比较分析和评价两种歌词的风格功能

Comparativelyanalyzeandevaluatethestylisticfunctionsoftwolyrics【Abstract】ThispaperisgoingtoanalyzethecharactersandfunctionsofstylisticsthroughthelyricsoftwoEnglishsongs.OneisME!performedbyTaylorSwift,theotherisThisisMeperformedbyKesha.Bothofthesesongshaveasamemotif,thatis,tounderscorethevalueofme.Theyaresingingabouttheimportanceofbeingmyself.Althoughtheyhavethesametopic,ME!isasongwithlightbeat,whileThisisMeisasongfullofstrongfeelings.Throughthesameordifferentstylisticapproachesthatareembodiedinthelyrics,combinedwiththeConceptualIntegrationTheoryandtheFigure-groundTheorytofindthesameeffectivenessthatthesetwolyricshaveexpressedandmypersonalunderstandingofstylistics.Furthermore,theprocessofanalysisalsoletmerealizethatstylisticsandlinguisticscomplementeachother.【KeyWords】StylisticApproaches,ConceptualIntegrationTheory,theFigure-groundTheoryIntroduction“Me!”isasongbyAmericansinger-songwriterTaylorSwiftfeaturingBrendonUrieofPanic!attheDisco.ItwasreleasedbyRepublicRecordsonApril26,2019,astheleadsinglefromherupcomingseventhstudioalbumtitledLover.Thelyricsarejustsurfacemessagingofself-loveandacceptance.Thesonghasreceivedmixedreviews.Somepeopleconsiderthatitispositive,andthemelodyiscatchy,itisatypicalTaylorSwift’ssong.However,othersholdaviewthatthelyricsareverychildish,andthecontentishollowoptimistic,itdidnotbringpeoplemuchsurprise.Althoughpeoplepassdifferentjudgementsonthissong,itstillgotgreatsuccess.Within24hours(thefirstday)afterthereleaseofMV,theplaybackvolumereached65.2million,becomingthemostclickedMVofEuropeanandAmericanartistsaswellasfemaleartists'songs."ThisIsMe"isasongperformedbyKealaSettleforthefilmTheGreatestShowman.ItwasreleasedonOctober26,2017,byAtlanticRecordsasapromotionalsingle.Kesha'sversionofthesongwasreleasedonDecember22,2017.Asamovieinterlude,itwontheGoldenGlobeAwardforBestOriginalSongatthe75thGoldenGlobeAwards.Bothofthesesongstalkaboutself-love,theywanttospreadapositiveattitudetowardslife.Butthelyricsofthesongshavewroteinadifferentway,Iamgoingtousetheknowledgeofstylisticstoanalyzethecharactersandfunctionsinthesongs.Ⅱ.StylisticApproachesStylisticscanbedefinedasastudyofthedevicesinlanguages(suchasrhetoricalfiguresandsyntacticalpatterns)thatareconsideredtoproduceexpressiveorliterarystyle.Italsohasacloserelationshipwithlinguisticsandlexicology.HereIamgoingtousethetheoryoflexicaldeviationandthepointsonphonologicaloverregularitytoevaluatethelyrics.2.1LexicaldeviationLexicaldeviationisapartofsurface-structuredeviation.Lexicaldeviationinliteraturerefersalmostexclusivelytoneologismsorcoinageofnewwords.Generally,itcanbedividedintothreekinds:affixation,compoundingandconversion.However,thelexicaldeviationinthelyricsof“Me!”isalittledifferentfromtheoriginaltype.Inthelyrics“Girlthereain'tno'I'inteam.Butyouknowthereisa'Me'”wecanseethatthesongwritersplitstheword“team”astwosingleletters“t”and“a”,andasimpleword“me”,whichisalsothetopicofthesong.Whatismore,thereisanothersentence“Youcan'tspellawesomewithoutme.”Here,thesongwritertakestheword“me”fromtheword“awesome”,thesongwriterisgongingtoillustratethatthevalueofmyselfandself-love.Thisproducesahumorousfunctionanditalsolettheaudiencequicklygetthepointofthesong.Furthermore,thislittledeviationalsomakesthelyricseasytoremember.So,Ithinkthatithasreachedaverygoodeffectforpeopletosingalong.2.2PhonologicaldeviationPhonologicaldeviationismorecommonlyusedinthelyrics,becausethedeviationsuchasomission,mispronunciation,sub-standardpronunciationandspecialpronunciationcanhelptomakeconvenienceofrhymingortofittherhythm.Bothofthelyricsuseword“gonna”insteadof“goingto”.Theartistsusetheoralwordsinsteadofformalphrase,whichchangedthepronunciationoftheoriginalphrasesothatthesingercanbetterandmoreeasilyarrangesoundpatternsinordertonotonlyfittherhythm,butalsoshowthecatchyofthelyrics.