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Annals of the “Dunărea de Jos” University of GALAŢI

Fascicle XIII. New Series.

Issue 25, XIII (XXIV), 2006

pp. 1 - 4

Language

and

Literature

ROMANUL ROMÂNESC LA ÎNCEPUTURILE LUI. MODELE APUSENE ŞIRELEVANŢA LOR.

MANOIL, DE DIMITRIE BOLINTINEANU

Simona Antofi

Asumarea, de către Bolintineanu, a unei serii de modele de scriitur ă romanescă,unele (aproape) incompatibile, în redactarea romanului Manoil se explică, în mod evident,

prin încercarea de a arde etapele şi de a sincroniza specia abia născândă a romanului cu o paletă largă şi diversificată de modele care funcţionau – sau funcţionaser ă deja – înliteraturile occidentale, în special în cea franceză.

Formele romanului epistolar îmbină tradiţia Noii Eloise, a lui Jean JacquesRousseau, cu cea wertheriană, cu modelul René, al lui Chateaubriand, cu romanele doamneide Staël, cu cea a romanelor de mistere gen Misterele Parisului, al lui Eugène Sue, sau Misterele Londrei, al lui Paul Féval, dar şi cu formula realismului de tip Balzac şi Stendhal.

Particularităţile de structur ă şi de semnificaţii care vin din direcţii atât de diferite, încadrul romanului lui Bolintineanu, se simt atât la nivelul naraţiunii, cât şi în construcţia personajelor şi în ansamblul lumii ficţionale pe care textul o construieşte. Se adaugă, aici,lipsa de vigoare narativă a epicului romanesc, la începuturile literaturii române moderne, şi

difuziunea câtorva mărci ale lirismului – percepute ca argumente în favoarea literaturităţii – în întreg corpusul literar al epocii paşoptiste şi postpaşoptiste. Este vorba, în special, desprecriteriul sincerităţii şi despre clişeul – şi strategia de construcţie textuală – mărturisirii, precum şi de omul poetic – acel prototip al eroului romantic sentimental, melancolic,nefericit, pesimist, etern îndr ăgostit de natur ă şi „predispus spre lungi divagaţii lirice” [1].

Structura epistolar ă a romanului Manoil favorizează asimilarea tututror acestor elemente în spaţiul epicului – validând, în acest mod, un tip de scriitur ă deloc nou, înliteratura universală, şi confirmând aşteptările unui public cititor obişnuit să aibă de-a facecu o serie de indicii semantico – structurale care să-i dirijeze ferm lectura.

În aceeaşi ordine de idei, romanul sentimental „izolează protagoniştii” într-un modelsocietal obţinut printr-un procedeu reductiv în centrul căruia stă eroul ce consider ă deşartă

lupta pentru existenţă şi care, tocmai de aceea, se retrage la moşie preferând, aristocratic,compania femeilor şi „farmecul naturii” [2].Pe de altă parte, trebuie menţionate mărcile realismului de tip balzacian – reunirea,

la începutul romanului, a personajelor într-o scenă a mesei sau a salonului favorabilă prezentării sintetic – realiste a tipologiilor şi a caracterelor pe care evoluţia ulterioar ă a personajelor este de aşteptat să le confirme, prezentarea conflictului / conflictelor ce vor regla desf ăşurarea tramei epice şi, implicit, a taberelor conflictuale, precum şi situarea

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tuturor acestor elemente într-un context spaţio – temporal istoriceşte determinabil, caremotivează, în bună măsur ă, comportamentul eroilor, caracterele şi relaţiile interumane.

Amestecul ingredientelor de tip roman sentimental face, însă, ca tipologiile – înspecial cele feminine – prezentate să se situeze în siajul romantismului minor: Smăr ăndiţa –

„f ăr ă exagerare, o frumuseţe rar ă, dar seamănă cu o floare ce în dimineaţa vieţei sale seînclină melancolică! ... un suflet plin de blândeţă, o inteligenţă superioar ă; multe cunoştinţe,mai ales pentru o damă din timpul şi din ţara noastr ă!”; Zoe – nepoata Smăr ăndiţei – „ocopilă de cincisprezece anişori; chipul mătuşe-sei, dar str ălucitor de fr ăgezime. Aiasemăna-o cu un bobocel de roză pe care fluturii încă nu-l bagă în seamă; plină de spirit şide inimă ...”; „Mărioara este o amică a Smăr ăndiţei: o fată de boier mare, de 18 – 20 de ani;nu este prea frumoasă, dar dr ăgălaşă ca luna lui mai! ... vorbele ei r ăsună ca o muzică sublimă; ideile cele mai comune în gura ei se îndumnezeiesc!” [3]. Aşa cum lasă să seînţeleagă acest portret cu putere de caracterizare după modelul romantic al epocii, Mărioara – spiritul comun, susceptibil de a devia în direcţia polului negativ al macrosemnificaţieiromaneşti, va confirma aşteptările publicului cititor şi se va transforma într-o prostituată

celebr ă, cu veleităţi criminale.În ceea ce-l priveşte pe protagonistul romanuilui, el ilustrează tipologia parvenituluiîn varianta cel mai des întâlnită, şi anume parvenitul prin femei. În romanul sentimental – arată Nicolae Manolescu – rangul aristocratic are o importanţă major ă. Însă Manoil esteorfan, cu o poziţie socială inferioar ă, un intrus în casa şi în familia moşierului Colescu,soţul Smăr ăndiţei. „Aspiraţia de a se contopi cu lumea dorită” şi „orgoliul plebeu” îlcaracterizează şi pe el, ca şi pe eroii balzacieni şi stendhalieni. Însă metamorfoza personajului – inexplicabilă în grila verosimilităţii realiste – poate fi privită ca „semnulimitaţiei şi al parvenitismului” numai dacă acceptăm, o dată cu Nicolae Manolescu, faptulcă Manoil îl detestă pe faţă pe Alexandru C., pentru a-l admira în secret [4].

Chiar şi aşa, predictibilitatea – „indiciile privind încadrarea într-un gen anumit,sistemul personajelor, teme proeminente, poziţia şi felul naratorului”, ca „elementeimplicite de anticipare” [5] – este sporită. Faptul se explică prin aceea că, în perioada paşoptistă şi postpaşoptistă, „în construcţia tramei narative, atât «romanţul» de senzaţie, câtşi novella melodramatică sau povestirea aventuroasă acceptă, ba chiar cultivă o doză marede arbitrar, de neverosimil, supunând-o unui tratament de domesticire” [6] pe gustulcititorului.

Ca urmare, dus la pierzanie de o femeie malefică, Mărioara, în prima parte aromanului, protagonistul - care face romanul în calitate de scriitor şi semnatar al scrisorilor pe care i le trimite companionului său întru ficţiune, un anume B, personaj absent sau autor ficţionalizat ca personaj absent – va fi recuperat tot printr-o femeie, cea angelică, Zoe, carel-a iubit dintotdeauna în secret şi care îl protejează din umbr ă.

Ca o noutate absolută în scriitura romanescă a epocii paşoptiste, procedeul mise en abîme intervine, la un moment dat, ca instrument de reglaj narativ – anunţă revenireamorală şi sentimentală a eroului – şi de recuperare programată în însăşi teza romanului, aacestuia. Este vorba despre un vis în care lui Manoil îi apare Smăr ăndiţa, care între timpmurise, mustrându-l şi, în acelaşi timp, sintetizând existenţa de până atunci a personajuluimasculin / anticipând revenirea lui spectaculoasă la ipostaza pozitivă de la începutulromanului, îmbunătăţită suplimentar prin acuza nedreaptă de crimă, ca formă de purificareşi de ispăşire a tuturor greşelilor comise cândva..

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Iată vorbele Smăr ăndiţei, în visul lui Manoil:

”Alt ădat ă tu erai floarea tinerimei noastre! Patria ta pusesă în tine atâta

speran ţă! ... inima ta era tânăr ă şi plină de candoare ca o fecioar ă; câ ţ i te cuno şteau nu

puteau să se oprească de a te iubi ... iar ast ă zi, cel mai degr ădat om nu s-ar crede stimat

ca să- ţ i strâng ă mâna; cel ce crezuse în talentul t ău ast ă zi ro şe şte că a putut avea oasemine cugetare; inima ta s-a îmbătrânit, s-a degradat şi nu mai poate să bat ă de acum

înainte decât la fapte nefolositoare! ... pentru ce ai venit în casa aceasta? Vrei să

amă ge şti pe Zoe; pare că ro şe şti de a fi singur în felul t ău, şi vrei să târ ăşti în tina în

care te afli tu fiin ţ a ast ă tânăr ă şi inocent ă! ...”

Cu alte cuvinte, romancierul îşi construieşte personajul pe două paliere distincte şi perfect opozabile, am zice izomorf opozabile. Primul Manoil este eroul romantic pozitiv prototipal: „suflet pur, cinstit, fire sensibilă, bănuitoare, înclinat spre melancolie şi pesimism, dezgustat de viaţă”. Dacă acest Manoil este animat de un „patriotism ardent”,conform comandamentelor epocii şi cu certe „sentimente demofile” [7], cel de al doilea este

un depravat cinic – după modelul personajului Alexandru C., cu care construieşte odesăvâsşită antiteză romantică, în prima parte a romanului.Scrisorile acestui Manoil transformat fac posibilă o prezentare – în grila realismului

francez, contaminată, şi de această dată, cu certe elemente de recuzită romantică şisentimental – melodramatică – a decăderii aristocraţiei de rasă, în perioada de tranziţie dedupă 1850, concomitent cu ascensiunea aristocraţiei banului şi cu extinderea progresivă afenomenului parvenitismului:

„M-am aruncat în bra ţ ele tuturor dezmierd ărilor – cei mai frumo şi cai albioni au

avut onoarea să plimbe persoana mea pe cel mai frumoase strade ale cet ăţ ilor italiene;vinul cel mai scump, bucatele cele mai rari au împodobit masa mea şi au îmbuibat

stomahul meu, cele mai gra ţ ioase copile ale lui Pafos au încununat fruntea mea de flori

şi de sărut ări. Apoi dacă trebuie să- ţ i spun şi aceasta, am stricat mai multe măriti şenepotrivite, ceea ce nu este un mic serviciu pentru umanitate”; „m-am convins că

patriotismul este numai o fanfaronad ă la cei mai mul ţ i; sau de nu, un egoism între maimul ţ i indivizi. Acolo unde mi-e bine şi acolo unde-mi place, acolo este patria mea, şi este

de prisos ca s-o iubesc, căci ea poate exista şi f ăr ă iubirea mea”; „cel întâi lucru ce am

f ăcut, ajungând în Bucure şti, a fost să întreb dacă se fac mari pierderi în căr ţ i. Mi s-a

r ă spuns că se perd pe sear ă şi până la cinci mii duca ţ i. Vestea aceasta m-a mai împăcat

cu patria.”

Însă, în intenţia autorului, transferată în mesajul str ăveziu al finalului romanului,Manoil este doar „un suflet nobil cari a scă pat o clipă hăţurile”, căci „iluzia eticistă contează mai mult în acest realism decât adevărul”, iar manipularea personajului este, din

acest punct de vedere, „simplă şi str ăvezie.” [8]Adăugând aici „tema scrisului” şi „imaginea literaturii naţionale”, a cărei realitate

„se mută în plină ficţiune romanescă” [9] – Bolintineanu însuşi este citat de protagonistîntr-una dintre scenele petrecute în salonul Smăr ăndiţei - imaginea acestui roman alînceputurilor literaturii române este, în datele ei esenţiale, deplină.

Potrivit opiniei - clasicizate deja – a unuia dintre exegeţii literaturii create deBolintineanu, romanul Manoil este „deficient din punct de vedere compoziţional, al creării

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şi individualizării personajelor”, dar „ e interesant ca atmosfer ă.” [10]

Note[1]. Dimitrie Păcurariu, Bolintineanu, Ed. petru Literatur ă, 1962, p. 82[2.] Nicolae Manolescu , Arca lui Noe, vol. I, Ed. Minerva, Bucureşti, 1980, p. 83

[3]. Toate fragmentele din romanul Manoil au fost extrase din ediţia Dimitrie Bolintineanu, Manoil. Elena,Ed. Minerva, Bucureşti, 1988.

[4]. Idem, pp. 84 - 85[5]. Liviu Papadima, Literatur ă şi comunicare. Rela ţ ia autor – cititor în literatura pa şoptist ă şi

postpa şoptist ă, Polirom, 1999, p. 167[6]. Ibidem [7]. Dimitrie Păcurariu, op. cit ., p. 82[8]. Nicolae Manolescu, op. cit ., p. 87[9]. Andrei Bodiu, 7 teme ale romanului postpa şoptist , Ed. Paralela 45, 2002, p. 170[10]. Dimitrie Păcurariu, op. cit ., p. 82

ReferinţeBodiu, A. (2002). 7 teme ale romanului postpa şoptist, Piteşti: Ed. Paralela 45

Bolintineanu, D (1988). Manoil. Elena, Bucureşti: Ed. MinervaManolescu, N (1980). Arca lui Noe, vol. I, Bucureşti: Ed. MinervaPapadima, L (1999). Literatur ă şi comunicare. Rela ţ ia autor – cititor în literatura pa şoptist ă şi

postpa şoptist ă , Bucureşti: Polirom Păcurariu, D (1962). Bolintineanu, Bucureşti: Ed. pentru Literatur ă

Abstract

The novel appears and develops in the Romanian literature after the year 1848 through theassimilation of western models, especially those from the French literature and through the

juxtaposition of elements belongong to the romantic convention of the genre – epistolary novel,

sentimental novel, mystery novel – and the elements peculiar to to the convention of Balzacian or Stendhelian realism. Dimitrie Bolintineanu’s Manoil contributes the features of the literary prose

of the epoch, i.e., the poetism and the lyrical enunciation as well as the ethical thesis of the novel.

Résumé

Après l’époque de 1848, le roman apparaît et se développe dans la littérature roumaine par

l’assimilation d’une série de modèles occidentaux, particulièrement de la littérature française, et

par la combinaison des éléments appartenant à la convention romantique du genre – le roman

épistolaire, le roman sentimental, le roman de mystères – avec des éléments spécifiques à laconvention du réalisme balzacien ou stendhalien. A tout ça, le roman de Dimitrie Bolintineanu,

Manoil, ajoute les particularités de la prose littéraire de l’époque. Il s’agit des marques de la poéticité et de l’énonciation lyrique ainsi que de la thèse éthique du roman.

Rezumat

După epoca pa şoptist ă romanul apare şi se dezvolt ă în literatura română prin asimilarea unei serii de modele occidentale, mai ales din literatura francez ă şi prin combinarea elementelor care

apar ţ in conven ţ iilor romantice ale genului – romanul epistolar, romanul sentimental, romanul

misterelor – cu elemente specifice conven ţ iei realiste balzaciene sau stendhaline. Romanul Manoil a lui Dimitrie Bolintineanu completeaz ă particularit ăţ ile prozei literare a epocii mărciale poeticit ăţ ii şi ale enun ţării lirice precum şi teza etică a romanului.

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pp. 5 - 8

Language

and

Literature

STILUL „PROVERBIAL”

Doina Marta Bejan

„Stilul proverbial” este în majoritatea limbilor naturale consolidat şi conservator,reprezentând o varaiantă a limbajului popular, fiind considerat un stil închis. Prin „stilînchis” trebuie să se înţeleagă un ansamblu de particuarităţi de conţinut şi de expresie, finitşi relativ redus ca număr de elemente specifice, cu structuri fixe de combinare, în careinovaţiile sub raportul noilor tipare nu sunt, în general, acceptate. De fapt, orice stil„închis”, cu tipare abstracte, are posibilitatea de a genera, teoretic la infinit, un număr de

texte concrete. În limitele tiparelor existente, limba creează mereu structuri frazeologicecare tind să se fixeze, iar multe dintre ele au şansa de a deveni proverbe dacă, pe lângă condiţiile lingvistice, necesare în primul rând, vor ajunge să le satisfacă şi pe celeextralingvistice reunite sub termenul „tradiţie”.

Din perspectivă structurală, „tiparele proverbiale” formate şi consacrate în limbajul popular s-au putut extinde şi în alte variante ale limbii, în speţă limba literar ă (care acceptă includerea de texte şi de tipare proverbiale).Deşi „stilul proverbial” este „închis”, corpusulde texte este în permanenţă „deschis”, deoarece modelele (tiparele) proverbiale sunt atât deevidente şi de productive, încât s-ar putea „vorbi de o adevărată competen ţă şi performan ţă

paremiologică la vorbitorii unei limbi” (Tabarcea, 1982: 52). Structura limbii furnizează elemente pentru realizarea performanţei proverbiale. Potenţial, proverbul există în oricefrază care îndeplineşte anumite condiţii. Mulţi creatori au intuit acest fapt, iar culturaromână cunoaşte cazul tipic al lui Cilibi Moise, creator de pilde, maxime şi aforisme, carea lansat în circulaţie sute de texte paremiologice modelate după cele existente, bazându-se

pe specularea unor caracteristici ale structurii limbii: Acela care deosebe şte om de om nueste om (aici se valorifică polisemia cuvântului om, dar trebuie să se aibă în vedere şimodelele Omul e om sau Om la om nădejde trage). I.L.Caragiale îl pune pe celebrul

personaj Mitică să creeze aforisme după model proverbial: „Ţi-ai cumpărat o blană nouă.Te întâlneşti cu Mitică. În loc de s-o por ţi sănătos! îţi zice: Bravos! Blană ai, acum junghiî ţ i mai trebuie!”; Mitică, în compania unei amice, aşteaptă să treacă tramvaiul, şi tramvaiulnu mai trece. „– Ah! domnişoar ă , toate trec în lumea aceasta, numai tramvaiul nu trece.”(apud Tabarcea, 1982: 53).

În limbajul presei (şi în limbajul publicitar, astăzi) s-a manifestat o tendinţă vădită

spre „proverbializare” încă din secolul al XIX-lea, prezenţa locuţiunilor şi proverbelor fiind apreciată ca o apropiere a stilului publicistic de limba vorbită (Andriescu, 1979: !58 – 162). Sesizarea intuitivă a tr ăsăturilor formale ale proverbului, utilizat ca mijloc de

persuasiune şi de atragere a atenţiei publicului totodată, a putut favoriza tendinţa creativă în materie de proverbe. Mai ales „titlurile unor articole de presă sunt formulate proverbial(înţelegându-se prin aceasta atât un model preexistent, imitat, cât şi crearea de tipare noi),urmărindu-se o anume startegie în scopul captării receptorului.” (Tabarcea, 1982: 55).Seutilizează titluri alcătuite din:

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-citarea de proverbe: Una cald ă , alta rece (Revista 22, XVIII,nr.12, 20–26 martie2007);

-combinarea proverbelor, cu obţinerea efectelor ironice: Minciuna are picoare scurte şi totu şi, uneori, adevărul şchioapăt ă sau Ţ ara arde, dar nu se pred ă (www.adevărul.ro);

- modelalarea pe tipare paremiologice a unor adevărate variante: La a şa ştiri, a şa

public) ( Dilema veche, III,nr.109, 24 feb. – 2 mart. 2006, p.3) – recunoaştem modelul : Laa şa st ă pân, a şa slug ă; exemplele care urmează se regăsesc în textul articolului: Maculatura r ămâne tot maculatur ă , fie că e finan ţ at ă cu bani de stat, precum „Era socialist ă”, fie cu bani priva ţ i. ( România literar ă , nr. 14/7 aprilie 2006) – modelul esteevident Prostu-i prost , nu ai ce-i face; un alt exemplu: Într-o abordare strict institu ţ ional ă (cât de firească , în fond!) „dosarul” statuii lui Caragiale ar fi riscat să zacă şi să se

pr ă fuiască în vreun dulap la Ministerul Culturii, l ă sându-ne tuturor, mai mult ca sigur, gustul amar al inutilit ăţ ii... A şa cum de atâtea ori s-a întâmplat, se întâmpl ă şi se vaîntâmpla căci, vorba Maestrului – încă de la 1894: Reforma trece, năravurile r ămân! ( Dilema veche, III,nr.109, 24 feb. – 2 mart. 2006, p.21) recunoaştem modelul Apa trece,

pietrele r ămân; - substituirea unui cuvânt sau adăugarea unor determinanţi inexistenţi în textul

atestat al proverbului, ajungându-se la variante provenite prin modificarea structurii proverbului: Câte bordeluri , atâtea obiceiuri ( Dilema veche, II, nr.87, 16. – 22 septembrie2005, p.1), în care se recunoaşte proverbul Câte bordeie, atâtea obiceie; Laptele neprins,negustor cinstit (www.adevărul.ro); Nimeni nu e mai presus de care lege? ( Dilema veche,III, nr.109, 24 feb. – 2 mart. 2006, p.4);

- fragmentarea proverbului în titlu, articolul respectiv fiind, prin conţinut,dezvoltarea păr ţii care lipseşte din proverbul titlu: Cu un ochi mă bucur....

