Stylistics routledge English Language Introductions

Activity

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boat moves on the sea horizontally – the effect of being dragged by the huge marlin;
on the other, it moves up and down vertically as a consequence of the swell of the
Gulf Stream. Both types of movement are referred to frequently by the narrator in
the novella’s central section. Moreover, the particular wave-like pattern of speech
and thought presentation identified in our analysis is 
only
initiated once the old man
sets sail in his boat. Thereafter, it is sustained with almost mathematical consistency
during his time at sea. Is it the case, then, that the ‘narrative waves’ created as styl-
istic texture are an analogue of the fictional environment portrayed in the story? Has
critic C – whose remarks seemed so outlandish at first glance – perhaps stumbled
intuitively upon one of the novella’s central motifs?
We cannot really answer this question with any degree of certainty. Stylistic
categories and affective responses are simply not homologous spheres of reference,
and the interpretative pathway that connects them is abstract, indirect and multi-
dimensional. That said, my students were noticeably divided in their opinion about
the ‘narrative wave’ argument when it was put to them. Some simply were not
convinced by my suggested connection between the stylistic analysis and the phys-
ical elements of the fictional world. However, they were hard put to explain 
why
they
found the theory unconvincing. Around two-thirds of the group, by contrast, found
the theory appealing. There was a general sense that the rhythmical texture displayed
by the narrative analysis echoed the very movements of the old man on the sea and,
as a consequence, these students wanted to elevate comment C to the top of their
ranking. They felt that the critic had had an ‘insight’ into the style of the story, though
they added the proviso that no evidence was offered in support of this insight. As
far as the ‘narrative waves’ idea is concerned, you can decide which side you want
to come down on: is the idea a fanciful conceit based on a mere stylistic coincidence,
or is it the perception of a deftly crafted 
leitmotif
embodying the very essence of the
novella? There is no right or wrong answer to this. What is important is that we
think of the reasons why we might adopt one position or the other. In other words,
we need to ground what we say about the language of a text in a model that does
precisely that; we need a language for talking about language, a 
metalanguage
, as was
argued in unit A1. In this workshop we looked at five rather speculative critical
comments which all stressed the supposed ‘simplicity’ of the story’s style. What little
stylistic evidence there was on offer tended to be drawn from perceived patterns in
vocabulary. Yet parts of speech such as nouns, verbs and adjectives are not neces-
sarily the principal indices of narrative style; nor is the specific connective ‘and’ about
which, frankly, some preposterous comments were made in the critical statements.
Indeed, the evidence provided by our analysis and figure suggests a level of complexity
and depth in narrative organisation that appears to have eluded the critics completely.
That said, the present workshop is not about the validity or otherwise of the ‘narra-
tive wave’ hypothesis. It is about the way we link analysis and interpretation, the way
we present our case to others, and the way we seek to explain how a stylistic analysis
can impact on the literary evaluation of a text.
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A W O R K S H O P O N S P E E C H A N D T H O U G H T P R E S E N T A T I O N
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C9
EXPLORING DIALOGUE
An important organising principle across this thread has been the working
assumption that dialogue occurs in a discourse context and that the structures and
strategies of dialogue need to be investigated with reference to this context. Awareness
of context, in its physical, personal and cognitive dimensions, and the forms of
communication that are appropriate to it, is what constitutes part of a speaker’s
communicative competence (see A9). This unit develops a practical activity around
this intersection between dialogue, context and communicative competence. In
keeping with work in this branch of discourse stylistics (B9), the activity is designed
to provide an analytic method for exploring fictional dialogue. By looking at 
unusual
dialogue, it also seeks to highlight the underlying patterns of non-fictional interaction
through the analysis of fictional communication. It has not escaped discourse stylis-
ticians that the analysis of unusual dialogue is both an important critical tool in its
own terms and a useful way of bringing into sharper focus the commonplace routines
of discourse that often pass us by in everyday social interaction.
Discourse and context
Not exactly drama dialogue, the passage selected for analysis is part of a well-known
comedy sketch from the television series 
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
. Before the
text is introduced, it will be worth undertaking a short contextualising exercise as 
a preliminary to the analysis. To a certain extent, this is an exercise in communica-
tive competence because it requires the matching up of appropriate forms of
discourse to a specific set of contextual variables (see A9). Consider the following set
of instructions:
Think about the sort of verbal interaction that would typically take place in the
following contextual circumstances:
A.
The participants in dialogue are two white middle-class, middle-aged
English males. They have never met before. Both are dressed reasonably
formally and they both speak with relatively high-prestige southern
English accents. These are the only obvious features that they have in
common.
B.
The physical context of interaction is a plush English public house. The
pub is busy, and most seats are taken. Having just brought drinks from
the bar, the two strangers end up sitting side-by-side at the same table.
Working from this contextualisation and drawing on the ideas developed in A9
and B9, try to predict:
(i)
what sort of dialogue would be likely to ensue between the two men
should they decide to talk to one another.
(ii)
what sorts of discourse strategies are likely to be used by the respective