Styl vysoky a nizky
HIGH AND LOW STYLE

Summary/Abstract: The dichotomy of a „high style” and a „low style” goes back to Lomonosov´s delineation of a „high style”, a „middle style”, and a „low style” in his famous Ritorika (1748), or – in the Czech setting – to Jungmann´s theory of styles formulated in his Slovesnost (1820). Though the trichotomy does not solve the problems in classifying styles and genres, the delineation of the three basic stylistic qualities still preserves it validity in the theory of linguistic practices (such as orthoepic variation, lexical choices, etc.), and does not lose its explanatory power in folk linguistic considerations. The manifestations of „high” (elaborated) and „low” (restricted) discursive practices are illustrated using the analysis of a Czech „sophisticated crime novel” Stín katedrály (The Shadow of the Cathedral) by Miloš Urban. In this novel, both practices characteristic of communication competencies of the two main heroes of the novel are linguistically represented, contrasted and hyperbolized.

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