Учебное пособие 1780

Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 3 (22), 2018 ISSN 2587-8093

its imagery. The subject will not feel the image-bearing component of the word combination «a root of mountain» or the phrase «the soul hurts». The metaphor will be recognized as such only if the combination of lexical units in its composition is perceived as unexpected and unusual.

A sustained interest in the metaphor by scientists from different fields (from linguists to psychologists) is explained by the fact that «they began to see it like the key to understanding the foundations of thinking and the processes of creating not only a national-specific vision of the world, but also its universal image» [1, p. 6]. The artistic consciousness, which seeks to express not only personal but also general concepts, tends to a metaphorical way of perception and expression.

In any literary text, the aesthetic function is achieved through a non-trivial way of expressing the author's individual thought. As K. A. Dolinin puts it, art lies «in the dialectical unity of forms and content, in the depth and originality of thoughts and feelings, generally the author's vision of the world, his persona, which are inseparable from the form and just don't exist outside of it» [2, p. 130–131]. One of the ways to create such a form is a metaphor that connects distant concepts and generates a special vision of the described phenomena or objects.

Despite a common use of metaphors, all its diversity can be hardly reduced to a single definition. According to one of the actual notions, it is «a trope consisting in the use of a word that denotes a certain class of objects, phenomena, actions or features, to denote another, similar to the given, class of objects or an individual» [3]. It is important to correlate this figure of speech and the comparison in order to determine the essence of the metaphor. Questioning the traditional view (coming from Aristotle) about the metaphor as a reduced comparison, modern scientists have analyzed the ways of their formation and considered their differences on logical, semantic, and structural levels [4, p. 9–11].

There are two ways to compose the metaphor. Its structure can be binomial, or in praesentia, according to the scheme a is b, where a is a defined (theme), b – a defining (image). If the theme is absent, then the metaphor is monomial, or in absentia, according to the scheme A + b, where A is a prop word [2, p. 132–133]. The relations between the components are based on the principle of comparison (then the metaphor takes the form of an abridged comparison) or analogy (according to the scheme A/B=C/D, hence combinations of A and C, B and D in any sequence are possible) [5, p. 60–61]. However, the metaphor takes a different form, especially when it entails a piece of fiction.

Methodology

This article considers the functioning of the metaphor in its specific and diverse manifestations in the literary text. The object of the study is a number of metaphors, selected by a continuous sampling method in the first work of the French writer Nathalie Sarraute. A particular importance in the analysis is attached to the inclusion of metaphors in the text, its influence on the creation of imagery and aesthetic effect.

The book used for study material is Nathalie Sarraute’s «Tropisms»/«Tropismes» (1939). The writer's prose, starting from her first work, is full of metaphorical means of imagery and provides an abundance of examples for analysis.

Conducting the study, the following methods were used: analysis of dictionary definitions, semantic-syntactic analysis, comparative analysis.

Results of the study

The selected linguistic phenomena are categorized as extended metaphor. Such a metaphor functions within a sentence, a fragment of the text, or the entire work. In the extended metaphor, or metaphoric chain, «the vehicle of an image is a group of associatively (for example, thematically or within the “semantic field”) related units» [6, p. 136]. The following schemes can be proposed for this kind of metaphor: a is bn (for the metaphor in praesentia) or A + bn (for the metaphor in absentia). The extended metaphor becomes the core of the text, the image-bearing component is accompanied with details and specialties, it can include other fig-

34

Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 3 (22), 2018 ISSN 2587-8093

ures of speech, such as epithets, comparisons, etc. The image unfolds to the whole picture that creates a colorful vision of the subject. Since «one, even a purely abstract feature common to two phenomena is enough to unite them by analogy» [7, p. 244], widely spaced concepts can be combined by means of the metaphor. This creates an aesthetic effect: the semantic «gap» between words leads to the need to «complete» the meaning chain with the help of imagination.

