Lexical Deviation in Novels: A Stylistic Study

Abstract

This stylistic study pays attention to the use of language in literary works, focusing on the use of language that deviates from everyday language or is typical in literary discourse. This paper aims to describe lexical deviations in three novels: Lontara Rindu (LR), Sabda Luka (SL), and Sayat-sayat Sunyi (SSS). They are local novels written by Mappagewa in Indonesian. Content analysis was used for data collection. Data was analyzed using three flows: reduction, data presentation, and drawing precise conclusions. The study shows three forms of deviation: neologisms, connotative forms, and diction. The use of lexical deviation forms is more often found in LR. The deviation aims to show an aesthetic impression and attention from the reader’s point of view. It was found that the author foregrounded the three novels to get tight and concise word forms.

Keywords

• language
• deviation
• neologism
• connotative
• diction