A theoretical and practical guide to using corpus linguistic techniques in stylistic analysis
The use of corpora in stylistics has increased substantially in recent years but until now there has been no book detailing the theoretical basis and methodological practices of corpus stylistics. This book surveys the field and sets the agenda for this fast-developing area. Focusing on how to use off-the-shelf corpus software, such as AntConc, Wmatrix, and the Brigham Young University (BYU) corpus interface, this step-by-step guide explains the theory and practice of using corpus methods and tools for stylistic analysis. Eight original case studies demonstrate how to use corpus tools to analyse style in a range of texts, from the contemporary to the historical. McIntyre and Walker explain how to develop appropriate research questions for corpus stylistic analysis, construct and annotate corpora, make sense of statistics, and analyse corpus data. In addition, the book provides practical advice on how to manage the transition from quantitative results to qualitative analysis, and explores how theories, models and frameworks from stylistics can be used to enhance the qualitative phase of corpus analysis. Supported by detailed instructions on how to access and use relevant corpus software, this is a user's guide to doing corpus stylistic analysis. For students and researchers in stylistics new to the use of corpus methods and theories, the book presents a 'how-to' guide; for corpus linguists it opens the door to the theories, models and frameworks developed in stylistics that are of value to mainstream corpus linguistics.
Industry Reviews
Corpus Stylistics effectively shows how corpus linguistics and stylistics can be combined, and it offers a multitude of benefits for readers from either field who have at least some interest in the other.--Jordan Smith, University of North Texas "Corpora"
In conclusion, Corpus Stylistics is much recommended for those interested in this emerging discipline. It offers a practical introduction for the novice, as well as an up-to-date overview of the field - with some interesting theoretical considerations - for the more advanced reader. With its wide-ranging scope and comprehensive approach, this book fills a gap in the literature, providing the growing number of researchers interested in this approach with an excellent point of departure for exploring this exciting field of research.--Lorenzo Mastropierro, University of Nottingham "Language and Literature"
