Stylistics : A Contact between Linguistics and Literary Criticism

Abstract

Quirk (1969) has remarked that a man's style is as specific as his

fingerprints. Stylistic analysis can in fact settle many knotty problems in

ltterature. A Writer's use of language, if studied carefully , can reveal his

aesthetic personality , his deep – laid philosophy and world – view , the

way he looks at the world , perhaps far more accurately than any study of

his background and the literary movement he subscribes to . In fact , the

question of the nature of stylistics , and its position among the various

disciplines, its scope and its limits have aroused considerable discussion.

The term "stylistics" can apply to various kinds of linguistic analysis.

Anyhow, stylistics, which is, in general, incorporated within the

terminology of linguistics, has not won the satisfaction of some linguists.

therefore, they began to coin some other new terms . Thus, this research

is intended to present discussion of the scope of stylistics, stylistic

analysis, and stylistics as a middle ground between linguistics and literary

criticism. In general, it is divided into three parts each to cover a certain

aspect of the subject .the first part is a review of the definition of

stylistics, its function, and its aims. The second part is concerned with

stylistic analysis and kinds of stylistic studies. Whereas, the third part of

this research discusses the role of stylistics as a contact between

linguistics and literary criticism.