A rhetorical text analysed by linguistic methodologies: Selected remarks on the analysis of historical utility prose Cover Image

Metodologie językoznawcze a tekst retoryczny. Z doświadczeń analiz historycznej prozy użytkowej
A rhetorical text analysed by linguistic methodologies: Selected remarks on the analysis of historical utility prose

Author(s): Magdalena Smoleń-Wawrzusiszyn
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku
Keywords: linguistic methodology; rhetorical methodology; methodological syncretism; historical utility prose.

Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses methodological dilemmas that a linguist faces when working on a historical rhetorical text. The author ponders the relationship between the variety of linguistic methodological approaches with the pragmatic-linguistic stand as paramount and the rhetorical methodology. Also, attempts at consolidating these two types of approach are ventured. The major problem encountered by linguists is that the particular layers of analysis overlap, which is mostly due to the fact that the rhetorical plane of the text must always be taken into account by linguists in their analyses. The solution put forward by the author is that of a syncretic approach: a harmonious consolidation of analytical linguistic methodology with the research tools developed by classical rhetorical theory, leading to a consistent, holistic account of the subject matter. These methodological reflections result from the author's analysis of 19th-century rhetoric texts by Jan Śniadecki.

  • Issue Year: 2012
  • Issue No: 12
  • Page Range: 225-238
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Polish