修辞学是语言学的一个分支，也是文艺学的组成部分，甚至是文艺学中内核性的部分。可以从修辞手段的运用程度即“文学性”的角度，把语言粗略地分为3类：文学语言、准文学语言和应用性语言，三者分别使用积极修辞、消极修辞和中性修辞。中国古代的美学家、文艺理论家往往也是修辞学家，其文论对文学作品修辞艺术的讨论相当之多。现当代文学研究者却对修辞学鲜有兴趣，语言学家也很少关注文学作品的语言问题。但不少语言学家对鲁迅作品的修辞艺术有所研究，对鲁迅极为丰富且高超的修辞手法条分缕析，鞭辟入里。而文学研究者对文学语言的修辞艺术却常常知其然而不知其所以然。从事文学研究的人，应该具有尽可能深厚的修辞学修养，这样才能真正感受、评说文学作品的文学性。

Rhetoric is both a branch of linguistics and a component of literary studies. From the perspective of literariness, language can be broadly divided into three categories: literary language, quasi-literary language, and functional language. The criterion for distinguishing among these three types is the extent to which rhetorical devices are employed. In ancient China, aestheticians and literary theorists were often also rhetoricians. Classical Chinese literary theory tended to focus more on the rhetorical art of literary works than on their thematic content. In contemporary times, literary scholars rarely express interest in rhetoric, and linguists seldom engage with the language of literary works. Nevertheless, many linguists have shown interest in the rhetorical style of Lu Xun’s works, precisely because of his rich and sophisticated use of rhetoric techniques. As a literary scholar, the author of this paper is often faced with the challenge of understanding the rhetorical features of literary language only superficially, without a deep grasp of the underlying principles. It is argued that literary researchers should cultivate a strong foundation in rhetoric in order to genuinely appreciate and evaluate the literariness of literary works.