语言文化论文-两封情书的文体学分析.doc -- 2 元

语言文化论文两封情书的文体学分析摘要从文体学的角度对两封情书进行了分析。通过对情书中所用的词汇、句子结构和修辞法三个方面的分析，揭示这两封情书各自表达的感情。关键词文体学词汇句子结构修辞法1.IntroductionThetwolovelettersarechosenfromthepublication100WorldsGreatLetters,oneofwhichwaswrittenbyNapoleonBonapartetohiswifeJosèphinedeBeauharnaisinNovember13th,1796andtheotherisfromaveryfamousFrenchstageactressSarahBernhardt18441923toherloverVictorienSardu.Inthefollowing,thedifferentstylesusedinthesetwoletterswillbeanalyzedintermsofvocabulary,sentencestructureandfiguresofspeechinordertoexplorethedifferentmoodsexpressedinthem.2.Stylisticanalysisofthetwoletters（1）VocabularyInthefirstletter,lexicalanaphoraisused.Itistherepeatingofwordsininitialorfrontposition.Inthisdevice,wordsarerepeatedatthebeginningofsuccessiveclauses,sentences,stanzasorparagraphs.Thepatternisaa.Whatdoyoudoallday,MadamWhatistheaffairasimportantastoleaveyounotimetowritetoyourdevotedloverBesidesanaphora,anadiplosisisusedinthefirstletter,too.Inanadiplosisawordinendpositioninalineorsentenceisrepeatedininitialpositioninthelinefollowing.Thepatternisaa.,writemequicklyfourpages,pagesfullofagreeablethingswhichshallfillmyheartwiththepleasantestfeelings.（2）SentencestructureSkillfulwritersexploitvariationinsentencelengthtogreateffecttoexpressdifferentmoodsorattitudes,todescribeactionoreventsortoemphasizeapoint.Thetwolettersusemoreshortsentencesthanlongonestoemphasizetheauthorsfeelings.Forexample,thefirstparagraphofthefirstletterIdontloveyou,notatallonthecontrary,Idetestyouyoureanaughty,gawky,foolishCinderella.andthelastparagraphofthesecondletterIamashungryforthemasforfood.Iamthirstyforthem,andmythirstisoverwhelming.useshortsentencesforemphasis,andthesesentencesreflectthehusbandsdeeploveforhiswifeandthegirlsstrongaffectionforherlover.Ofcourse,longsentencesarealsousedinthetwoletters.Theexcellentcombinationoflongandshortsentencesaddsrhythmtothetwoletterssothattheysoundmoreforcefulandcadenced.KnownaserotesisinGreek,therhetoricalquestionisonethatisaskedtoimplyadefiniteanswer.Thisdeviceisoftenusedinargumentand/orpersuasion.Forexample,inthesecondparagraphofthefirstletterWhatdoyoudoallday,MadamWhatistheaffairasimportantastoleaveyounotimetowritetoyourdevotedlover,severalrhetoricalquestionsareusedtoqueryhiswifewhyshepaysnoattentiontohim,which,atthesametime,showthathedeeplyloveshiswifeandthathebadlyneedslovefromher.Balanceinsentenceconstructionisbasedontheprinciplethatideasofthesameimportanceshouldbeexpressedinthesamegrammaticalformtoenhanceclarityandcoherence,bygivingthemequalweight.Parallelismisoneofthechiefschemesofbalance.Itinvolvesbalancingthestructuralelementsofasentence.Itplaysaveryimportantpartinforcefulwritingofanykind,andanyonewhohaslearnttouseitwitheasewillfinditaninvaluableaidinmakinghis/herwritingclearandeffective.Takethesecondparagraphofthefirstletterforexampleagain.Theauthorusesparallelsentencestoaddforcetohisstatements,whichmorestronglyexpresseshisfeelings.（3）FiguresofspeechLikeadiamondisasimile,andpapertigerisametaphor,andwithmetonymy,hyperbole,personification,paradoxtheymakeupascoreormoreoffiguresofspeechmostcommonlyusedtoday.Eachfigurehasitsownformandcharacteristics,anditsownwayofachievingeffect.Sometimestwoormorefigurescanbeusedtogetherforgreaterimpact.Inthesecondletter,thesentencestheyareasnecessarytomenowassunlightandairandIamashungryforthemasforfoodusesimiletoexpresstheauthorseagernesstobetogetherwithherlover.Eventhoughhiswordsarebitter,shewouldliketohearthemallday.Theyareindispensabletoherlikesunlightandair.Itislikethefaceofaclock,bereftofitshandsisalsoasimilewhichdescribestheauthorsfeelingthatwithoutherlover,herlifeisdull,incompleteandimperfectandthatwithoutherlover,herexistenceismeaningless.Inthetwoletters,especiallyinthesecondone,theauthorsusealotofmetaphorstoexpresstheirfeelings.E.g.