Encoding/Decoding Stylistics

Language is often compared to a code, and this analogy

evokes the observation that, as a code, language is multi-leveled.
That is, the dualist view of language, which distinguishes only
the two levels of ‘expression’ and ‘content’, implies the levels
of syntax and phonology which together form the expression
plane of language. Syntax and phonology constitute what is
often referred to as the ‘double articulation’ of linguistic form:
phonology being the sound pattern of the language (phonemes,
stress, rhythm, intonation), and syntax being, roughly speaking,
the more abstract grammatical and lexical form of language.
(Leech and Short, 2007: 95)

It follows that, as a means of spoken communication,

language has been regarded as a system for translating meanings
in the speaker’s mind into sounds or, conversely, for translating
sounds into meanings in the hearer’s mind. Whether one thinks
of the encoding (meaning-to-sound) or the decoding (sound-to-
meaning) process, syntax is the formal code which mediates
between structures of meaning and structures of sound. In
addition, and since the syntactic form of a sentence is rendered
either in speech or in writing, then graphology is included in this
list, representing an alternative system of realization to
phonology. (Ibid.: 96)

1
 Therefore, encoding/decoding model of stylistics is based
on the view of language as largely means of transaction or
exchange of information among people. One of the participants,
the speaker, has a thought which she or he encodes into words
which the other participant decodes. (Mills, 1995: 20-21)

From the pragmatic perspective, style is studied in terms of

the participants of semoisis. With respect to the process of
encoding, style is described in the categories of selection or
choice. However, style can be analyzed in terms of decoding. A
most consistent stylistics of encoding was developed by
Riffaterre (1959, 1971), which is based on elements of
information theory and behavioristic ideas of structural
linguistics. Riffaterre emphasizes the study of stylistic effects
from the reactions of an average reader, whose activity of
decoding is determined by expectations, and thus by the
predictabilities of the message elements. (Noth, 1990: 344)

However, Riffaterre argues that literary style arises from the

author's effort to get rid of the difficulties that are encountered
in the communication of his message to the reader. The author's
style is characterized by semantic indirectness which is
produced by 'displacing', 'distorting' or 'creating meaning'. That
is, when one word stands for another, as in metaphor or
metonymy, there is the case of displacing; when there is
contradiction or non-sense, it is a case of semantic distortion;

2
and when meaning is created by means of symmetry or rhyme, it
is a case of meaning creation. (Raveendran, 2000: 13)

Therefore, Rifffaterre identifies two stages in the process of

interpretation a literary text: heuristic and hermeneutic. In the
first stage, the reader uses both his linguistic and literary
competence in interpreting the literary text. That is, using his
linguistic competence, the reader becomes able to conceive the
incompatibilities between words; to recognize that a word does
not make literal sense, it makes sense only if the reader performs
a semantic transfer through reading words as metaphor or
metonymy. Literary competence, on the other hand, is
determined by the reader's familiarity with the descriptive
systems, themes, his knowledge of myths and his familiarity
with other literary texts. (Ibid.: 14)

In the second stage of reading, the hermeneutic reading, the

reader modifies his first reading in the light of what is now
decoding. That is, as he re-reads, the reader comes to recognize
that the successive and differing statements which has been
noted as ungrammaticalities in his first reading are variants of
the same structural matrix. Then, the interpreter reveals that the
text is , in effect, a variation or modulation of one structure,
thematic and symbolic, and this sustained relation to one
structure constitutes the poem's significance. (Ibid.: 14)

3
 According the Riffaterre, cited in Lodge (1966: 85), what is
required is a set of criteria to separate the stylistic elements from
the neutral elements in any given text, so that one may subject
the former to linguistic analysis. Style, then, is understood as an
emphasis; expressive; affective; or aesthetic, in addition to the
information conveyed by the linguistic structure, without
altering the meaning.

It follows that style is the means by which the writer, or the

encoder, ensures that the message is decoded in such a way that
the reader not only understand the information conveyed, but
shares the writer's attitude towards it. In speech, communication
is elliptical; many signals can by ignored by the receiver, who is
assisted by context, situation, and predictability. In written text,
the writer aims at avoiding this erratic, elliptical communication
by encoding. And since predictability is what makes elliptical
decoding sufficient for the reader, inescapable elements will
have to be unpredictable, or precised. The analysts of style are
therefore concerned with elements which limit freedom of
perception in the process of decoding. (Lodge, 1966: 58)

In the poetry, the poet adopts poetic devices as his means

for encoding meanings. Among these devices is the image,
which is defined, according to A. E. Derbyshire, cited in
Galperin (1977: 264), as "a use of language which relates or
substitutes a given word or expression to or for an analogue in

4
some grammatical way, and which in so doing endows that
word or expression with different lexical information from that
which it has in its set." It follows that an image is a linguistic
device for providing contextual information.

However, linguistically, images are mostly built on

metaphor, metonymy or simile, which are the direct semantic
ways of coining images. Therefore, the reader should encode the
images in order to attain the meaning of the literary text. An
image can be decoded through the analysis of the meanings of
the given word or word-combination. In decoding a given
image, the dictionary meanings, the contextual meanings, the
emotional colouring and the associations, which are awakened
by the image, should all be called into play. (Ibid.: 264)

However, Galperin (1977: 264) divides images into three

categories: Visual, aural and relational images. Visual images
are the ones that are shaped through concrete pictures of objects,
the impression of which is present in our mind, such as, in the
simile, 'he is like a lion'. However, an aural image can be
attained through onomatopoeia, which makes in the mind the
actual sounds of nature or things. Finally the relational image is
one that shows the relation between objects, such as 'he is a man
of sword'.

To sum up, decoding stylistics the trend in stylistics that

employs the knowledge of such disciplines as information

5
theory, psychology, linguistics, literary theory or history of art.
Decoding stylistics tries to regard the esthetic value of a text
based on the interaction of specific textual elements, stylistic
devices and compositional structure in delivering the authors
message. This method does not consider the stylistic function of
any stylistic feature separately, but as a part of a whole text. It
helps the reader in understanding a literary work by explaining
(decoding) the information that may be hidden from immediate
view. (Shpargalok, 2012: 1)

6
 Bibliography

Galperin, I. R. (1977). Stylistics. Moscow: Higher School.

Leech, Geoffrey and Mick Short (2007). Style in Fiction: A

Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose.
London: Longman.
Lodge, David (1966). Language of Fiction: Essays in Criticism
and Verbal Analysis of the English Novel. London:
Routledge &Kegan Paul Ltd.
Mills, Sara (1995). Feminist Stylistics. London: Routledge.
Noth, Winfried (1990). Handbook of Semiotics. Indiana: Indiana
University Press.
Raveendran, N. V. (2000). The Aesthetic of Sensuality: A Stylistic
Study of the Poetry of Kamala Das. New Delhi: Atlantic
Publishers & Distributors.
Shpargalok, Chistovik (2012) Stlilistike.
www.durov.com/study/Chistovik_shpargalok_po_stilistike-
1202.