Let us consider the functioning of the extended metaphor through the example of the work of Nathalie Sarraute, one of the most striking «nouveau romanciers». As known, the conception of «tropisms» is at the basis of her aesthetic views. The writer has defined this notion as follows: «These movements, of which we are hardly cognizant, slip through us on the frontiers of consciousness in the form of undefinable, extremely rapid sensations. They hide behind our gestures, beneath the words we speak, the feelings we manifest, are aware of experiencing, and able to define» (Translated by M. Jolas ) [1*]. In the work «Tropisms» Sarraute turned for the first time to the subject matter that will interest her throughout her creative career. «This first book contains in nuce all the raw material that I have continued to develop in my later works» (Translated by M. Jolas ) [1*], – affirmed the novelist. The book consists of 24 small novelle, each of them is devoted to one tropism. Portraying these elusive sensations can be suggestive by creating similar emotions in the reader, for these reasons the writer uses a special narrative manner and language. Sarraute recourses to various expressive means, among which one can distinguish euphony, epithet, comparison, metaphor, parallelism. A metaphorical narrative style is typical for all her oeuvre. Thus, L. A. Chernitskaya writes about the metaphorical «performances» in the works of the novelist and the «metaphorical behavior» of her characters: «their manners to behave, their actions are metaphors expressing their unconscious or subconscious states» [8, p. 41]. In the first book by Sarraute, this tendency begins to take shape: the metaphor plays a key role in almost every novella.

In the eighth «Tropism», the reader encounters an ordinary situation – a grandfather’s walk with his grandson, but it becomes gloomy. The author emphasizes the obsession of the adult, his pressure on the child, when he again and again explains how to cross the road. A physical pressure is expressed by a series of verbs following one after another: manipuler/manipulate, palper/palpate, rapprocher de soi/bring closer to oneself, s’approprier/appropriate for oneself, emmener/take, serrer/squeeze. It is complemented by a moral pressure, concluded in the words of this character, having the form of the improperly direct speech: the word attention/H. careful, reiterated four times and in the latter case reinforced with the help of adverbs surtout/above all, très/very. The tropism, which interests the writer in this case, refers to the feelings of the child; the extended metaphor in absentia is used for its representation.

Et le petit sentait que quelque chose p e s a i t sur lui, l’e n g o u r d i s s a i t . Une m a s s e

le nez pour le f a i r e a v a l e r , sans qu'il pût r é s i s t e r – le p é n é t r a i t , pendant qu'il trottinait doucement et très sagement, en donnant docilement sa petite main, en opinant de la tête très raisonnablement, et qu'on lui expliquait comme il fallait toujours avancer avec précaution et bien regarder d'abord à droite, puis à gauche, et faire bien attention, très attention, de peur d'un accident, en traversant le passage clouté [2*, p. 13]. /

And the child felt that something was weighing upon him, benumbing him. A soft choking mass that somebody relentlessly made him take, by exerting upon him a gentle, firm pressure, by pinching his nose a bit to make him swallow it, without his being able to resist – penetrated him, while he trotted docilely along, like a good little boy, obediently holding out his little hand, nodding his head very reasonably, while it was explained to him that he should always proceed cautiously and look well, first to the right, then to the left, and

35

Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 3 (22), 2018 ISSN 2587-8093

be careful, very careful, for fear of an accident, when crossing between the lines. (Translated by M. Jolas ) [1*].

The theme is the feeling that the kid is experiencing and which is not named verbally; the prop word is le petit / the child. The metaphor was created on foot of a situation familiar to every child – taking a nasty medication. The composition of the metaphor includes two complementary images: according to the semantics of their lexical units, they can be called «heaviness» and «violence». The group with the semantic kernel «heaviness» includes: verbs peser/weigh, engourdir/benumb, a noun with epithets masse molle et étouffante/soft choking mass. In the second group, verb forms dominate (verbs in personal forms and participles: faire absorber/make take, exercer/exert, pincer/pinch, faire avaler/make swallow, pénétrer/penetrate, and also résister/resist in a negative form); there is an intensifier, adverb inexorablement/relentlessly, and the word combination «noun + adjectives» as epithets douce et ferme contrainte/gentle, firm pressure. The combination «faire + inf.» has the meaning of motivation or coercion to action imposed on the person from the outside: the adult’s speaking is perceived like taking bitter potions. The metaphor is embedded in the text in such a way that the transition from «magma of tropism» to external events happens instantly: starting with the words pendant qu'il trottinait/while he trotted docilely along, the author describes the actions of the kid and the words of his grandfather at the moment when the child is experiencing the tropism. The image, given by metaphor, is an organic part of the narration, without getting out of it in terms of syntax. The extended metaphor recreates the sensation experienced by the character, and thus becomes the climax of the novella.