（1）Idontloveyou,notatallonthecontrary,Idetestyouyoureanaughty,gawky,foolishCinderella.（2）Parisisamorguewithoutyoubutnowitisavastdesertofdesolationandloneliness.（3）Yourwordsaremyfood,yourbreathmywine.Inthefirstsentence,NapoleonBonapartecompareshiswifetoCinderella,who,asisknowntoall,isabeautifulandkindgirlinthefairytale,fromwhichwecanseehethinkshiswifeisbeautifulandkind,too.Thatreflectsthehusbandsloveforhiswife.Thesecondsentenceshowsthattheauthorfeelslonelyanddepressedwithoutherlover,whichalsoexpressestheauthorsaspirationtobewithhim.Asforthethirdsentence,italsodemonstratesthattheauthorcantlivewithoutherlover,justaspeoplecantlivewithouteatingfoodandbreathing.HyperboleGreekovershootingisboldoverstatement,orextravagantexaggerationoffact,usedeitherforseriousorcomiceffect.Itsformcanvaryfromaphrase,asentence,toaparagraphorparagraphsofdescription.Forexample,inthefirstletter,thesentenceIhopebeforelongtocrushyouinmyarmsandcoveryouwithamillionkissesburningasthoughbeneaththeequatoruseshyperboletoexpressthehusbandsdeeploveforhiswife,andatthesametimereflectshischaracterasbeingemotionalandkindofrude.Thesecondletteralsousespersonification.Bydefinition,personificationisafigureofspeechthatgiveshumanformorfeelingstoanimals,orlifeandpersonalattributestoinanimateobjects,ortoideasandabstractions.Forexample,inthesentenceyourwords,eventhoughbitterdispelallthecaresoftheworldandmakemehappymyarthasbeensuckledbythemandsoftlyrockedintheirtendercradle,theauthorpersonateswords,becausepeopleusecradlestorockbabiesandwordsdonthavecradles.Herepersonificationisemployedtoexpresstheauthorsfeelingthatherloverswordscansootheher,makingherhappyandcomfortable.Ironyisafigureofspeechthatachievesemphasisbysayingtheoppositeofwhatismeant,theintendedmeaningofthewordsbeingtheoppositeoftheirusualsense.ThesentenceinthefirstletterIdontloveyou,notatallonthecontrary,Idetestyouyoureanaughty,gawky,foolishCinderellatypicallyreflectsthis,whichactuallymeansIloveyouheartandsoul.Iadmireyouyouregentle,slim,keenCinderella.Theauthorsuserespectivestylesinthetwoletterstoexpresstheirfeelings.Althoughtheybothexpresstheirlovefortheirwifeorlover,themoodsreflectedinthesetwolettersaredifferent.Inthefirstletter,theauthorusesstrongemotivewordslikeloveanddetestandsuchsentenceasTakecareSomefinenight,thedoorswillbebrokenopen,andthereIllbe.,whichclearlyshowsthatheisemotionalandreckless.Butatthesametimeitshowsthathehasdeeploveforhiswife.Thewordsusedinthisletterareforceful,typicalofamanofsuchcharacter.Theletterreflectsthathebadlyyearnsforhiswifeslove.Maybeheisabitangryforhiswifesnegligenceofhim.Whileinthesecondletter,theauthorusessentimentalwordsandphrasestoexpresshertenderfeelingsforherlover.Forexample,thesentencesNowIcannotliveapartfromyoumyarthasbeensuckledbythemandsoftlyrockedintheirtendercradletheyareasnecessarytomenowassunlightandair.andYouareeverythingtomewelldemonstratethat.Fromtheletter,wecanseeagentlegirlwhodesperatelywantstobewithherlover.Withoutherlover,thecityislifelessandherlifemeaningless.Thisletterreflectsatouchofsentimentality.Thereseemstobeadistressedgirlbeforeuswhoisweepingingrief.Differentstylesbringdifferenteffects.Agoodunderstandingofvariousstylescontributestotheappreciationofliteraryworksandhelpsustobebetterculturedinliterature.References1黄继忠.名人书信一百封M.北京中国对外翻译出版公司商务印书馆（香港）有限公司，2001.2Feng,Cuihua.EnglishRhetoricalOptionsaHandbookofEnglishRhetoricalDevicesM.BeijingForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress,1995.3Thornborrow,Joanna,andShanWareing.PatternsinLanguageStylisticsforStudentsofLanguageandLiteratureM.BeijingForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPressRoutledge,2000.