....dar cu cel ălalt plâng.. ( Dilema veche, III,nr.109, 24 feb. – 2 mart. 2006, p.21)-textul articolului despre reamplasarea satuiei dramaturgului I.L.Caragiale în peisajulcapitalei, începe chiar cu continuarea proverbului;

- combinarea de procedee, la fragmentarea proverbului adăugându-se o „replică”,situaţie des întâlnită şi în corpus: Cu un ochi mă bucur....

....dar cu cel ălalt plâng. Ş i vă garantez că n-ar fi cu putin ţă altfel. Cutez chiar a spune că , dacă aş avea patru ochi, unul singur şi-ar permite să râd ă , iar ceilal ţ i trei şi-ar

l ăcrima tristeţea... mai departe. ( Dilema veche, III,nr.109, 24 feb. – 2 mart. 2006, p.21).Un alt exemplu: La pomul l ăudat...

De data asta , la pomul l ăudat merit ă să mergi cu un sac mare , pentru că fiecareva g ă si cu ce să-l umple. N-au r ămas prea multe documente în leg ătur ă cu Pomul Verde ,

primul teatru de limba idi ş din lume, înfiin ţ at de Avram Goldfaden la Ia şi, în 1878.( România literar ă, nr. 7/22 – 28 februarie 2006) – dezvoltarea titlului contrazice formacunoscută a proverbului: La pomul l ăudat să nu mergi cu sacul.

Prin astfel de procedee se realizează nu numai utilizarea proverbelor în discursuride diverse tipuri, dar şi creaţii de elemente noi. Exemplele de mai sus, la care s-ar mai

putea adăuga multe altele, sunt suficiente pentru a demonstra „atât capacitatea performativă a tiparelor proverbiale,cât şi expansiunea proverbului din varianta în carestructural şi cronologic a luat naştere”. (Tabarcea, 1982: 55).

Cu toate acestea, r ămân cu statut de proverbe numai acele texte care îndeplinesccerinţele „stilului proverbial”, formulate de Cezar Tabarcea (1982:83 – 84), şi anume:

- Proverbul este un enun ţ lingvistic, adică o secvenţă fonică limitată prin pauze şicaracterizată printr-un contur intonaţional, care poartă o anumită informaţie semantică,fiind deci o comunicare.

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- Proverbul cuprinde în formularea sa o structur ă logico semantică particular ă, fixă.Operând orice modificare a aceteia (substituiri, permutări), enunţul respectiv nu mai esterecunoscut ca proverb, ci este perceput ca un „joc verbal”.

- Proverbul este o expresie recurent ă (o „izolare”) a cărei apariţie în discurs estemarcată prin elemente segmentale specializate cu rolul de a schimba planul de referinţă,sau prin procedee suprasegmentale: pauze semnificative, intonaţii specifice; intr ă aici toate

„mărcile introductive” ale proverbului, care semnalizează receptorului introducerea uneisecvenţe deosebite faţă de enunţul care formează macro-textul.- În momentul enunţării sale, proverbul se refer ă metaforic la o situa ţ ie (concretă

sau transpusă într-un enunţ lingvistic). În afara enunţării propriu-zise, el denumeşte şidefineşte o clasă de împrejur ări concrete, folosind tr ăsăturile acestora extrase pringeneralizare, pe care le lexicalizează şi înglobează în expresia sa. Interpretarea denotativă aenunţului proverb sau absenţa mărcilor introductive dezorganizează întreaga semantică adiscursului în care proverbul se intercalează şi are ca efect redundanţe nefuncţionale.(În

proverbe se regăsesc toate figurile de stil pe care retoricile le enumer ă în mod curent.)În lucrarea citată (Tabarcea, 1982: 205) se atrage atenţia asupra faptului că

proverbele pot apărea f ăr ă a perturba comunicarea în texte apar ţinând diverselor stilurifuncţionale, pentru că autorii recurg la anumite „strategii” din dorinţa de a-şi câştiga

publicul. Prezenţa proverbului în diverse tipuri de comunicare, în diverse limbaje este posibilă dacă se acceptă conţinutul şi funcţia practică a acestuia.

Concepţia modernă asupra stilurilor funcţionale nu mai impune necesitatea unui stil„pur”, iar introducerea conceptului de „idiostil” care „nu poate exista decât în măsura încare include măcar două limbaje diferite” (Coteanu,1975:81), elimină această condiţie; întimp ce retorica tradiţională presupune poziţia emiţătorului numai ca reprezentant al unui

stil dat , pre-existent şi normat, stilistica funcţională, pornind de la distincţia langue/parole,vede la vorbitor un proces de codificare pe baza cunoaşterii întregului sistem al limbii. Caurmare, proverbul poate fi considerat ca element al unui idiostil, ceea ce înlătur ă necesitatea unui domeniu specific pe care ar trebui să-l acopere stilul proverbial, stil care

poate fi prezent la orice vorbitor şi în orice domeniu de activitate.

BibliografieAndriescu, Al., (1979), Limba presei române şti în secolul al XIX-lea, Editura Junimea, IaşiCoteanu, Ion, (1973), Stilistica func ţ ional ă a limbii române. Stil,stilistică , limbaj, Editura Academiei R.S.R.,

BucureştiRuxăndoiu, Pavel, (1966), „Aspectul metaforic al proverbelor”, în Studii de poetică şi stilistică , BucureştiTabarcea, Cezar, (1982), Poetica proverbului, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti

Abstract

A proverb is, first of all, an act of language. The creation of the proverb-text is related to the existence of ’proverbial patterns’, which allows for the extension of their usage from the colloquial and familiar styles, in the journalistic jargon, in advertising slogansand in the work of certain writers. Based on these aspects one can speak of a ”closed”

proverbial style, but with an ”overt” corpus which the current paper approaches.

Résumé

Avant toute autre chose, le proverbe est un acte de langage. La création d’un proverbe-text est liée de l’existence des‚ modèles proverbiales qui assurent l’extensionde leurs utilisation du style colloquial au style familier, l’argot journalier, des formules publicitaires et dans l’oeuvre de certains auteurs. En vertu de ces aspects on peut parler d’un style proverbial „ferme”, mais avec un corpus „ouvert” que l’article vient d’illustrer.

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Rezumat

Proverbul este, înainte de orice, un fapt de limbă. Apari ţ ia textului-proverb este legat ă de existen ţ a unor „tipare proverbiale”, ceea ce permite extinderea folosirii lor din limbajul popular familiar, în limbajul jurnalistic, în sloganurile publicitare şi în opera anumitor scriitori.

În virtutea acestor aspecte se poate vorbi de un stil proverbial „închis”, dar cu un corpus„deschis”, pe care articolul de fa ţă îl ilustrează.

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pp. 9 - 13

Language

and

Literature

K. ISHIGURO’S THE REMAINS OF THE DAY :

FOREGROUNDING AND OPENNESS OF MEANING

Ruxanda Bontilă

Introduction: On figure and ground

It is common knowledge that the notion of figure and ground is a central concept in

cognitive linguistics, which also means that it has been used to develop a detailed

grammatical framework for close analysis, as well as very abstract ideas across whole

discourses (see van Peer, 1993; also Short, 1996; also Stockwell, 2002 and 2003). It is alsoacknowledged that the phenomenon of figure and ground relates to the literary critical

notion of foregrounding . The latter refers to how we perceive certain aspects of literary

texts as being conspicuously more important or salient than others. This is being achieved

at textual level by such devices as repetition, unusual naming, innovative descriptions,

creative syntactic ordering, puns, rhyme, the use of creative metaphor, and so on. These

devices are meant as attention attractors to some element, foregrounding it against the

relief of the rest of the features of the text. The principles of prominence and newness work

towards focusing attention on a particular feature/ character/ setting, within the textual

space. According to Stockwell, there is a dynamic relationship between the processes of

figuring and grounding, as elements of the text are thrown into relief in the course of

reading or actualising the text. By a constant renewal of the figure and ground relationship,

the text works against the inhibition of return, i.e. the loss of attention to static or unchanging elements (2002: 14-19). Still, we also think that any description of a text is

one’s personal option of choosing out of a multitude of details and textual

interrelationships those that have been placed in the foreground of the text itself. We

consider that a text can be unlocked with the key offered by the interplay of emphases

amongst its parts and partial elements. This can become a guarantee of one successful

decoding from the part of the reader that will make him go on reading the text. That is why

our argument is meant to prove that the constant interplay at any given moment between

openness of meaning and strategies of foregrounding represents a vital aspect of textuality.

Much debate has been given to the theory of foregrounding since its

conceptualisation by the Russian Formalists and Prague Structuralists. Subsequently, it has

developed into a systematic coherent theory with immediate relevance for the literary texts

by describing the linguistic mechanisms involved in concrete cases of foregrounding.Willie van Peer focuses in his study on foregrounding, upon the central

characteristic of this notion, namely “the characteristics, typically encountered in literary

texts of deviating from rules and habits, while at the same time displaying unusual

regularity through partial repetition” (1993: 50), that is both deviance and parallelism. The

former device refers to “deviation” as introduced in a text through neologisms, archaisms,

metaphors, paradox, and hyperbaton – functioning as a disruption to the linguistic

expectations we approach a text with. The latter device refers to “parallelism” such as

syntactic symmetry, doublets, ellipsis, and semantic contrast – functioning as

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reinforcement due to the degree of extra regularity brought in by means of repeated

elements.

Foregrounding may occur at any level: phonological, grammatical, semantic and

pragmatic. In each case, the effect is one of “heightened psychological attention” (Peer,

1993: 50) as a particular referent is established in the foreground of consciousness while

other discourse referents remain in the background.

Hopper and Thomson have argued that foregrounded clauses are high in“transitivity, a complex notion involving verb tense or aspect, the number of participants in

the clause and their case roles as well as other grammatical factors” (qtd. in Brown, 1983:

165).

We certainly do not profess that the reader should be baffled by theories and

concepts to highlight her/his awareness of the text, since any moment in a text beyond the

immediate beginning and close, can and must be read both prospectively and

retrospectively.

However, it remains for us to prove that even beginnings tend to be open and to

indicate significant emphases. This is readily apparent with the opening paragraph of K.

Ishiguro’s novel The Remains of the Day — the winner of the 1989 Booker Prize.

Foregrounding and textual interrelationships: an exemplary beginning

Our argument intends to demonstrate how through a technique of foreshadowing, the

thematic hypersignification of the novel’s larger discourse discloses itself from the very

first paragraph. In other words we will try to highlight how the very beginning of the novel

may suggest the outcome of the novel, thus ensuring the structural and thematic unity of

the whole.

It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake the expedition that has been

preoccupying my imagination now for some days. (1) An expedition, I should say, which I

will undertake alone, in the comfort of Mr. Farraday’s Ford; an expedition which, as I

foresee it, will take me through much of the finest countryside of England to the West

Country, and may keep me away from Darlington Hall for as much as five or six days. (2)

The idea of such a journey came about, I should point out, from a most kind suggestion put

to me by Mr Farraday himself one afternoon almost a fortnight ago, when I had been

dusting the portraits in the library. (3) In fact, as I recall, I was up on the step-ladder

dusting the portrait of Viscount Wetherby when my employer had entered carrying a few

volumes which he presumably wished returned to the shelves. (4) On seeing my person, he

took the opportunity to inform me that he had just that moment finalised plans to return to

the United States for a period of five weeks between August and September. (5) Having

made this announcement, my employer put his volumes down on a table, seated himself on

the chaise longue, and stretched out his legs. (6) It was then, gazing up at me, that he said:

[...] (7) (Ishiguro, 1989: 3).

The “turbulence as immense as it is slow” (Rushdie, 1991: 34) lying below theunderstatement of the novel’s surface is envisaged through a masterful handling of

foregrounding strategies. The very first extraposition of a clausal subject in the opening

line signals a brilliant subversion of the fictional modes to which the novel seems to align.

It further signals that the novel’s larger discourse will move back to a previous point in

time to attempt to explain this present moment. The formal stiffness and stillness

introduced through the phrase “It seems increasingly likely” (1) will become crucial both

for understanding the narrator – narratee relationship and the major theme of the novel.

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The existence of two subjects, which we may identify as the postponed subject (the

clause which is notionly the subject of the sentence) and the anticipatory subject (“it”)

pinpoints the coexistence of an experiencing mode and an observing mode within the

narrative voice, the “I” – speaker, which is both narrator and participant.

The objectifying of the first person narrator through language on the syntagmatic axis

[”my imagination” (1); “I will undertake alone”; “it will take me”; “may keep me away”

(2); “suggestion put to me (3); “my employer” (4); “my person”; “to inform me” (5); “myemployer” (6); “gazing at me” (7) ] is also apparent in the way the writer makes the

speaker relate his own centre to the surrounding cognitive environment. This is controlled

through a range of deictic elements encoding the spatio – temporal context and subjective

experience of the encoder. The way mental proximity and distance is deictically encoded in

the discourse event is another instance of foregrounding both grammatically and lexically

[“the expedition” (1); “ An expedition” (2); “now for some days” (1); “as I foresee it ” (2);

“The idea of such a journey” (3); “one afternoon almost a fortnight ago” (3); “On seeing”

(5); “he had just that moment finalised” (5); “a period of five weeks” (5); “It was then”

(7)].

The choice of words on the paradigmatic axis is also significant to the purpose of

foreshadowing the central theme of the novel: the dichotomy appearance / reality, seeming/ being, extrapolated from the real story of a man (Stevens, a butler well past his prime)

destroyed by his own ideas upon which he has built his life, to the more serious issue of the

end or at least passing of a certain kind of Britain and Englishness. The word “expedition”

(1, 2), carries a connotation (exploration, warfare, purpose) which through foregrounding

is immediately brought to the reader’s awareness; “journey” (3), its extensive doublet

deters the former word’s meaning from becoming too conspicuous, exactly as all the big

questions “preoccupying” the hero’s mind are deterred from getting the answers the hero

feels his duty to give. The word “imagination” (1) is an instance of semantic contrast on

the paradigmatic axis which together with the semantic charge embedded in the process

verb “undertake” (1, 2) will point to the time and space of the action. Moreover, the right-

branching of the foregrounded sentences beginning with the complement “expedition” (2), preceded by the indefinite article with anaphoric function could also be regarded like a

deictic element in the multitude of textual interrelationships.

The complexities of modality, both epistemic and deontic are carried out at both

paradigmatic and syntagmatic levels. At the paradigmatic level, through the choice of

words pertaining to modality [“seems increasingly likely” (1); “really”; “will” (1); “should

say”; “will”; “will” “may” (2); “should” (3); “presumably” ; “wished” (4)]. At the

syntagmatic level, the interruptions caused in discourse through apparently overformal

asides carry that supplementary deictic function of sharing experience, negotiating

meaning between narrator and reader [“I should say” (2); “as I foresee it” (2); “I should

point out” (3); “as I recall” (4)]. Further more, they ensure the coherence of the discourse,

trapping the reader into a more active and imaginative engagement with the text, due to

more implicit cohesive ties. The so far achieved congruence of the text is also a modality

of increasing awareness as to the understatement of a perfectly smooth, not-important-type

of narration.

The more immobile everything looks, the more devastating it is perceived by the

experiencing narrator. The “time-hallowed bonds between master and servant, and the

codes by which both live, are no longer dependable absolutes but rather sources of ruinous

self deceptions,” opinions Rushdie (1991: 37).

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Alongside with such cohesive devices as substitutions, repetitions, embedding, there are

more overt connections used at the syntagmatic level: subordination [“that” (1); “which”

(2); “when” (3, 4); “On seeing” (5); “Having made” (6)]; or conjuncts, “In fact” (4),

indicating the connection between what is being said and what was said before.

Regarding the value of tense and aspect they may have relevance when speaking about

coding time, content time and receiving time, but most of all with a view to foreshadowing

the hypersignification of the larger discourse.The staccato rhythm imposed by the paradigmatic choices as well as the hyperbaton

cause – effect phenomenon of foregrounding, is also relevant for the textual

interrelationships.

As “Still (or smooth) waters run deep”, there is a lot the reader has to ask himself after

the first paragraph of the novel: Who is the “I” unfolding so neatly and conscientiously the

ideas “preoccupying” his “imagination”? What is the real nature of “the expedition” which

is thrown into focus by the anaphoric and cataphoric “It” beginning the sentence? Who is

Mr. Farraday in whose Ford the speaker will undertake the expedition alone? What is their

relationship? What does “Darlington Hall” represent to the narrator that he may feel kept

away from it, be it only for five or six days? Why does the narrator have to foresee the

finest countryside of England?The verb tenses recede one by one into the past [“seems”; “will undertake”; “has been

preoccupying”; “came”; “had been dusting”; “was”; “had entered”; “took the opportunity”;

“had finalized”; “put”; “; “seated” “stretched”; “said”], inverting text order and story order

and suggesting a sequence of conflicts prior to the present time temporal adverb “now”

from sentence one.

All these details on both paradigmatic and syntagmatic axes are meant to open

discourse up towards story and hypersignification, highlighting ways of opening meaning

within the novel.

Concluding remarks

“You see, I trusted [...]. I can’t even say I made my own mistakes. Really— one has to ask

oneself — what dignity is there in that?” (Ishiguro, 1989: 243)

Is our argument together with the expedition, intensively and extensively foregrounded

by the author, to acquire the same cruelly beautiful question/ answer conclusion?

The point is that we tried to show how Kazuo Ishiguro through an apparently obscuring

surface, manages to disclose a complex of attitudes and emotions, thus opening meaning

through technique; how through congruence amongst paradigmatic choices and

syntagmatic and grammatical cohesion the author manages at once to conceal and disclose

the implicit relationship between fallible narrator and self-deceptive narrate.

ReferencesBrown, G. (1983). Discourse Analysis, Cambridge University Press.Ishiguro, K. (1989). The Remains of the Day, London, Boston: Faber and Faber.

Peer, W. van (1993). Typographic Foregrounding, Language and Literature, 2/1, 49-61.