An example of even more organic «melting» of this figure into the narrative structure is represented by the metaphors from the tenth «Tropism». It tells about the pastime of women belonging to the category of bourgeois bohemians. The author’s irony is obvious towards their carefree behavior. The introduced metaphor uses the image of birds. The cafe, where they sit and drink tea, is described as volière pépiante/chirping aviary; the same epithet pépiant/chirping in relation to them is used below, accompanied by another epithet – vorace/voracious which shows another, not so harmless side of their character trait – insatiability. The following extended metaphor in absentia, placed in one phrase, shows that their unrestrained gluttony is manifested not only in love for tea with cakes.

p é t r i s s a n t , les p é t r i s s a n t , r o u l a n t sans cesse entre leurs doigts cette m a t i è r e

forme plus entre leurs doigts qu'un p e t i t t a s , une p e t i t e b o u l e t t e g r i s e [2*, p. 16]. /

And they talked and talked, repeating the same things, going over them, then going over them again, from one side then from the other, kneading and kneading them, continually rolling between their fingers this unsatisfactory, mean substance that they had extracted from their lives (what they called «life», their domain), kneading it, pulling it, rolling it until it ceased to form anything between their fingers but a little pile, a little gray pellet

(Translated by M. Jolas ) [1*].

The prop word is elles/they, and the theme is a tropism experienced by the narrator. The sentence begins with a description of the actions of the characters indicated by the verb parler/talk (2 times) and a participle from the verb répéter/repeat with its intensifying complement les mêmes choses/the same things. The next lexical unit – participle from the verb retourner/go over, turn over (2 times) – is used both literally and figuratively, being a transition

36

Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 3 (22), 2018 ISSN 2587-8093

from external events and circumstances to the inner life of the person. It stands in a series of homogeneous elements represented by participles and, on the one hand, adjoining répétant/repeating, means fig. changer complètement/transf. change completely [1**], on the other hand (as the antecedent of pétrissant/kneading) – has the semantics mettre la face intérieure à l'extérieur/turn inside out [1**], which is also supported by the use of d'un côté puis de l'autre/on one side, then on the other. The next verb series – pétrir/knead (3 times), rouler/roll (2 times), étirer/pull – continues the metaphor denoted by retourner/turn over. The sensation caused by the chatter of these ladies is conveyed by means of an image depicting the process of kneading dough. According to T. V. Balashova, «the flow of words (most often it is a long series of synonyms, nouns or verbs having close meaning) the writer takes power over the reader, evoking sensations similar to those that the hero should have experienced» [9, p. 187]. In this example, the string-like arrangement of homogeneous verb forms communicates to the reader fatigue, which can cause not only a long dough-making process, but also a long empty talk.

The lexical units naming «ingredients» and «products» are characterized by the word combination «noun + adjectives» with a pejorative connotation: matière ingrate et pauvre/unsatisfactory, mean substance, un petit tas/a little pile, une petite boulette grise/a little gray pellet. In addition to these reiterative words, such intensifiers as toujours/always, puis ...

encore / then ... again, sans cesse/continually enhance the effect of multiple repetitions of the same actions. The parallelism of structures performs a similar function: the entire sentence is constructed as an enumeration of several groups of homogeneous elements. The oppositeness of a significant amount of actions and the insignificance of the result underlines the writer's irony regarding these refined gossips.

In this sentence, you can find an example of euphony:

Et elles PaRlaient, PaRlaient ToujouRs, RéPéTant les mêmes choses, les ReTouRnant, Puis les ReTouRnant encoRe, d'un côTé Puis de l'auTRe, les PéTRissant, les PéTRissant, Roulant sans cesse enTRe leuRs doigts ceTTe maTièRe ingRaTe et PauvRe qu'elles avaient exTRaiTe de leuR vie (ce qu'elles aPPelaient «la vie», leuR domaine), la

PéTRissant, l'éTiRant, la Roulant jusqu'à ce qu'elle ne foRme Plus enTRe leuRs doigts qu'un PeTit Tas, une PeTiTe bouleTTe gRise.

