Republic of Armenia, Yerevan

Yerevan State University

Study of Stylistic Devices in non-literary texts

We’ve set forth to study the peculiarities of stylistic devices in non-literary texts. It is performed through comprehension and analysis of stylistic devices, all of them illustrated by the examples from the functional styles of language where one can come across with non-literary texts.

We have also separately written about the styles where one can find non-literary texts. They are newspaper style, official style, publicistic style and scientific prose style. Giving examples from different journals, famous people speeches and documents we have tried to find out stylistic devices and then analyze them.

Let’s first compare literary texts with non-literary ones and find out differences between these two kinds of texts.

Texts are often popularly viewed as either literary or non-literary. They differ essentially through intention and through the fact that literary texts are about persons while non-literary ones are about objects. Literary texts belong to the world of imagination whereas non-literary ones belong to the world of facts. Nevertheless, both texts are concerned with the fundamental truths of translation: factual, aesthetic, allegorical truth, logical and linguistic truth.

No profession is as divided as that of translation. One area is concerned with knowledge, facts and ideas, information, and reality; the other with human individuals, nature and the occupied planet in the imagination.

“Literary and non-literary translation are two different professions, though one person may sometimes practise them both. They are complementary to each other and are noble, each seeking in the source text a valuable but different truth, the first allegorical and aesthetic, the second factual and traditionally functional. They sometimes have different cultural backgrounds, occasionally referred to as 'the two cultures', which are detrimentally opposed to each other” [2]. In a recent issue of In Other Words, Mike Shields stated,’I have tried to show that in general terms, the bulk of translation is non-literary, but many laymen see it either as a mechanical (looking up words in dictionaries) or as an impossible task [13].

In non-literary texts, since it may only be pursuing the facts, rather than their precise quality as well, it can be fairly accurate. In literary translation, it can only be accurate to a certain degree, since it is looking for the connotative as well as the denotative meaning, which has many aspects, of which it can only capture a limited amount; and it uses two languages as its tools, each of which are unevenly and variably equipped with words, have different sounds and word-orders, different lexical gaps and deficiencies. It is only in non-literary translation that a translator can achieve anywhere near perfection. The main intentional difference between literature and non-literature is that the first comprises the world of the mind and the imagination; the second, the world of reality, of facts and events.

In literary texts, the words are as important as the content; in non-literary texts this is only true of key words that represent significant concepts, as well as objects, actions and physical and moral qualities, for all of which true synonyms do not exist. Both in language and in translation there are no absolutes, no strict dogmas: nothing is perfect, ideal, correct. Literary texts are written to be read aloud in the mind, to be slowly savoured, to be judiciously read repeatedly, and increasingly appreciated; the sound of non-literary texts is often ignored, and they are read quickly.

When we witness two meanings of the word realized simultaneously we are confronted with a stylistic device, where two meanings interact. According to Prof I.R. Galperin’s definition stylistic devise is a conscious and intentional intensification of some type structural or semantic property of a language unit promoted to a generalized status and thus becoming a generative model. Stylistic devices must always have some function in the text, besides they bring some additional information.

Stylistic device is a conscious and intentional literary use of some of the facts of the language including expressive means in which the most essential features both structural and semantic of the language forms are raised to a generalized level and thereby present a generative model. Most stylistic devices may be regarded as aiming at the further intensification in the corresponding expressive means.

In other words stylistic devices make your speeches, essays etc. more interesting and lively and help you to get and keep your reader’s attention.

There are lexical stylistic devices (metaphor, metonymy, pun, zeugma, irony, epithet…) where we deal with the substitution of the existing names approved by long usage and fixed in dictionaries by new, occasional, individual ones, prompted by the speaker's subjective original view and evaluation of things. Syntactical stylistic devices (epiphora, anaphora…) that are based on the arrangement of the members of the sentence, on the completence-incompletence of sentence structure. And finally lexico-syntactical stylistic devices (simile, litotes, periphrases), which add logical, emotive, expressive information to the utterance regardless of lexical meanings of sentence components. There are certain structures though, whose emphasis depends not only on the arrangement of sentence members but also on the lexico-semantic aspect of the utterance.

At present most scholars differentiate the following functional styles: scientific, official, publicist, newspaper, belles-lettres. Most of these styles belong exclusively to writing; in so much as only in this particular form of human intercourse can communications of any length be completely unambiguous. Each style is characterised by a number of individual features which can be classified as leading or subordinate, constant or changing, obligatory or optional, essential or transitory. Each style can be subdivided into a number of substyles. But now we will concentrate on the styles in which we can come across with non-literary texts. So the first we want to begin with is the newspaper style.

Newspapers have their specific vocabulary features and are characterized by an extensive use of special political and economic terms, non-term political vocabulary, newspaper clichés, abbreviations and neologisms. As the newspaper also seeks to influence public opinion on various social, political or moral matters, its language frequently contains vocabulary with emotionally coloured words and elements of emotive syntax. Headline writers use a wide range of stylistic devices to create a very specific style and capture the reader’s attention. Ellipsis, which means that some words have been missed out, is very often a feature of the language of headlines but usually the omissions can be recovered or guessed from the context. What concerns editorials, along political words and expressions, terms, clichés and abbreviations one can find colloquial words and expressions, slang, and professionalisms. The language of editorial articles is characterized by a combination of different strata of vocabulary, which enhances the emotional effect. Emotional colouring in editorial articles is also achieved with the help of various stylistic devices, both lexical and syntactical, the use of which is largely traditional. Editorials exploit trite stylistic means, especially metaphors and epithets, e.g., international climate, a spectacular sight, an outrageous act, brutal rule, an astounding statement, crazy policies. Traditional periphrases are also very common in newspaper editorials, such as Wall Street (American financial circles), Downing Street (the British Government), Fleet Street (the London press), the Great Powers (the biggest and strongest states), the third world, etc.

