can acquire in particular context.
7.archaism and neologism 拟古主义&新词
1)Archaism is the retention or survival of linguistic features no longer generally current.
2）Neologism is contrary to archaism. It means” a newly invented word”, it also includes word that has taken on a new meaning.
8.free direct speech自由直接引语
In literary terms this puts it between an author?s reproduction of a character?s actual dialogue or speech and a reported account of what a character has said.
9.Subordination 主从关系
Subordination is common in grammar to describe a hierarchic structure of clauses within the complex sentence. The most important information is normally expressed in the main clause, the of less significance in the subordinate clauses. Subordination is thus a pattern of foregrounding and backgrounding.
10.oxymoron and paradox 矛盾修辞法&似是而非的隽语
1）Oxymoron is "the yoking together of two expressions which are incompatible" (Leech, 1969: 132).
Oxymoron is a compressed paradox, formed by the conjoining of two contrasting, contradictory terms.
2）A paradox is a statement which is absurd because it is self-evidently false.
III. Please answer the following questions. (15×2=30%)
1.What elements should we consider when we analyze stylistically relevant features on the syntactic level? (Please list at least 5 points.)
答案：
Leech and Short (1981) listed the following grammatical categories for stylistic analysis:
(1) sentence type: statements, questions, commands, exclamations. If these other types are used, what is their function?
(2) Sentence complexity:
Do sentences on the whole have a simple or a complex structure?
The average sentence length?
What?s the ratio of dependent to independent clauses?
Does complexity vary strikingly from one sentence to another?
Is complexity mainly due to
<1> coordination, <2> subordination,<3> parataxis(并列句)
(3)Clause types: what types of dependent clause are favored; relative clauses, adverbial clauses, different types of nominal clauses? Are reduced or non-finite clauses commonly used, and if so, of what type are they？
(4)Clause structure: is there anything significant about clause elements? Are there any unusual orderings? Do special kinds of clause construction occur?
(5)Noun phrases: are they relatively simple or complex? What does the complexity lie?
(6)verb phrases: are there any departures from the use of the simple past tense, the present tense?
(7)other phrase types
(8)word class
2.What are the maxims of the Cooperative Principle?
答案：
Grice (1975) suggests that when people converse with one another, they acknowledge a kind of tacit agreement to cooperate conversationally towards mutual ends. This agreement he calls the cooperative principle.
When one follows this principle, one communicates according to various rules which Grice calls "maxims".
For example, one must tell the truth and one must make one's point clearly. Grice has put forward four conversational maxims:
QUANTITY 数量准则
1. Make your contribution as informative as is
required.
2. Do not make your contribution more
informative than is required.
QUALITY 质量准则
Try to make your contribution one that is true.
1. Do not say what you believe to be false.
2. Do not say that for which you lack adequate
evidence.
RELATION 关联准则
Be relevant.
MANNER 方式准则
Be perspicuous.
1. Avoid obscurity of expression.
2. Avoid ambiguity.
3. Be brief.
4. Be orderly.
Violation of the maxims 准则的违背
The use of the terms principle and maxim does not mean that the CP and its maxims will be followed by everybody all the time.
People do violate them and tell lies.
In fact, the significance CP lies in the violations.
3.What is the relationship between linguistics and literature? 答案：
(1)Linguistics and literary criticism have been held as two separate disciplines of study.
(2)Earlier in this century, even though the school of “New Criticism” atta ched great importance to the close reading of the literary texts, they, as well as other people who were engaged in the study of literary style, lacked a systematic knowledge of linguistics and took a sceptical attitude towards
the function of linguistics in the study of literature.
(3)Along with the rise of sociolinguistics in the early 1960s
and the introduction of speech act theory and text linguistics, the study of literary style witnessed rapid development.
(4)A number of linguists and literary critics have moved from the two extremes to merge of the two disciplines, with the linguists taking literary language as their subject of investigation and the critics adopting a linguistic approach.
(5)This area of mediation between the two disciplines of linguistics and literary criticism is now known as stylistics.
H. G. Widdowson defined stylistics like this: “By stylistics I mean the study of literary discourse from a linguistic orientation”.
There are two key issues here. One is to treat literature as discourse and the other is to adopt a linguistic approach.