In the key words of the metaphor and other lexical units there is a reiteration of sounds [p], [ʁ] and [t], which is onomatopoeic (resembles knocking, clicking, twittering), referring us again to the image of birds. In addition, this repetition enhances the semantic and syntactic connection of components. Thus, the extended metaphor is embedded semantically and formally in the text, transferring the tropism experienced by the narrator.

In the book by Sarraute, the use of metaphor is diverse: it can not only occupy a significant place in reporting imagery, but also be a structural element of the text, as in the fifteenth «Tropism». It tells about the visit of an elderly gentleman, apparently a family friend, and his conversation with the owners' daughter. The conversation is tense, the heroine, who expected a smart and entertaining conversation with an educated person, is forced to respond to his ridiculous questioning. The writer conveys some phrases of this dialogue, interconnected by an extended metaphor. The image created by this figure paints a scene of violence, «viol métaphorique»/«metaphorical rape», according to one of the researchers of Sarraute’s works [2*, p. 1723]. A metaphorical plan that creates a space of the tropism alternates with a plan of external actions and utterances of the characters. In the cited example, the text of the work is shortened, when applicable, to fully represent only the extended metaphor in absentia.

37

oserait enfin, sans craindre de le m é c o n t e n t e r , s ' é c h a p p e r [2*, p. 22]. /

He had grabbed her and was holding her entirely in his fist. He watched her as she flung herself about a bit, as she struggled awkwardly, childishly kicking her little feet in the air, while maintaining a pleasant smile […]

He turned her round a bit, the better to see her […]

She continued to wriggle gently, still wearing her polite little smile, her expression of eager expectation. He squeezed harder and harder […]

[…] while she would try to free herself gently, without daring to make any sudden movement that might displease him, and answer respectfully in a faint voice that was just a bit husky […]

Not until he saw her parents arrive, would he come to himself, would he relax his grip, and a bit red, a bit disheveled, her pretty dress a bit mussed, she would finally dare, without fearing to displease him, escape (Translated by M. Jolas ) [1*].

Il/he and elle/she should be considered as prop words, the theme is the tropism being experienced. The suffered internal states generate metaphoric images that, according to the author's idea, «create identical sensations in the preconsciousness of the perceiving subject» [10, p. 13]. In this metaphor, the verbs that convey the impression from the behavior of the male character: agripper/grab, tenir/hold, tourner/turn, serrer/squeeze, indicate rudeness and coercion; his superiority and the insignificance of the female character are shown by the expression dans son poing/in his fist, as well as the verbs regarder/watch and voir/see. The heroine appears as an insect that has been caught and examined: a series of partial synonyms – gigoter/fling oneself about (agiter son corps/make sharp body movements [1**]), agiter/kick, swing (remuer vivement en divers sens, par des mouvements irréguliers /briskly and randomly move in different directions [1**]), frétiller/wriggle (s'agiter par petits mouvements rapides/move by small and fast motions [1**]) – and adjacent to them se débattre/struggle

(faire de gros efforts pour essayer de se dégager de ce qui tient, maintient, enserre/make great efforts, trying to free oneself of what holds, compresses [2**]), which can be regarded as their contextual synonym, allow to express this idea. The victim's defenselessness is emphasized by the adverb maladroitement/awkwardly, the word combinations «noun + adjective» petits pieds/little feet and d'une manière puérile/childishly, and her timid attempts to break free — by the adverb doucement/gently (2 times) and the verb oser/dare in a negative form. The expression desserrer son poing/relax his grip (desserrer/relax is an antonym of serrer/squeeze from the first half of the example) symbolizes the end of an agonizing conversation and completes the metaphor. The continuation of the phrase is transferred to the external plan: elle oserait enfin, sans craindre de le mécontenter, s'échapper/she would finally dare, without fearing to displease him, escape, – which, meanwhile, is a parallel construction of the phrase with a transferred meaning: elle chercherait à se dégager doucement, sans oser faire des mouvements brusques qui pourraient lui déplaire/she would try to free herself gently, without daring to

