“HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN”: OVERVIEW OF STYLISTIC DEVICES

Nowadays, it is very difficult to find a text which could serve as a model of using a wide range of stylistic devices. In this regard, J. K. Rowling’s works are always of particular interest for stylistic analysis, since the author’s text is always rich in various stylistic devices.

To prove this statement, the stylistic analysis of the book by J.K. Rowling “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” has been carried out, so the main purpose of the article is to study and classify the stylistic devices used by the author in the abovementioned book.

The notion of a stylistic device (SD) is widely used, but it is often interpreted in different ways. The authors like I. Arnold, I. Galperin, V. Shakhovsky gave their definitions to the concept

An SD should be distinguished from the notion of expressive means which, in fact, are very closely connected. However, expressive means are all the external representations of language which correlate with the language levels. Thus, expressive means can be classified as phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactical

Though a trend is emerging in domestic scientific literature not to pay attention to the differences of the mentioned notions and a new hybrid concept “stylistic expressive means” enters into circulation

It is not surprising that in foreign researches, as well as in domestic ones, SDs are closely associated mainly with literature: e.g., S. Glatch calls them “the building blocks of literature”

It is noteworthy, that SDs can also be viewed as cognitive structures and this idea broadens the sphere of their functioning a lot

The principal method used in the research is stylistic analysis.

As it has already been mentioned, the text of the book by J.K. Rowling “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is dense with various stylistic devices. The utterances usually contain the combination of graphic, phonetico-graphic, lexical, syntactical and lexico-syntactical SDs which are often used simultaneously.

Having analyzed the book, we can identify 230 stylistic devices in total which are classified into 3 big groups: graphic and phonetico-graphic, lexical and lexico-syntactical, syntactical SDs.

The graphic and phonetico-graphic SDs are represented in the text by:

· Onomatopoeia:  It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing

· Graphons are widely used throughout the whole text, and they seem to take a special place in the author’s style. They are commonly represented by using the capital letters in utterances to show the characters’ emotions: excitement (“JORDAN! ARE YOU BEING PAID TO ADVERTISE FIREBOLTS? GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!”)

From the point of view of stylistic semasiology, lexical and lexico-syntactical SDs can be divided into figures of replacement and figures of co-occurrence.

The figures of replacement are represented in the text by:

· Hyperboles: That lesson was absolute rubbish compared with my Arithmancy class!

· Metaphors: The Grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried itself in a tangle of weeds in a corner

· Epithets: as single units (“Did you see his face?” said Ron gleefully, looking back at Malfoy)

·  Euphemism: You-Know-Who.

Figures of co-occurrence are represented by:

· Similes are constructed with the help of the conjunctions “as if” / “as though” (And he threw the receiver back onto the telephone as if dropping a poisonous spider)

· Play on words: You’ll start seeing death omens everywhere. It’s enough to frighten anyone to death

· Antithesis: Harry couldn’t think of anyone who deserved to win a large pile of gold more than the Weasleys, who were very nice and extremely poor

As a special kind of lexical SDs occasional words can be identified: “Where’s my Dudders?” roared Aunt Marge. “Where’s my neffy poo?”

The syntactical structure of the sentence is usually represented by a complex or compound sentence, containing homogeneous members of a sentence or simple sentences complicated by additional syntactic constructions.

The syntactical SDs mainly used in the book are:

· Nominal sentences: “An unworthy trick!” she was shouting. “A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin!”

· Aposiopesis: “That would be because they – er – weren’t Dementors,” said Professor Lupin. “Come and see –”

· Inversion: Then he seized the rest of the wrapping paper in his other hand and pulled. And out fell – a book

· Catch repetition: They had been murdered, murdered by the most feared Dark wizard for a hundred years, Lord Voldemort

· Ellipsis: “He – didn’t work,” said Uncle Vernon, with half a glance at Harry. “Unemployed.”

· Rhetorical question: What, was going to happen to him? Would he be arrested, or would he simply be outlawed from the wizarding world?

Thus, the book by J.K. Rowling “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” has been analyzed in the focus of stylistic devices used. Two hundred thirty stylistic devices have been identified and classified to the following groups: graphic and phonetico-graphic, lexical and lexico-syntactical, syntactical SDs.

However, the number of stylistic devices in the book may not be considered precise as it often happens that the same sentence contains up to 3 heterogeneous stylistic devices: She was the nosiest woman in the world (hyperbole) and spent most of her life spying (metaphor) on the boring, law-abiding (epithets) neighbors