Now in its second edition, this textbook provides a practical introduction to stylistics, grounded in theories of language. It has been updated to cover every aspect of the discipline, from its origins to state-of-the-art research. It is essential reading for students and researchers interested in this exciting field of study.

Lesley Jeffries is Honorary Professor of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University, UK. Her recent publications include The Language of Contemporary Poetry (Palgrave, 2022), The Babel Lexicon of Language (Cambridge University Press, 2022), Keywords in the Press (with Walker, Bloomsbury, 2017) and Critical Stylistics (Palgrave, 2010). She co-founded the popular language magazine Babel and is Chair of the University Council for General and Applied Linguistics (UCGAL) in the UK.

1. Language and style; 2. Text and style; 3. Discourse and context I: function; 4. Discourse and context II: interaction; 5. Text and cognition I: text comprehension; 6. Text and cognition II: text processing; 7. Methods and issues in stylistic analysis; 8. Conclusions and future directions.