I introduction: stylistics

II. Linguistic Approach to Stylistics
The linguistic approach to stylistics has to do with the linguistic study of literature. This description is a rephrasing of the title of a locus classicus example of an essay that discusses the linguistic approach to stylistics, written by M.A.K. Halliday entitled 'The Linguistic Description of Literary Texts'. Halliday (1962, p. 2) writes:
We can define linguistic stylistics as the description of literary texts by methods derived from general linguistic theory, using the categories of the description of the language as a whole and the comparison of each text with others by the same and by the different authors in the same and in different genres.
Linguistics studies language scientifically. It studies style as well in an impersonal and objective manner. Aitchison (2003, p. 148) states that “the linguistic analysis of literary language is known as stylistics… the words style and stylistics have acquired somewhat specialised, narrow usage of linguistics applied to literature.”
However, beyond this, linguistic approach to stylistics is also concerned with non-literary texts. This is in accordance with the views of Ufot (2013) that there have been “striking advances in the discipline of stylistics resulting inevitably in increasing focus on its interdisciplinary potential.” Ufot (2013, p. 620) enumerates the fields which stylistics has partnered as including discourse analysis, pragmatics, eco-criticism, error analysis, etc. Notably, it is the linguistic approach to stylistics that ably accommodates this interdisciplinariness as it is concerned with both literary and non-literary texts. An example that captures this is Danjuma (2013) who studies the technical and philosophical aspects of Gani Odutokun’s paintings. Danjuma (2013, p. 129) claims that the study focuses on the stylistic approaches and the philosophical contents of the paintings, and says:
The objectives of the paper are three: to sort out technical details of the style used; second, to explore how the intricate technique is used to convey message, and third, to reveal the philosophical meanings of the paintings.
Danjuma’s study traverses three disciplines: linguistic stylistics, fine arts, and philosophy. Another is Alimi (1991) who attempts an analysis of stylistic markers in the language of cartoons in Nigeria. Focusing on the printing styles, stylistic registers and textual features of the texts that constitute the corpus of the research, she reveals that the informal style (typical of the use of Pidgin English, colloquial forms, loan blends, ellipsis, etc.) characterises the language of cartoons in Nigeria. Her research borders on journalism.
One marker that readily identifies an analytical essay, dissertation, or thesis as a (linguistic) stylistic endeavour is the presence of any or some or all categories of the description of language. The categories of the description of language are mainly four viz. phonological level (where phonological features are explored), graphetic level (where graphological features are explored), lexico-semantic level (where lexical and semantic features are explored), and grammatical level (where morphological and syntactic features are explored). Another important identity marker (particularly distinctive of a linguistic stylistics) is the use of a linguistic theory. The linguistic theory is more often than not needed as an anchor that validates the stylistician's explication. In modern linguistic stylistics, there are many theories but two theories have assumed dominance: Noam Chomsky's Transformational Generative Grammar and M.A.K. Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics. These two theories are of commonplace in the long essays, dissertations, and theses of stylistics researchers.
With its popularity, Halliday's Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) seems to be preeminent in linguistic stylistics. Also known as Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), it is a theory which views language as linked with the society and is applicable for ‘analysis of text/context relationship in language’ (Olutoke 2015, p. 20). In the view of Fairclough (2003), SFL is concerned with the relationship between language and other elements and aspects of social life. Olutoke (ibid.) believes that it is an approach oriented to the social character of texts. According to Fairclough (1995), systemic linguistics is a functional theory of language orientated to the question of how language is structured to tackle its primary social functions. Ayoola (2008) in presenting Halliday’s notion of textual grammar observes that SFG concerns itself with the analysis of text. Text in this sense refers to any passage, spoken or written, of whatever length, that does form a unified whole (Halliday and Hassan, 1976). Context of situation is an important notion in SFL. According to Halliday and Hassan (ibid.), field (the total event in which the text is functioning), mode (function of the text in the event; channel taken by language) and tenor (role interaction amongst participants of the event), collectively define the context of situation of a text. According to Olutoke (2015, p. 20), Halliday (1994) writes about three meta-functions of language: ideational (states of affair in the world), interpersonal (social relationships between participants in an interaction), and textual (a coherent account of the world of the message).
To identify a study that has employed the linguistic stylistic approach, therefore, one must look out for these basic criteria. One, we check if the study analyses text or language use at any or some or all categories of language description. Two, we check if the analysis has been anchored on a linguistic theory. Ufot (2013) studies the phonological features of Thomas Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,' focusing on phonaesthesia and prosody. Famous for the signal employment of iambic pentameter, Ufot (2013) notices that very little prior work had been done on the "phonaesthetic structure" of the poem. He then attempts "a detailed investigation of all the phonaesthetic devices which identify the poem as a happy and celebratory elegy". He observes:
Employing metrical phonological theories from Stallworthy, Wales, Katamba, Leech, Roach and Boulton, the study appraises all the suprasegmental features of poetry such as syllabification, metre, rhyme, elision, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance and consonance, and exemplifies the ways in which these devices support the meaning of the poem.
Presenting the suprasegmental features of the poem as pieces of evidence, Ufot (ibid.) concludes that "Gray’s ‘Elegy’ is indeed not a poem of mourning as such, but a posthumous ‘musical’ contemplation of the virtues of simplicity and hard work".
Robert and Edem (2017) attempt a lexico-semantic analysis of the national anthems of Nigeria and Senegal. Theirs is a very good example of a linguistic stylistics. Robert and Edem (2017, p. 15) say:
The concepts of linguistic stylistics and presupposition are adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. Using Halliday’s Triple Categorisation of context, the authors apply issues of field of discourse, mode of discourse and tenor of discourse to the texts to reveal their hidden characteristics which help expand their interpretation.
Their study reveals that the two anthems have meanings that go beyond the everyday meaning of the lexical items employed in the texts. They conclude that the anthems have been stylistically couched to appeal to the sensibilities of the citizens to make them patriotic and embrace the national ethos of “statesmanship” thereby ensuring peace and stability.
Ayeomoni and Abiodun (2014) investigate the pronominal ‘I’ as a communicative linguistic device and protest in Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel. Their study can be classified as a study in the lexico-semantic category of language description. According to them:
Approaching the text from a linguistic stylistic perspective, the study discovered (sic) that the use of the pronominal item by the implied author is significant in frequentative terms and also foregrounded his preoccupation with literature as a weapon of social survival and a signal of the power of literary creativity, even in the face of physical limitations imposed by repressive state apparatuses. The paper showed (sic) that Habila, as a major voice in the third generation of Nigerian writers, uses repetition as a schematic device for foregrounding the contradictions of military rule in Nigeria and the triumph of the creative spirit.
Examples of linguistic stylistic studies abound. Importantly, the linguistic stylistician investigates the style of whatever language use in literary and non-literary texts essentially with the aid of a linguistic theory or model. The ultimate goal is to expose how language is used to achieve certain ends, and such exposition more often than not contributes to existing linguistic theory.