Cagliari 2016: 'polymodal' Stylistics
The 6th PALA summer school took place at the University of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, from the 25th to the 27th July 2016, and was taught by Professor Paul Simpson.
The theme this year was 'polymodal'stylistics.
The theme this year was 'polymodal'stylistics.
‘Polymodal’ Stylistics
Stylistic analysis traditionally explores literary discourse by matching a text to a suitable model of analysis from language and linguistics. Thus, a sequence of drama dialogue framework might merit exploration within the terms of politeness theory while a piece of prose fiction might be approached from the perspective of systemic-functional grammar. While this method yields interesting insights into the literary work under scrutiny, it often tends to mask the many other compatible, complementary or even conflicting frameworks of analysis that could have been brought into play for the study of the same text.
Prompted by this concern, this summer school adopts and elaborates a ‘polymodal’ approach to stylistic analysis. It develops a toolkit that comprises ten analytic frameworks which are then applied, in parallel and in complementary ways, to a variety of texts. In addition to poetry, prose and drama, the texts covered will include examples from film and even from advertising discourse. The summer school will therefore enrich the traditional range of models used for stylistic analysis and will appeal particularly to participants who want to extend the tools and materials they use in their own work. Appealing particularly to beginning and intermediate researchers, the summer school will be run as a blend of short lectures and more expansive workshop activities, all of which will be illustrated through a variety of texts and text types.
Stylistic analysis traditionally explores literary discourse by matching a text to a suitable model of analysis from language and linguistics. Thus, a sequence of drama dialogue framework might merit exploration within the terms of politeness theory while a piece of prose fiction might be approached from the perspective of systemic-functional grammar. While this method yields interesting insights into the literary work under scrutiny, it often tends to mask the many other compatible, complementary or even conflicting frameworks of analysis that could have been brought into play for the study of the same text.
Prompted by this concern, this summer school adopts and elaborates a ‘polymodal’ approach to stylistic analysis. It develops a toolkit that comprises ten analytic frameworks which are then applied, in parallel and in complementary ways, to a variety of texts. In addition to poetry, prose and drama, the texts covered will include examples from film and even from advertising discourse. The summer school will therefore enrich the traditional range of models used for stylistic analysis and will appeal particularly to participants who want to extend the tools and materials they use in their own work. Appealing particularly to beginning and intermediate researchers, the summer school will be run as a blend of short lectures and more expansive workshop activities, all of which will be illustrated through a variety of texts and text types.