This article is a response to an article by Ray Mackay (1996) which constitutes an attack on stylistic analysis in general, and the writings of the above authors and Ron Carter in particular. Mackay's article (in Language and Communication) accuses stylistics of 'scientificness' and claims that its attempt to provide objective analyses of literary texts is futile.1 We suggest that Mackay has misrepresented what stylisticians have said about objectivity, and that his understanding of objectivity, science and the nature of text-interpretative argument is seriously flawed.
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Bateson, F.W. (1968) 'Language and Literature: A Reply', Essays in Criticism18 (2): 176-82.
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Carter, R., ed. (1982) Language and Literature: An Introductory Reader in Stylistics. London: George Allen and Unwin.
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Carter, R. and Simpson, P. , eds (1989) Language, Discourse and Literature: An Introductory Reader in Discourse Stylistics. London : Unwin Hyman.
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Cook, T.C. and Campbell, D.T. (1979) Quasi-Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.
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Downes, W.A. (1993) 'Reading the Language Itself', Language and Literature2 (2): 121-8.
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Fish, S. (1980) 'What is Stylistics and Why are they Saying Such Terrible Things about it? Part II', in S. Fish, Is There a Text in this Class?, pp. 246-67. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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Freeman, D.C. (1993a) ' "According to my Bond": King Lear and Re-cognition ', Language and Literature2 (1): 1-18.
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Freeman, D.C. (1993b)' "Reading the Language Itself" Itself', Language and Literature2 (2): 129-33.
12.
Lecercle, J-J. (1993) 'Briefings, 3: The Current State of Stylistics ', The European English Messenger2 (1): 14-18.
13.
Mackay, R. (1996) 'Mything the Point: A Critique of Objective Stylistics' , Language and Communication16 (1): 81-93.
14.
Malcolm, N. (1995) The Correspondence of Thomas Hobbes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
15.
Martindale, C. (1990) The ClockworkMuse: The Predictability of Artistic Change. New York: Basic Books.
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Miall, D.S. and Kuiken, D. (1994) 'Beyond Text Theory: Understanding Literary Response' , Discourse Processes17: 337-52.
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van Peer, W. (1986) Stylistics and Psychology: Investigations of Foregrounding . London: Croom Helm.
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Popper, K.R. (1994) Objective Knowledge and the BodylMind Problem. London: Routledge.
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Robson, C. (1973) Experiment, Design and Statistics in Psychology . Harmondsworth: Penguin.
20.
Short, M. (1983) 'Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature', in C. J. Brumfit (ed.) Teaching Literature Overseas: Language-based Approaches, ELT Documents 115, pp. 67-84. Oxford: Pergamon/The British Council .
21.
Short, M. (1996) Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose . London: Longman.
22.
Short, M. and van Peer, W. (1988) 'Accident! Stylisticians Evaluate: Aims and Methods of Stylistic Analysis', in M. Short (ed.) Reading, Analysing and Teaching Literature, pp. 22-71. London : Longman.
23.
Simpson, P. (1997) Language through Literature. London: Routledge.
24.
Skinner, Q. (1996) 'Review of Malcolm (1995) and Reynolds & Saxonhouse (1995)', New York Review of BooksXLIII, 6, April 4: 60.
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Smith, B. (1978) On the Margins of Discourse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
