Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. It refers the way in which language is used in a given context, by a given person, for a given purpose, and so on. The speaker/writer makes selections from the linguistic system for the required occasion. However even talking about the same topic, for example the weather, style is dictated by the occasion. Thus, certain English expression like “bright intervals” “scattered showers” etc. elong to the style of weather forecasts, while others like “lovely day”, “a bit chilly” etc are expressions used in everyday controversial remarks about the weather. Therefore, stylistics looks at what is ‘going on’ within the language; what the linguistic associations are that the style of language reveals. Style has commonly been defined as a ‘way of writing’ or a ‘mode of expression’. Dualism and Monism are both major approaches to the study of stylistics. These are ‘content’ and ‘form’. The form of a work of literature or texts generally refers to its “architectonic”.
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It is the essential organizational structure or formal features. The content on the other hand, is more or less, the subject matter, the idea, the worldview, or theme or more significantly, referred to as the ‘ideational content’ of a text. In illustrating what the form is, the sonnet is a typical example. These schools are ‘Dualists’ and ‘Monists. ‘ The latter holds the view that ‘content’ and ‘form’ are inseparable having an indivisible unity like that of the onion and its layers. The Dualists’ concern is about the content of any language use and its mode of expression.
In other words, it is concerned with what is expressed and the manner of expression. To the Dualists therefore, both content and form (mode of expression) can be identified as different propositions. In other words, it is possible to identify as different entities what is said and the manner in which what is said is said. Dualism began as a consideration of the nature of language in terms of form and content. They propose that a sentence can be paraphrased into different forms (style) but they all still retain its original meaning.
For example, in the sentence, ‘Michael killed a rat’, different paraphrases such as ‘a rat was killed a by Michael’, “Michael is responsible for the death of a rat”; etc can be realized from the sentence. However, they still refer to the original meaning “Michael killed a rat. ” In one way or the other, these paraphrases represent its original form. Dualists have therefore used paraphrases of this nature to differentiate between what is said and how it is said. The Monists use poetry to illustrate their position. They believe that unlike prose, which can be paraphrased, poetry cannot be paraphrased.