38

Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 3 (22), 2018 ISSN 2587-8093

make any sudden movement that might displease him. The synonyms se dégager/free oneself

(libérer son corps/free someone’s body [1**]) – s'échapper/escape (s'enfuir, partir discrètement /escape, go unnoticed [1**]) in this context, déplaire/displease (causer une irritation passagère/cause a temporary irritation [1**]) – mécontenter/displease (rendre insatisfait/make discontented [1**]) and the construction «sans + inf.» speak for their similarity, while the verb oser/dare, used in the first case in the denying, in the second case in the statement, as well as the opposition oser/dare – craindre/fear indicate their antonymity. Thus, the author opposes the sensations of the heroine during the conversation and after its end. As G. K Kosikov rightly points out, to Sarraute «characters feel the strength of their role only to the extent that they are approved and confirmed by others» [11, p. 177]. Here the heroine accepts the subordinate position assigned to her, refuses her own «self», trying to make a good impression, not to «displease»/«déplaire» and not to «make discontented»/«mécontenter» her interlocutor.

The end of the dialogue allows returning from the metaphorical space of tropisms to the sphere of external events and circumstances. The metaphorical image, «sewing» the novella through, shows the influence of speech on the inner state of the person. In this case, the imposition of communication style is treated as violence. The impact of the vocable on the individual is also negatively perceived in the two examples discussed above. Although, not every word carries such a destructive power, but only an empty word, cliché, devoided of imagery. The metaphor that transfers the most complex inner experiences is opposed to the clichéd speech that carries out linguistic violence.

In «Tropism» with the number twenty, the author uses again the method of transition from the external to the internal plan, while the description of visible events is constructed similarly to a fragment that includes an extended metaphor from the point of view of the used vocabulary and grammatical structures. The novella is devoted to the fears that encompass a person in childhood and in adulthood, and to the struggle against them. The paragraph telling about children's fears begins with the subordinate clause «Quand il était petit»/«When he was little» [1*], and is opposed to the fragment about adult fears (it contains the metaphor), which opens with the construction «Maintenant qu'il était grand»/«Now that he was grown» [1*]. The first part talks about how the child was reassured by showing that with the lights on the objects around him are not dangerous; in the second part the character is distracted from his anxieties by conversation. The parallelism of the parts is underlined: synonymic verbs allumer/light (rendre lumineux en enflammant, ou par l'électricité / make light by inflaming or with electricity [1**]) – éclairer/light (répandre de la lumière/distribute light [1**]), reiteration of the verb prendre/take and even whole sentences – elles les lui montraient. Il n'y avait rien/they showed them to him. There was nothing [1*].

At the same time, the «metaphoric» part occupies the dominant position by volume in the novella: it is approximately five times as large as the description of external events, besides small touches of improperly direct speech.

The shortened text fragment containing the extended metaphor in absentia is given:

Elles avaient l'habitude d'e n t r e r et de r e g a r d e r et il a l l a i t au devant d'elles, il

éclairait lui-même p a r t o u t pour ne pas sentir leurs mains t â t o n n e r dans l'obscurité.

elles reconnaissaient p a r t o u t des objets familiers, depuis longtemps connus, et elles les lui m o n t r a i e n t . Il n'y avait r i e n . De quoi avait-il p e u r ? Parfois, ici ou là, d a n s u n c o i n , q u e l q u e c h o s e semblait trembler vaguement, flageoler légèrement, mais

39

n e t t o y é , a r r a n g é , tout bien a c c o m m o d é et p r é p a r é , la p e u r se reformait en lui, au fond des petits c o m p a r t i m e n t s , des t i r o i r s qu'elles venaient d'o u v r i r , où elles n'avaient rien v u et qu'elles avaient r e f e r m é s [2*, p. 26–27]. /

Now that he was grown, he still made them come and look everywhere, hunt inside him, observe well and take in their hands the fears cowering in the nooks and corners inside him, and examine them in the light.

They were accustomed to coming in and looking, and he prepared the way for them, he himself lighted all the lights so as not to sense their hands groping about in the dark. They looked – he remained motionless, without daring to breathe – but there was nothing anywhere, nothing that could cause fear, everything seemed in good order, in place, they recognized everywhere familiar, well-known objects, and they showed them to him. There was nothing. What was he afraid of? At times, here or there, in a corner, something seemed to tremble vaguely, to waver slightly, but with a pat they set it straight again, it was nothing, one of his usual fears – they took it and showed it to him: […]. They repaired, they righted that, it was nothing. […].

But while he was coming to himself and when they left him finally mended, cleaned, repaired, all nicely seasoned and ready, fear formed in him again, at the bottom of the little compartments, of the little drawers they had just opened, in which they had seen nothing, and which they had closed (Translated by M. Jolas ) [1*].

In view of the considerable volume and complexity of the metaphor, the prop words are il/he, elles/they and quelque chose/something, the theme is determination of the causes of fear. In this passage, the lexical units included in the semantic field «search» are used: verbs indicating the direction of the look (regarder/watch, voir/see, examiner/examine), actions with objects (chercher/seek, tâtonner/grope, prendre/take and montrer/show – 2 times each, ouvrir/open, refermer/close again) and movement in space (entrer/come in, aller/go); nouns with prepositions and adverbs in the function of adverbial modifier of place – partout/everywhere (3 times), entre leurs mains/in their hands, dans les recoins/in the nooks, nulle part/nowhere, en ordre/in order, à sa place/in place , dans un coin/in a corner. However, the «object» in question is not a thing, but fear: in the text, it is designated by synonyms peur/fear, intimidation and crainte/fear, anticipation (état de quelqu'un qui éprouve une sentiment de peur, de recul/state of one who feels a sense of fear, wants to retreat [2**]), as well as antonymic pronouns quelque chose/something and rien/nothing (6 times), so this feeling resists a precise definition and is even denied. The word combinations with the same epithet objets familiers/familiar objects and craintes familières/familiar fears make it possible to liken the nouns objet/object and crainte/fear. There is an opinion that «ritually worshiping things and enjoying them, Sarraute, nevertheless, seeks to dominate them, tries to extricate herself from the thraldom of objects» [12, p. 142]. In this case, indeed, a parallel has been drawn between the thing and the emotion, but it seems to us that this technique allows the reader to penetrate into the essence of the metaphor and realize that the author tries to clarify the most complex movements of the human soul in well-known and familiar objects.

The following semantic field can be called «putting things in order»: verbal expressions remettre d'aplomb/set straight, arrange/repair, redresser/right and series of participles raccommodé/mended, nettoyé/cleaned, arrangé/repaired, accommodé/seasoned and préparé/prepared. It also includes contextual synonyms compartiment/compartment, tiroir/drawer, indicating the specific signs of metaphoric space. The conversation, which occu-

40

Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 3 (22), 2018 ISSN 2587-8093

pies the character, becomes similar to cleaning up the room, finding out the reasons of fear – searching for the object in the drawers of the cabinet.

The expressions dans les recoins/in the nooks (recoin/nook – endroit caché, retiré/hidden, secluded corner [1**]), dans l'obscurité/in the dark (obscurité/dark – absence de lumière, de clarté /no light, brightness [1**]), dans un coin/in a corner, au fond/at the bottom (fond/bottom – partie la plus basse de qqch. de creux, de profond/the lowest part of something hollow, deep [1**]) indicate such characteristics of the described space as «hidden», «dark», «deep», and in view of the fact that it concerns the human soul, emphasize the complexity and unpredictability of the inner world of the person. It is no coincidence that, while reading them, it arises associations with the idiom «another man's soul is always dark» and the word combination «the inner recesses of the soul». In the critical essay «Conversation and SubConversation»/«Conversation et sous-conversation» (1956), Sarraute resorts to the expression nos recoins obscurs /our dark recesses (Translated by us) [2*, p. 1596], which clearly echoes the above expressions both in form (noun recoin/nook, adjective obscur/dark that is cognate of the noun obscurité/darkness), and in meaning. In this work, written after «Tropisms», the place, the source from which the tropisms derive, is so marked. The inexpressibility and inexplicability of these movements of the subconscious are clearly manifested in the last phrase of the novella, due to the negative pronoun rien/nothing, which is opposed to the word peur/fear, and the whole passage containing the metaphorical series. As if somebody, not understanding the inner state of his interlocutor, has called his experiences «nothing»/«rien», while in the distant «dark recesses of soul» of this person contradictory and complex emotions arise.

Conclusion

The analyzed figures of speech are classified as extended metaphors in absentia, made according to the scheme A + bn; their themes are not expressed verbally, since they are emotions not specifically named.

The extended metaphor in «Tropisms» by Nathalie Sarraute performs the essential sensemaking function, since it translates the psychological movements arising in the narrator’s or characters’ soul. It is the metaphor that becomes the semantic kernel of the novella, each of them is dedicated to a single tropism, the subtlest spiritual experience. In the considered examples, images created with the help of metaphor correspond to difficultly classified emotions: «taking a bitter medication» – feeling of moral pressure, «kneading dough» – exhaustion due to an empty talk, «physical violence» – feeling of helplessness in front of the interlocutor, «cleaning up» – dissipating fear.

The metaphor also has the structural role – the formation of links between parts of the text. It connects fragments describing the behavior of the characters and the inclusion of improperly direct speech (I and II examples); becomes a compositional link introducing direct speech and the representation of external actions of the characters (III example); the text of the story may consist mainly of an expanded metaphor interspersing with other elements (IV example).

It is necessary to mention the special aesthetic function of the metaphor in this book: while creating the text on the semantic and compositional levels, it induces the reader to experience sensations that were lived through and understood fictionally by the author.

References

[1]Arutyunova N. D. Metafora i diskurs // Teoriya metafory: Sbornik: Per. s ang., fr., nem., isp., pol'sk. yaz. M.: Progress, 1990. S. 5–32.

[2]Dolinin K.A. Stilistika francuzskogo yazyka. 2-e izd., dorab. M.: Prosveshchenie, 1987. 303 s.

[3]Metafora // Bol'shaya rossijskaya ehnciklopediya. URL: https: //bigenc .ru/ literature /text/2208483 (data obrashcheniya: 03.07.2018).

41

Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 3 (22), 2018 ISSN 2587-8093

[4]Sklyarevskaya G. N. Metafora i sravnenie: logicheskie, semanticheskie i strukturnye razlichiya // Mir russkogo slova. 2017. № 4. S. 9–17.

[5]Gardes-Tamine J. La stylistique. Paris: Armand Colin, 2001. 207 p.

[6]Moskvin V. P. Russkaya metafora: Ocherk semioticheskoj teorii. Izd. 2-e, pererab. i dop. M.: LENAND, 2006. 184 s.

[7]Frejdenberg O. M. Obraz i ponyatie. II. Metafora // Frejdenberg O. M. Mif i literatura drevnosti. 2-e izd., ispr. i dop. M.: Izdatel'skaya firma «Vostochnaya literatura» RAN, 1998.

S. 233–262.

[8]Chernickaya L. A. Poehtika romanov Nathalie Sarraute. SPb: Sankt-Peterburgskij gosudarstvennyj tekhnicheskij universitet, 1993. 144 s.

[9]Balashova T. V. Potok soznaniya // Hudozhestvennye orientiry zarubezhnoj literatury XX v. M.: IMLI RAN, 2002. S. 158–192.

[10]Voronina E. B. Tvorchestvo N. Sarraute: vyrazhenie «nevyrazimogo» // Izvestiya Yuzhnogo federal'nogo universiteta. Filologicheskie nauki. 2012. № 3. S. 8–14.

[11]Kosikov G. K. Problema zhanra i francuzskij «novyj roman» (na materiale tvorchestva Nathalie Sarraute) // Kosikov G. K. Sobranie sochinenij v 2 t. T. 2: Teoriya literatury. Metodologiya gumanitarnyh nauk. M.: Centr knigi Rudomino, 2012. S. 4–242.

[12]Pigulevskij V. O. Ironiya i vymysel: ot romantizma k postmodernizmu. Rostov n/D.: Izd-vo «Foliant», 2002. 273 s.

Analysed sources

[1*] Sarraute N. Tropizmy. Ehra podozreniya. Perevod s francuzskogo. M.: PolinformTalburi, 2000. 448 s.

[2*] Sarraute N. Œuvres complètes. Paris: Gallimard, 2001. 2128 p.

Dictionaries used

[1**] Le Robert de poche 2014 / sous la dir. de D. Morvan. Paris: Le Robert, 2013.

[2**] Larousse. Dictionnaire de français. URL: http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (data obrashcheniya: 03.07.2018).

42

Scientific Journal “Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches” Issue 3 (22), 2018 ISSN 2587-8093

UDC 801.5.54.2 (808.2+809.51)

O.F. Igosheva

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CONTENT OF CONCEPT "HUMAN"

IN THE RUSSIAN AND CHINESE LANGUAGE WORLD VIEW

IN THE POST-REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD

____________________________________________________________________________

Chelyabinsk State University

Assistant Professor of the English Language Department Olesya F. Igosheva

e-mail: igoshevaolesya@gmail.com

____________________________________________________________________________

Statement of the problem. This article is devoted to the study of the content of the concept "human" in the Russian and Chinese language world view, in particular, the comparison of the content of the concept "human" in the post-revolutionary period. The main purpose of the study is to build up a model of the field of representation for the Russian and Chinese concept of "human" in the designated synchronous state and to reveal the national specifics of the concept.

Results. During the work on the project, the works of scientists devoted to this problem were considered. The nominative field of the concept "human" of the post-revolutionary period was constructed, the process of material selection in Chinese was described in detail. The representatives selected by the index of the frequency was allocated to areas of the field of representation – the core, the near and far periphery, semantic groups-5 in Russian and 4 in Chinese. The description of the selected semantic groups is presented. The frequency of the representatives referred to a particular semantic group is analyzed.

Conclusion. As a result of the work, the conclusion is made about the representatives of which semantic groups make up the nuclear zone, the near and far periphery of the concept of "human" in the Russian and Chinese languages. The nuclear zone of the concept under study in the Russian language is represented by representatives of the semantic groups "Social Characteristics of the Person", "Living Space", "Naming of the Person". The core of the concept in Chinese is the name of the concept. In the field of near and far periphery of the concept of "human" representative are divided into semantic groups "Social Characteristics of the Person", "Naming of the Person", "Subjective Assessment of Characteristics", "Living Space" and "Scope of Activity" in the Russian language and in the groups of "Social Characteristics of the Person", "Naming of the Person", "Subjective Assessment of Characteristics" and "Objective Physical Characteristics" in Chinese. The study showed that the content of the concept of "human" of the post-revolutionary period in the Russian and Chinese languages has both similar features and national specifics.

Key words: concept "human", representative, field of representation, core, periphery, semantic group, comparative study, frequency index, national specificity of the concept.

For citation: Igosheva O.F. A comparative study of the content of concept "HUMAN" in the Russian and Chinese language world view in the post-revolutionary period / O.F. Igosheva // Scientific Journal “Modern linguistic and methodical-and-didactic researches”. – 2018. - №3 (22). – P. 43 - 50.

Introduction

One of the most important invariant features of a concept is its significance for native speakers’ culture. The concept is always a part of a culture, so the necessity of studying both general concepts and basic concepts which identify the national language world view, is indisputable.

The concept “human” is considered to be one of the main basic concepts. A thesis for candidate of philology “Human as the object of nomination in the language world view” by A.I. Gelyaeva is devoted to study of this concept’s significance [1]. O.V. Korotun, A.V. Pashnina, E.V.

Erofeeva, E.A. Pepelyaeva made their contribution into the study of the concept “human” in the Russian language world view [2, 3, 4]. One of the relatively new spheres in linguocultural conceptology is a content comparison of one and the same concept in the different language world

___________________

© Igosheva O.F., 2018

43