语言文化论文-两封情书的文体学分析.doc

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,oneofwhichwaswrittenbyNapoleonBonapartetohiswifeJosphinedeBeauharnaisinNovember13th,1796andtheotherisfromaveryfamousFrenchstageactressSarahBernhardt(18441923)toherloverVictorienSardu.Inthefollowing,thedifferentstylesusedinthesetwoletterswillbeanalyzedintermsofvocabulary,sentencestructureandfiguresofspeechinordertoexplorethedifferentmoodsexpressedinthem.2.Stylisticanalysisofthetwoletters（1）VocabularyInthefirstletter,lexicalanaphoraisused.Itistherepeatingofwordsininitialorfrontposition.Inthisdevice,wordsarerepeatedatthebeginningofsuccessiveclauses,sentences,stanzasorparagraphs.Thepatternis(a)(a).(Whatdoyoudoallday,Madam?Whatistheaffairasimportantastoleaveyounotimetowritetoyourdevotedlover?)Besidesanaphora,anadiplosisisusedinthefirstletter,too.Inanadiplosisawordinendpositioninalineorsentenceisrepeatedininitialpositioninthelinefollowing.Thepatternis(a)(a).(,writemequicklyfourpages,pagesfullofagreeablethingswhichshallfillmyheartwiththepleasantestfeelings.)（2）SentencestructureSkillfulwritersexploitvariationinsentencelengthtogreateffecttoexpressdifferentmoodsorattitudes,todescribeactionoreventsortoemphasizeapoint.Thetwolettersusemoreshortsentencesthanlongonestoemphasizetheauthorsfeelings.Forexample,thefirstparagraphofthefirstletter(Idontloveyou,notatall；onthecontrary,Idetestyouyoureanaughty,gawky,foolishCinderella.)andthelastparagraphofthesecondletter(Iamashungryforthemasforfood.Iamthirstyforthem,andmythirstisoverwhelming.)useshortsentencesforemphasis,andthesesentencesreflectthehusbandsdeeploveforhiswifeandthegirlsstrongaffectionforherlover.Ofcourse,longsentencesarealsousedinthetwoletters.Theexcellentcombinationoflongandshortsentencesaddsrhythmtothetwoletterssothattheysoundmoreforcefulandcadenced.KnownaserotesisinGreek,therhetoricalquestionisonethatisaskedtoimplyadefiniteanswer.Thisdeviceisoftenusedinargumentand/orpersuasion.Forexample,inthesecondparagraphofthefirstletter(Whatdoyoudoallday,Madam?Whatistheaffairasimportantastoleaveyounotimetowritetoyourdevotedlover?),severalrhetoricalquestionsareusedtoqueryhiswifewhyshepaysnoattentiontohim,which,atthesametime,showthathedeeplyloveshiswifeandthathebadlyneedslovefromher.Balanceinsentenceconstructionisbasedontheprinciplethatideasofthesameimportanceshouldbeexpressedinthesamegrammaticalformtoenhanceclarityandcoherence,bygivingthem“equalweight”.Parallelismisoneofthechiefschemesofbalance.Itinvolvesbalancingthestructuralelementsofasentence.Itplaysaveryimportantpartinforcefulwritingofanykind,andanyonewhohaslearnttouseitwitheasewillfinditaninvaluableaidinmakinghis/herwritingclearandeffective.Takethesecondparagraphofthefirstletterforexampleagain.Theauthorusesparallelsentencestoaddforcetohisstatements,whichmorestronglyexpresseshisfeelings.（3）FiguresofspeechLikeadiamondisasimile,andpapertigerisametaphor,andwithmetonymy,hyperbole,personification,paradoxtheymakeupascoreormoreoffiguresofspeechmostcommonlyusedtoday.Eachfigurehasitsownformandcharacteristics,anditsownwayofachievingeffect.Sometimestwoormorefigurescanbeusedtogetherforgreaterimpact.Inthesecondletter,thesentences“theyareasnecessarytomenowassunlightandair”and“Iamashungryforthemasforfood”usesimiletoexpresstheauthorseagernesstobetogetherwithherlover.Eventhoughhiswordsarebitter,shewouldliketohearthemallday.Theyareindispensabletoherlikesunlightandair.