Rushdie, S. (1991). Imaginary Homelands. Essays and Criticism 1981-199, London: Granta Books.Short, M. (1996) Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose, London: Longman.

Stockwell, P. (2002). Cognitive Poetics, London, New York: Routledge.

Stockwell, P. (2003). Surreal figures. In Gavins, J. and G. Steen (eds.), Cognitive poetics in practice, (pp. 13-27), London, New York: Routledge.

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Abstract

In what concerns the literary text, the renewal of the dynamics of stylistic markers, the so-called attractors, represents the key to focusing the reader’s attention and hindering the inhibition of return (Stockwell, 2002). What we used to call “literary competence” has become, according tothe cognitive poeticians, experimental learning of competency and assuming control over the wayin which the reader’s attention in the textual game between figuring and grounding is being

achieved. Our present argument centers on how foregrounding strategies contributing toliterariness are inductive of narrative hypersignification too.

Résumé

Dans le cas du texte littéraire, le renouvèlement de la dynamique des particularités stylistiques,ce qu’on appelle attracteurs (Stockwell, 2002), représente la clef du succès dans la focalisationde l’attention du lecteur et l’inhibition de la défocalisation. Ce qu’on appelait traditionnellement « compétence littéraire », les poètes cognitivistes appellent aujourd’hui apprentissageexpérimental de la compétence et contrôle sur la manière de focalisation de l’attention dans le jeu textuel entre figure et arrière-plan. Notre travail se propose de démontrer que les stratégiesde mise en évidence (foregrounding, ayant comme effet l’induction de la littérarité, aident à laconstruction de l’hypersignification roumaine.

Rezumat

În cazul textului literar, reînnoirea dinamicii particularit ăţ ilor stilistice, a şa numi ţ ii atractori(Stockwell, 2002), reprezint ă cheia succesului în focalizarea aten ţ iei lectorului şi inhibareadefocalizării. Ceea ce tradi ţ ional se numea „competen ţă literar ă”, poeticienii cognitivi şti numescacum învăţ are experimental ă a competen ţ ei dar şi control asupra modului de focalizare a aten ţ ieiîn jocul textual între figur ă şi fundal. Demonstratia noastr ă î şi propune să dovedeasca că strategiile de eviden ţ iere (foregrounding) ce au ca efect inducerea literarit ăţ ii ajut ă laconstruirea hipersemnifica ţ iei romane şti.

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pp. 14 - 22

Language

and

Literature

HUMOR UND KATEGORISIERUNG

Raluca Bourceanu

I. Bedeutungsaufbau in der kongnitiven Semantik

Auggangspunkt jedes Versuchs, erklärende Schemas des Bedeutungsmechanismus zuentwickeln, ist die Inanspruchnahme der Beziehungen zwischen Sprache und Wirklichkeit.Die kognitive Linguistik, die als Reaktion gegen das formale Modell der Sprachanalyseentstanden ist, geht davon aus, dass Sprache Gedankenschnitte widerspiegelt, woraus sichergibt, dass Studium von Sprachen Studium von Konzeptualisierungsschnitte heißt.

Während die formale Semantik von der Voraussetzung ausgeht, dass die Grundfunktionder Sprache die Beschreibung einer objektiven Realität ist und diese Beziehung zwischenSprache und Wirklichkeit von den Wahrheitsbediengungen modelliert sein kann, besagtdie kognitive Semantik, dass Sprache an sich keine Bedeutung kodiert. Wörter stellendemzufolge nur eine Art « Fenster » für die Bedeutungsaufbau dar. Laut dieser Ansichtwird die Bedeutung auf dem konzeptuellen Niveu aufgebaut, indem Bedeutungsaufbau mitdem Konzeptualisierungverfahren gleichzusetzen ist.

Man kann sich die Frage stellen, wie kommt es vor, dass wir uns doch in der Weltzurechtfinden, wenn die Struktur, die Kategorien und Eigenschaften der Sprache keineEntsprechungen in der Wirklichkeit haben. « By viewing meaning as the relationship

between words and the world, truth-conditional semantics eliminates cognitiveorganization from the linguistic system” (Sweester 1990:4). Dagegn begreifen die

Kognitivisten die Bedeutung als Offenbarung einer konzeptuellen Struktur: “Research oncognitive semantics is research on conceptual content and its organization in language”(Talmy 2000: 4). Es gibt vier Grundannahmen der kognitiven Semantik hinsichtlich desBedeutungsaufbaus, die für unsere Absicht, Sprchhumor durch Kategorienfehler zuerklären, grundlegend sind. Es geht um die Prinzipien der verkörperten konzeptuellenStruktur, der Gleichsetzung der semantischen mit der konzeptuellen Struktur, der enzyklopädischen Bedeutungrepräsentierung und der Annahme, dass BedeutungsaufbauKonzeptualisierung heißt.

Bedeutung wird also weder als Eigenschaft indvidueller Aussagen, noch alseinfache Sache deren Interpretation hinsichtlich der Außenwelt betrachtet. Hingegenentsteht Bedeutung aus einem dynamischen Prozeß des Bedeutungsaufbaus, der Konzeptualisierung benannt wird. Demzufolge darf Semantik von der Pragmatik nicht

getrennt werden, da auf der einen Seite Bedeutungsaufbau vom Kontext der Äußerungabhängig ist und auf der anderen Seite Bedeutungsaufbau sich auf einigen Mechanismender konzeptuellen Projektion (etwa Metapher und Metonymie) stützt. Laut dieser Einstellung existiert doch die Außenwelt, die Art und Weise aber, wie man sich mental dieWelt vorstellt, hängt direkt mit der verkörperten Erfahrung zusammen. Was zu sagen heißt,dass Bedeutungsaufbau nicht in Richtung eines ‘matching-up’ der Aussagen mit objektivdefinierbaren ‘states of affairs’ vorangeht, sondern in Richtung der Konzeptualisierungeines enzyklopädischen Wissens. Man kann daher sagen, dass einerseits die semantischeStruktur die konventionelle Form ist, die die konzeptuelle Struktur beim Einkodieren in die

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Sprache einnimmt und, dass sie andererseits einen Gehalt eingelagerten Wissens darstellt,der durch die Sprache einfach reflektiert wird. Die in die Sprache einkodiertenBedeutungen sind nur partielle und unvollständige Repräsentierungen der konzeptuellenStruktur. Während die Repräsentierung dieser Erfahrungen, die unser konzeptuellesSystem ausmachen, weniger detaillert als die Wahrnehmungserfahrungen selbst ist, sinddie durch die semantische Struktur einkodierten Repräntationen noch ärmer an Details.

Sprache kodiert doch Bedeutung ein, diese Bedeutung ist aber verarmt und gilt als‘Fenster’ für den Aufbau von reicheren Konzeptualisierungvorgängen Seite des Hörers:“Expressions do not mean; they are prompts for us to construct meanings by working with processes we already known. In no sense is the meaning of an utterance ‘right there in thewords.’ When we understand an utterance, we in no sense are understanding ‘just what the words say’; the words themselves say nothing independent of the richly detailed knowledge and powerful cognitive processes we bring to bear.” (Turner, 1991:206)

Bevor wir anhand eines Beispiels die Relevaz der bis hier besprochenen Phänomenezeigen, ist es wichtig Fauconniers Bedeutungsaufbau-Theorie zu erwähnen, die im engenZusammenhang mit der Problematik der Deutbarkeit steht. Laut Fauconnier setzt der Bedeutungsaufbau zwei Verfahren aus: 1. den Aufbau von ‘mental spaces’; und 2. dasEtablieren von ‘mappings’ zwischen diesen ‘mental spaces’. Fauconnier definiert die‘mental spaces’ als “partial structures that proliferate when we think and talk, allowing a

fine-grained partitioning of our discourse and knowledge structure” (Fauconnier, 1997:11).Außerdem werden diese Mapping-Beziehungen vom jeweiligen Kontext beeinflußt, was zuverstehen läßt, dass Bedeutungsaufbau immer kontextabhängig ist. Man kann sagen, dassman eigentlich mit zwei Bedeutungsvarianten zu tun hat. Zum einen geht es um diekonventionelle Bedeutung, die mit einem bestimmten Wort oder einer bestimmtenKonstruktion asoziiert wird (kodierte Bedeutung), zum anderen handelt es sich um dieBedeutung, die der Kontext ausmacht (pragmatische Bedeutung). Da aber Wörter immer wieder in Kontexte hervorkommen, stellt die kodierte Bedeutung eine Idealisierungaufgrund der prototypischen Bedeutung, die man aus der kontextualisierten Verwendungder Wörter herauskriegt. Eigentlich schließt die mit den Wörtern assoziierte Bedeutungimmer die pragmatische Bedeutung ein, während kodierte Bedeutung nur eine Bekundungdieser prototypischen Bedeutung, die aus der Menge der pragmatischen Interpretationenabstrahiert wird, darstellt.

Zusammenfassend werden wird sagen, dass Sprache das Wahrnehmen voraussetztund, dass Wahrnehmen zur Konzeptualisierung führt. Die Sprache setzt also nicht nur intelligente Wesen, sondern auch einen kognitiven Zugang dieser Wesen zur Welt voraus.Die sinnliche Wahrnehmung ist es, die die sprachliche Repräsentation ermöglicht, dennohne Wahrnehmung gibt es keine Kognition. Die Sprache macht demzufolge von denkognitiven Leistungen der Wahrnehmung wesentlich Gebrauch, da die Dinge, über die wir reden, von uns ursprünglich durch die Wahrnehmung ausgemacht und indentifiziertwerden. Die Wahrnehmung liefert uns Informationen über deren Attribute, die wir in der Sprache festhalten. Wahrnehmungen sind verkörpert, oder anders gesagt ist Sprachezentriert. Alle Sprechenden sind kompakte Körper, die die umliegende Welt von einem

räumlich sehr begrenzten Standpunkt aus wahrnehmen. Was der Bedeutungsaufbau imBezug auf den Kategorisierungsverfahren betrifft, muß man noch hinzufuegen, Searlefolgend, dass, während eine Wahrnehmung etwas präsentiert, die Kategorisierungrepräsentiert. Es handelt sich dabei um die Präsentierung oder die Erfahrung unmittelbarer Wahrnehmung, die dann auf der Konzeptualisierungsebene zur Repräsentierung der mittelbaren Kategorisierung führt.

Um zu zeigen, inwieweit dieses kognitive Bedeutungsmodell mit anderenBereichen der Kognition übereinstimmend ist und inwieweit es zu einer Humoranalyse

beitragen könnte, werden wir im folgenden ein Beispiel nehmen. Wenn man auf die Frage

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“Wo ist die Katze” durch “Die Katze ist auf dem Stuhl” antwortet, befinden wir und vor einem Normalfall, der neutral klingt. Wenn man aber hingegen dieselbe Frage durch “Der Stuhl ist unter der Katze” beantwortet, wird man bestimmt Humor, wenn nicht Erstaunenauslösen. Warum sollte denn diese Antwort merkwürdig und witzig klingen? Es ist einegrammatisch perfekt aufgebaute Aussage. Die Kognitivisten könnten die Sache durch dasEinbeziehen der Ergebnisse der Psychologie erklären. Wir wissen also, dass die Menschen

die Tendenz haben, ihre Aufmerksamkeit auf besimmte Aspekte einer visuellen Buehne zufokusieren. Der Blickpunkt, den wir fokusieren, stellt etwas dar, was uns erlaubt, bestimmte Voraussagen zu formulieren. In unserem Beispiel richten wir unsereAufmerksamkeit eher auf die Katze und nicht auf den Stuhl, weil unser Weltwissen sagtuns, dass es wahrscheinlicher ist, dass die Katze, und nicht der Stuhl, sich bewegen, einGeräusch oder irgend etwas machen wird. Man nennt diese hervortretende Entität die‘Figur’ und den restlichen Teil der Bühne ‘Hintergrund’. Diese Tatsache der menschlichenPsychologie gibt uns auch eine Erklärung dafür, warum Sprache die Information auf eine

bestimmte Weise einpackt. Ein anderer Aspekt, der auch im kommenden Teil unseresAufsatzes wesentlich ist und mit der Problematik der Kategorisierung eng verbunden ist,wird durch ein anderes Phänomaen erklärt, nämlich durch das ‘profiling’, das uns erlaubt,Aufmerksamkeit umzuschalten.

II. Kategorisierung

In diesem Teil unserer Arbeit werden wir uns mit der Problematik desKategorisierungsverfahren beschäftigen, die eine zentrale Rolle in unserer Humoranalysespielt. Kategorisierung entspricht unserer Fähigkeit, Ähnlichkeiten (und Unterschiede)zwischen verschiedenen Entitäten zu identifizieren uns sie, aufgrund dieses kognitivenProzeßes zusammenzubringen. Kategorien sind demzufolge wesentliche Elemente, die sichan der Organisation unserer Erfahrung beteiligen. Die klassische Forschungsrichtung, dieauf Aristoteles zuräckzuführen ist, geht von der Idee aus, dass Kategorisierung auf der Basis gemeinsamer Eigenschaften erzeugt wird und, dass die Mitglieder einer Kategoriedie gleichen Merkmale aufweisen. Bevor wir die von Rosch entwickelte Prototyp-Theorie

besprechen, werden wir uns mit der klassischen Ansicht auseinandersetzen, um dannfeststellen zu können, warum sie mit der Realität der kognitiven menschlichen Erfahrungnicht übereinstimmt.

Die aristotelische Kategorisierung zeichnet sich bekanntlich durch mindestens dreiMerkmale aus: (i) die Zugehörigkeit zu einer Kategorie erfolgt auf der Grundlage vonnotwendigen und hinreichenden Kriterien, (ii) jede Kategorie hat klare Grenzen; (iii) jedesElement einer Kategorie hat denselben Status wie jedes andere. Es gibt mehrere Problememit dieser Theorie, die wir besprechen werden. Auf der einen Seite behauptet sie im Bezugauf das ertse Merkmal (i), dass Kategorien eine definitorische Struktur zugeschrieben wird,was in der Wirklichkeit nicht gilt, da es unheimlich schwer ist, präzise Kriterienherauszufinden, die notwendig und hinreichend bei dem Etablieren einer Kategorie sind.

Es genügt, die berühmte Behauptung Wittgensteins über die Spiele zu erwähnen, um dieinhärente Schwieriegkeit dieses Verfahrens zu zeigen:“Wir sehen ein kompliziertes Netz von Ähnlichkeiten, die einander übergreifen und kreuzen. Ähnlichkeiten im Großen und Kleinen. Ich kann diese Ähnlichkeiten nicht besser charakterisieren, als durch das Wort "Familienähnlichkeiten"; denn so übergreifen und kreuzen sich die verschiedenen Ähnlichkeiten, die zwischen den Gliedern einer Familie bestehen: Wuchs,Gesichtszüge, Augenfarbe, Gang , Temperament, etc. etc..–Und ich werde sagen: die ‘Spiele’ bilden eine Familie“.

Rosch und Mervis kondensieren Wittgensteins Gedanken zu folgender schematischenForm:“A family resemblance relationship consists of a set of items of the form AB, BC,

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CD, DE. That is, each item has at least one, and probably several, elements in commonwith one or more other items, but no, or few, elements are common to all items.” Zweitens

besteht das Problems der klassischen Theorie darin, dass sie die Tatsache voraussetzt, dass jede Kategorie klare und endgültige Grenzen hat (ii). Bei der Diskussion diesesStandpunkts muß man immer die Abgrenzung der Volk-Kategorien von den Expert-Kategorien im Auge halten.Wenn man die Kategorie der ungeraden Zahlen betrachtet,

wird man feststellen, dass diese Kategorie doch klar definierte Grenzen hat. Mitglieder dieser Kategorie sind jene Zahlen, die nicht (ohne Rest) durch 2 teilbar sind. Das gilt aber nicht mehr im Bezug auf die Kategorie “Möbel” zum Beispiel, wobei es schwer zuentscheiden ist, ob sagen wir Teppich dazu gehört oder nicht. Drittens werden dieSchwachheiten dieser Theorie im Bezug auf die letzte Grundannahme sichtbar, die besagt,dass jeder Mitglieder einer Kategorie mit jedem anderen gleichwertig sei. Dagegen kannman Armstrong et al. (1983) Experimenten aufrufen, die bewiesen haben, dass sichsogenannte prototypische Effekte innerhalb einer Kategorie bemerken laßen. Armstrongstellte fest, das Versuchspersonen gerade und ungerade Zahlen nicht als gleichwertigeMitglieder der jeweiligen Kategorien bewertet haben, sondern, dass es in beiden FällenPrototypen dieser Kategorien gibt. Was die ungeraden Zahlen angeht, wurde 3 als der repräsentativeste Mitglieder betrachtet, was die geraden Zahlen hingegen betrifft, handelte

es sich um 2 und 4. Aufgrund der Unterscheidung zwischen Volk – und Experts-Kategorien erklärt Armstrong diese Ergebnisse durch den Zusammenhang zwischen ‘coredefinition’ und ‘identification procedure’, wie Osheron und Smith behaupten:

“the core of a concept is concerned with those aspects of a concept that explicate its relations toother concepts, and to thoughts, while the identification procedure specifies the kind of information used to make rapid decisions about membership. […] We can illustrate with theconcept woman. Its core might contain information about the presence of a reproductive system,while its identification procedures might contain information about body shape, hair length, and voice pitch.” (Osheron and Smith 1981:57).

Obwohl diese Erklärung die klassische Kategorisierungstheorie mit der der Kategorisierung durch Prototype zu versöhnen scheint, bleibt doch eine Tension zwischendie prototypischen Effekte der (un)geraden Zahlen und unsere klare Intuition, dass(un)gerade Zahlen keine vage, sondern eine klar begrenzte Kategorie darstellt. Man könntevielleicht das Problem besser lösen, wenn man Langackers Unterschied zwischenKategorisierung durch Prototypen und Kategorisierung durch Schemas erwähnt:

“A prototype is a typical instance of a category, and other elements are assimilated to thecategory on the basis of their perceived resemblance to the prototype; there are degrees of membership based on degrees of similarity. A schema, by contrast, is an abstract characterization that is fully compatible with all the members of the category it defines (somembership is not a matter of degree); it is an integrated structure that embodies thecommonality of its members, which are conceptions of greater specificity and detail that elaborate the schema in contrasting ways” (Langacker 1987:371).

In den 70en Jahren wurde die klassische Theorie dank den von Rosch geführtenExperimenten und deren Ergebnisse in Frage gestellt. Die Prototyptheorie postuliert, dasses zwei Grundprinzipien gibt, die die Bildung von Kategorien bestimmen: 1) das Prinzipder kognitiven Ökonomie und 2) das Prinzip der wahrgenommenen Weltstruktur. Das erstePrinzip legt fest, dass der Mensch versucht, so viel Information wie möglich über seineUmgebung zu gewinnen, indem er gleichzeitig seine kognitive Bemühungen undRessourcen auf ein Minimum bringt. Diese Kosten-Nutzen- Balance bestimmt den Aufbauvon Kategorien. Anstatt separate Informationen über jeden erfahrenen individuellenStimulus abzuspeichern, gruppiert der Mensch ähnliche Stimuli in Kategorien ein. Was daszweite Prinzip angeht, handelt es sich um die korelationelle Struktur der Welt. Es ist zumBeispiel eine Tatsache, dass Flügel eher mit Federn und der Fähigkeit zum Fliegenassoziiert werden, als mit Fell und der Fähigkeit, unter dem Wasser atmen zu können.

