Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose / Edition 2

by Michael H. Short, Geoffrey N. Leech

Overview

"Stylistics" is the study of language in the service of literary ends, and in Style in Fiction, Geoffrey Leech and Mick Short demonstrate how stylistic analysis can be applied to novels and stories. Writing for both students of English language and English literature, they show the practical ways in which linguistic analysis and literary appreciation can be combined, and illuminated, through the study of literary style. Drawing mainly on major works of fiction of the last 150 years, their practical and insightful examination of style through texts and extracts leads to a deeper understanding of how prose writers achieve their effects through language.

Since its first publication in 1981, Style in Fiction has established itself as a key textbook in its field, selling nearly 30,000 copies. Now, in this revised edition, the authors have added substantial new material, including two completely new concluding chapters. These provide an extensive, up-to-date survey of developments in the field over the past 25 years, and apply the methods presented in earlier chapters to an analysis of an entire short story. The Further Reading section and the bibliographical references have also been thoroughly updated.

In 2005 Style in Fiction was awarded the 25th Anniversary Prize by PALA (The Poetics and Linguistics Association) as the most influential book published in the field of stylistics 1980. Further proof, if proof were needed, that Style in Fiction remains a classic guide to its discipline.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138134317
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/02/2015
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Professor Geoffrey Leech is Professor Emeritus of English Linguistics at Lancaster University. He has written, co-authored or co-edited over 25 books, including A Glossary of English Grammar (2006) and Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (1999).' Professor Mick Short is Professor of English Language and Literature at Lancaster University. He is the author of, among others, Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose (1996) and (with Elena Semino) Corpus Stylistics: Speech, Writing and Thought Presentation in a Corpus of English Writing (2004).

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction
Part I: Approaches and methods
1. Style and Choice
2. Style, Text and Frequency
3. A Method of Analysis and some Examples
4. Levels of Style Part II: Aspects of style
5. Language and the Fictional World
6. Mind Style
7. The Rhetoric of Text
8. Discourse and Discourse Situation
9. Conversation in the Novel
10. Speech and Thought Presentation Passages and topics for further study
Further reading
Bibliography
Index of works discussed
General index

Editorial Reviews

"Style in Fiction is a welcome addition to a body of writings by stylisticians who have over the past two decades cumulatively increased our knowledge of the workings of language in a range of literary genres."

Applied Linguistics

From the Publisher