Lecture one
Course requirements and evaluation
What is Stylistics about?
Language is a medium of conveying information and communicating feelings. To fulfill the communicative purpose, people should make the use of language. Considering different communicative environment, methods, objectives and purposes, communicators would opt different language varieties (语言变体) that has different functions so as to perform their communication effectively. The language varieties are what people called ―style‖ (文体或语体).
The use of ―Style‖ can extend to all situationally distinctive uses of language, literary and non-literary. As for English, for example, there are many styles of varieties, such as EST (English for Science and Technology), Advertising English, Press English, Law English, Tourism English, etc. In the middle 1970s, many scholars made the application of modern linguistics and literary criticism to the exploring research on various types of styles, thus bringing us a new discipline--- Stylistics.
Stylistics, simply defined, is a discipline that studies the ways in which language is used; it is a discipline that studies the style of language is used.
Stylistics and Translation Studies
Generally speaking, stylistics covers such fields:
1) analyzing various habits of language use to ensure the typical characteristics of a certain style;
2) explaining the reason that a certain style has its own characteristics;
3) classifying these characters according to their language functions.
As a matter of fact, different writings have different linguistic characteristics in the aspect of vocabulary, syntax, rhetoric, structure, etc.
According to linguists Buler and Jackbson, there are three functions of language: expressive function, informative function, and vocative function. Any original work has the three functions.
Just as Newmark says, ―The main functions of language are expressive (the subjective or ―I‖ form), the descriptive or informative (the ―it‖ form), and the vocative or directive or persuasive (the ―you‖ form). All texts have aspects of the expressive, the informative and the vocative function.
Generally speaking, literary work mainly focuses on the expressive function, while non-literary works mainly center on informative function and vocative function. Compare the differences of English for Advertising and Literary work, for example. Now the examples:
1. He laughs best who runs longest.
谁跑到最后,谁笑得最好。（轮胎广告）
2. In Miami, it‘s no novelty. 游了迈阿密，才知天下奇。
3.Some fishing boats were becalmed just in front of us. Their shadows slept, or almost slept, upon the water, a gentle quivering alone showing that was not complete sleep or if sleep, that is was sleep with dream.
眼前不远,渔舟三五,凝滞不前,樯影映在水上,仿佛睡去,偶尔微见颤动,似又未尝熟睡,恍若惊梦。
4.Portia: And you must cut this flesh from off his breast.The law allows it, and the court awards it.
Shylock: Most learned judge! A sentence! Come, prepare!
(Excerpted from: Act IV, The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare)
鲍西娅:你必须从他的胸前割下这磅肉来;法律许可你,法庭判给你。
夏洛克：博学多才的法官！判得好！来，预备！
It is very important for us to introduce stylistics into translation study. Why can Stylistics be applied to translation study?
It lies in that both of them have the same aim, that is, how to fulfill social communication with effective linguistic methods.
They both put emphasis on the social standard of communicative function; they don‘t ignore the timeliness and individuality of writing style as well.
In the process of translation, it is necessary for translator to deal with his translation carefully in order to make the translation accord with the source text in the aspect of style. Now for some examples:
