Практика речи: Интерпретация текста - Методическая разработка для студентов III и IV курсов отделения английского языка и литературы (А.И.Кадырова)

Some hints on interpteting a literary  text

 

Complexity of the phenomenon of Imaginative Literature and of Literary work gives rise to a variety of approaches to analyzing literary texts. Opinions also differ concerning the reference of interpretation to a particular science: sty- listics or literature study, and what kind of analysis should prevail in interpreta- tion: whether attention should be given to the genre, composition, message of a work and the author’s aesthetic and philosophical views reflected in it, or there should be a definite bias towards scrutinizing the language means employed by the author.

It is possible to single out two possible approaches to practical interpre- tation. The first method advises to start with information about an author and his artistic and creative peculiarities, which is followed by the analysis of the struc- ture of a text, its message, composition and, finally, stylistic devices and expres- sive means relevant in the text.

According to the second method, it is necessary to study the perception of a text by the reader and to trace how a definite artistic impression is produced

on him. Thus, the conclusion about the message and the author’s artistic princi- ples come at the end of the analysis. Some literary critics consider, that the im-

pression of the text on the reader is the main element in understanding it: “…what is significant is what a text means to the reader, whatever the writer may have intended, or whatever the text itself may objectively appear to mean”1. Such an approach leaves a literary text to the mercies of the reader, who can in- vest it with whatever sense he likes and interpret it as he chooses.

The main function of interpretation is, however, to make an attempt at restoring that vision of the world that was created by the author in his work. That reader is not to construct one’s own model of reality bearing a slight re- semblance to the image of the world suggested by the author. An interpreter is to get at the writer’s message which can be both explicitly expressed through par- ticular language means and only implied through some elusive images. An in- terpreter is supposed to make precise reference to the text to justify his own judgements and suppositions. The effect a literary text produces on the reader may be ambiguous and diverse. But nonetheless, it is possible to identify special language means that signal particular meaning. The writer aims at bringing home to the reader certain ideas and attitudes, therefore he puts special sign- posts, laying additional emphasis on the most meaningful and significant points in the text in order to fix the reader’s attention on them.

It might be helpful for an interpreter to remember the following observa-

tions:

 

1 Widdowson H.G. Practical Stylistics.- Oxford University Press, 1992.- VIII.

 

1) Most significant parts of a text are marked by a bunch of various sty- listic devices and expressive means. Combined with one another they heighten the effect and draw the reader’s attention to the conveyed meaning.

“Sara  was a menace and a tonic, my best enemy; Rozzie was a disease, worst friend.” (J.Cary “The Horse’s Mouth”)

In this sentence the author expressed in a condensed way the role his

wife Rozzie and mistress Sara played in the life of the protagonist. The sentence is built on the parallel constructions, the antitheses: enemy -friend, worst - best and the metaphors, which are antonymous in meaning: tonic – disease. The ex- pressiveness increases due to the unconventional and unexpected paradoxical combinations: best + enemy, worst + friend, instead of the traditional ‘best friend’, ‘worst enemy’. Such a paradox is not a mere decoration but a means of bringing out the deep conflict in the characters’ relations.1

The same abundance of expressive means and stylistic devices can be observed in that part of the analyzed passage from “Ragtime” by E.L.Doctorow, which describes the music. Moreover, its style contrasts with the dry and precise sentences of the previous and following parts and acquires a great emotional colouring and expressiveness.

2) Most essential meanings of the text recur in it and make up its the- matic basis. These meanings may be expressed by recurrent words, by various

synonymous linguistic means and by recurrent themes. Meaningfulness of the recurrent elements is gradually signalled by coupling, i. e. by the occurrence of similar elements in similar positions. In the analyzed sentence coupling may be

observed: ‘Sara’ and ‘Rozie’ are both proper feminine names, and, therefore, they are equivalent language units placed in equivalent positions – at the head of the sentence. They have equal importance in the composition of the novel: they

are the closest and dearest women for the protagonist. The verb ‘was’ is repeated in both clauses of the sentence. ‘Menace’ and ‘disease’ are close, though not identical, in meaning, they both belong to the same semantic group and can

function as contextual synonyms. Syntactically, they both function as predica- tives and occupy identical positions in the clauses. The phrases ‘my best enemy’ and ‘my worst friend’ are built on the same principles of combining contrasting

ideas and analogy. Syntactically, both these phrases are detached.

3) Rare words and word-groups usually signal the text’s most significant meanings2.

 

1 Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка.- Л., 1981.- С.63.

2 Sosnovskaya V.B. Analytical Reading.- Moscow, 1974.- P. 73.