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Diese Annahme postuliert also, dass sich der Mensch auf solcher korelationellen Struktur stützt, um Kategorien aufbauen und organisieren zu können. Während das eine Prinzip dieEbene der Angehörigkeit beeinflußt, ist das andere Prinzip für die prototypische Struktur der Kategorien verantwortlich. Daraus ergibt sich die Tatsache, so Rosch, dass diestrukturelle Organisation der Kategorisierungssystem zwei Dimensionen aufweist: einevertikale und eine horizontale. Die vertikale Dimension beinhaltet den Repräsentationsgrad

verschiedener Abstraktionsebenen, wobei die ‚basic level s’ einen von Rosch eingeführtenzentralen Begriff ist, die der höchste Grad an Repräsentativität darstellt. Die horizontaleDimension hingegen betifft die Zerlegung einer Kategorie auf derselbenAbstraktionsebene. Die Grundannahmen der Prototypenmodells werden von Kleiber (1993) wie folgend zusammengefasst:

1. Eine Kategorie hat eine prototypische innere Struktur.2. Der Repräsentativitätsgrad eines Exemplars entspricht dem Grad seiner

Zugehörigkeit zur Kategorie.3. Die Grenzen zwischen den Kategorien bzw. Begriffen sind unscharf.4. Die Vertreter einer Kategorie verfügen nicht über Eigenschaften, die allen

Vertretern gemeinsam sind; sie werden durch eine Familienähnlichkeit

zusammengehalten.5. Die Zugehörigkeit zu einer Kategorie ergibt sich aus dem Grad der Ähnlichkeit

mit dem Prototyp.6. Über diese Zugehörigkeit wird nicht analytisch, sondern global entschieden.

Diese Ergebnisse stellen den Ausgngspunkt einer von Lakoff bekannten Theorie vonIdealised Cognitive Models (ICMs). ICMs sind relativ stabile mentale Repräsentationen,die Theorien über die Welt darstellen. Sie sind idealisiert, weil sie Erfahrungenabstrahieren, anstatt spezifische Instanziierungen einer bestimmten Erfahrung darzustellen.In diesem Sinne sind sie Fillmores Begriff von ‚frames’ ähnlich, da sie auch komplexeWissensstukturen miteinbeziehen. So Putnam: „no language, it is safe to assume, has aname for a category consisting of just teacups, treacle and loud noises, or similar heterogeneous collections of things“. (Putnam 1983: 73).

Ausgehend von diesen Bemerkungen, können wir im weiteren aufgrund einesBeispieles die Relevanz der Prototypentheorie im Bezug auf den Humor probieren, indemwir mit den bis hier entwickelten theoretischen Instrumenten einen Fall vonHumorproduktion zu analysieren versuchen. In einer seinen Arbeiten stellet sich Fillmoredie Frage, ob der Papst als Junggeselle betrachtet werden kann (Fillmore 1982:34). Wennman die Aussage ‚The Pope is a real bachelor’ äußert, löst man bstimmt Humor auf. Wennman die Analyse in den von Raskin vorgeschlagenen Rahmen durchführt (Raskin 1985),würde man sagen, dass man hier mit einer einfachen Skript-Opposition zu tun hat, nämlich‚geistig’ vs ‚sexuel’. Das einfache Etablieren dieser Opposition erklärt aber das Phänomennur auf einer oberflächlichen Ebene, oder ist nur das Endergebniss eines viel komplexeren

kognitiven Verfahrens. Man muß zuerst bemerken, dass, obwohl der Papst dieEigenschaften eines Junggesellen aufweist, er doch intuitiv eine Grenzinstanz dieser Kategorie ist. Prototypische Effekte können aber wegen „mismatches between ICMsagainst which particular concepts are understood“ (Evans, 2005: 270) vorkommen. Wennwir die ICMs betrachten, die den Junggesellen-Begriff bestimmen, schließen sieInformationen über eine monogame Gesellschaft, die Ehe und ein standard Heiratsalter ein.Wir haben demzufolge mit einem Zusammenbruch der Hintergrundkategorien, die dasMiteinbeziehn des Papst in die Kategorie der Junggesellen erlaubt hatte.

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III. Humor und Kategorienfehler

In Michael Jubien (1994) haben wir folgendes Beispiel gefunden, das wir alsAusgangspunkt dieser Analyse gedacht haben:

"I recently heard a commercial on the radio for a company that leases cars:Salesman: And, ah, Mr. Smith, just for how much of the car did you want to have?customer: uh, I was thinking in terms of the whole thing.Salesman: I see. So you plan on having it for...well, for quite a long time....?

Customer: Not really. maybe three, four years.Salesman: Ah, then you don't want the whole thing after all, you only want three or four years of it! But then why buy the whole thing in the first place? why not just buy the part you want?"

Es handelt sich hier um den Versuch, den Humor durch die Kategorisierungsverfahren undderen Zusammenbruch zu erklären, wobei eine zentrale Rolle die kognitiven Verhältnissender Proto-und Stereotypenetablierungen spielen, indem auf der anderen Seite ein Kollapsder kognitiven Erfahrungen der am Sprechakt Beteiligten zutrifft.

Unsere Hypothese ist, dass Stereotypen, die die Menge der einen Prototypdefinierenden Eigenschaften sind, die 'frames' bilden, den semantischen Bereich, der sichals Rahmen des enzyklopädischen Wissens zu verstehen läßt, wobei die 'scripts' diedynamische Aktualisierung im Kontext der sprachlichen Handlung sind. DieUnterscheidung zwischen 'frames' und 'scripts' haben wir von John R. Taylor ( 1995)

entnommen. Da wir uns hauptsächlich mit Raskins Theorie auseinandersetzen, finden wir diesen feinen terminologischen Unterschied ziemlich wichtig, da bei Raskin 'scripts' als dieum ein Wort herum existente semantische Information definiert wurden, wobei diedynamische Komponente, oder das Herausziehen der 'scripts' aus den gegebenen

prototypischen 'frames' nicht vorausgesagt ist. Bei Raskin werden 'scripts' in der Non-Bona-Fide Kommunikation (NBF) als entgegengesetzte semantische Informationendargestellt, was überhaupt nicht der Fall sein könnte, sonst könnte sich der wesentlicheÜberraschungseffekt des Humors nicht offenbaren. Die darausfolgende These ist, dass beider Humorauslösung die prototypischen Effekte durch Instanziirungen neugedachter Stereotypen, oder besser gesagt durch Zusammenfallen der üblichen Stereotypen, die zuneuen Kategorisierungsvorschlägen durch logische 'mismatchs' führen, neue Ontologienschöpfen.

Die Wahrheitswerte, die Verbindung zwischen linguistischen undextralinguistischen Realitäten leisten mögen, finden sowieso auch in der Bona-FideKommunikation (BF) nur insoweit einen Deckungsbereich, inwieweit sie den 'frames' der Sprecher entsprechen. Dasgleiche geschieht auch in der NBF-Kommunikation, in der sieSache der subjektiven Deutung der Sprecher und Hörer sind, die dadurch neue Ontologienals akzeptabel bewerten können, wodurch die Metapher zum Beispiel nicht als einenaberanten Fall sprachlicher Taetigkeit, wie bei Searle, betrachtet wird. Metapher werden indiesem Proto-und Stereotypenmodell als Interaktion (Black folgend) angesehen, oder alsKonzeptualisierung eines prototypisch semantischen Bereichs durch Stereotypen, dienormalerweise einem anderen semantischen Bereich gehören oder ontologischeÜbertragungen. Das erweiterte Modell der Prototypensemantik versucht eben eineErklärung der Phänomene der Polysemie und Homoymie. Auf der einen Seite weisenKategorien eine ziemlich große Flexibilität auf, die das Einbeziehen neuen, hithertoBegriffe erlaubt, die zumindest eine Weile, weil unerwartet, als witzig empfunden werdenkönnen, auf der anderen Seite kann man im Falle einer etymologischen Entwicklung mitwissenschaftlichem gegen folklorischem Wissen spielen. Im dem folgenden Schritt werdenwir die oben entworfene Theorie püncktlich besprechen.

Wie schon gesagt überlappen sich ICMs mit Fillmores Begriff der ‘frames’.Wichtig für den Zweck dieser Analyse halten wir eine weitere Unterscheidung, die unsdann erlauben wird, die Kritik an Raskins Theorie zu führen. Laut Beaugrand und Dressler,

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bilden frames ‘global patterns of common sense knowledge about some central concept’,so dass das lexikalische Element, das das Konzept bezeichnet, den ganzen Framehervorbringt. Grob genommen stellen Frames statysche Konfigurationen vonWissenkomplexen. Auf der anderen Weise sind Skripts dynmische Informationen, die manmit den schon erwähnten basic level Elementen assoziiert warden. Diese Unterschiedekönnen in Zusammenhang mit der Beziehung zwischen Proto-und Stereotypen gebracht

warden, wobei die Frames den ICMs entsprechen, die ihrerseits von Prototypenrepräsentiert werden und die Skripts ihre Entsprechung in den Stereotypen finden, die denPrototypen instanziieren: “Putnam’s stereotypes […] comprise not only the prototype, butalso frame and script based information wich provides the context for o prototyperepresentation”. (Taylor, 1995: 73). Wenn man jetzt die Werbung betrachtet, kann manfeststellen, dass das Aktualisierung bestimmter Skripts im Rahmen einer gegebenen Frameeine Sache der Interpretabilität und Zusagung ist. Normalerweise würde dieses Beispielmerkwürdig klingen. Was heißt ja nur Teile eines Auto kaufen, weil man das Auto nur für ein paar Jahren braucht? Der Verstoß gegen die stereotypische dreidimensionaleWahrnehmung der Wirklichkeit, bzw des Autos durch das Aktivieren unerwarteten Skriptslöst Humor wegen einer Kollision der ontologischen Kategorien auf. Diese Stereotypen,die sich in Skripts konkretisieren, oder Greimas folgend Isotopien, führen im Falle von

Humor zur Inkongruenz als Folge von 'category mistake', wie Gilbert Ryle (1949) dieseKollision genannt hat.

Was die Bon-Fide-Kommunikation und deren Gegenteil, die Non-Bona-Fide-Kommunikation betrifft, die bei Raskin als zwei voneinander klar unterschiedliche und

begrenzte Kommunikationsrahmen vorkommen, muß man sagen, dass unserer Meinungnach keine transchante Grenze zwischen den beiden ziehen kann. Demzufolge kann manauch nicht sagen, dass bestimmte Mechansimen der Bedeutungs- bzw Kategorienaufbauspezyfisch für die eine oder die andere sei. Die NBF setzt voraus, dass Sprecher und Hörer sich der Wahrheit nich verpflichteen, d.h. dass sie absichtlich und bewußt einen

bestimmten Rahmen für die Kommunikatin auswählen. Diese Wahl bastimmt laut Raskinauch die Bedingungen, die den Humorsinn ausmachen: “people with a sense of humor (i)switch easily and readily from the bona-fide mode of communication to the joke-tellingmode; (ii) have more scripts available for appositeness interaction; (iii) have moreoppositeness relations between scripts relations” (Raskin 1998: 97). Das Problem dieser Theorie ist, dass sie das Verfahren von Humorproduktion und – Rezeption vereinfacht.Wenn die Skript-analyse im Sine Raskins Unterkategorien von Humor erklären können,scheint es schwieriger im Falle einer konzeptuellen Proijektion zum Beispiel, wie der Metapher, zu sein. Unser konzeptuelles System ist weitaus metaphorisch aufgebaut, wobeiMetapher im alltäglichen Leben eine zentrale Rolle im Kategorisierungsverfahrens spielen.Black folgend haben Lakoff und Johnsen (Lakoff und Johnsen 2003) eineMetapherntheorie entwickelt, die sich auf dem bisher vorgestellten Kategorisierungsmodellstützt, wobei Metapher als Interaktion angesehen wird. Ausgangpunkt ist die Festlegung,dass der metaphorische Ausdruck in seinen konkreten textuellen Umraum thematisch nicht

recht zu passen scheint. Eine Metapher also, behauptet Black, sei nur dann zu verstehen,wenn die Differenz überwunden und die Bedeutung des metaphorischen Ausdrucks unddie des Kontextes mieinander abgeglichen werde. Nehmen wir als Beispiel eine Aussagewie „Er ist eine Wolke in Hosen“, geäußert von einer Frau beim Ansehen eines atraktivenMannes. Die Aussage, „er“ sei „eine Wolke in Hose“ setzt eine Interaktion zwischen demBegriff der „Wolke“ und demjenigen des Menschen in Gang. Die Eigenschaften, dienormalerweise Wolken zugeschrieben werden 'interagieren' mit den Eigenschaften desMenschen, alle Merkmale der Wolke, die auf Menschen anwendbar sind, werden immetaphorischen Prozeß auf den Menschen 'projiziert'. Der Mensch wird durch die der

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Wolke zugeschriebenen Eigenschaften und Merkmale hindurch wahrgenommen. Nebendem Begriff der Interaktion und der Projektion verwendet Black das Bild eines Filters: Das'Wolke-System' bildet den Filter, durch den bestimmte Eigenschaften des Menschenhervorgehoben, und andere in den Hintergrund gedrängt werden. Man kann also davonausgehen, dass zu jedem Begriff der Sprache ein System von Stereotypen oder Skriptsexistiert, das als Wissen im Umfeld des Begriffs, d.h. als Frame vorausgesetzt werden

kann, und dass dieses Wissen im Fall seiner metaphorischen Verwendung in andereKontexte und auf andere Gegenstände übertragen wird. Man muß also hervorheben, dasssowohl im Begriff des „Filters“ als auch in dem der Interaktion der metaphorischeAustausch die jeweiligen Systeme der Stereotypen nicht unberührt läßt. Auf beiden Seitender metaphorischen Interaktion findet eine Veränderung und eine Erweiterung der Bedeutung statt, die als das Spezifische der Metapher angesehen werden kann und auch alsdas eigentliche Element, das Humor auslöst.

Nehmen wir ein anders Beispiel, das von Lakoff (1977) in Bezug auf zusammengesetzte Substantive wie zum Beispiel topless dress, topless judge, topless bar

besprochen wurde. Das Verstehen dieser Ausdrücke setzt zuerst unser Wissen voraus, dassFrauen ihre Brüste einhüllen müssen. Wir wissen auch, dass Frauen, die das nicht machen,in bestimmten Kneipen arbeiten; dass sich diese Kneipen in bestimmten Zonen einer Stadt

befinden. Dementsprechend kann man sich ein topless bar als eine Kneipe, wo toplesswomen arbeiten, a topless district als eine Zone, wo topless bars sind, wo topless women arbeiten, vorstellen. Andererseits ist ein Ausdruck wie topless chair virtuel undeutbar. Wiekönnte man diesen Ausdruck mit Hilfe Raskins Theorie erklären? Dem Ausdruck toplesschair werden die Skripts zugeschrieben, die den stereotypischen Ausdruck topless woman ausmachen. Es geht hier um das Problem von „ignorance and error“, das mit der Tatsachezu tun hat, dass es möglich ist, ein Konzept zu beistzen, ohne aber seine Attribute zukennen.

IV. Schlußfolgerungen

In Wierzbickas Worten (1985) ist es notwendig einen Unterschied zu machen zwischen„the knowledge of a concept and knowledhe about a concept“. Diese Flexibilität der Kategorien, neue Mitglieder aufgrund einfacher Ähnlichkeiten oder proijzierter metaphorischen Skripten zu erlauben, kann zum Humorauslösen beitragen. Da dasEntstehen von neuen Begriffen eine Sache der Interpretabilität und metaphorischer Proijzierung ist, kann man zum Beispiel einen Ausdruck wie topless chair als „ein Stuhl,auf dem topless Frauen sitzen“ deuten. Da Bedeutung Gedankenschnitte reflektiert undsich auf der Basis von Mappings zwischen verschiedenen mentalen Repräsentationenaufbaut, kann man im Licht der angegebenen Beispiele sagen, dass Humor nicht so sehr auf der Wortsemantik fußt, die die raskinsche Skript-Oppositionen rechtfertigen, sondernvielmehr auf unerwarteten Kategorisierungen (topless chair) oder Kategorienfehler (dasWerbung-Beispiel).

Bibliographie

Evans, Vyvyan and Green Melanie (2005). Cognitive Linguistics, Edinburgh University PressFauconnier, Gilles (1997). Mappings in Thought and Languge, CambridgeFillmore, Charles (1982). Frame Semantics in Linguistics in the Morning Calm, Seoul, 1982Jubien, Michael (1994). Ontology, Modality and the Fallacy of Reference, Cambridge University PressLakoff, George and Johnses, Mark (2003). Metaphors we live by, The University of Chicago PressLangacker, Ronald (1987). Foundations of Cognitive Grmmar , Stanford University PressPutnam, Hilary (1983). Realism and Reason. Philosophical Papers, CambridgeRaskin, Victor (1985). Semantic Mechanismus of Humor , D. Reidel Publishing Company

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Raskin, Victor (1998). The sense of humor and the truth in The Sense of Humor , Ruch, W. (ed), Mouton deGruyter, 95-108

Rosch, Eleanor and Caroline Mervis, (1975). Family resemblances: studies in the internal structure of categories, în Cognitive Psychology 7, 573-605

Sweester, Eve (1990). From Etymology to Pragmatics, Cambridge University PressTalmy, Leonard (2000). Toward a Cognitive Semantics, CambridgeTaylor, John R. (1995). Categorization: Prototypes in linguistic theory, Oxford University Press

Turner, Mark (1991). Reading Minds, Princeton University PressWierzbicka, Anna (1985). Lexicography and Conceptual Analysis, Karoma

Abstract

Categoarization errors or surprising categorizations which seemingly can or cannot logicallyrepresent categorization errors underlie the creation of humour. I start with the rendering of theidea of meaning in cognitive semantics, according to which meaning represents models of thinking, at the basis of meaning lying the process of conceptualization and categorization.anexample shows the extant to wich cognitivists succeed in applying discoveries in linguistics and the extant to which they can account for humour. The second section of the approach presents theclassic model of categorization which ic argued against through Rosch’s discoveries of the 1970swhich radically changed the perspective on ‘the necessary and sufficient conditions’ imposed upon the memebres of one category, producing an example for the relenance of the new model inan analysis of humour. The last section presents a confrontation with Raskin’s theory where I tryto show through examples the impossibility of explaining all manifestations of humour throughrecourse to his theory and the need to place the research on a more profound level of analysisinvolving the appeal the process of conceptualization and categorization.

Résumé

Les erreurs de catégorisation ou les catégorisations surprenantes qui apparemment ou non seconstituent du point de vue logique dans des erreurs de catégorisation, se trouvent à la base de la production de l’humour. Nous avons commencé par la description de l’idée de signification dansla sémantique cognitive, selon laquelle, la signification représente les modèles de raisonnement,basée sur le processus de conceptualisation et catégorisation. Par l’exemple proposé, nous avonsdémontré dans quelle mesure les cognitivistes réussissent à appliquer les découvertes du domainede la psychologie en linguistique et, comment elles peuvent expliquer l’humour. Dans ladeuxième section, nous avons présenté le modèle classique de la catégorisation que nous avonscombattue à l’aide des découvertes faites par Rosch, dans les années 1970, et qui ont totalement changé la vision sur «les conditions nécessaires et suffisantes » imposées aux membres d’unecatégorie.Nous avons aussi exemplifié la relevance du nouveau modèle dans une analyse del’humour.Dans la dernière section nous nous sommes confronté à la théorie proposée par Ruskin,de manière à démontrer, par des exemples, qu’il est impossible d’expliquer toutes lesmanifestations de l’humour, en appelant uniquement à sa théorie et, le besoin de situer larecherche à un niveau plus profond d’analyse qui implique le recours au processus deconceptualisation et catégorisation.

