CHAPTER 5

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 837.

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE IN THE LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS
OF A LITERARY WORK

Any literary work has a certain connection to the reality we live in. Even thought out, non-existing creatures may be looked upon as some kind of prediction or warning to the people of the Planet. The reference to the concrete reality is achieved by different means, the main being symbolism and intertextuality. Both of them can be referred to the background knowledge of the reader.

Symbols are not rare in our life. They can serve as a means of acknowledgement of the countries, for example, flags or state emblems. Symbols are different in their nature; they can be public or private, universal or local. Scales, for example, symbolize justice, the orb and scepter, monarchy and power; the lion, strength and courage; the Cross, Christianity.

A literary symbol combines an image with a concept, a literal, concrete quality with a suggestive, abstract dimension. Such is, for example, a journey. Literature gives a lot of examples in which a journey is not a mere change of places but a powerful means for spiritual experience, a means of education and cognitive development. Such a journey can be undertaken for quite a number of reasons, may be planned or absolutely unexpected. The main feature of it is the possibility to work out a new, fresh point of view, the possibility to learn the life from a different angle. Journey as a literary symbol is well understood in Dante's “Divina Commedia”, in Carroll's “Alice in Wonderland”, in Radishchev's “A Journey from Petersburg to Moscow” and many others.

Symbols of universal character are easily recognized by the reader. But there are some whose symbolic nature is deduced only through knowledge of the history or culture of certain country or people. Such is, for example a daffodil, a very common bell-shaped pale yellow flower of early spring. The daffodil is one of the plants which has an association with Wales. Some Welsh people wear a daffodil pinned to their coat on Saint David's Day, on the 1^st of March.

Symbolism in fiction depends for its effectiveness on the reader's making the right associations, understanding the ways in which symbols may expand and deepen meaning. Symbols make good literary sense only when considered in the overall context provided by a piece of fiction. They do not stand for other things, but are themselves part of a larger whole; they are the means of seeing the story in more than one dimension.

Intertextuality is the process whereby a given text plays on or alludes to other text. This can be done in a variety of ways ranging from subject matter to language or setting. The term intertextuality is used to refer to the relationship between the text under analysis and other texts, which may be literary or nonliterary works. It can be used as a basis for many things, for example, film, literature, art and many other forms of communication. Intertextuality is used widely throughout the web as a means of displaying ideas in ways related to everyday life and media forms. Many websites refer to others and are constantly drawing information and ideas from these. In this way, people are in a sense surrounded by intertextuality in everything they read, see and hear.

Intertextuality is often made use of in literary works. Most frequently it takes the form of allusion. Allusion is a brief reference to a person (for instance, a famous historical or literary figure), event, place (real or fictitious), or to a work of art. A literary allusion is an explicit or implicit reference to another literary text that is to be recognized and understood by readers due to their level of education, common knowledge, previous experience, etc.

It is not infrequent among the authors to make use of allusions in order to enrich their works, on the one hand, and to communicate with the reader intellectually, on the other. In doing so, writers are dependent, for their work, upon communities that are familiar not so much with the same vocabulary but with the body of standard narratives, that circulates and recirculates. So, many readers will have no difficulty of making sense of a remark like “His wits are as dried up as the Wicked Witch of the East”. But others, who have never heard hoe the tornado sets down Dorothy's house in “The Wizard of Oz”, may understand the words, but will be left agog as to what's being said.

Allusions give the readers marvelous literary shorthand, drawing on people's collective knowledge of art, literature, mythology, and the Bible, to help the author describe the people, places, feelings, and events. A miser is a Scrooge, a strong man is a Samson or a Hercules, and a beautiful woman is a Venus or a modern-day Helen of Troy. People can suffer like Sisyphus or linger like the smile of the Cheshire Cat.

An allusion can be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion. Historically, in European literature since the Middle Ages, the most prominent source of allusions has been the Old and New Testaments and all religious literature, ranging from sermons to religious allegories. After the Bible, as a source of allusion in European literature, comes Greek and Roman mythology. Modern authors make allusions to the texts by classical writers.

Allusions are based on the accumulated experience and the knowledge of the writer who presupposes a similar experience and knowledge in the reader. But the knowledge stored in people's minds is called forth by an allusion in a peculiar manner. All kinds of associations the readers may not yet have realized cluster round the facts alluded to. Illustrative in this respect is S. Maugham's novel “The painted Veil”. The last words uttered by the dying man are “The dog it was that died.” These are the concluding lines of Goldsmith's “Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog.” Unless the reader knows the Elegy, he will not understand the implication embodied in Maugham's phrase. The main character of the novel “The Painted Veil” is dying, having failed to revenge himself on the unfaithful wife of his. He was punished by death for having plotted evil. This is the inference to be drawn from the allusion.

Allusions need no indication of the source. It is assumed to be known. Therefore most allusions are made to facts with which the general reader should be familiar. For example, the passage from Dickens's novel “Hard Times” serves to prove it: “No little Grandgrind had ever associated a cow in a field with that famous cow with he crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt, or with that yet more famous cow that swallowed Tom Thumb; it had never heard of those celebrities.”

The meaning that can be derived from the two allusions, one to the nursery rhyme “The House that Jack Built” and the other to the old tale “The History of Tom Thumb” which tells that no one was permitted to each the little Grandgrind children the lively, vivid nursery rhymes and tales that every English child knows by heart. They were subjected to nothing but dry abstract drilling.

Intertextuality and allusion are closely connected with each other. They serve as a means of communication of the author with the reader that is not restricted to the problems of a particular literary work. This is a means of broad interpretation of the characters and their relations to different facts, events and people with the help of literature.

To the sphere of background knowledge the information about the author, the time of the creation of the literary work and the epoch described in it should be referred. The author's biography reveals his personal outlook, his social position, reveals his way in literature. Thus, if to analyze the book by J. London “Martin Eden”, it cannot be called autobiographical only. It touches upon many problems that a writer suffers. On the other hand, the biography of J. London himself makes the book sound true to life and even intimate as the author opens his heart for the reader. The biography of S. Maugham, on the contrary, makes the reader understand the reserved way of presentation, the author's constant desire to be an objective observer rather than participant of the events though under different circumstances he gets involved into no business of his.

The time in which the author lives his actual life is important for the reader as the contemporaries have an opportunity to see whether the writer really feels the acute problems of the life, whether he is faithful with the reader. The younger generation has the possibility of learning the principles of life of their predecessors. At the same time literary works of a certain period in the history of a country can be looked upon as witnesses of rises and falls, achievements and failures. Take, for instance, the stories by Heym who was a German by birth but spent practically the whole life in the USA. The main problem of his books is that of peace and war. His works are based not only on documents, but also on the sufferings of ordinary people whose children were involved into the war conflict though no official war has ever been declared.

The epoch presented in a literary work is important in many ways. Describing historical events, the past of the nation or mankind the book educates the reader and shows the author's competence as it is impossible to create a true piece of fiction without thorough learning of the history of the country or the planet. W. Scott would have never managed to create the imagery knight in his book “Ivanhoe” without deep knowledge of the history of his land. On the other hand, reality and especially technological progress inspires authors for prediction of the consequences of the irrational use of the achievements of science. This is one of the reasons for the books by Asimov and Bradbury to appear. The time which is described in a literary work is also a linking bridge between the reader and the writer, the reader and the reality. This is a means of getting in touch with the people, events and problems in order to understand that you are not alone in the Universe and that in this or that way you are a unique and a universal representative of the mankind.