Written in a clear and accessible style, Stylistics, Third Edition is a comprehensive resource which covers all the major theories, concepts and methods required for the investigation of language in literature. From metre to metaphor, dialogue to discourse, the main topics are introduced and fully elaborated, as are the key research paradigms of this important and exciting field of study. Stylistics is richly illustrated with many examples from literary texts, including writing from the established literary canon alongside more contemporary work in poetry, prose and drama. Each of the book’s twelve chapters contains clearly framed suggestions for practical work and is accompanied by an original reading on the relevant topic by a world-renowned scholar.

This exciting new third edition builds on the strengths of the first and second by adding fresh exercises and worked examples. It captures the major developments in stylistics, from earlier work that draws on syntax, semantics and phonology, to more recent approaches such as corpus, cognitive and multimodal approaches to the study of style. The accompanying online materials feature, amongst other things, useful links, worked examples and a strand on style and humour. This third edition brings in more texts from contemporary women writers and from writing in more diverse ‘Englishes’. In addition to the classic essays in stylistics contained in previous editions, this edition includes three new Section D readings to reflect more recent innovations in the field.

Written by an experienced teacher and researcher, this accessible textbook is an essential resource for all students of English language, linguistics and literature.