Language of the drama. The third of the belles-lettres style is the language of
plays. The first thing to be said about the parameters of this variety of belles-lettres is that
unlike poetry, which, except for ballads, in essence excludes direct speech and therefore
dialogue, and unlike emotive prose, which is a combination of monologue (the author’s
speech) and dialogue (the speech of the characters), the language of plays is entirely
dialogue. The author’s speech is almost entirely excluded except for the playwright’s
remarks and stage directions, significant though they may be.
Publicistic style.Publictic style became discernible as a separate style in the middle
of the 18
th
century. It also falls into three varieties, each having its own distinctive features
which integrate then. Unlike other styles, the publicistic style has spoken varieties, in
particular, the oratorical substyle. The development of radio and television has brought
into being a new spoken variety, namely the radio commentary. The other two are the
essay (moral, philosophical, literary) and articles (political, social, and economic) in
newspapers, journals and magazines. Book reviews in journals and magazines and also
pamphlets are generally included among essays.
The generalaim of publicistic style, which makes it stand out as a separate style, is
to exert a constant and deep influence on public opinion, to convince the reader or the
listener that the interpretation given by the writer or the speaker is the only correct one and
to cause him to accept the point of view expressed in the speech, essays or article not
merely by logical argumentation, but by emotional appeal as well. This brain-washing
function is most effective in oratory, for here the most powerful instrument of persuasion
is brought into play: the human voice. Due to its characteristic combination of logical
argumentation and emotional appeal, publicistic style has features in common with the
style of scientific pros, on the one hand, and that of emotive prose, on the other. Its
coherent and logical syntactical structure, with an expanded system of connectives and its
careful paragraphing, makes it similar to scientific prose. Its emotional appeal is generally
achieved by the use of words with emotive meaning, the use of imagery and the other
stylistic devices as in emotive prose; but the stylistic devices used in publicistic style are
not fresh or genuine. The individual element essential to the belles-lettres style is, as a
rule, little in evidence here. This is in keeping with the general character of the style.
The manner of presenting ideas, however, brings this style closer to that of belles-
lettres, in this case to emotive prose, as it is to a certain extent individual. Naturally, of
course, essays and speeches have greater individuality than newspaper or magazine
articles where the individual element is generally toned down and limited by the
requirements of the style.
Publicistic style is also characterized by brevity of expression. In some varieties of
this style it becomes a leading feature, an important linguistic means. In essays brevity
sometimes becomes epigrammatic.
The most general distinguishing features of publicistic style and its subdivisions are
laid down here, but it is always possible to draw a clear demarcation line between these
subdivisions, as their features often overlap. We shall outline only the most obvious
subdivisions: oratory, that, is, speeches and orations, essays and articles.
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