(6)By treating literature as discourse and seeking the relationship between linguistic code and literary meaning, the language learner can be more conscious of the interpretative procedures involved and it helps him develop an appreciation of literature and sharpen his awareness of the communicative value carried by the linguistic code.
(7)The understanding of literature cannot be entirely separated from intuition.
(8)nevertheless, a linguistic description and analysis can be of great help in our understanding.
(9)By analyzing the language syntactically, semantically and phonologically to seek possible and probable communicative value, the reader?s initial understanding of a piece of literature is tested, modified and greatly enriched and his analytical linguistic tools sharpened in the process. This is the twofold benefit of such an approach.
(10)It is believed that linguistic description and analysis can
lead to a better understanding of the communicative value of the text.
总言而止：Stylistics is an interdisciplinary study of language and literature.
4.What is periodic sentence and loose sentence structure? How about their function?
答案：
1)A periodic sentence is one which saves its main clause (idea) to the end. Supportive or qualifying statements are placed before the main clause or assertion.
(function)It keeps its reader in suspense and thus it brings an element of suspense into syntax. The degree of suspense depends on the size of the anticipatory constituent. The more anticipatory constituents there are, the greater the suspense, the greater the burden on the memory, and thus the greater the tension.
Periodic sentences have a dramatic quality. They are especially useful emphasis, or for a climax. They are generally characteristic of writing rather than speech, and of formal prose styles.
2)Loose sentence structure, the main idea is put at the beginning of the sentence, and supportive or qualifying information comes after it.
（function）The word loose does not denote any looseness or lack of strict logical sequence in grammatical structure. It can be very complex in terms of numbers of words, numbers of clauses, etc. But the comprehension can still remain not difficult.
He stood in the doorway with the taste of alcohol on his tongue watching a thin girl in a red rubber
cap giggle under the floodlighting（泛光灯照明）.
The stylistic effect of a loose sentence is, not surprisingly, to create a literary style of simplicity and directness.
Loose sentence structure can also produce irony. This is especially so when the meaning of the right-branching part is out of the reader?s expectation. It is frequently used in some proverbs, e.g. We never miss the water till the well was dry.
松散句结构比较松散,口气比较随便,便于组织,便于理解,便于使用,是人们交际的主要句式.
接连不断的松散句使文章平淡无奇;而圆周句的频繁也会使读者失去兴趣,因为没有人乐意从头到尾处于悬念和等待中.
以松散句描述一般,以圆周句强调重点,这是许多作家的技巧之一.
圆周句具有庄重文雅的特点,口语中很少使用.
5.What features do we usually consider when we analyze stylistically relevant linguistic features on the lexical level? (Please list at least 5 points.)
答案：
1. long or short?
2. Latin Anglosaxon, or from both more or less equally?
3. unusual, obscure, in common use?
4. formal, colloquial, or even slangy?
5. technical?
6. in current use, archaic?
7. precise, vague?
8. forceful and energetic, sober and restrained
IV. Please analyze the following literary works by using literary stylistic method. (15×2=30 %)
1 (Context: Lady Britomart, a woman of about fifty, is writing at her writing desk in a rather grand room. Her son, Stephen, a young man, comes in.)
答案：
Take for example the four imperatives beginning with "Don't". Don't begin to read, Stephen. Don't make excuses, Stephen. Don't fiddle with your tie, Stephen.
Don't repeat my words, please...
Each of these commands prohibits Stephen from doing something. Other utterances which function as commands include:
You must learn to face life seriously, Stephen.
You must advise me.
You must assume the responsibility.
I wish you would let that watch chain alone.
It may be noticed that most of the above-cited utterances express or imply criticism of Stephen. In fact, there are still other utterances by Lady Britomart that are direct criticism of him. For example:
Now are you attending to me Stephen!
No: it's not of course.
Nonsense!
Stephen: may I ask how soon you intend to realize that you are a grown-up man, and that I am only a woman?
The above analysis shows that Lady Britomart is a domineering and aggressive person.
In contrast, Stephen is shown to be submissive and nervous.
His utterances consist mostly of genuine questions, sincere apologies and humble explanations. If we are careful when examining the passage, we may observe that Lady Britomart is criticizing her son mostly on trivial matters.