Rezumat

Gre şelile de categorizare sau categorizări surprinzătoare care aparent sau nu se pot constitui din punct de vedere logic în gre şeli de categorizare se afl ă la baza producerii umorului. Am început prin redearea ideii de semnifica ţ ie în semantica cognitivă , conform căreia semnifica ţ ia reprezint ă

modele de gândire, la baza semnifica ţ iei aflîndu-se procesul de conceptualizare şi categorizare. Printr-un exemplu am ar ătat în ce mă sur ă cognitivi ştii reu şesc să aplice descoperirile din psihologie în lingvistică şi în ce mă sur ă pot ele explica umorul. Am trecut în cea de-a doua sec ţ iune la prezentarea modelului clasic al categorizării pe care l-am combătut cu descoperirile f ăcute de Rosch în anii 70 şi care au schimbat total viziunea aspura "condi ţ iilor necesare şi suficiente" impuse membrilor unei categorii, exemplificănd, iar, relevan ţ a noului model intr-oanaliză a umorului. În ultima sec ţ iune m-am confruntat cu teoria propusă de Raskin încercînd să ar ăt prin exemple imposibilitatea de a explica toate manifestarile umorului prin recursul la teorialui şi nevoia de a situa cercetarea pe un nivel mai profund de analiză ce implică recursul la procesul de conceptualizare si categorizare.

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pp. 23 - 30

Language

and

Literature

THE EC LANGUAGE POLICY AND CONTENT-BASED LEARNING IN

ROMANIA

Anca Cehan

The Romanian education context is such that there is relatively little foreign

language input outside the classroom, and that the classroom input may not be enough. For

this reason, foreign language teachers may opt for skill-building over building

communicative competence, claiming that there is not enough time for “the real thing”.Development of recent approaches, new specific materials and textbooks, including

content-based learning (also known as CLIL - Content and Language Integrated Learning)

seems a possible solution.

1. Students

For many of the Romanian students, who are likely to use the English learnt in

school throughout their lives, the time spent in foreign language lessons practising

grammar, learning words, speaking, reading or writing, is enjoyable, easy and successful.

However, many more students leave school being able to use very little of the foreign

language which they spent so much time learning. For them, the investment of time and

effort in the English classrooms has disappointing outcomes. When they leave school andlater in their lives, they find it difficult to use the foreign language they know as this is

either not enough or not what would help them in their jobs. The language they learn in

school cannot be used as a tool for real-life communication in the everyday situations in

which they may have to operate. When it is too late, they may realise that it does not make

sense to have spent all this time learning a language which they cannot use in real life

situations. For such people, more important in point of effective language learning and

communication is not what they know but how they could use it .

2. Schools

The learning process organised in schools is very much a situation-specific matter.

The kind of schools that students attend provide strong influences on the teaching -learning process, and it is counterproductive to ignore them. The implementation of an

appropriate methodology depends on the teachers’ ability to find out in the classroom what

is the extent to which the knowledge and skills acquired or learnt in the classroom can be

transferred into activities accountable later on.

Although it is possible to generalise about some social principles, and to say, for

instance, that classroom cultures are influenced by the cultures outside the classroom, or

that there is likely to be conflict between teacher and student agendas, it is not possible to

generalise about the precise nature of a particular classroom culture, or the other cultures

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which influence it, or the form which this influence takes. This has to be worked through in

the specific situation in which the teaching - learning process takes place. The implications

are not simple: the class teacher should be aware of who the students in a particular

classroom are, what their needs and interests are, and what they are able to do. The class

teacher has the role of seeing what is going on and finding out about the relevant

backgrounds of all parties involved. Other parties, such as curriculum developers, materials

and textbook writers, school administration, may also be involved in making decisionsabout the nature of classroom teaching and learning through recommended syllabi,

textbooks, methodology, materials, and equipment.

To be appropriate, materials and methodology must be sensitive to the prevailing

culture surrounding any given classroom. In other words, appropriate materials and

methodology must be culture-sensitive and as such they must be based on a process of

learning about the classroom. The data produced by this process makes the methodology

culture-sensitive and appropriate. Learning about the classroom and the ethos of the entire

school is an essential aspect of finding out how to teach.

Any class and any foreign language class for that matter, is supposed to cater for

the specific needs of each group of learners if not for each individual learner. The process

of learning about the classroom needs involves research which can be carried out at an

informal level in such a way as to be accessible to all teachers. The notion of teacher asinformal researcher is already common in general education (Stenhouse 1985, Ruddock

and Hopkins, 1985), and is becoming popular in English language education, too (Nunan

1990, Allwright 1992). Teachers can carry out even less formal classroom research in a

way that it is fully integrated with their day-to-day work. For this kind of research

Allwright and Bailey (1991) use the notion of “exploratory teaching”.

3. Foreign language teaching and beyond

In Romania, many foreign language teachers work in situations where the

established syllabus is not in agreement with their view of how English is learned

efficiently, or the needs of their students, as perceived by the teachers. Such teachers have

two options: either to simply go along with the syllabus and complain secretly to their

peers, or to secretly do what they think is best and be successful, and thus credit the

syllabus with undeserved merits.

However, the system offers a chance that quite a few teachers understood is worth

taking: 'curriculum la decizia şcolii' ('curriculum based on school decision'), with its three

alternatives: the basic core curriculum, the expanded curriculum and the optional syllabi.

The optional syllabi may be designed by regular school teachers on different levels:

subject level, curricular area level, or cross-curricular area level.

The optional syllabus developed for a subject consists in either new learning

modules, activities, or projects for a subject in the national syllabus, or in a completely new

syllabus for a new subject, complementary to those in the national curriculum.

The optional syllabus developed for a curricular area requires the choice of a newtopic, which involves at least two subjects of the same curricular area. In designing such an

optional syllabus new objectives have to be specified and related to the instructional goals

of the two subjects.

The third type of optional syllabus implies at least two subjects of different

curricular areas. Consequently, the input offered to students is more complex, and thus

allows them to acquire high cognitive skills (e.g. generalization, transfer, extrapolation,

etc.). In contrast to learning skills in isolation, when students participate in cross-

disciplinary experiences, they understand better the value of what they are learning and

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become more actively engaged. The optional syllabus developed on a cross-curricular area

level encourages students to cross boundaries in order to find and work with authentic

material on other subjects, such as history, geography or sciences, which will immediately

stir their interest. In favour of cross-curricular transfer, is the idea of skills integration;

through integration, skills tend to become more stable parts of a person’s understanding of

the world.

A cross-curricular approach in education in general, not only at the level of foreignlanguages, is a must of our time. It helps students to form an image of reality in its entirety,

develop an integrative model of thinking, and adapt transfer methods, values and skills

from one area or field to another with minimum effort or risk. Cross-curricular teaching is

seen as a way to address some of the recurring problems in our school education, such as

fragmentation and isolated skill instruction, and involves a conscious effort to apply

knowledge, principles and values to more than one subject simultaneously. The subjects

may be related through a central theme, issue, problem, process, topic or experience.

This legal provision allows teachers to develop specific syllabi, design materials

and even write textbooks which respond directly to the needs of their students. Based on

ethnographic study processes, such as classroom observation, insights into the feasibility of

innovation for students and classroom conditions, teachers are able to find out what the

students’ needs really are, and starting from there, to design or adapt both syllabi andmaterials. Their analysis of the environment is accompanied by a tacit understanding of the

psycho-cultural and micro political aspects of institutional behaviour.

One opportunity offered by this optional syllabus, as identified by foreign language

teachers, is to put some time of the school week for learning other subjects, such as

geography history or civilisation, or special modules through English. In this way, lessons

are taught that offer opportunities to students to use English naturally, forgetting about the

language and focusing mainly on the learning topic. The learning of language and the

content of another subjects are mixed and each lesson has a twofold aim: one related to the

subject, topic or theme, and one linked to the foreign language. Thus these kinds of lessons

have a dual focus.

This approach, in itself, is not new, nor is it unknown in Romania. Over the years,

teachers have tried to teach foreign languages through other subjects and other topics. This

is the philosophy behind bilingual schools and classes, where a foreign language is used as

a medium of teaching and learning. It has been felt that students benefit from the focus

being less on the language in terms of grammar, functions, or lexis, and more on the

content or topic. By choosing topics that learners are already somehow familiar with,

currently studying or interested in, the hope is that they will learn more and faster. This

approach is gaining more ground, not only in bilingual schools, but also in vocational

schools.

4. CLIL

Content-based learning / Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) can bevery successful in enhancing the learning of a foreign language together with another

subject, and in developing in the young people a ‘can do’ attitude towards their own

learning. CLIL lessons can offer supplementary opportunities of picking up a foreign

language, while studying a content area. Naturalness appears to be one of the major assets

of this approach. Dual-focus lessons offer a natural situation for language practice and

development which builds on the forms learnt in the language classes. As such they can

boost the learners’ motivation and interest for learning the foreign language, as the

language is relevant for their interests and needs. An important difference between a

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foreign language lesson and a CLIL lesson is that in the latter the language is picked up

more naturally. In a typical language class, the learners go through the process of sorting

out sounds, patterns, structures, vocabulary, etc. In a CLIL class, it is essential for the

students to understand how language works, but there is seldom enough time for learning

more than the essentials. A CLIL class in English enables students to acquire subjects

through the mediation of English as a foreign language and it is the subject orientation

which is given a special focus. It can combine sector-specific target language knowledgewith job-specific communication competencies.

CLIL promotes several principles:

content

At the very heart of the process of learning is placed successful content or subject

learning, the acquisition of knowledge, skills and understanding characteristic for that

subject. The traditional transmission model for content delivery which conceptualises the

subject as a body of knowledge to be transferred from teacher to learner is not longer

considered appropriate. Rather, a symbiotic relationship is stressed between the foreign

language and the subject, which demands a focus on how subjects are taught while

working with and through another language rather than in another language. This

important shift in focus has determined the redefinition of methodology to take account of language use by both teachers and students, which encourages real engagement and

interactivity. It has also brought about teacher reflection on how best to teach. This means

consideration of issues fundamental to the education process itself. Consequently, CLIL

has implications for teacher education and training.

communication

The foreign language is seen as a conduit for both communication and learning. It is

learned through use in authentic, unrehearsed, yet ‘scaffolded’ situations.

By using English as the medium of instruction and communication, the foreign

language teacher becomes more aware of the learners’ linguistic needs and triggers tuned-

in strategic language behaviour. The teacher also performs constant comprehension checks,

related to content. This may result in high levels of communication between the teacher

and the studens and among students themselves. CLIL stretches the learners’ language and

language learning potential through pushing them to produce meaningful and complex

language. Thus it fosters implicit and incidental learning by focusing on meaning and

communication, and providing great amounts of input. At the same time, the regular

foreign language class can keep a complementary focus-on-form approach in the needed

language areas. In addition, CLIL fosters fluency, whereas many simple foreign language

lessons tend to focus on accuracy. Therefore, CLIL lessons are complementary to the more

structured foreign language lessons. CLIL lessons build on the language learned and

practised in the language lessons by providing alternative opportunities to develop a wide

range of language skills, strategies and competences needed by students to function in

everyday situations. The linguistic competence acquired in the language lessons may be

transferred to yet another kind of language in the CLIL setting. CLIL serves to reinforcethe notion that any language is a tool which, to have meaning and sense, needs to be

activated in contexts which are motivating and meaningful for the learners.

cognition CLIL challenges the learners cognitively, whatever their ability. It provides a rich

setting for developing thinking skills in conjunction with both basic interpersonal

communication skills (BICS) and cognitive-academic language proficiency (CALP).

Research suggests that these challenges encourage thinking to take place in different

languages and at a deeper level of cultural understanding.

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The potential of CLIL for successful foreign language teaching comes from

meaningful input. It strengthens the students’ ability to process input, which enhances

cognitive development and prepares them for higher-level thinking skills. The need for

more support for CLIL lessons (visual and other types), makes the teacher aware of the

more general need of cognitive and interactional support that foreign language learners,

particularly young learners, require. Also, CLIL facilitates the transfer of literacy skills

from the mother tongue to the foreign language.

pluriculturality

Language, thinking and culture are inextricably linked, and CLIL may provide an

ideal opportunity for students to operate in alternative cultures through studies in an

alternative language. Studying a subject through the language of a different culture paves

the way for understanding and tolerating different perspectives. This element is

fundamental to fostering European understanding and making European citizenship a

reality.

These four principles elevate CLIL to the position of a major and significant

contributor to the realisation of the European Commission’s Language Policy.

In addition, CLIL provides a learning environment which makes it possible to

realise modern learning theoretical and methodological concepts in an optimal way. CLILhas some clear advantages:

authenticity of language and content. CLIL learners deal with authentic

content and interact in a foreign language about the real world around them. Authenticity

promotes the language learning process more than talking about the pseudo-real and

fictitious contents of the traditional language classroom. Authenticity is a fundamental

condition that gives good results.

learner autonomy. In science, history, geography or other subject lessons,

students make use of alternative learning strategies and study skills when they have to deal

with bibliographical sources, tables, maps, or diagrams. Such materials not only provide a

lot of information but also allow students a certain degree of independence. A CLIL class

can be a place in which the different topics are not divided arbitrarily and taught in

isolation, but as a complex whole or a place of autonomous learning in which students dealindependently with the learning content.

conceptualisation. CLIL does not promote only linguistic competence. It

offers different ‘thinking horizons’ as a result of work in another language, and the way in

which learners think can be modified. Being able to think about something of real interest,

professionally or otherwise, can enrich the learners’ understanding of concepts, and help to

broaden their conceptual mapping resources. This allows better association of different

concepts and helps the students towards a more sophisticated level of learning in a certain

field. Classes provide situations in which the attention of the students is on some form of

learning activity that is not the language itself. Students are provided opportunities to think

in the foreign language, not just learn about the language itself as the major learning focus.

Students in CLIL classes often lack the cognitive language proficiency needed to

process and express content area concepts. The task of the CLIL teacher is to expose

learners to appropriate content designed to further their linguistic skills and to render the

core concepts of the CLIL lesson accessible through language enrichment activities. This

task involves sophisticated adaptation techniques and strategies, and for many teachers, it

may entail a rethinking of how to present material to learners.

attitude towards the foreign language. As CLIL lessons are not primarily

foreign language lessons, students should be encouraged to challenge the idea of waiting to

communicate in the foreign until they think they are good enough in the language to use it.

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The status of the foreign language as a tool for communication and learning should be

emphasised. The foreign language teacher can capitalise not only on the positive attitudes

the students may have towards the language, but also on their motivation to reach the best

possible outcomes in terms of learning the other subject. In addition, the students’ affective

filter may be lower than in other situations, for learning takes place in a relatively anxiety-

free environment: a syllabus designed after enquiring about their needs, and students

(often) more knowledgeable of the content than the foreign language teacher. Thus,motivation to learn content through the foreign language may foster and sustain motivation

towards learning the language itself.

social learning. The relevance of study topics motivates the students to

understand the importance of forms of collaboration, better than in the traditional

classrooms. Thus, CLIL creates a learning environment that corresponds better to modern

psychological principles than do traditional learning environments. It also connects

different areas of the learning curriculum into a meaningful and economic use of study

time.

The pedagogical potential of CLIL is enormous and lies not only in the promotion

of foreign language learning but in the adaptation of the educational structures to the EU

language policy. Within such a learning environment, reaching the goal of trilingualism of all the citizens of the EU, as defined in the 1995 White Paper by the Council of Europe,

seems more feasible. CLIL is far better suited than mainstream pedagogical concepts to

provide for the learners’ different aptitudes.

5. EC language policy

The principles behind CLIL include global statements such as ‘all teachers are

teachers of language’ (The Bullock Report, A language for Life, 1975) to the advantages of

cross-curricular bilingual teaching in statements from the Content and Language Integrated

Project (CLIP, hosted by the British National Centre for Languages - CILT). The benefits

of CLIL may be seen in terms of cultural awareness, internationalisation, language

competence, preparation for both study and working life, and increased motivation.A major outcome of CLIL is to establish not only competence in a foreign

language, but also nurture a ‘can do’ attitude towards language learning in general. The

CLIL language can be a platform by which the learners may take an interest in other

languages and cultures as well.

Learning a language and learning through a language are concurrent processes, but

implementing CLIL requires rethinking of the traditional concepts of the language

classroom and the language teacher. The immediate obstacle for the implementation of the

CLIL approach seems to be the opposition to language teaching by subject teachers, but

opposition may also come from the language teachers themselves. The scarcity of CLIL

teacher-training programmes suggests that the majority of teachers may be ill-equipped to

do the job adequately. However, the characteristics of CLIL activities are not unfamiliar to

the teachers from the foreign languages background:

integration of language and content

integration of receptive and productive skills

material directly related to a content-based subject

lessons often based on reading (and listening) authentic texts

lessons not always graded from a language point of view. Language is

functional and dictated by the context of the subject

language emphasis placed on lexis rather than on grammar.

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A CLIL approach is not unlike the humanistic, communicative and lexical

approaches, as it aims to guide language processing and supports language production in

the same way that a foreign language course would, by teaching techniques for exploiting

reading or listening texts and structures for supporting spoken or written language.

CLIL can be both challenging and demanding for the teacher and the learners, but it

can also be very stimulating and rewarding for both parties. The degree to which the

teacher adopts this approach may depend on the willingness of the students, the institutionin which they work, and the resources within their environment. It could be something that

a school wants to consider introducing across the curriculum or something that they

experiment with for a few lessons. If either of these is chosen, the advice for the foreign

language teachers is that they should try to involve other subject teachers within the

school. This could help both in terms of finding sources of information and in having the

support of others in helping to evaluate the work. In such schools or classes, the quality of

foreign language teaching will be improved through team-work and/or tandem teaching.

While CLIL may be the best-fit methodology for foreign language teaching and

learning in a multilingual Europe, there remains a dearth of CLIL-type materials, and a

lack of teacher training programmes to prepare both language and subject teachers for

CLIL teaching. Until CLIL training for teachers is organised and materials are published,

the immediate future remains with parallel rather than integrated content and languagelearning. However, the need for language teaching reform in the face of Europeanisation

may make CLIL a common feature of many European education systems in the future.

Several European organisations specialising in CLIL projects have emerged:

UNICOM, EuroCLIC and TIE-CLIL. Research on CLIL is mainly based at the University

of Nottingham, which also offers teacher training and development courses in CLIL,

available though NILE (the Norwich Institute for Language Education).

Society is changing, particularly in Europe, with changes brought about by the

process of integration. It is this reality, alongside our new understandings of language

acquisition and learning which has provoked excitement about CLIL. There are social,

economic, cultural and ecological advantages to be gained though promoting

plurilingualism through language learning. CLIL offers one additional means by which we

can give the young people the opportunities to develop their capacity to use language and

to reap the benefits in their present and future lives.

