the art of balance: corpus assisted stylistic Analysis of Woolfian Parallelism in To the Lighthouse
International Journal of English Studies
UMVERSITV OF MURCIA
http://revistas.um.es/ijes
The Art of Balance:
A Corpus-assisted Stylistic Analysis of Woolfian Parallelism in
To the Lighthouse
MINGZHU ZHAO
Minzu University of China
Received: 5 February 2012 / Accepted: 6 July 2012
ABSTRACT
This study has a two-fold objective: 1) to examine the density and variety of parallelism in Virginia Woolfs landmark novel To the Lighthouse through a sample-based comparison between this novel and other representative modernist novels; 2) to discuss the specific lexical and syntactic structures that characterize
WoolFs parallelism. The results are extracted from a corpus-assisted reading and sampled textual analysis of her work. It shows that Woolfian parallelism is defined by an abundance of antithetical and synonymous lexical bundles, juxtaposed propositional phrases, -ing participles and appositional structures. Those structures constitute her special sentential development which is marked by the rhetoric of opposition, the rhetoric of simultaneity and progression, and the rhetoric of specificity. It is concluded that in To the Lighthouse, Woolf manipulates the above-mentioned linguistic resources to strike an artistic balance between poetry and prose, order and chaos, the physical reality and the mental world, and finally achieves what she calls "a feminine sentence". KEYWORDS:
To the Lighthouse, Woolfian parallelism, corpus-assisted analysis, feminine sentence.
RESUMEN
El presente estudio persigue un doble objetivo: 1) examinar la densidad y la variedad de paralelismo en la paradigmática novela de Virginia V/oo\( Al faro a través de una comparación por fragmentos entre esta novela y otras representativas del Modernismo; 2) explorar las estructuras específicas léxicas y sintácticas que caracterizan el paralelismo de Woolf. Los resultados se extraen a partir de una lectura basada en concordancias y análisis textuales de extractos de su obra. Muestra cómo el paralelismo
UMVERSITV OF MURCIA
http://revistas.um.es/ijes
The Art of Balance:
A Corpus-assisted Stylistic Analysis of Woolfian Parallelism in
To the Lighthouse
MINGZHU ZHAO
Minzu University of China
Received: 5 February 2012 / Accepted: 6 July 2012
ABSTRACT
This study has a two-fold objective: 1) to examine the density and variety of parallelism in Virginia Woolfs landmark novel To the Lighthouse through a sample-based comparison between this novel and other representative modernist novels; 2) to discuss the specific lexical and syntactic structures that characterize
WoolFs parallelism. The results are extracted from a corpus-assisted reading and sampled textual analysis of her work. It shows that Woolfian parallelism is defined by an abundance of antithetical and synonymous lexical bundles, juxtaposed propositional phrases, -ing participles and appositional structures. Those structures constitute her special sentential development which is marked by the rhetoric of opposition, the rhetoric of simultaneity and progression, and the rhetoric of specificity. It is concluded that in To the Lighthouse, Woolf manipulates the above-mentioned linguistic resources to strike an artistic balance between poetry and prose, order and chaos, the physical reality and the mental world, and finally achieves what she calls "a feminine sentence". KEYWORDS:
To the Lighthouse, Woolfian parallelism, corpus-assisted analysis, feminine sentence.
RESUMEN
El presente estudio persigue un doble objetivo: 1) examinar la densidad y la variedad de paralelismo en la paradigmática novela de Virginia V/oo\( Al faro a través de una comparación por fragmentos entre esta novela y otras representativas del Modernismo; 2) explorar las estructuras específicas léxicas y sintácticas que caracterizan el paralelismo de Woolf. Los resultados se extraen a partir de una lectura basada en concordancias y análisis textuales de extractos de su obra. Muestra cómo el paralelismo
References: Adolphs, S. (2006). Introducing Electronic Text Analysis: A Practical Guide for Language and Literary Studies Bell, C. W. (1979). Parallelism and Contrast in Virginia Woolfs The Waves. Philo¡ogical Quarterly, 58, 348-359. Bezircilioglu, S. (2009). The rhythm in the corridors of Virginia Woolfs mind. New Trends and Issues in Educational Sciences, / (1), 11-115. Culpeper, J. (2009). Keyness: Words, parts-of-speech and semantic categories in the character-talk of Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet Davies, S. (1989). Virginia Woolf: To the Lighthouse. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Dillon, G. L. (1978). Language Processing and the Reading of Literature: Towards a Model of Comprehension Evans, W. A. (1989). Virginia Woolf: Strategist of language. Boston: University Press of America. Fabb, N. (1997). Linguistics and Literature: Language in the Verbal Arts of the World. Oxford: Blackwell. Fischer-Starcke, B. (2009). Keywords and frequent phrases of Jane Austen 's Pride and Prejudice: A corpus-stylistic approach Fish, S. E. (1996). What is Stylistics and Why are They Saying Such Terrible Things About It? In J. J. Hiatt, M. P. (1975). Artful Balance: The Parallel Structures of Style. New York: Teachers College Press. Hori, M. (2004). Investigating Dickens ' Style: A Collocational Analysis. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Jakobson, R. (1996). Closing statement: Linguistics and poetics. In J. J. Weber (Ed.), The stylistics reader: From Roman Jakobson to the present (pp Mahlberg, M. (2007). Clusters, key clusters and local textual functions in Dickens. Corpora, 2(1), 131. McCluskey, K. C. (1986). Reverberations: Sound and Structure in the Novels of Virginia Woolf. Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Research Press. McNichol, S. (1990). Virginia Woolf and the Poetry of Fiction. London and New York: Routledge. Novak, J. (1975). The Razor Edge of Balance: A Study of Virginia Woolf Coral Gables, Florida: University of Miami Press. Pennebaker, J. W. & Ireland, M. E. (2008). Analyzing words to understand literature. In J. Auracher & W Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language Rygiel, D. (1994). Lexical Parallelism in the Nonfiction of Joan Didion. In B. Johnstone (Ed.), Repetition in Discourse: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Vol.1) (pp Stubbs, M. (2005). Conrad in the computer: examples of quantitative stylistics methods. Language and Literature, I4{), 5-24. Woolf, V. (1966). The Narrow Bridge of Art. In L. Woolf. (Ed.), Collected Essays (Vol. 2) (pp. 218229). London: Hogarth. Woolf, V. (1979). Dorothy Richardson. In M. Barrett. (Ed.), Virginia Woolf on women and writing. Woolf, V. (1927/1992). To the Lighthouse. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Yufang, H. (2011). Corpus Stylistics in Principles and Practice: a Stylistic Exploration of John Fowles ' The Magus IJES, vol. 12 (2), 2012, pp. 39-58 Print ISSN: 1578-7044; Online ISSN: 1989-6131