This shows that she is also very exacting with her son. Thus, it is not unreasonable to assume that this could partly be the reason why Stephen is not yet ready to assume the responsibility.
2.Thunder and Lightning
原文Thunder and Lightning
Blood punches through every vein,
As lightning strips the windowpane.
Under its flashing whip, a white
Village leaps to light,
On tubs of thunder, fists of rain
Slog it out of sight again.
Blood punches the heart with fright
As rain belts the village night.
答案：Foregrounded features usually cohere and operate in a mutually supportive way to convey certain aspects of the work's meaning.
1）all the finite verbs (punch, leap, strip, slog, belt)
Violent, lightning and rain,
Flashing whip, rain fists
Destructive and violent aspect of nature, and thus creates a terrifying atomosphere.
2）rhyme scheme
Plosives (they are a class of sounds which are produced with greater muscular strength because air coming out from the lung meets obstructions.)
The great force of nature, reinforces the general atomosphere
From this example we can see:
A. there is a cohesion among foregrounded features of the same type
B. different types of foregrounded features also have cohesion, they co-operate to express, often indirectly, certain aspects of the work?s meaning.
Both the deviant uses of the finite verbs and the rhyme scheme of this poem suggest that nature has a destructive power and is most awesome。

3.How to analyze Benji’s mind style?
答案：
Analysis
1）gene ral structure: two types of …text?, namely Benjy?s narrative and the direct speech of other characters.
Paragraph 3, 5/ 1,4, 6/ 2
Narrative of Benjy (1-7,9-11,17-18,24-28).
2）lexis: what is he describing？
No single golfing term (he hunts the golf course in order to hear the word caddie because his beloved sister is called Caddy, table for tee.)
extreme simplicity of his language. 186 words, 80.5% monosyllabic 19.5 disyllabic The choice of types of words. 34 nouns are concrete; 4 adjs, curling, little, bright and red, all of which are primarily visual.
Hence Benjy?s world appears to be simple concrete one, dominated by sense of sight
d. the frequency of lexical repetition
Ten words fence(8), flag(5), grass(4), Luster (4), tree(4), flower(3), pasture (3),bird(1),space(1), table(1). Only 3 nouns are not repeated.
Verbs. Hit (5), go (8),flapping (3), hunting, held(2)
Hence an examination of the lexis indicates a simple and extremely restricted mind style, with little ability to use abstract terms or terms related to the thing described.
4.40-love
答案：
1)shape, a visual image of a tennis court where the two sides are physically separated by a net.
2) the employment of plosives in this poem produces an onomatopoeic effect
The sound of a teenis ball hitting the ground and the rackets middle /d/ (line 1)
aged /d/ (line 1)
couple /p/ (line 2)
playing /p/ (line 2)
ten /t/ (line 3)
game /g/ (line 5)
and /d/ (line 6)
go /g/ (line 7)
still /t/ (line 9)
be /b/ (line 10)
tween /t/ (line 11)
couple playing /pl/ (line 2)
ten nis /n/ (line 3)
go home /eu/ (line 7)
will still /il/ (line 9)
be be /b/ (line 10)
3)the repetition of sounds in the poem to have double function.
A. to knit the text toghther and to give balance to the text
B. the exact repetition may generate a sense of monotomy.
4)the title of the poem is ambiguous
This is a game played by a couple in their 40?s. it appears to be serious and conscious g ame and both sides seem to know and are willing to observe the rules of the game.
However, the repetition of certain sounds shows the
monotony of the game. There is no climax. There does not seem to be much fun in the game.
This may be due to the fact that one side seems to be no match for the other, for he or she has scored nothing whereas the other?s score has reached the game point.
Thus this game will soon be brought to an end. This could be the marriage of the couple.
本首诗运用了语象变异的方法。

其一，诗中选的词排成两个竖列，宛如夫妇双方，中间隔了一张网，正在一来一去的击球；其二，诗中选的词基本都是单音节词，读来机械单调，很容易让人联想到这对夫妇枯燥乏味，缺乏情趣的生活；其三，诗中的两个关键词tennis 和between被拆开了，分别置于两个竖列中，隐喻两人的感情世界已被一张无形的网隔开，不再融为一体。

这些都说明了语象变异在表达主题的重要性，尤其是在诗歌中。

5. 课外。