Critical Stylistics: The Power of English (Perspectives on the English Language, 14)

Critical Stylistics: The Power of English, part of the Perspectives on the English Language series, offers a groundbreaking approach to understanding how language constructs meaning, ideology, and power. It provides readers with analytical tools to explore how everyday texts—political speeches, news reports, advertisements, and literature—shape perceptions and influence thought.

Combining insights from linguistics, critical discourse analysis, and literary studies, the book demonstrates how stylistic choices reveal underlying social values and political positions. It shows how grammar, vocabulary, and textual structure are never neutral, but are used strategically to persuade, manipulate, or empower.

The framework of critical stylistics equips readers to question how English operates as a system of representation in media, politics, and literature. It emphasizes that language is not only a means of communication but also a tool for constructing identity, authority, and belief.

Through practical examples and step-by-step analysis, the author provides clear methods for deconstructing texts and uncovering the subtle mechanisms of linguistic influence. The approach empowers students and scholars to engage critically with the world around them, strengthening their awareness of how language both reflects and produces ideology.

Critical Stylistics: The Power of English is an essential text for students and researchers of English language, linguistics, and discourse analysis. It invites readers to see language not just as expression, but as action—a force that shapes social reality and reflects the power dynamics embedded in communication.