Oscar Wildes The Nightingale and the Rose, similar to other Oscar Wildes short stories, is written in an aesthetic voice. Throughout the story, Oscar Wilde employs various stylistic devices for the expression of aesthetic concept. In order to show h

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A Stylistic Analysis on the Nightingale and the Rose

Abstract

Oscar Wilde’s The Nightingale and the Rose, similar to other Oscar Wilde’s short stories, is written in an aesthetic voice. Throughout the story, Oscar Wilde employs various stylistic devices for the expression of aesthetic concept. In order to show how Oscar Wilde engross readers in this incredible story through stylistics analysis, this paper firstly presents an overview of stylistics based on the textbook English Stylistics by Xu Youzhi and gives a brief introduction of Oscar Wilde and some knowledge on The Nightingale and the Rose. Then, with the basis of stylistic theory, a comprehensive stylistic analysis of the story in phonetic, lexical, syntactic, semantic and contextual aspects will be carried out. Finally, this thesis will try to summarize the stylistic features, which help Oscar Wilde create a story that successfully absorbs and shocks whoever reads it.

Key words: stylistic analysis, The Nightingale and the Rose, Oscar Wilde, aesthetic voice


1. Overview of Stylistics

1.1 Definitions of stylistics

Stylistics refers to stylistic study specially. The aim of the stylistic study is to interpret the literary meaning and aesthetic effect of literature texts linguistically. There are many definitions on the stylistics. Leech and Short(1981:23)defined that “Compared with many other studies, literary stylistics is a new science, a linguistic approach towards literature works. It applies theories of modern linguistics to the study of literature and attempts to relate the critic’s concern with aesthetic appreciation and the readers’ intuition with the linguist’s concern with linguistic description”. Thornborrow and Wareing(1998:3)defined that “By far the most common kind of material studied(by stylistics)is literature.” This thesis mainly depends on Xu Youzhi’s view on stylistics. He said(2005: 1):“The stylistics we are discussing here is modern stylistics, a discipline that applies concepts and techniques of modern linguistics to the study of styles of language use. It has two subdivisions: general stylistics and literary stylistics, with the latter concentrating solely on unique features of various literary works, and the former on the general features of various types of language use.” That is to say, stylistics goes beyond the linguistic description of the literature texts; its final purpose is to relate literary effects to relevant linguistic causes. It is the most explored section in the stylistic domain.

1.2 The Concern of Stylistic

The style is a pattern of linguistic features distinguishing one piece of writing from another or one category of writing from another. A writer’s style often varies from work to work; there is usually enough uniformity in one’s article to allow the readers to observe that this overall style differs from the other’s style.

In the study of stylistics, the concern is mainly on the usage of stylistics, which is a discipline that studies the sum of stylistic features of the different varieties of language, the language, aspects of the speech event, language varieties and function, stylistic study and other spheres of study. “Stylistic study concerns itself with the situational features that influence variations in language use, the criterion for the classification of language variety, and the description and interpretation of the linguistic features and functions of the main varieties (both literary and non-literary) of a language. ”Xu Youzhi (2005: 7)

1.3 The Need for Stylistic Study

In Xu Youzhi’s opinion, stylistic study is of vital importance. He illustrated the significance of stylistic study from three aspects.

First, stylistic study can help cultivate a sense of appropriateness. We know that the language usage should depend on the concrete occasions. In formal occasions, we use standard expressions. In casual context, the colloquial speeches are under considered. Therefore, we should develop a sense of appropriateness in order to choose the suitable speeches in such situations. The choice of a particular speech style is corresponding with the context. If we talk to the people who are not well educated using more formal speech style, the communication effects will be inconspicuous. Otherwise, the stylistic study is necessary to develop a sense of appropriateness. (Xu Youzhi, 2005: 10)

Second, stylistic study sharpens the understanding and appreciation of literary works. Literary works use various devices to achieve a particular effect or meaning. And usually the devices are the representation of style of the works. However, different readers have different understanding on the devices used in the literature works. In the process of discussion, a new understanding of the works begins to emerge as a more coherent description emerges. The stylistic study can sharpen the understanding and appreciation of literary works. (Xu Youzhi, 2005: 12)

Third, stylistic study helps achieve adaptation in translation. All languages have different features, so in the translation process, it is not enough to transfer the original meaning of the source language but ignore the target language readers. A good translated version should be able to exert on an impact similar to that of the original text on the readers of the source language with the target language readers in style. If the original text is full of humor, the translated text should also be full of humor. If the original is ironic in tone, then the translated text should be like that too. (Xu Youzhi, 2005: 14)

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1.4. The Levels of Language

As a code, language is multi-leveled. As Xu Youzhi said, there are three levels of language: the level of semantics, the levels of lexis and grammar and the level of phonology/graphology.

 1) The Level of Phonology/Graphology

Phonology is the study of the rules for governing the structure, distribution, and sequencing of speech sounds and the shape of syllables. It deals with the sound system of a language by treating phoneme as the point of departure. (Hu Zhuanglin, 2001:18) Phonological level is the expression or realization of language in its spoken form.

Graphology is ...

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