REFERENCES

Allwright, R. L. and K. Biley. (1991). Focus on the Language Classroom – An Introduction to Classroom Research for Language Teachers. CUP, Cambridge

Cummins, J. (1981). Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire. Clevdon,

Multilingual MattersMcDonough, J., and Shaw, C. (1995). Materials and Methods in ELT ,: Basil Blackwell, Oxford

Centre for Information on Language, Teaching and Research, www.cilt.org.uk CLIL Compendium www.clilcompendium.com

Translanguage in Europe – Content and Language Integrated Learning, www.tieclil.org Website of University of Jyväskylä, www.jyu.fi Website of the Central European Regional Network for Education Transfer. European Studies material,

www.cernet.at Website of Eurydice, www.eurydice.org/resources/eurydice/pdf

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Abstract

This paper is a synthesis of the characteristic features of CLIL (content-and-language integrated

learning). This approach can offer interesting solutions for the teaching of foreign languages - at

different levels - for the world of work as it promotes intercultural awareness,

internationalisation, and it increases student motivation

Résumé

L’article contient une synthèse des caractéristiques qui font d’EMILE (l’enseignement

d’une matière intégré à une langue étrangère) une solution intéressante pour promouvoir

l’intercompréhension européenne et pour faire de la citoyenneté européenne une réalité. L’auteur montre comment EMILE crée une atmosphère d’études plus efficace que d’autres méthodes en

usage, et comment l’étude des langues étrangères peut bénéficier d’une éducation à double

objectif.

Rezumat

Articolul este o sintez ă a tr ă săturilor caracteristice abord ării studiului limbilor str ăine din perspectiva integr ării con ţ inutului şi a limbii. Aceast ă abordare este o solu ţ ie interesant ă pentru

promovarea cunoa şterii limbilor str ăine la diferite nivele de performan ţă , necesar ă pie ţ ei muncii,

dar şi pentru promovarea cunoa şterii interculturale şi a globaliz ării. Aceasta abordare cu dubluobiectiv genereaza o motiva ţ ie mai sus ţ inut ă la cursan ţ i.

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pp. 31 - 35

Language

and

Literature

PREVIZIBIL VS. IMPREVIZIBIL IN DISCURSUL PUBLICITAR

Mihaela Cîrnu

Mai mult decât orice situaţie comunicaţională, textul publicitar cultivă ludicul, sub diferiteaspecte, la diferite niveluri şi, ca în orice joc, există păr ţi previzibile, dar şi multe lucruriimprevizibile, care măresc interesul participanţilor.

Structuri ale repetiţiei (de la recurenţa lexicală până la figurile de stil), dar şielemente ale surprizei (paradoxul, particularităţi ale deicticelor) sunt urmărite în articolulde faţă, ca elemente pragmatice, surse ale persuasiunii publicitare.

Predictibilitatea din text, acele structuri repetabile, ajută la memorarea şiidentificarea rapidă a imaginii create. Cea mai întâlnită schemă este structura tripartită atextului: ”Dacă / Când [A], folosiţi [B] şi obtineţi [C]” (Stoichiţoiu Ichim, 1997, II, p. 45):“Când te supăr ă durerea de dinţi… Nurofen te poate ajuta. Calmează rapid şi eficientdurerile de dinţi chiar în locul unde este nevoie. Cu Nurofen, durerile de din ţi nu mai sunto problemă.” Acesta este modelul general, din care uneori, în text, pot fi exprimate doar două dintre cele trei păr ţi: “Dacă iţi pasă ce bei – Wembley dry gin.” Pentru a fi mai

provocatoare, prima parte ia uneori formă interogativă: “Te ustur ă ochii? Fii cu ochii peVisine! Câte o picatur ă de Visine în fiecare zi şi vei vedea rapid efectul.”

Folosirea frecventă a unor cuvinte (recurenţa lexicală) dă impresia că publicitateaşi-a însuşit o anumită sfer ă lexicală: nou, avantajos, rentabil, ieftin, ideal, perfect, unic,

excep ţ ional, eficien ţă , calitate, succes, solu ţ ie, siguran ţă , confort, prospe ţ ime, valoare.

Observăm că folosirea repetată a acestora nu este întâmplătoare, ci urmăreşte sfera lexicală preferată de publicitate: avantajele unui preţ accesibil, rezultatul benefic al folosirii produsului. Insistând asupra anumitor particularităţi pentru a le imprima cât mai bine înmemoria receptorului, textul este construit adesea cu ajutorul figurilor repetiţiei.

Repeti ţ ia fonologică are ca rezultat construcţiile rimate, receptate uşor şi cu plăcerede public: “Eşti pe felie cu Adi Ilie” (Campofrio); “Acţionează cu putere în orice durere”(Panadol Extra).

Repeti ţ ia lexical ă are la dispoziţie multiple posibilităţi de realizare: epifora (“N-aimai văzut aşa ceva! N-ai mai simţit aşa ceva! N-ai mai auzit aşa ceva! De Valentine’sDay ascultă Europa FM”), anafora (“Rezistent la paste. Rezistent la pizza. Rezistent la … pasiune. Este mai mult decât un ruj. Este Lipfinity”), anadiploza (“O marf ă nu poatealege. Alege să nu fii o marf ă!” – campania TVR2 împotriva traficului de fiinţe umane),

poliptoton (“Păr special? Îngrijire specială!” – Pantene PRO-V), diafora (“ Ace. Ce-itrebuie albului să fie alb”).Preluate din alte registre ale limbii, figurile insisten ţ ei aduc textului, de cele mai

multe ori, o notă colocvială, apropiată. Proverbul (“Ce-i al tău e pus deoparte” – Primola)şi climaxul (“Gut. Besser. Gösser.” – în care numele berii se află pe locul superlativului în

paradigma gradelor de comparaţie a adjectivului “bun” în limba germană) sunt figuri ale

reflec ţ iei, care atrag atenţia receptorului asupra mesajului, dar mai subtil decât figurilerepetiţiei. Cu o tendinţă recunoscută spre exagerare, textul publicitar nu putea evitahiperbola, realizată atât prin adjective sau substantive cu sens de superlativ (“Noul Bona.

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Albul absolut”; “Ariel & Whirlpool de 2 ori impecabil”), cât şi prin superlative retorice(“Fairy face minuni”; “Dream Space de la Whirlpool îţi ofer ă mai mult decât ai visat!”).

Previzibilul (capacitatea textului de a-l lăsa pe receptor să “ghicescă” ce urmează),sub orice formă de manifestare, dă receptorului impresia că şi el ar fi putut să spună/facă un astfel de lucru grozav, că este coautor al mesajului publicitar. Totuşi, există risculmonotoniei, atunci când totul este intuit. Surpriza, noul, neobişnuitul sunt elemente care

şochează şi atrag atenţia . Ambiguitatea, jocul planurilor implicit – explicit solicită interpretarea receptorului,

punându-i în acţiune atenţia, memoria, perspicacitatea. Pentru a obţine un astfel de efect,creatorii textelor publicitare folosesc adesea calamburul (o formă de ambiguitatelingvistică), realizat prin exploatarea intenţionată a mai multor fenomene lingvistice: “LaPROTV în fiecare noapte ai filme deştepte care te ţin deştept.”; “Ea aduce clasa. Înfiecare joi, de la 20.30 Reuniunea de clasă.”; “Totul se limpezeşte! Chiar şi hăinuţele

bebeluşilor… Noua maşină de spălat Beko 8014 Electronic. Să fie limpede: butonul“Baby” asigur ă clătirea perfectă a hainelor şi hăinuţelor!”; “Nu uita să-ţi întorci ceasul!”(ora G); “Cineva te înconjoar ă cu caldură. Junkers. Căldură pentru o viaţă.” (centraletermice Junkers). Omonimia şi polisemia produc şi întreţin echivocul, ambiguitatea:de ştept = 1.”inteligent”, 2. “treaz”; clasă = 1.”calitate, valoare”, 2. “grup de elevi”; a

limpezi = 1.”a clarifica”, 2. “a clăti (rufe)”; a întoarce (ceasul) = 1.”a învârti, a r ăsuciresortul unui mecanism”, 2.” a schimba poziţia unui obiect, aşezându-l invers faţă de

poziţia firească”; căldur ă = 1. ”starea sau gradul de încălzire a unui corp”, 2.” afecţiune,amabilitate” .

Contextului îi revine cea mai importantă sarcină, aceea de a îndruma receptorulspre unul dintre sensuri sau, dimpotrivă, de a permite coexistenţa celor două: ”totul selimpezeşte… să fie limpede…”. Cele mai multe reclame au marele avantaj al folosiriiimginilor, uneori chiar cu rol de context edificator. În reclama pentru emisiunea ora G,alături de titlul: ”Nu uita să-ţi intorci ceasul”, se afla imaginea unui ceas întors cu susul în

jos, aluzie la conţinutul emisiunii: ”lucruri tr ăsnite, sucite…”. Interpretarea r ămâne laalegerea receptorului. Importanţa contextului (a imaginii, dacă este cazul) devine maximă în cazul paronimiei: ” Negrul se duce. Negrul seduce” (detergentul Bona pentru rufecolorate) este partea lingvistică a mesajului publicitar, la care nu trebuie uitată imaginea, ocomparaţie între rochia neagr ă, spălată cu un detergent obişnuit, care se decolorează întimp, şi rochia neagr ă, spălată cu noul produs Bona, care îşi păstrează culoarea în timp.Receptarea corectă a mesajului este asigurată de forma scrisă a textului, în primul rând, şide imagine.

Paradoxul, o altă figur ă folosită ca sursă a ambiguităţii, se bazează pe contradicţie:o idee dintr-un şir logic continuă cu o idee care nu are nici o legătura cu prima sau ocontrazice pe aceasta. Una dintre reclamele pentru Sprite, un spot, are următorul text:“Pătrunde acum în lumea minunată bărbieritului fericit. Numai Sprite aranjeanză până şifirele la care n-a ajuns nimeni. Noua tehnologie a bulinuţelor inteligente. Deci nu folosiSprite ca loţiune de ras pentru că nu contează imaginea, dar… nici chiar aşa. Urmează-ţi

setea! Sprite”. Această reclamă face parte dintr-o întreagă serie în care producătorul începe prin a spune ce nu poate să facă Sprite, terminând cu ceea ce poate să facă: să potolească setea. Este o reacţie la curentul general din reclamă în care produsul este hiperbolizat şi i seatribuie o serie de calităţi şi efecte pe care nu le are. Cu o notă de umor, ironie chiar,reclama prezintă un bărbat care, după ce a folosit Sprite ca loţiune de ras, se alege cu faţa

plină de tăieturi. Concluzia: Sprite este o băutur ă r ăcoritoare iar textul reclamei spune acestlucru prin contradicţie (exagerare – aptitudini reale). Proverbele sau expresiile celebre potconstitui baza unui paradox: “A fi sau a nu fi la Euro 2004. Aceasta-i întrebarea.R ăspunsul: totul depinde de noi. Copenhaga – jocul cu Danemarca. Fii alături de

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Naţională! Fii in galben!”. Celebra dilemă shakespeariană devine problema existenţială aechipei noastre de fotbal.

Ambiguitatea referen ţ ial ă realizează o altă sfer ă a surprizelor. Diverse clase decuvinte sunt folosite cu valoare deictică. Deixis-ul personal ocupă un loc important înstrategia de ambiguizare la nivelul textului publicitar. Caracteristica formelor pronominalede persoana I şi a II-a de a nu avea referinţă proprie duce la opacizarea identităţii celor doi

participanţi la actul de comunicare: emiţătorul şi receptorul. Foarte multe texte publicitaresunt construite pe aceste două persoane: “Tu şi Maggi. Echipa bunului gust.”; “Hidratează-ţi pielea şi r ăsfaţă-te!” (Dove); “Ploaie de culori sclipitoare pe buzele tale!”; Complimente

părului tău!” (Londacolor). Adresarea directă, aici, apropie receptorul dar nu-l identifică.Acest “tu” poate fi oricine. Putem deduce câteva dintre caracteristicile destinatarului doar după natura prudusului căruia i se face publicitate. Produsele cosmetice sunt folosite (deobicei) de femei, iar ingredientele Maggi de cei care gătesc. Sunt texte în care formele

pronominale de persoana a II-a nu apar, dar deducem acest lucru din forma verbală: “Radiocontact – un radio aşa cum vrei”; “Planeta singuratică. Locul în care nu eşti niciodată singur”; “Fa. Eşti gata de acţiune?”; “Speli mai mult cu mai puţin” (Fairy).

Ambiguitatea referenţială creşte, deoarece informaţia referitoare la destinatarulmesajului nu mai este exprimată lexical (prin intermediul unei forme pronominale), ci doar

gramatical. Persoana I îl aduce în prim plan pe receptorul mesajului, care este fie proprietarul obiectului / serviciului promovat, fie un (eventual) beneficiar: “Noi chiar avemceva de spus” (Jurnal); “Să-mi fac un card VISA numai ca să mă simt mai domn când

plătesc la restaurant?”. Identificarea r ămâne foarte vagă, dar are mai multe elemente de personalizare decât textele construite cu persoana a II-a. La Mica Publicitate mai toateanunţurile sunt f ăcute la persoana I (singular sau plural): “ofer credite f ăr ă dobânzi”; “caut

partener pentru afacere cu cherestea şi lemn”; “acordăm împrumuturi”; “vând combină muzicală”; “angajăm patiser cu experienţă”; “ghicesc în Tarot, cafea, fac pentru dragoste şiîmpăcare”. Un element specific de individualizare în asemenea anunţuri este numărul detelefon şi/ sau adresa. Ştim că în spatele textului nu se ascunde un număr foarte mare de

persoane, ci unul singur sau un grup mic, identificabil. Prin natura lor, anunţurilematrimoniale dau câteva detalii referitoare la emiţătorul mesajului: “Şarpe, 26 ani,Bucureşti…”; “Inginer, 48/1,84/82…”. Fiecare apreciază singur ce anume este de spusdespre sine în asemenea împrejurare: vârsta, înălţimea, greutatea, ocupaţia, zodia,localitatea de reşedinţă.

În reclamele care beneficiază de ajutorul imaginii, persoana I are o situaţie aparte.“Câinele meu e protejat întreaga viaţă” (Pedigree); “Nu vreau să-i fie frig căluţului meu…”(Bramac); “Să-mi spăl zilnic părul?” (şamponul Schauma cu muşeţel). Beneficiarul (sau

posibilul beneiciar) este prezentat în imagine: medicul veterinar Andrei Timen, un copil,respectiv o tânăr ă. Nu putem conchide însă că doar ei pot beneficia de produsul respectiv,ci ei sunt reprezentanţii celorlalţi, sunt cei care lansează o provocare: dacă el are grijă deanimalul său, şi receptorul poate face acest lucru, dacă tânăra îşi spală părul zilnic f ăr ă ca

părul să aibă de suferit, ci dimpotrivă, atunci oricine doreşte un păr frumos, îngrijit poate

folosi şamponul prezentat. Se realizează, aşadar, o pseudo-individualizare a emiţătorului.Există un spot publicitar conceput ca dialog între două tinere. Una dintre ele ( pe care onotăm cu T1) se află în camera prietenei, unde vede fotografia unui bărbat. Cealaltă (T2) se

piaptănă în baie, având în faţă noul şampon Nivea.“T1 - Ei, ceva nou în viaţa ta? (priveşte fotografia)T2 – Da. Exact ce căutam (ia şamponul în mână). Puternic dar delicat.T1 – Acesta este? (arată fotografia)T2 – Evident! (iese din baie cu şamponul în mână)”.

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Formele pronominale (ceva, acesta), folosite aici atipic, au ca suport imaginea.Dacă la început ambiguitatea este sporită de imagine (fiecare participantă la dialog are oaltă reprezentare a lui “ceva”), în final tot ea (imaginea) este cea care dezambiguizează realitatea referenţială (cele doua fete ajung la acelaşi referent).

Deixisul temporal se exprimă în câteva forme, mai ales în anunţurile de la MicaPublicitate. Pentru a capta atenţia şi a gr ă bi r ăspunsul receptorului, multe anunţuri încep

cu adverbul “acum”: “Acum angajez vânzătoare…”; “Acum particular ofer împrumutavantajos…”; “Acum! Caut spaţiu comercial…” ( România liber ă , 14 ianuarie 2003, p. 19,21). Deşi orice articol dintr-un ziar, indiferent dacă este publicitate sau articol informativ,trebuie corelat cu data de apariţie a cotidianului, adverbul “acum” nu se refer ă neapărat ladată, ci la un moment cât mai apropiat de momentul receptării mesajului. Destinatarulmesajului este îndemnat să acţioneze imediat. Acelaşi rol îl au şi adverbele “rapid” şi“urgent”: “Rapid, gratuit oferim personal calificat conform cerinţelor firmeidumneavoastr ă…”, “Urgent, doresc angajare şofer profesionist…”; “Căutăm urgent pentruIsrael cusătoreasă cu experienţă…” (ibidem, p.15). La această grabă se adaugă uneori onotă de umor: ”Repede că se dăramă! Casă cu teren…” ( România liber ă, 28 mai, 2000,

p.16). Aceeaşi referinţă temporală nedeterminată este sugerată şi prin folosireaimperativului: contactaţi-ne!; abordaţi-ne!. Se obţine, de obicei, un r ăspuns la câteva ore

sau câteva zile de la publicarea anunţului.Verbul are şi la nivel semantic un aport deosebit. “A începe” şi “a apărea” presupun

exitenţa unui anumit moment (pe care l-am putea nota t0) care declanşează acţiunea: “Aînceput promoţia, preţuri cu TVA inclus…”; “A apărut absolut avantajos! Achiziţionezantichităţi…”; “A apărut cumpăr Mercedes 124…” ( România liber ă, 14 ianuarie, 2003, p.21). Dacă “a începe” face referire la un moment al acţiunii promovate, verbul “a apărea”nu are o legătur ă directă cu acţiunea denumită, ci cu procesul în sine: “a apărut ocazia dea…”. Conjugate la indicativ, perfect compus, aceste verbe denumesc activităţi tocmaiîncheiate, care ofer ă receptorului ocazia de a acţiona în avantajul său. Adverbul “astăzi” nueste foarte folosit şi, de obicei, i se adaugă o precizare: “Familia Vincreaţiu anunţă dispariţia fulger ătoare a celui care a fost cel mai iubit soţ, tată, bunic şi profesor ViorelVincreaţiu. Înmormântarea va avea loc azi, 14 feb. ora 13”. În reclamele din reviste“acum” are o conotaţie puţin diferită: “Acum există un deodorant de a cărui prospeţime te

poţi bucura în orice moment al zilei, de dimineaţa până seara” (deodorant Nivea); “Acum poţi spăla atât de mult! Cu atât de puţin!” (Fairy). Acest “acum” nu mai are legătur ă cudata de pe coperta revistei, ci reprezintă noutatea în domeniu (un nou produs din gama

Nivea, respectiv un nou detergent de vase).În ediţiile promo sunt frecvente exprimările de tipul: “astă sear ă numai la PRO

TV”; “filme de acţiune toată să ptămâna”; “filmele tale, filmele pe care ţi-ai dorit să le vezi – să ptămâna aceasta la ANTENA 1”; “toamna aceasta la HBO”, “vineri, la ora 20.00”.Contextul comunicării are rol dezambiguizator: substantivele “sear ă”, “să ptămână”,“toamnă”, “vineri” denumesc o unitate precisă de timp, în raport cu momentul emiteriimesajului.

