Definitions :

Geoffrey Leech defines stylistics as an important 'sub-dscipline of linguistics that is concerned with the systematic analysis of language in literature as well as other domains of language use.' Stylistic analysis focuses on the linguistic features of a text and attempts to determine its significance in the interpretation of that text.

Graham Hough also defines stylistics as a systematic study of literary expression.

In a further modification of his definition Geoffrey Leech defines stylistics simply as "a study of literary style or even more explicitly, the study of the use of language in literature" All these definitions focus on literay stylistics but there can be linguistic stylistics also which focuses on the analysis of non-literary texts also.

In Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature (1975), H. G. Widowson defines stylistics as the 'study of literary discourse from a linguistic orientation'. He feels that stylistics is an intermediary between literary criticism and linguistics. It is pointed out that the word 'stylistics' is made of two components : 'style' and 'istics'. Etymologically the 'style' component of the word 'stylistics' comes from literary criticism and the 'istics' component comes from linguistics.

In Patterns in Language: An introduction to language and literary style(1998), Joanna Thornborrow and Shan Wareing point out following basic aspects of stylistics in their definition :

The use of linguistics to approach literary texts
The discussion of texts based on objective criteria rather than on subjective impressionism
The emphasis on aesthetic properties of language such as rhyme and other poetic devices
In conclusion we can say that the aim of stylistics is the understanding of literature using the tools of linguistic analysis. It is a meeting point for literature and linguistics.

Scope of Stylistics :

The scope of stylistics is very broad because style, according to Fowler (1966), is "a property of all texts, not just literary texts". This means that literary as well as non-literary texts (belonging to various disciplines) do have their own styles.

Stylistics is capable of analysing spoken as well as written discourse. Thus it is possible to analyse great speeches like Vivekananda's Chicago speech, Martin Luther's famous speech 'I have a dream' or Nehru's Tryst with Destiny" delivered on the occasion of Indian independence day on 15 August 1947. Writen discourse in the form of literary as well as

Nonliterary writing can also be studied in stylistics. We can attempt stylistic analysis of nonliterary writing such as editorials, news reports articles or advertisements in the newspaper or magazine. But by far the common kind of material studied is literary and text entered. Thus practitioners of stylistics attempt to study poems, short stories, novels, plays etc from a purely linguistic or stylistic point of view and try to interpret them. Most of the practitioners of stylistics would not be happy with merely describing the formal features of the text. They are more interested in showing the functional significance of these formal features for the interpretation of the text in question. They try to discover and explain how the literary effects achieved by creative writers are essentially related to linguistic features of the text. Instead of relying on vague and impressionistic judgments about literature, stylisticians aim at finding objective, intra-textual evidence for their interpretation of the text.

The practice of stylistics is not wholly objective despite the claims of stylisticians.

After all, which elements of a text one decides to scrutinize is a very subjective decision. The elements which are significant according to one may not be significant for the others. The process of interpretation is also not exactly as objective as claimed by stylisticians. The personal background and the present circumstances of the reader often influence the way he/she interprets the text being read. Thus the element of subjectivity creeps in unawares even in the best samples of stylistic analysis.

Linguistics, stylistics and literary criticism:

Modern linguistics developed in 1950-60s. This also began increasing interest in how linguistics could be used for interpretation of literature. It was felt that a systematic and scientific study of literary texts can :

Differentiate between literary and non-literary language.
Come up with objective description of texts rather than subjective evaluations.

Some early structural linguists like Jakobson and Mukarovsky believed that meaning of a word/line in a poem could only be interpreted in relation to the other words/lines of the poem.

Halliday, too used linguistic analysis for explaining meaning of the texts.

He tried to relate the formal properties of the literary texts to the functions of language in a wider socio-cultural context. He interpreted W.B. Yeats' poem 'Leda and Swan' by counting the frequency of certain linguistic features. Mick short believes that stylistics plays a central role in deciding what the text means. "Stylistics analysis tries to relate linguistic description to interpretation and it is essentially a part of good criticism. It justifies how one view or interpretation of a poem is better than other. In stylistics we can use linguistic evidence in the text to support our view/interpretation about a poem /character/episode. Stylistics also explains how certain effects are produced by linguistic choices/preferences of the author (i.e. choice of words/phrases or choice of a particular type of structuring /sequencing etc). It tries to answer the question why was this way of saying selected rather than the other. They attempt to show that linguistic choices/preferences produce certain literary effects. Thus linguistics, stylistics and literary criticism are interrelated disciplines. On one hand stylistics is applied linguistics because it uses linguistic tools to describe /analyze literature and on the other hand it is also a part of literary criticism because it helps it helps in evaluating/making judgments about literature. Some critics turn to the social/cultural/historical background which gave rise to a particular piece of literature while some turn to the biographical background of the author for explaining the literary piece.

According to Mick Short all this is a peripheral inquiry. The core of criticism has 3 parts: description (in which linguistics has a main role), interpretation (in which stylistics has a main role) and evaluation (in which literary criticism has a main role). Thus linguistics, stylistics and literary criticism are the three corners of a triangle.

Literary criticism evaluates literature i.e. it tells us why a literary piece is good or bad or why A is better than B. But even in this scheme, interpretation of meaning comes before value judgment. Some literary critics feel threatened that linguists are invading their territory. They feel that literary criticism is essentially an intuitive, humane discussion of literary genres and it should not be burdened by analytic description and linguistic terminology. However if the contributions of other disciplines like sociology, psychology are accepted in literary criticism, why not linguistics? After all, literature and language are closely related. The dance and the dancer can not be separated. Similarly literature and language can not be separated. Literature is the message and language is the medium.

Reading literature is basically an aesthetic and enjoyable experience and the task of a literary critic is to explain literature and enjoy this beautiful experience. A linguist will help him in this task by explaining the subtle and special use of language in literature.

Some critics feel that linguistics is an objective science and using linguistics is like dissection of literature. It will kill the pleasure of literature. But this is not quite true. Linguistic explanations enhance our understanding and appreciation and contribute to our pleasure. They do not spoil/mar the pleasure of literature n any way. The relationship of literature, linguistics and literary criticism used to be a controversial issue for a long time. But now the controversy has ended because people have realized the complimentary nature of the three disciplines.