The emotional force of expression in the editorial is often enhanced by the use of various syntactical stylistic devices. Some editorials are full of parallel constructions, various types of repetition, rhetorical questions and other syntactical stylistic means. Here is an example of stylistic devices from an article where we have found irony mixed up with sarcasm. Sarcasm is a bitter or wounding remark, taunt, especially ironically worded. Usually socially or politically aimed irony is also called sarcasm: “Once upon a time in a sceptered island ruled a Great white Queen and enchantress… Beloved by her subjects, she ruled with a stern, but loving hand, disallowing anything that was not good for them… In fact the majority of people did not have to work at all, only the rich, were punished, left with the worries that money brings”.

In this text the author gives a sarcastic description of the former prime minister of Great Britain - Margaret Thatcher. Sarcasm appears due to the use of contradictory notions: a stern, but loving hand; a Queen and enchantress disallow anything that was not good for them, only rich people were left with worries etc. Sarcasm is kept whole due to the use of such devices as periphrasis: “a sceptered island” instead of Great Britain; litotes – disallowing anything that was not good for them; epithets – a sceptered island, a stern and loving hand.

Style of official documents: The most general function of official documents predetermines the peculiarities of the style. The most striking, though not the most essential feature, is a special system of clichés, terms and set expressions by which each sub-style can easily be recognized, for example: I beg to inform you; I beg to move; I second the motion; provisional agenda; the above-mentioned; hereinafter named; on behalf of; private advisory; Dear sir; We remain, your obedient servants.

Each of the subdivisions of this style has its own peculiar terms, phrases and expressions which differ from the corresponding terms, phrases and expressions of other variants of this style. The vocabulary is characterized not only by the use of special terminology but the choice of lofty (bookish) words and phrases. There are so many abbreviations and acronyms in official documents that there are special addenda in dictionaries to decode them. These abbreviations are particularly abundant in military documents. In military documents sometimes metaphorical names are given to mountains, rivers, hills, or villages, but these metaphors are perceived as code signs and have no aesthetic value. Words with emotive meaning are not to be found in official documents. There are not any words which reveal the attitude of the writer, his individual evaluation of the fact and events of the issue no such words in official style, except those which are used in business letters as conventional phrases of greeting or close.

Publicistic style: The general aim of publicistic style is to exert a constant and deep influence on public opinion. Its emotional appeal is generally achieved by the use of words with emotive meaning, the use of imagery and other stylistic devices, but the stylistic devices used in publicistic style are not fresh or genuine. The emotional colouring of the publicist style is lofty, it may be solemn, or ironic, but it cannot have jocular, rude, vulgar, or slangy words in colloquial speech.

Repetition can be regarded as the most typical stylistic device of the English oratorical style. As the audience relies only on memory, the speaker often resorts to repetition to enable his listeners to follow him and retain the main points of the speech, as for example the following extract from the speech of the American Confederate general, A.P. Hill, on the ending of the Civil War in the U.S.A. is an example of anaphoric repetition:

It is high time this people had recovered from the passions of war. It is high time that counsel were taken from statesmen, not demagogues. It is high time the people of the North and South understood each other and adopted means to inspire confidence in each other.

Almost any piece of oratory will have parallel constructions, antithesis, climax, rhetorical questions and questions-in-the-narrative. It will be no exaggeration to say that almost all typical syntactical devices can be found in English oratory. Questions are most frequent because they promote closer contact with the audience. The change of intonation breaks the monotony of the intonation pattern and revives the attention of the listeners: In comparison with the oratorical style, the essay aims at a more lasting, hence at a slower effect. Epigrams, paradoxes and aphorisms are comparatively rare in oratory, as they require the concentrated attention of the listener. In the essay they are commoner, for the reader has an opportunity to make a careful and detailed study both of the content of the utterance and its form.

Scientific prose style: The main function of scientific prose is proof. The language means used tend to be objective, precise, unemotional, and devoid of any individuality. Words used in scientific prose will always tend to be used in their primary logical meaning. But emotiveness is not entirely or categorically excluded from scientific prose. There may be hypotheses, statements and conclusions which, being backed up by strong belief, therefore call for the use of some emotionally-coloured words. The most frequently words used in scientific prose are functional words: dash; conjunctions and prepositions. Another observable feature of the style of modern scientific prose is the use of quotations and references. But scientific prose style uses special emphatic constructions to lay logical stress on some part of a sentence.

It is not solely from water that oxygen is to be obtained (= we can get oxygen not only from water). It is on these terms that the company would be prepared to conclude an agreement (= The company will conclude an agreement only on these conditions).

References:

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3. Catford, J.C. (1965) A Linguistic Theory of Translation, London: Academic Press.

4. Comparative Politics, Washington State University, 1996.

5. Galperin I.R.. Stylistics. M. V.Sh. 1981.

6. International Conflict Cooperation and Management, Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania, 2000.

7. Kukharenko V.A. A Book of Practice in Stylistics. M. 1986.

8. Kukharenko V.A. Seminar in style. M. 1971.

9. Newmark, Peter. (1988) A Textbook of Translation. New York. Prentice-Hall.

10. Nida, E. 1964. Towards a Science of Translating, Leiden: E.J. Brill.

11. Nida, E. Morphology University of Michigan. Press. 1976.

12. Shields, Mike (2000). In Other Words, Translators' Association Journal 15 (August 2000).

13. Skrebnev Y.M. Fundamentals of English Stylistics. M. 1994.

14. Tytler, Alexander Fraser (1791, 1813) (1978). Essay on the Principles of Translation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

15. http://www.famousquotes.me.uk

16. www. wikipedia.com

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Угрюмова Н.И.

Академия ФСБ России

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