Explorations in Stylistics - Andrew Goatly
A stylistic analysis of Elizabeth Jennings’ ‘One Flesh’: poem as product and process
Explorations in Stylistics - Andrew Goatly
Andrew Goatly [+]
Lingnan University
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Description
This chapter attempts to exemplify a double-faceted approach to stylistic analysis of a short poem by Elizabeth Jennings. It begins traditionally by posing the question ‘what impression does the poem make and what are the linguistic means by which this impression is created?’ This question, it is suggested, can have two kinds of answer, depending on whether the poem is treated as a product/object to be viewed from a distance, or as a process of reading. The first approach is more in keeping with a formalist stylistics which emphasises the poetic function or message/code, while the second is more in line with a reader-response/ pragmatic stylistics which emphasises the addressee or addresser addressee interaction (the conative function).