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A stylistic analysis of speaking1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Affiliation:
Columbia University
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Extract

Stylistic analysis takes account of the dynamic continuities in communication behavior. It is concerned with how people talk or sing or move in relation to each other, rather than what it is they say or sing or do to or with each other. The presence of these styling qualities can, we discover, be reliably assessed; and, as they cluster together, giving each cultural tradition its distinctive performance models, they have remarkable stability through time. However, these patterns of style are not inflexible: they are models comprising a stable set of ranges within which performers can adjust their behavior to the demands of a genre, of a familiar situation, of sex, age or status roles, and to the unexpected. The comparison of these performance models, cross-culturally, reveals factors that tie communication to social structure on the one hand and to cultural traditions on the other.

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , April 1977 , pp. 15 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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References

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