ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how the description of literary style can be approached from a Multi-Dimensional (MD) Analysis perspective. The MD model of register variation in English predicts that all texts are shaped primarily by five dimensions of register variation, namely involved versus informational production, narrative concerns, explicit versus situation-dependent reference, overt expression of persuasion and abstract versus non-abstract information. The chapter expands the analysis in two ways: first, by conducting a lexical MD Analysis, which will identify the major lexical parameters of variation; and second, by carrying out a canonical correlation analysis, which will bring together the grammatical and the lexical MD analyses around what could be called “aesthetic” dimensions of literary style. It showcases the application of MD Analysis to the study of literary style.
