LECTURE X
COMPOSITION OF THE LITERARY TEXT.
POETIC DETAILS IN THE LITERARY TEXT.
SCHEME OF INTERPRETATION.
Issues to be discussed:
1.
Composition of the literary text.
2.
Poetic details in the literary text.
3.
Role of the title.
4.
Scheme of interpretation.
Key words:
Composition of the text, literary text, Poetic details, title, scheme of
interpretation,
Literary work is a fragment of objective reality, based on the author‘s vision, his idea
of the world. So, there exists the relationship: the author – the literary work – the reader.
This relationship is ideal when the author‘s vision of life is identical to that of the
reader‘s. But that is rarely. The reader provides his own interpretation of the literary
work according to his aesthetic, psychological and emotional qualities. Interpretation is
characterised by plurality. Thus, the understanding of the text, its interpretation depends
on the reader, his knowledge, experience and cultural level, in other words, on the
thesaurus of the reader.
The literary text is a complex whole, the elements constituting the text are arranged
according to a definite system and in a special succession. The structure of the text is
revealed by two levels: 1) literary {including a personage and a plot], 2} language
which includes a system of expressive means and stylistic devices.
A plot reflects events, episodes, the actions of the personages. Every plot has its
conflict. A plot is a plan of a literary composition reflecting its immediate content. It is
a scheme of connected events. By composition, we mean elements of the plot.
Composition includes:
1.
Prologue, exposition. Prologue is a preface of the literary work. Very often it has
retrospective and prospective trend. An exposition is an outline of the environment,
circumstances and conditions of the described event.
2.
Beginning of the plot or the initial collision. It represents an event that starts action
and causes subsequent development of events.
3.
Development of the plot. The author shows the course of events. The development of
events leads, finally, to the moment of great tension, to the decisive clash f interests
– to the culmination or climax.
4.
Climax is the highest point of the action. It is a moment of decisive importance for
personages‘ destines. The events following it take the already settled course of
development. Very often it contains the most intensifying stylistic device – climax,
or convergence of stylistic devices. Representing the summit part of the text
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composition, it supplies the most important facts for deriving conceptual
information.
5.
Denouement is the event that brings the action to an end.
6.
The End.
7.
Epilogue. It gives the author’s conception of the literary work. It is in epilogue that
the author expresses the main idea of his book.
Sometimes the exposition or the beginning of the plot are absent. Then we say that
the story begins from the middle. In such cases it has the implication of precedence, as
if the reader is aware of the preceding events.
When the author does not give the end to the story, we say that it is a story with an
open ending. In such cases the author only passes the problem for the reader to solve.
Sometimes, there is no ending because the contemporary epoch cannot give a definite
solution to the raised problem.
Poetic Details are used by the author to represent the whole picture through
seemingly insignificant descriptions. Poetic details carry out different functions in the
literary text. According to their functions they are divided into the following types:
a)
depicting details; b) authenticity details; c) characterological details; d) implicit
details.
Depicting details create visual images of description. They create the image of
nature and appearance, landscape, and portraits and make the description vivid and
emotional.
Authenticity detail creates the image of things. By authenticity detail the author
depicts the personages‘ mode of life and indicate his place of residence.
Characterological detail creates the image of personage. This detail can be traced
in the whole text and is used to give an all-sided characterisation of a personage or to
underline one of his most essential features of character.
The implication detail creates the image of relation between personages and
reality. It is the implication detail that reveals the subtextual information.
Title has a great importance for revealing conceptual information, conveyed in the
text.
According to their form and information, titles a classified into: a) a title symbol;
b) a title Chests; c) a title quotation; d) a title report; e) a title-hint; f) a title narration.
Comprising the quintessence of the book’s content, the title represents the nucleus
of the conceptual information. The title can be metaphorically depicted as a wound up
spiral revealing its potentialities in the process of unwinding.
SCHEME OF INTERPRETATION
1. Say a few words about the author and the cultural context.
2. Relate the plot of the story.
3. Characterize the composition of the text.
4. Reveal the conceptual information of the text:
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a) poetic details and their functions
b) stylistic devices and their functions
c) comment on the vocabulary of the text (literary bookish, foreign words, poetic words,
colloquialisms, neologisms, slang and so on),find thematic and key words;
d) comment on the implicit information (implicit title, implicit detail, SDs)
e) comment on the meaning of the title and connect it with the conceptual information.
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