Stylistics 10

Literary language connotative affective a higher occurrence of special or deviant features literary uses heightened, valued



I ain’t got no sugar, Hattie, I gambled your dime away. Ain’t got no sugar, I Done gambled that dime away. If you’s a wise woman, Hattie, You ain’t gonna have nothin to say.


‘What are you doing, clumsy, drunken fool?’

the mother cried. ‘Then tha should get the flamin’ thing, thysen. Tha should get up, like other women have to, an’ wait on a man.’ ‘Wait on you – wait on you?’ she cried, ‘yes, I see myself.’ ‘Yis, an’ I’ll learn thee tha’s got to. Wait on me, yes, tha sh’lt wait on me --’ ‘Never, milord, I’d wait on the dog at the door first.’
Everyday language referential informative less occurrence of special or deviant Features ‘ordinary’ uses complex, rich, variable

So we see that the literary artists would not cut themselves adrift from the all embracing role that language has in our everyday lives. Literary expression is an enhancement, or a creative emancipation of the resources of everyday language. See how the novelist and the playwright aim at a vivid reproduction of everyday language:
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Literary language can be most „creative‟: original use of established possibilities of the language, and creation of new communicative possibilities which are not in the language. See e e cummings‟ love is more thicker than forget:




In our account of the salient features of the language of fiction, we shall follow Leech and Short(1980)‟s division of three different aspects of a literary work: 1) work as message, corresponding to the ideational function of language; 2) work as text, corresponding to the textual function of language; 3) work as discourse, corresponding to the interpersonal function of language.

Those mainly for providing artistic enjoyment are literary whereas those for providing messages or other services are non-literary. Thus in autobiography writings, those that mainly provide a record of factual events are nonliterary, and those that mainly provide an enjoyment are literary; the criterion of judgment for the former is whether or not they provide a detailed, real, and systematic record of historical events, whereas that for the latter is whether or not they are artistically appealing and entertaining.

Many poets also use „language such as men do speak‟. See Marlowe‟s The Passionate Shepherd to His Love:



Come live with me and be my wife, And we will all the pleasures prove That hills and valleys, dale and field, And all the craggy mountains yield.

it is most mad and moonly and less it shall unbe than the sea which only is deeper than the sea.


The Language of Fiction Literary language, just as its name implies, is the language used in the creation of literary works, which cover a wide range, including poetry, fiction, prose, drama, and other literary genres. But the demarcation line between literary and non-literary works is not so clear. For instance, the literariness of the genre of autobiography is hard to define: it may be literary or simply a record of actual events in a person’s life. Hence the necessity of the defining features of literary language.
Modern poets can even manage to reproduce the local or social flavor of everyday language. See Langston Hughes‟ poem:


Where is that sugar, Hammond, I sent you this morning to buy? I say, where is that sugar I sent you this morning to buy? Coffee without sugar Makes a good woman cry.




Notice that the literary writer does not simply copy everyday language, but will refine the raw linguistic materials and put them in the literary text with singular economy and compression. As a result, whatever is there in the literary language is there with a point. See what the beginning of Dorothy Parker‟s story Here We Are convey: ‘Well!’ the young man said. ‘Well!’ she said. ‘Well, here we are,’ he said. ‘Here we are,’ she said. ‘Aren’t we?’
Stylistics 10
The Style of Literature (I) -- General Remarks and The Style of Literature (II) -- The Style of Fiction



What are the qualities that tip us off to recognize a text as belonging to literature? The interesting framework? Or the imaginative quality of the linguistic utterance? Or the special use of patterning in literary texts? Or the excellence of form and expression? It is used as an artistic medium, to create images, to bring out the multi-level meaning and semantic significance of a literary work – an art of language.


Then what are the defining features of literary language? Unlike the functions of non-literary language, which are mainly ideational/referential – to define things, to exchange ideas, to express emotions, and to transmit messages, the function of literary language is mainly aesthetic – mainly to create images, to make people enjoy, to touch the emotions of the reader, to cause shock to them, and to persuade them into action. So the „literariness‟ of a text can be determined by its social function.