Ten Questions About Contemporary Stylistics

In the final chapter of the volume, Donatella Montini interviews Elena Semino, one of the most representative exponents of contemporary Stylistics, who discusses her views on the discipline and its standing. In her signature upfront style, Semino questions the very logic behind the charge of eclecticism addressed at Stylistics, and unfalteringly debunks such myths as the purported difference between literary and non-literary language. She also discusses some of the new ground broken by stylistic research, such as the investigation of the role of empathy and the emotions within a communicative exchange, with reference both to the agents in the exchange and to the standpoint of the analyst. Finally and more importantly, Semino testifies to the dynamic health of this ancient, yet rejuvenated discipline, and this is ultimately the main target of the whole issue.