Deixisul spa ţ ial are mai puţine actualizări în textele publicitare. Anunţurile de ziar folosesc adverbul “aici” pentru a “obliga” cititorul să se oprească asupra acelui micfragment din paginile întregi de anunţuri; nu dă indicii asupra produsului prezentat deanunţ: “Aici! Angajăm agenţi pază…”; “Aici! Vând avantajos…”. În reclamele din revistesau cele TV, imaginea este un plus necesar de informaţie: “Efectele se simt de aproape”(deodorant NIVEA). “Aproape” poate fi definit cu exactitate doar în funcţie de poziţiavorbitorului faţă de ceva sau cineva. Imaginea explică ce înseamnă “aproape”. Spotul

publicitar pentru detergentul BONUX este conceput ca o conversaţie între două vecine,ambele deţinătoare de pensiuni. Una dintre ele, Maria, are foarte mulţi oaspeţi, datorită

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preţurilor avantajoase. Cealaltă, îngrijorată de inflaţia care o obligă să aibă preţuri ridicateşi puţini clienţi, află de la Maria secretul succesului: folosirea detergentului BONUX. Înfinalul spotului, când primeşte alte solicitări, Maria r ăspunde:“- Am casa plină, dar vorbesc cu vecina să vă ia la ea.- Dar nu e scump?- Era. Acum e ca la mine.”

Acest “la mine” este un deictic spaţial care, prin raportare la emiţător, poate fi tradus încontextul de mai sus astfel: “la pensiunea Maria”. În reclama pentru cardurile VISA,obţinute prin HVB România, explicitarea este dată chiar în text: “… De ce tocmai cardVISA? Pentru că sunt carduri internaţionale acceptate în foarte, foarte multe locuri. Dacă mai vrei şi alte motive, treci pe la noi. << Noi >>, adică HVB România”.Zilnic apar noi producţii publicitare. În calea spre succes, fiecare trebuie să găsească “ceva” ce n-a avut precedenta, încât publicul s-o remarce, să o identifice, să reţină mesajulşi să acţioneze (în cele mai multe cazuri este vorba despre a cumpăra produsul promovat).Jocul între previzibil şi imprevizibil reprezintă o arie foarte largă de posibilităţi înatingerea unui asemenea scop.

Notă:

* Tr ăsăturile dominante ale textului publicitar sunt enunţiative şi descriptive, dar, la acestea, se adaugă celenarative şi argumenttive (v. P. Charaudeau, 1992).

Note bibliografice:Charaudeau, P., Grammaire du sens et de l’expression, Paris, Hachette, 1992;Du Marsais, Despre tropi, Bucureşti, Univers, 1981;Lotman, J.M., Structure du texte artistique, Paris, 1973;Stoichiţoiu-Ichim, A., Strategii persuasive în discursul publicitar, I, II, LL, 1997, vol 2, p.51-56, vol.3-4, p.45-54;

Surse material: România liber ă, 28 mai, 2000, România liber ă, 14 ianuarie, 2003.

Abstract

More than in any other type of communication, the advertising text cultivates the ludic, under its

different aspects, at different levels, and, as it is the case with any game, there are predictable

sequences but there also are unpredictable situations which enhance the curiosity of the

participants. Different forms of repetitions oppose ambiguities, each of them playing a well determined role. Our contribution is an analysis of the means which produce these stylistic

figures.

Résumé

Plus que dans tout autre situation de communication, le texte publicitaire cultive le ludique, sous

des aspects différents, aux niveaux différents et, comme dans tout jeu, il y a des séquences

prévisibles, mais aussi des situations imprévisibles qui agrandissent l’intérêt des participants. Les

figures de la répétition s’opposent à l’ambiguïté, chacune ayant un rôle bien déterminé. Cetteétude analyse des moyens de réalisation de ces figures.

Rezumat

Mai mult decât în orice alt tip de comunicare, textul publicitar cultivă ludicul, sub diversele lui

aspecte, şi, ca şi în cazul oricărui alt joc, exist ă şi aici secve ţ e predictibile şi secven ţ e

impredictibile care accentueaz ă interesul participan ţ ilor. Figurile discursului repetat se opun

ambiguit ăţ ilor, fiecare având un rol bine determinat. Prezentul studiu analizeaz ă mijloacele princare se realizeaz ă aceste figuri.

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pp. 36 - 41

Language

and

Literature

PRESA CA ISTORIE ALTERNATIVĂ ÎN MOROME Ţ II , DE MARINPREDA

Aplicaţii pe texte literare

Matei Damian

Studiul următor îşi propune un scurt excurs literar ca pretext al tratării unei problematici extrem de interesante la nivelul subiectului de oper ă epică: presa şi rolulacesteia ca motor al conflictului şi al evoluţiei personajelor. Vom începe cu o comparaţieîntre romanele Ion, de Liviu Rebreanu, Morome ţ ii, de Marin Preda, respectiv comediaTake, Ianke şi Cadîr , de Victor Ion Popa, pentru a ne deda apoi cu totul la delectarea cudesenul media moromeţian.

Astfel, observăm diferenţe de viziune şi construcţie cu r ădăcini adânci în creaţia primilor doi autori. Spre a atinge problema impactului presei asupra lumii ţăr ăneşti a Morome ţ ilor , ne vor fi de ajutor câteva idei ale lui Mihai Ungheanu, întru reliefareadistincţiei ce trebuie f ăcută între cele două planete ale ruralului ce gravitează în opera luiRebreanu, respectiv a lui Marin Preda:

„Marin Preda refuză un erou de felul lui Ion, a cărui foame de pământ este posesivă şi dezumanizant ă. Eroul său, dealtfel, nici nu e sărac cu totul, a şa cum era fiul Glaneta şului. […] Portretul Glaneta şului e f ăcut din punctul de vedere al unei optici pecare Moromete ar fi ironizat-o. […] Celelalte calit ăţ i ale lui sunt notate nu cu preamult ă considera ţ ie. Marin Preda semnalează la ţăran tocmai calit ăţ ile pentru care e

desconsiderat Glaneta şul. […](Ungheanu, 1973: 234-35)”

„Universul morome ţ ian cunoa şte o pasiune nouă pentru ceva mult mai pu ţ in sauaproape deloc concret, pentru ceva abstract, nepipăibil, o realitate depărtat ă. Dar ceeace este cu adevărat revolu ţ ionar pentru mediul şi mentalitatea lui Ion este renun ţ area la pământ . Niculae refuză o proprietate care şi-ar fi putut ulterior manifesta furia ei posesivă şi a cărei victimă este chiar tat ăl său. El aspir ă către eliberarea de sub tirania pământului.[…]

(Ungheanu, 1973: 236)”

„Oamenii constat ă că loturile sunt extrem de importante pentru ei, dar reu şesc

un fel de deta şare pe care nu trebuie s-o căut ăm în romanul Ion. Acolo pământul eatotputernic, devorant. Marin Preda descrie un alt ţăran, cu alt ă mentalitate, din alt ă perspectivă şi aceasta e cucerirea cea mai de pre ţ pentru literatura română.

(Ungheanu, 1973: 237)”

Tocmai refuzul învestirii factorului pământ cu rolul de motor al conflictelor face caatmosfera romanului Morome ţ ii să piardă din acea densitate distructivă proprie şi

Ră scoalei. După cum preciza Mihai Ungheanu, Preda desenează un nou tip de ţăran, chiar dacă nu vorbim încă despre Ilie Moromete, ceea ce se traduce neapărat în schimbarea de

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aer; for ţa deflagrantă a Ră scoalei se naşte atât de verde din vectorul pământ încât, dacă respiraţia e necesar roşie, atunci masele de ţărani nu pot fi decât negre: pare că însuşi

pământul explodează, ca r ăscolit de furie. De altfel, Miron Iuga pare înghiţit mai mult de oglie-burete, îmbogăţită cu puţin trup de opincile şerbilor.

Dimpotrivă, romanul Morome ţ ii nu mestecă pământ, ci sol. După cum recunoaşte şiM. Ungheanu, conflictele născute funciar sunt rare şi fac parte din lumina de scenă. Chiar

şi personajele protagoniste ale unor astfel de episoade sunt văzute ca marginale, interesantă fiind şi perspectiva în care ogorul este lăsat în paragină spre a nu încurca treburile îneconomia subiectului operei:

„Bo ţ oghină e un personaj cu totul periferic: se îmbolnăve şte de pl ămâni şimerge de mai multe ori la medic […] Ş i totu şi, cu Bo ţ oghină se întâmpl ă ceva. El faceun gest tot atât de nou şi de semnificativ ca al lui Niculae Moromete. Bo ţ oghină accept ă să vând ă pământul pentru a se vindeca! Sfatul dat f ăr ă speran ţă de medic cade pe unteren rodnic: ţăranul secular, în stare să moar ă de oftică , dar să nu se ating ă de pământ, este infirmat de ini ţ iativa lui Bo ţ oghină. Ni-l putem închipui pe Ion al Glaneta şului vânzând pământ pentru a vindeca de boal ă pe vreunul din ai săi sau pe sine?[…]

La fel de nejustificat în economia căr ţ ii pare şi cuplul Birică-Polina. Dar înacest caz, mai mult ca în celelalte, aspectul de replică ni se înf ăţ i şează conving ător. Birică şi Polina fac o că sătorie din dragoste.[…]

Ca şi în cazul lui Niculae este refuzat pământul şi totodat ă între ţ inut ă oaspira ţ ie care depăşe şte cadrul material. Marin Preda alege personaje şi situa ţ ii în carevechea mentalitate ţăr ănească este învinsă de oameni care pun mai presus decât pământul altceva. Bo ţ oghină pune mai presus decât pământul propria via ţă , Niculae, şcoala, Birică şi Polina, dragostea lor. Prozatorul Morome ţ ilor se opre şte asupraoamenilor elibera ţ i de instincte şi de ancestrale tiranii. El descoper ă în mediul rural apeten ţ e noi şi neobi şnuite: puritatea erotică , aspira ţ ia intelectual ă , pasiuneaadevărului. (Ungheanu, 1973: 237-39)”

Într-un astfel de peisaj se coace o gogoaşă de mătase nouă: în furibunda aspira ţ ie

intelectual ă de care vorbeşte Mihai Ungheanu, descoperim o celulă a comentariului literar pe text jurnalistic, un cenaclu şi o agenţie de presă în acelaşi timp: faimoasa Poiană afinanţatorului Iocan. Precum caielele dintre buzele fierarului, se pierd într-o copită de calremarci ca ale învăţătorului Teodorescu: „Am citit ieri în ziare (dumneavoastr ă dacă nuştiţi carte, nu citiţi ziarele)… (Preda, 1981: 294)” sau furii pestriţe ca ale agentuluistă pânirii care vine să jecmănească un om de litere: „Şi mai face şi politică! […] E abonatla ziar şi foncierea nu vrea s-o plătească. (Preda, 1981: 152)” Cum altfel, dacă nu într-unclimat al celor ce nu simt pământ sau nu iubesc ogor, s-ar fi putut constitui un astfel despaţiu, rupt de timp? Bomba cu hidrogen a Ră scoalei nu lasă loc vreunui reviriment, însă corul de creiere de la Iocan e astfel desenat încât să controleze eficient eventualele accesede piromanie şi să detoneze profesionist roadele grenadelor puberului Ţugurlan. Acesta dinurmă, precum un copil care se for ţează să-şi injecteze maturitate, pare a nu accepta din

principiu joaca celorlalţi: „Păi asta e politică ce faceţi voi?! ” , „Nu e nimic de capulvostru! (Preda, 1981: 132-33)” Echipa de descarcerare trece la treabă extrem de prompt,

prin înşişi protagoniştii săi: Cocoşilă se rezumă la a-i relata rebelului un knock-out cazonîmpotriva unuia „de două ori mai mare ca Dumitru lui Nae”, f ăr ă însă să se atingă deŢugurlan, în timp ce Moromete, fair-play, concluzionează că „trei chestiuni rezultă din celespuse de Ţugurlan (Preda, 1981: 134)” În speţă, sunt importante remarcile lui MihaiUngheanu, pe care-l cităm din nou:

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„El aruncase vorbe grele, jignise pe to ţ i cei prezen ţ i, inclusiv pe Moromete, dar prima reac ţ ie a acestuia este să disting ă în mânioasele fraze ale lui Ţ ugurlan o ordine,un sens. Poate că nici o alt ă împrejurare nu define şte mai bine spiritul lui Ilie Moromete, rasa spiritual ă a omului, decât ciocnirea de la fier ăria lui Iocan. El arecapacitatea de a depăşi evenimentul strict, de a se deta şa de întâmpl ări şi de a apela lao opera ţ ie de disociere care caut ă să men ţ ină adunarea în planul ei de gândire ini ţ ial. (Ungheanu, 1973: 139)”

În aceeaşi ordine de idei, vom mai insista doar asupra „definiţiilor” pe care le dă critica adunării din Poiană. Iată, pentru început, opinia Andreei Vlădescu:

„Poiana este […] adevărata scenă , spa ţ iul confrunt ărilor în spirit, al multiplicit ăţ ii sensurilor posibile, cadrul privilegiat al deplinei libert ăţ i interioare, în care eroul joacă rolul actorului oficiant. (Vlădescu, 1993: 208)”

Şi din nou Mihai Ungheanu:„Poiana fier ăriei lui Iocan este un forum. Aici oamenii se strâng pentru a se

informa, a schimba păreri şi a tr ăi cel puţin câteva ore pe zi într-un plan sufletesc epurat demizeria vieţii zilnice. (Ungheanu, 1973: 139)”

Aşadar, cum ar trebui să privim presa într-un astfel de spaţiu? La prima vedere,doar ca un pretext pentru fiinţarea adunărilor din Poiană, fiindcă un crainic cum e

Moromete nu împarte informaţii, ci desparte ştirea de context grefându-i sensuri proprii. Îidăm cuvântul Andreei Vlădescu:

„În scena lecturii, Moromete face din comedia cuvântului un spectacol total,marcându-l prin mi şcare şi intona ţ ie. La el, cuvântul nu este spus, ci interpretat. […] Moromete scoate cuvântul din context şi îi confer ă un alt sens, proiectându-l dinrealitatea sa specifică în lumea satului (Vl ădescu, 1993: 209)”, pentru că „amenin ţ areaistoriei este pusă între paranteze [ şi] devine o comedie, după cum nici personajele careintervin în repetate rânduri […] nu impun realitatea în jocul din poiană , de şi îiconturează amenin ţările. Pentru lumea interioar ă , nu exist ă acum un alt univers decât cel al scenei pe care se desf ăşoar ă jocul spiritului: realitatea agasant ă pentru euapar ţ ine unui alt spa ţ iu, situat dincolo de acest cadru. (Vlădescu, 1993: 210 )”

Deci ziarul este până la urmă un instrument al ieşirii din istorie; informaţia timpuluiimediat care apare în presă este concentrată pe un spaţiu mult mai mic, cel al satului, însă este adusă spre un când fabulos, aproape atemporal. Prin urmare, dacă la nivelul masei din

Ră scoala presa este inexistentă, fiind tradusă în mutanţi de felul unor vestitori serafici, încazul grupului de la fier ărie impactul ziarului r ămâne subdezvoltat în esenţă, nedepăşindstadiul de machetă, de capodoper ă a pretextelor. Se iţesc sporadice abonamente la ziar (Moromete, Iocan, Cocoşilă), însă e clar că schisma juvenilă dintre opinii nu-şi are obâr şiadefel în faptul că cei trei abonaţi primesc ziare diferite. Astfel de divergenţe media nufuncţionează decât ca peceţi ale indignării celor din afara grupului sau ca mărci aleincertului domino de culoare politică pe care-l joacă protagoniştii.

Mai trebuie menţionate două aspecte interesante, care împing Morome ţ ii spre

statutul de zonă de tranziţie rural-urban; fiindcă avem în vedere tipul micului burghez/func ţ ionar/negustor , vom evidenţia cele de mai sus tot printr-o trimitere la MihaiUngheanu, care detectează o arie de apropiere între cei doi poli:

„Cu excep ţ ia lui Ţ ugurlan, Coco şil ă şi, desigur, Iocan, eroii lui [Marin Preda] sunt în materie de politică ni şte puri. Cazul cel mai ilustrativ este Ilie Moromete. În felul lui de a gândi politica sunt tr ă sături care îl pun al ături de eroii lui M. Sebastian sauCamil Petrescu. Apropierea pare exagerat ă , cu atât mai mult cu cât ace ştia sunt eroi demarcă intelectual ă şi citadină ai unor scriitori de pronun ţ at accent intelectual şi, mai

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ales, de program literar antirural. Târâ ţ i de curentul absorbant al mi şcării politice, şiunii, şi al ţ ii, însă , indiferent de extrac ţ ia social ă (s.n.), nu- şi pierd tr ă săturile suflete şti şi, subliniez, cele intelectuale. Ei sfâr şesc dezarma ţ i, învin şi, dar consecven ţ i. Nu altaeste soarta lui Ilie Moromete. […] Nu dezvăluie aceea şi incompatibilitate cu politica,aceea şi for ţă de a r ămâne integri, eroii prozelor lui Camil Petrescu? Diferen ţ ele sunt cumult mai mici decât s-ar crede. (Ungheanu, 1973: 141-42)”

În acelaşi ton, Ungheanu continuă:

„Urbanizarea literaturii se cl ădea teoretic pe discreditul de principiu pe care-l primea orice crea ţ ie ce încerca să folosească materia lumii rurale. Manifestelecitadinismului literar sunt cunoscute. Unul din cei mai febrili şi consecven ţ i combatan ţ i,dacă nu cel mai proeminent, a fost Camil Petrescu. Surpriza este de a g ă si coordonatecomune între proza lui şi aceea a lui Marin Preda, între tipologia personajelor lui şicele ale lui Marin Preda. Colocviile de la fier ăria lui Iocan sunt testul decisiv al acesteiapropieri. (Ungheanu, 1973: 143)”

Aşadar, iată prima dimensiune a liniei evolutive Ră scoala - Morome ţ ii: de la ruralul pur la cel intelectualizat, de la PĂMÂNT la pământ, de la vestitorul oral la comentariul

activ al faptului de presă scrisă.În aceeaşi ordine de idei păşeşte în lumină şi a doua dimensiune, rezumată de

această dată de către Andreea Vlădescu; este disecat aici nu vectorul colocviilor dinPoiană, ci însăşi viziunea moromeţiană asupra politicului, sub aspect discursiv. Sursa eidentificată pe coordonatele trasate anterior de M. Ungheanu:

„Atitudinea lui Moromete şi modalitatea sa de a descifra sensul ascuns suntraportabile la memorabila scenă a lecturii gazetei din O noapte furtunoasă. Ca şi Ipingescu,eroul acordă cuvântului abstract un sens concret, prin stabilirea la nivelul formei a uneifalse analogii. (Vlădescu, 1993: 209)”

Glisăm astfel dinspre uliţă spre mahala. În tratarea impactului presei, trebuierelevată mai întâi extrema importanţă a factorului tabiet în citirea, zilnică sau nu, a gazetei.Vom merge pe mâna câtorva exemple, f ăr ă să neglijăm totodată fotografierea paletei de

variante ale factorului în discuţie. Prima dintre acestea se constituie în formarea„jurnalului” ca spaţiu securizant, în care protagonistul evadează nu de puţine ori. Presa ca

pretext apare şi aici, însă nivelul actului, ca şi obiectul, sunt diferite; pretextualul nu se precipită de astă dată în umor, spre evadare, fiindcă discuţiile de la Iocan raportau prezentul la un alt prezent, un spaţiu la altul. Vorbeam în acel caz de evadarea din realulimediat înspre unul fabricat, având ziarul ca intermediar. Aici, în schimb, realitatea e însuşiziarul (ca nud suport scris); acesta e folosit crunt, având o utilitate aproape organică, devreme ce conţinutul trece constant în plan secundar. Asistăm în acest prim act urban lanaşterea unei linii involutive: presa scrisă trece de la nivelul de subiect (ridiculizat sau nu)la sub-nivelul de obiect. Vom vedea cum.