Ⅲ.SyntacticOverRegularitySyntacticoverregularityinliteratureisrevealedmainlyintherepetitionofcertainlinguisticunitsofatextandinparallelism,wheresomeoffeaturesvarywhileothersarekeptconstant.Iwouldliketousethistoanalyzethefunctionsandemotionsthatthelyricstrytoexpress.3.1RepetitionIngeneral,therearetwokindsofrepetition.Oneisimmediaterepetitionthattheunitimmediatelyfollowstheinitialunit.Theotherisintermittentrepetition,whichknownasplaceintraditionalrhetoric.Inthesong“Me!”therearemanyintermittentrepetitionssuchas:“HeykidsSpellingisfunGirlthereain'tno'I'inteamButyouknowthereisa'Me'Strikethebandup123Ipromisethatyou'llneverfindanotherlikemeGirlthereain'tno'I'inteamButyouknowthereisa'Me'Andyoucan'tspellawesomewithoutmeIpromisethatyou'llneverfindanotherlike.”Fromthisselectionofthelyricwecanrealizethatthesentencefromtheword“Girl”totheword“Me”hasrepeatedtwice.Besidesthelastsentence“Ipromisethatyou'llneverfindanotherlike.”alsoappearedtwice.Therepetitionherevividlycapturedtheartists’emotionthateveryoneintheworldisunique,andtherewouldnotbeateamwithouta“me”.Theytrytounderlinethesignificanceofself-confidence,self-esteemandself-love.Wecanalsoseetheintermittentrepetitioninthelyricsof“ThisisMe”.Wecantaketherefrainastwostanzas,andeachendofthestanzarepeats“thisisme”.Astheresult,thephrase“thisisme”hasrepeatedseventimesintotal.Thisgreatlyechoesthemotifofthesongandalsoemphasisthethemethatdonotbedistractedbygossipandbeyourself.Andeachtimethesingersings“thisisme”,itconnectedtheaudiencedeeply.Tothecodaofthesong,thesentence“Whenevertheworld’sgone.”hasrepeatedtwice.Thisshowstheresolutionoffacingtothedifficultiesbravelyandbelieveinourselves.Itsublimatesthemainidea.3.2ParallelismParallelismmeansexactrepetitioninequivalentpositions.Wecanclassifyparallelismintotwomajortypesaccordingtoitssize.Oneislarge-scaleparallelismwhichconsistsmorethantwojuxtaposedunits,whiletheotherissmall-scaleparallelism,thatis,thecasewhichconsistsofonlytwojuxtaposedunits.Actually,parallelismisthemostcommonsyntacticoverregularityusedinlyrics,almosteverysonghasparallelism.Atthebeginningof“Me!”,thereisagroupoflarge-scaleparallelism.Thesongwriterused“Ipromisethat…”,“Iknowthat…”and“Iknow(that)…”tomakeupparallelism.Instructure,thismadethestructureconciseandneat;inmeaning,thethreesentencesaretodescribethat“I”amagirlwithastrongpersonality.“I”knowmydisadvantageswell,but“I”stilllovemyself.Wecanfeelthefirmattitudethroughtheparallelism.Besides,intherefrainthereremainssmall-scaleparallelism:“MeoohI'mtheonlyoneofmeBabythat'sthefunofmeMeoohYou'retheonlyoneofyouBabythat'sthefunofyou”Thesongwriterusessentencepatternlike“someoneistheonlyoneofsomeone”and“that’sthefunofsomeone”toformparallelism.Thissentencepatternfocussesonthesubject,itcouldbe“me”or“you”,whatthelyricwantstoillustrateisthateveryoneisunique,weareoneandonly,thatisthemostcharmingpartofeveryone.Theparallelismgraduallystrengthensthetoneandbringoutthetheme.Comparedwith“Me!”,theparallelismin“ThisisMe”wasembodiedinmoreshortsentences.Thesongstartswithaconversation,thesongwriterusedadialoguetoshowtheparallelism.Hereisthelyric:Iamnotastrangertothedark"Hideaway,"theysay"'Causewedon'twantyourbrokenparts"I'velearnedtobeashamedofallmyscars"Runaway,"theysay"Noone'llloveyouasyouare"Wecanrecognizethat"Hideaway,"theysayand"Runaway,"theysayaresmall-scaleparallelism.Theseshortsentencesrepresentedtheevilthingsordifficultiesindailylife,thesepessimisticideasoftenshatterourconfidence.Thesentencesareshort,inotherwords,theyareverbphrases,sotheysuccessfullycreateatoughsituationinlife.Intherefrain,thesongwriterusesamajorityof“Iam…”sentencepattern,whichdescribesthat“I”amwonderfulenoughtodealwiththetroubles.Whatismore,itdemonstratestheresolutiontosuccess,whichrecollectsmethesayingofBenjaminFranklin“Resolvetopreformwhatyouought;performwithoutfailwhatyouresolve.”Theparallelismpushestheemotiontotheclimaxandshapesaheroiccharacter.3.3Figure-groundTheoryFigure–groundorganizationisatypeofperceptualgroupingwhichisavitalnecessityforrecognizingobjectsthroughvision./LeonardTalmyhadstudiedonthefigure-groundtheoryandpointedoutthattherelationbetweenfigureandgroundisdecidedinaccordancewiththefiveprinciples:sequenceprinciple,cause-resultprinciple,inclusionprinciple,contingencyprincipleandsubstitutionprinciples./reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx?ReferenceID=818536Iwouldliketogivemyunderstandingofthistheorybyusingittoanalyzethelyrics.//reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx?ReferenceID=818536Usually,thefigureisthepointthatthewriterwantstoemphasis,whilethegroundcanberegardedasbackground.Toputiteasily,blackcharactersonwhitepaperarealwaysoutstanding.Instructure,wecantaketheparallelismandtherepetitionasfigure,thedevicesareusedtolaystressonthemotif,thatis,therefrainpartofthesongsarethecoretohighlight.Basedonthefiveprinciples,Ithinkthat“Me!”followedtheconclusionprinciple.Itcanbeconcludedas“Iamnotperfect,butIamoneandonly.”Oneandonly,thetopic,isthefigure;theimperfectionsaretheground.Comparedwith“Me!”,“ThisisMe”isinclinedtothesubstitutionprinciple.Thethemecanbeinterpretedas“althoughthesituationisburdensome,Ichoosetoovercomeitratherthanfleeaway.”Here,“overcome”isthefigure,while“fleeaway”istheground.Whatismore,accordingtoWikipedia,“Figure–groundperceptioncanbeexpandedfromvisualperceptiontoincludeabstractconceptssuchasmelody/harmony,subject/backgroundandpositive/negativespace.”SinceIchoosetotakesongsasexamples,itiscleartofindthatbothofthemhavechorus,orwesayharmony,intherefrain,ithelpstoexaggerateatmosphere.Moreover,thedifferentmelodycreatesdifferentemotion.“Me!”islivelier,themelodysoundsgayer,onthecontrary,“ThisisMe”issolemn,themelodyisslowbutpowerful.So,wecantelltheharmonyisfigure,thepartthatshouldbestirringandexciting,andthebackgrounddeservestomelody.Fromtheaboveinstances,Icometoknowthatthefigure-groundtheorycanachievethesameeffectasthestylisticapproacheddo,orevenmoreimpressive.Ⅳ.ConceptualIntegrationTheoryConceptualintegrationtheoryisputforwardbyAmericanlinguistGillesFalconineandMarkTurner.TheythinkthattheconceptofacompleteintegrationofnetworkSpaceincludesfourconcepts:InputSpace1,InputSpace2,GenericSpaceandBlendedSpace./Herearethedefinitionsofthefourconcepts./Inputspace:therearetwoinputmentalspaces;input1andinput2constructapartialmappingofcounterpartslikesomesharedelements,suchasidentity,event,roleandsoon.Genericspace:thegenericspacemapsontoeachoftheinputspaceandblendedspace.Itreflectssomecommon,usuallymoreabstract,structureandorganizationsharedbytheinputsanddefinesthecorecross-spacemappingbetweenthem.Blendedspace:theinput1,input2,andgenericspaceareselectivelyprojectedontotheblendedspace.Theblendedspaceinheritsthepartialstructureofthetwoinputspacesandgenericspace,andhastheemergentstructureofitsown,whichisnotprovidedbytheinputs.Inmypointofview,thelyricsin“ThisisMe”canbeillustratedbythistheory.Take“Whenthesharpestwordswannacutmedown.I'mgonnasendaflood,gonnadrownthemout.”asexample.Input2,thetenorshouldbesharpestwordsandmyeffortorreactions.Input1,thevehicleshouldbeswordandflood.Thesongwritercomparedthepungentwordstoswordandcomparedmyreactionstothehardwordstotheflood.Thismetaphorcanbeseeninmanyotherstylistictypes,especiallyintheliteralworks.Wecanregardthelyricsasapoem.Whenotherpeoplewhoarenotgoingwithyou,theyoftensaysomebadwordstoignoreyou,laughatyouandfightyou.Theytrytomakeyoudown.However,weshouldtaketheseastrials,tofacethedifficultiesvalorously,tochallengeyourownlimits,toproveyourability,nottoletthosewhodonotexpectyouhavetheopportunitytosneeratyou.Thetopicistobelieveinyourselfandnevertodefeatbythoseunfriendlypeople,pungentwordsortoughsituation.Throughoutthefulltext,thefirstsubjectimagedhimself/herselfasacouragesoldier.Thetroubleinthelifeiscomparedtothefuriousbattlefield.Thewordslike“bullet”,“march”and“drum”showthedetailsofthemetaphor.Theartistmanagestolettheaudiencebekeenlyawareoftheself-confidencethesongtriestoexpress.Wecaneasilyconcludethattheinput1isbattlefieldandsoldier,theinput2istroubleand“me”.Toputthelyricsintotheperspectiveofconceptualintegrationtheory,Icanhaveadeepercomprehension,andthismakescontributiontoevaluatethelyrics.Ⅴ.ConclusionTosu