IS THERE A LITERARY LANGUAGE?

1. IS THERE A LITERARY LANGUAGE? • Stylisticians would say no- no language is inherently or exclusively literary. • But literature • Offers chance to study language at its out of the ordinary, an embodiment of the creative spirit • Specific forms eg sonnets, the novel, the alliterative style of the anglo-saxon poem • ** are there merely representatives of specific codes and which are evolutionally? • Is the question of a literary language, necessary then?

2. THE LITERARY LANGUAGE ISSUE: THE OBJECTIONS • Paul Simpson’s arguments why literary language is not special • Language of literature is drawn from the same language people in ordinary every day experiences borrow from. Stylistics is about what writers do with and through language • To claim a literary language with special features would be to codify it and make it a register with its special characteristics- systematize it. Originality then would be lost. A writer has to “speak it” to qualify • If its special, then it would be taken away from stylistics- the objective tools of analysis would not apply. F.W Bateson’s remark “The mechanical procedure of the stylisticianis no match for the sensitivity of the critic

3. Exercise • Read the poem and answer the following questions: • How many speakers are there in the poem and how can we work this out from the poem? • What sort of vocabulary is used by the poet? That is, is it modern or archaic, formal or conversational? • Can you identify a ryhme scheme in the poem? If so what sort of scheme is it? • Can you spot any marked or unusual features of grammar in the poem?

4. ONE PERFECT ROSE

5. OBSERVATIONS • One speaker- mainly • Archaisms in flow’r, floweret • Inverted clause structures with subject at the end eg “all tenderly….he chose” • Ababryhme pattern even with trisy-llabic words • Symbol of the rose etc • Shift in last stanza to modern English and also introduction of a sense of contradiction, reversal or message( from wow to ah?)- comic twist encoded in play with modern and old English • Introduction of an informal register of discourse • Subject restored to its formal positioning

6. LITERARY LANGUAGE? • Stylistics not amenable to the view that literary language is special • Stylistics see texts in the context of its other stylistic possibilities • Literary language is not outside the boundaries of the overall language system. • Better to think of literariness as a question of language in use as opposed to language in isolation- eg the rose assumes different meanings in this poem as opposed to the same in isolation. • Literariness then becomes not just a feature of literature but anywhere where language is used/ creatively/

7. STYLE, REGISTER AND DIALECT • Introduction: • When speakers switch between languages, that is known as code-switching. • When the switching takes place within the same language (intra-lingual variation) it encompasses the following: • Idiolect • Accents and dialects • Register • Antilanguage

8. IDIOLECT • Individual linguistic mannerisms and stylisitcidiosyncracies • Individual’s special unique style THINK: Compare P. Lumumba, RailaOdinga and Kibaki- supposed you told them to deliver a message on TV calling for Unity? Task: Construct a sentence for each one of them

9. ACCENTS AND DIALECTS • Influenced by the following: • Regional origins • Social economic background • Dialects are distinguished by patterns in grammar and vocabulary. • EgNyeri and Murang’a Kikuyu • Use of double negatives acceptable in Nyeri, not in murang’a • To hold a baby: kunyitavskugwata • Greetings- hierarchized in Nyeri by age and gender, in Muranga “how are you” is ok for everyone!! • Yorkshire- “hi ya” for how are you? “A i t” for “alright” • Accents are distinguished through patterns of pronunciations- see wahomemutahi articles “ngoat” for goat, park and bark- ask a Luhyia to say the words, uncle- ankle-angle etc • See extract from YvoneAwuor.

10. REGISTER • Determined by the use to which language is put to. • Usually discussed in terms of three features of context: • Field> setting and purpose of interaction • Tenor>Relationship between the participants in the interaction • Mode> medium of communication: written vs spoken

11. ANTILANGUAGE • Defined as semi-secretive languages born out of subcultures and alternative societies- does Sheng qualify? • Usually the language of ‘anti-societies’ or societies established as alternatives to mainstream society. • Relexicalisation characteristic of this language- words are given new meaning and new words invented to mean for alternative behaviour: drugs, sex, certain criminal activities, police, teachers etc

12. EXAMPLES • Earthwire Neck tie • Mathree, mat, jive, jav, buuMatatu • Punch, jirongoFive hundred shillings • Mbao, blue Twenty shillings • Pack Live (somewhere)