Feminist Stylistics:
Feminist stylistics can be defined as the sub-branch of stylistics which aims to account for the
way in which gender concerns are linguistically encoded in texts, and which attempts to do so
by employing some of the frameworks and models pertaining in the stylistics tool-kit. However,
the phrase ‘gender concerns’ can encompass a plurality of meanings which has given rise to the
multifaceted perspectives from which the notion of gender has been approached. One of those
perspectives is offered by feminist stylistic analyses which, along with other approaches to the
study of language and gender on the one hand and feminism on the other, conceive of gender in
a rather fluid and adaptable way. Feminist stylisticians’ contribution to the study of gender has
traditionally illustrated how the interface of gender issues and language materialises in literary
texts, but such a focus should not be understood as exclusive.
Historical Perspective:
The label ‘feminist stylistics’ should be properly credited to Mills (1995) because, although she
was not the first stylistician to implement a feminist stylistics perspective, she was nonetheless
the one who coined the term and described more fully the practices of this subbranch. Mills
had previously used a slightly different version of the label, namely ‘Marxist feminist stylistics.
Despite the multiplicity of meanings associated with stylistics and feminism, Mills (1995)
advocates that a collaborative merger of the two in terms of their tenets and principles can
bring particularly fruitful results.
Formalist and Functional Stylistics:
Functionalist stylistics are concerned with the relationship between the forms of language as a
system and the context or situation of its production. Functionalist deals with the connection
between what is language and what is not. Functionalist stylistics has often been regarded as
distinct form formalist linguistics. It is also concerned with the semantic function of the formal
properties of the language system that is, its propositional meaning. This approach is
fundamentally concerned with the ways in which the formal properties of language are used
pragmatically. The context of language is as important as the formal features of which ot is
comprised. Language has three roles to perform as Ideational, inter personal and textual.
Formalists are mostly interested in the poetic form of literary language. They were inspired by
the early ideas of the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. They are of the view that art should
not mirror the natural world. Truth should be presented indirectly through imagination and
dreams. They also make distinction between poetic and non-poetic languages. They wanted to
see literature in a scientific way.
Evaluative Stylistics:
This is a term used by Richard Bradford to designate the type of analysis which uses linguistics
tools to assess or measure the worth of a text. It assumes the quality of a text is revealed in the
quality of language patterns if employs. Such analysis may involve the juxtaposition of two or
more texts for comparative evaluation.
Discourse Stylistics:
This type of stylistics examines the form and function of linguistic construction which are
beyond the sentence in specific social, cultural and historical contexts. It is also a stylistic
approach which apply the procedures and terminology of discourse analysis in the explanation
of literary language use. An advantage of discourse analysis approach is that it enables us to
study longer stretches of language beyond sentences which traditional linguistics may not
reach.
Discourse is understood as language in use and stylistics is the systematic and principled study
of language in use. Discourse stylistics is the interpretation and study of meaning through close
interrogation of the formal features of the texts. It recognises that formal features do not have
self-evident meanings but do have contexts of use and histories of reception.
Contextualist Stylistics:
This branch of stylistics has various factions that are unified in their emphasis on the ways in
which literary style is formed and influenced by its contexts. This analysis involve the
competence and disposition of the reader and the prevailing Socio-cultural forces that
dominate all linguistics discourse including literature. Moreover, it is the system of signification
through which we process and interpret all phenomenon, linguistics and non-linguistics, literary
and non-literary. This type is more towards reader-oriented.
