LINGUIST List 7.1242

Sat Sep 7 1996

Disc: "style"

Editor for this issue: T. Daniel Seely <dseelyemunix.emich.edu>

Directory

1. Stirling Newberry, Re: 7.1209, Disc: Operational definition of "style"

Message 1: Re: 7.1209, Disc: Operational definition of "style"

>Date: Sun, 18 Aug 1996 23:26:08 CDT
>From: pdanielspress-gopher.uchicago.edu (Peter Daniels)
>Subject: Re: 7.1167, Sum: Operational definition of "style"
>
>Let's not confuse "stylized", apparently the original area of inquiry,
>with "style" or "stylistics"! "Stylized", to me, refers to phenomena
>in the visual arts; e.g., Art Deco is characerized by stylized
>representations of human figures, etc.; think of the drawings of
>Erte', perhaps the best- known Deco designer as an individual. (Think
>also of Astaire-Rogers movies, quintessentially Art Deco.) The
>Egyptomania of the early 19th century also involved stylized
>interpretations of Egyptian motifs.
>
>I don't see that "stylized" can apply to written language.

Actually there are many obvious examples, the easiest ones are from
theatre, cinema and drama. Most theatre has the challenge of presenting
things which are acceptable as "real" to the audience - in a distincly
unreal setting. The same is true of novelistic dialog. People do not
actually speak the way people in plays do - but there must be a recognition
of the speach. This is the source of much stylization.

Ralph Ellison spennds a good deal of time talking about how the
mono-syllabic dialog of Hemmingway and Hammett is a stylization of the way
people speak - and spends a good deal of time pointing out the differences.

Milton intentionally "Latinized" his english - clearly "stylization" - the
conscious attempt to model depiction to fit models external to that being
depicted.


>LINGUIST List: Vol-7-1209.

Stirling Newberry allegrobluesky.net