“Itislikethefaceofaclock,bereftofitshands”isalsoasimilewhichdescribestheauthorsfeelingthatwithoutherlover,herlifeisdull,incompleteandimperfectandthatwithoutherlover,herexistenceismeaningless.Inthetwoletters,especiallyinthesecondone,theauthorsusealotofmetaphorstoexpresstheirfeelings.E.g.（1）Idontloveyou,notatall；onthecontrary,Idetestyouyoureanaughty,gawky,foolishCinderella.（2）Parisisamorguewithoutyou:butnowitisavastdesertofdesolationandloneliness.（3）Yourwordsaremyfood,yourbreathmywine.Inthefirstsentence,NapoleonBonapartecompareshiswifetoCinderella,who,asisknowntoall,isabeautifulandkindgirlinthefairytale,fromwhichwecanseehethinkshiswifeisbeautifulandkind,too.Thatreflectsthehusbandsloveforhiswife.Thesecondsentenceshowsthattheauthorfeelslonelyanddepressedwithoutherlover,whichalsoexpressestheauthorsaspirationtobewithhim.Asforthethirdsentence,italsodemonstratesthattheauthorcantlivewithoutherlover,justaspeoplecantlivewithouteatingfoodandbreathing.Hyperbole(Greek“overshooting”)isboldoverstatement,orextravagantexaggerationoffact,usedeitherforseriousorcomiceffect.Itsformcanvaryfromaphrase,asentence,toaparagraphorparagraphsofdescription.Forexample,inthefirstletter,thesentence“Ihopebeforelongtocrushyouinmyarmsandcoveryouwithamillionkissesburningasthoughbeneaththeequator”useshyperboletoexpressthehusbandsdeeploveforhiswife,andatthesametimereflectshischaracterasbeingemotionalandkindofrude.Thesecondletteralsousespersonification.Bydefinition,personificationisafigureofspeechthatgiveshumanformorfeelingstoanimals,orlifeandpersonalattributestoinanimateobjects,ortoideasandabstractions.Forexample,inthesentence“yourwords,eventhoughbitterdispelallthecaresoftheworldandmakemehappy；myarthasbeensuckledbythemandsoftlyrockedintheirtendercradle”,theauthorpersonateswords,becausepeopleusecradlestorockbabiesandwordsdonthavecradles.Herepersonificationisemployedtoexpresstheauthorsfeelingthatherloverswordscansootheher,makingherhappyandcomfortable.Ironyisafigureofspeechthatachievesemphasisbysayingtheoppositeofwhatismeant,theintendedmeaningofthewordsbeingtheoppositeoftheirusualsense.Thesentenceinthefirstletter“Idontloveyou,notatall；onthecontrary,Idetestyouyoureanaughty,gawky,foolishCinderella”typicallyreflectsthis,whichactuallymeans“Iloveyouheartandsoul.Iadmireyouyouregentle,slim,keenCinderella.”Theauthorsuserespectivestylesinthetwoletterstoexpresstheirfeelings.Althoughtheybothexpresstheirlovefortheirwifeorlover,themoodsreflectedinthesetwolettersaredifferent.Inthefirstletter,theauthorusesstrongemotivewordslikeloveanddetestandsuchsentenceas“Takecare!Somefinenight,thedoorswillbebrokenopen,andthereIllbe.”,whichclearlyshowsthatheisemotionalandreckless.Butatthesametimeitshowsthathehasdeeploveforhiswife.Thewordsusedinthisletterareforceful,typicalofamanofsuchcharacter.Theletterreflectsthathebadlyyearnsforhiswifeslove.Maybeheisabitangryforhiswifesnegligenceofhim.Whileinthesecondletter,theauthorusessentimentalwordsandphrasestoexpresshertenderfeelingsforherlover.Forexample,thesentences“NowIcannotliveapartfromyoumyarthasbeensuckledbythemandsoftlyrockedintheirtendercradle；theyareasnecessarytomenowassunlightandair.”and“Youareeverythingtome”welldemon