Una dintre verigile cosmopolitului trio de protagonişti ai comediei Take, Ianke şiCadîr , de V. I. Popa, este Ianke, tatăl Anei. Cum joaca bătrânească a evreului cu Takeexplodează neverosimil într-un conflict (e drept, cu r ădăcini de scurt-circuit religios),încercările de evadare, formale sau nu, devin din ce în ce mai dese, indiferent de mijloace.În a patra scenă a actului II citim:

„IANKE (enervat, desface jurnalul): Ai văzut? Iar s-au omorât opt astăzi![…](Ianke, furios, vâr ă nasul în jurnal). (Popa, 1969: 246-47)” Nu ne vom mira deci dacă ziarul va mai r ămâne un moment în prim-plan şi la începutul scenei următoare:

„TAKE (intr ă posomorât): Poftă mare, jidane. (Ianke citeşte ziarul.) Ei, n-auzi mă frate? Poftă mare! (Popa, 1969: 247)” Vom construi deci facil tandemul ziar (pretext) –

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stare sufletească (context). Citind ziarul, Ianke este mai întâi „enervat”, apoi de-a dreptul„furios”; doar „posomorât”, Take intr ă în scenă drept în faţa unui Ianke f ăr ă cap: între ei seinterpune gazeta, contaminată (sau contaminantă?!) de dispoziţia toxică a celui ce o citeşte.Totuşi, şi acest ultim verb poate fi decapitat extrem de uşor: citeşte într-adevăr Ianke

jurnalul? În acest video al scenei a patra, paginile hârtiei de presă foşnesc brusc, evaziv,într-o mitraliere de stări sufleteşti. E greu de crezut, deci, că evreul cite şte; mult mai

plauzibilă pare lecturarea la repezeală a unui titlu care îi sare în ochi, şi acesta (cum altfel?)lipit de propriile gânduri şi stări de moment.În acelaşi context e imperios necesar ă clădirea unei alătur ări cu romanul Morome ţ ii,

luat mai devreme în discuţie. Întru justificarea aceloraşi coordonate ale involuţiei,apar ţinând acum doar căr ţii lui Preda, îl vom cita din nou pe Mihai Ungheanu:

„Dar fisura s-a produs. Poiana lui Iocan va mai găzdui întruniri, dar ele îşi vor pierde vechea aur ă, deoarece furia devastatoare a obscurelor for ţe care au dus la căderea luiIlie Moromete au devastat şi forum-ul local. Întâlnirile ce se ţin aici nu mai sunt decât unsimulacru al fostelor întâlniri. (Ungheanu, 1973: 192)” Celebra „decădere” a şefuluiMoromeţilor poate fi tradusă nu numai tradiţional (mult lopătata t ăiere a salcâmului , scenaîn care fiul cel mare se aşază pe locul care îi apar ţinuse doar tatălui etc.), ci şi în termenii

prezentei discuţii. Trecând prin disecarea aproape gastronomică a ziarului, în fier ăria lui

Iocan, vom avea sub ochi, spre finalul primului volum, scena următoare:

„- Ilie! şopti mama înspăimântat ă. Ce-i facem?! Era la prânz, se aflau to ţ i în tind ă şi a şteptau masa. Hârtia o adusese po şta,

odat ă cu ziarul. Moromete nici măcar n-o citise, î şi aruncase doar ochii pe plic, vă zusetitulatura băncii şi-l l ă sase pe Niculae să-l deschid ă. El r ă sfoia ziarul şi când mama puse întrebarea ei înspăimântat ă , se supăr ă şi se r ă sti la ea… (Preda, 1981: 428)”

Fragmentăm deliberat pasajul pentru câteva momente spre a reliefa situaţia: protagonistul nu poate accepta stadiul actual în care a ajuns familia, cel al obişnuitei bunăstări acum ameninţate. El caută să păstreze prin atitudine cadenţa evoluţiei familiei învechiul ritm; adiţional, citirea ziarului trebuie să se desf ăşoare pe aceleaşi coordonate,

împreună cu refuzul f ăţiş al celulozei de altă sorginte. După vechiul tipar al ridiculizăriisuperioare a „percitorului”, plicul cu „titulatura băncii” este scuipat spre Niculae. Tatăl îşiaruncă „doar ochii” pe plic, preferând să citească ziarul, însă reversul e necruţător: foartecurând, Moromete va fi constrâns să-şi sporească atenţia vizavi de plicuri şi ştampile, astfelcă ziarul cade inevitabil spre nivelul „Ianke”, cel de mască lipsită de raţiunea literei. Dealtfel, pe parcursul aceluiaşi pasaj, Moromete a renunţat deja la citirea ziarului. Analogiilede atmosfer ă cu piesa lui V. I. Popa sunt uimitoare:

„- Ce e, fa, ce vreai tu? Nu ştiai? Sau credeai că ăia au uitat? Se supăr ă şi mai

r ău (s.n.) şi continuă: Credeai că au pus lacăt la bancă şi s-au dus la secere ca tine?! Se

posomorî, î şi vîrî fruntea în ziar (s.n.) şi încheie: Uite colo caii în grajd şi oile… Neducem la obor, vindem şi gata socoteala!

[…] O să curg ă tren ţ ele de pe noi şi-o să ajungem ca şofranul. Moromete se posomorî, î şi vîrî fruntea în ziar şi nu mai zise nimic.(s.n.)(Preda, 1981: 428-29)”, pe când „Ianke, furios, î şi vâr ă nasul în jurnal.” Aceea şireac ţ ie defensivă în fa ţ a realit ăţ ii necru ţătoare, având ca paravan ziarul, une şte ţăranul şi negustorul de „târgu şor provincial”.

Făr ă pretenţia de a friza completul, acest material s-a vrut a fi ceva mai mult decâtun inventar: anume o trecere în revist ă a dimensiunii media ca o componentă a genezei şievoluţiei subiectului literar.

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REFERINŢE:

Popa, V. I. (1969). Take, Ianke şi Cadîr , Bucureşti: Editura de Stat pentru Literatur ă şi Artă Ungheanu, M. (1973). Marin Preda: voca ţ ie şi aspira ţ ie, Bucureşti: Editura EminescuPreda, M. (1981). Morome ţ ii, vol. I, Bucureşti: Editura Cartea Românească Vlădescu, A. (1993). Marin Preda sau triumful con ştiin ţ ei, Bucureşti: Editura Cartea Românească

Abstract

The present study casts a few beams on the fact of press in the novel Morome ţ ii, by Marin Preda.We shall not limit ourselves to just narrating the commentaries on the newspaper information form Poiana lui Iocan (Iocan’s clearing) but we intend to highlight the double role of the written press in the evolution of the main character: the history reduced to the dimensions of the rural,on the one hand and the newspaper as a pretext for claustration, for an acute state of denial, on

the other hand. We shall see that the both instances belong to history: the former, no matter how goodwilling is built artificially, so it will not stand the seige of the latter which is cruel and irrevocable.

Résumé

La présente étude propose quelques „rayons” jetés sur le fait de presse dans le roman Morome ţ iide Marin Preda. Nous n’allons pas nous limiter à une description des commentaires sur l’information journalistique de Poiana lui Iocan (le bois de Iocan), mais nous voulons mettre enévidence le double rôle de la presse écrite dans l’évolution du personnage principal : l’histoireréduite au niveau rural, d’un coté et, de l’autre coté, le journal en tant que prétexte de laclaustration, de l’état du refus absolu. Nous verrons que les deux hypostases appartiennent àl’histoire : la première, quelque bienveillante qu’elle soit, est construite d’une manièreartificielle, de sorte qu’elle ne résiste pas à l’assaut de la deuxième, cruelle et irrévocable.

Rezumat

Prezentul studiu propune câteva raze aruncate asupra faptului de presă în romanul Moromeţii ,de Marin Preda. Nu ne limit ăm la a relata comentariile pe marginea informa ţ iei de ziar din Poiana lui Iocan, ci dorim a eviden ţ ia dublul rol al presei scrise în evolu ţ ia personajului principal: istoria redusă la rural, pe de o parte, şi ziarul ca pretext al claustr ării, al st ării acutede refuz, pe de alt ă parte. Vom vedea că ambele ipostaze apar ţ in istoriei: prima, oricât debinevoitoare, este construit ă artificial, astfel că nu va rezista la asediul celei de-a doua, crud ă şiirevocabil ă.

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pp. 42 - 45

Language

and

Literature

ISAAC ASIMOV VS. THE FRANKENSTEIN COMPLEX

Petru Iamandi

To Isaac Asimov, who calls the fear of mechanical intelligence the “Frankenstein

complex” (Warrick, 2002:170), machines just take over dehumanizing activities and thus

allow humans to become more human. “The […] computer,” he states, “is far superior at

those mental tasks that are dull, repetitive, stultifying and degrading, leaving to human

beings themselves the far greater work of creative thought in every field from art and

literature to science and ethics.” (Warrick, 2002:170)

Literarily, Asimov upholds his statement by the three laws of robotics that he himself

devised, analogous to the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament (Moore, 1976:101):

1. A robot may not injure a human being nor, through inaction, allow a human being

to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orderswould conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict

with the First or Second Law. (Asimov, 1983:269-270).

These laws, which are obviously designed to protect humans from any harm resulting

directly or indirectly from the action of a robot, are written into the robot’s positronic brain.

More than that, in Asimov’s stories at least, only robots with this powerful safeguard are produced and they are manufactured by the same company - United States Robots and

Mechanical Men, Inc.

Asimov’s laws, however, are more like moral rules that can be easily broken, many

of their features resembling those of traditional ethical norms, as Susan Calvin, on of the

characters in “Evidence” (1946), says:

[…] if you stop to think of it, the three Rules of Robotics are the essential guiding

principles of a good many of the world’s ethical systems. Of course, every human

being is supposed to have the instinct of self-preservation. That’s Rule Three to a

robot. Also every “good” human being, with a social conscience and a sense of

responsibility, is supposed to defer authority […] even when they interfere with hiscomfort or his safety. That’s Rule Two to a robot. Also, every “good” human being is supposed to love others as himself, protect his fellow man, risk his life to save another.

That’s Rule One to a robot. (Asimov, 1983:530)

The main difference is that, while robots invariably submit to these rules, humans tend to

break them all the time. Maybe that is the reason why the same Susan Calvin adds, “I like

robots. I like them considerably better than I do human beings.” (Asimov, 1983:544)

Although the robots’ behaviour seems irrational sometimes, scientific investigation proves

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not only the opposite but also that their rationality, of a strictly mechanical nature, “is the

answer to social and moral problems.” (Wolfe, 1979:158).

Asimov’s themes

Many of Asimov’s robot stories explore the way in which the three laws influence the man-machine relationship, the author rarely using dramatic conflict to develop his plot. It is a

puzzle or problem that he more often than not brings to the foreground and the suspense

thus created moves the plot forward. The action is more cerebral than physical and follows

the scientific method pattern: defining the puzzle/problem; collecting and evaluating the

data; forming the hypothesis and the possible solution; testing the solution and, if this is not

correct, re-examining the process until discovering the difficulty.

Identity confusion. Although Asimov strongly insists that, “My robots were

machines designed by engineers, not pseudo-men created by blasphemers” (Frude,

1984:89), he deliberately creates confusion between robots and people. Some of his

characters appear as robots firs, to be revealed as people later, while in other stories the

process is reversed or ambiguity is preserved until the end, leaving the reader in a state of

uncertainty. In “Evidence,” for instance, Susan Calvin is called in to help decide whether a prominent politician is a human or a robot. Resorting to the three laws, she uses the

following line of reasoning: if the politician obeys the laws, he could be either a human or a

robot; if he does not obey the laws, he cannot be a robot, therefore he is a man. The minute

the politician punches an opponent the problem seems to be solved, but Calvin explains

that a robot might appear to break the first law only when the “person” harmed is not a

human but a robot.

Humanization. Even when their identity is not in doubt, Asimov’s robots get

features which humanize them. The author carefully provides not only their specific

physical details but also their personality characteristics, creating essentially human

“personalities” which push the basic function of the machines into the background.

Such engaging robots often stimulate emotional attachments in the humans around

them, as in Asimov’s first robot story, “Robbie” (1940), in which the machine listens in

rapt attention while Gloria, an eight-year-old girl, reads him his favourite fairy tale. Since

Robbie enjoys all Gloria’s games, the girl’s mother gets worried, in spite of her husband

reassuring her that, “Robbie was constructed for only one purpose really – to be the

companion of a little child. His entire ‘mentality’ has been created for the purpose. He just

can’t help being faithful and loving and kind. He’s a machine – made so.” (Asimov,

1983:171) Robbie’s impact on Gloria is extreme, the girl preferring to spend all her time

with him and, when her mother replaces him with a dog, she screams, “He was not no

machine. […] He was a person just like you and me and he was my friend . I want him

back.” (Asimov, 1983:175)

The relationship between robots and the humans they interact with can also be

maternal or romantic. Susan Calvin, a psychologist specialized in robot psychology, tendsto treat robots as colleagues and in “Lennie” (1958) she teaches a retarded robot to speak,

his first words being, “Mommie, I want you. I want you, Mommie” (Asimov, 1983:384).

And the psychologist hurries longingly toward “the only kind of baby she could ever have

or love” (Asimov, 1983:384).

Most of Asimov’s robots are male and this limits the possibility for human-machine

romantic relationships. There is no femme fatale robot in his stories, the explanation being

indirectly offered by one of the characters in “Feminine Intuition” (1969): “No woman

wants to feel replaceable by something with none of her faults” (Asimov, 1983:582)

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In “Satisfaction Guaranteed” (1951), however, Asimov does not reject the possibility that a

woman might fall in love with one of his robots. Claire Belamont is irresistibly attracted

toward Tony, a sophisticated robot, extremely handsome and well-mannered. Soon Claire

will share all his emotional problems and be impressed by the robot’s understanding

attitude: “Why did she keep forgetting that he was a machine. […] Was she so starved for

sympathy that she would accept a robot as an equal - because he sympathized?” (Asimov,

1983:357) But while Tony behaves according to the three laws of robotics, Clair gives ventto her passion to later discover that “machines can’t fall in love, but – even when it’s

hopeless and horrifying – women can!” (Asimov, 1983:367)

The robots’ rights and evolution is the theme of Asimov’s masterpiece, a novella

called The Bicentennial Man (1976). Told in twenty-three episodes, it covers two hundred

years in the life of the robot Andrew Martin. Inverting the classical approach – man

examining artificial intelligence – Asimov has Andrew explore the nature and implications

of human intelligence.

At first, Andrew is a household robot that serves the Martin family, much the role

of Robbie. But Andrew produces exquisite wood carvings, an unusual talent which, as a

robopsychologist suggests, must be the result of a mutation of the robot’s positronic brain.

Andrew’s owner realizes there might be a market for the robot’s works of art and opens a

bank account in the robot’s name. Andrew uses the money to pay for his own repairs and,when he has grown rich enough, he declares he wants to buy his freedom. Since this is a

legal matter, the Martin family takes the case to court. After a long struggle, the court

declares Andrew free stating that, “There is no right to deny freedom to any object with a

mind advanced enough to grasp the concept and desire the state.” (Asimov, 1983:646)

Andrew has a house built near his former owner’s, begins to wear clothes, which

make him feel human, and decides to go to the public library in order to increase his

understanding of human affairs. On his way to the library two young men accost him, ask

him to take off his clothes, and want to dismantle him. Saved in the nick of time, Andrew

hires a lawyer and starts to fight for robot rights. In his plea, the lawyer says that, “a robot

is not insensible; it is not an animal. It can think well enough to enable it to talk to us,

reason with us, joke with us. Can we treat them as friends, can we work together with them,

and not give them some of the fruit of that friendship, some of the benefit of co-working?

[…] With great power goes great responsibility, and if the robots have Three Laws to

protect men, is it too much to ask that men have a law or two to protect robots?” (Asimov,

1983:656-657) Finally the principle of robot rights is established.

Andrew writes a history of robots and intends to use the royalties to replace his

mechanical body by an organic android structure. After a long series of operations his

metal shell is replaced with the type of body he has longed for. Nevertheless, Andrew is far

from being happy. By now generations of Martins have passed and the robot realizes that

mortality is a necessary condition of humanness. And he makes the ultimate sacrifice – he

gives up his deathless inorganic brain to fulfil his greatest dream: to be as nearly human as

possible.

Asimov’s novella, as Patricia Warrick points out, follows both the movement of mechanical intelligence toward human intelligence and death, and man’s development of

technology and movement toward artificial intelligence and immortality (Warrick,

2002:177) Knowledge eventually dies in the organic brain, but it can survive in a

mechanical one. Thus the inorganic form may well be the only form for the survival of

intelligence in the universe. A second implication of the novella is that the line between the

organic and the inorganic seems to be extremely blurred. If the essential elements of the

universe are matter, energy, and intelligence, then man is not unique, on the contrary he

exists on a continuum with all intelligence, and ethical behaviour extends to all systems

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because any organizational pattern – human or nonhuman, organic or inorganic –

represents intelligence – a “sacred view of the universe, the result not of religious

mysticism but of pure logic” (Warrick, 2002:177).

REFERENCES

Asimov, Isaac. (1983). The Complete Robot , London: Grafton Books.Frude, Neil. (1984). The Robot Heritage, London: Guild Publishing.

Moore, Maxine. (1976). “Asimov, Calvin, and Moses” in T. D. Clareson (ed.), Voices forthe Future:

Essays on Major Science Fiction Writers, vol. 1, Bowling Green: The Bowling Green UniversityPopular Press.

Warrick, Patricia S. (2002) “Asimov and the Morality of Artificial Intelligence” in Jesse G.

Cunningham (ed.), Science Fiction, San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc.

Wolfe, Gary K. (1979). The Known and the Unknown, Kent: The Kent State UP.

Abstract

In his stories, Isaac Asimov rejects the fear of artificial intelligence, which he calls the

Frankenstein Complex, claiming that machines, no matter how advanced they are, cannot but

ease man’s life by taking over the most dehumanizing activities. The author upholds this idea by

putting forward the so-called laws of robotics which, being inserted in the robots’ minds, prevents them from affecting man’s integrity. Asimov’s stories, whose favourite themes are

confusing identity, humanization, robots’ rights and evolution, ingeniously show that, no matter

how hard they try, robots are not able to betray the human beings; on the contrary, their irresistable temptation is to be taken for them.

Résumé

Dans ses contes, Isaac Asimov rejette la crainte de l’intelligence artificielle qu’il nomme le« complexe Frankenstein », soutenant l’idée que les machines, quelques évoluées qu’elles soient,

ne font qu’alléger la vie de l’homme, en prenant la charge de ses plus deshumanisantes activités.

L’auteur traduit son idée par l’élaboration des soi-disant lois de la robotique qui, par l’insertion

dans le cerveau des robots, empêchent ces derniers de porter atteinte à l’intégrité de l’homme.

Ces contes où les thèmes de prédilection sont la mêlée des identités, l’humanisation, les droits et l’évolution des robots, démontrent avec ingéniosité que les robots, quoi qu’ils fassent, ne peuvent

trahir les gens mais, bien au contraire, éprouvent l’irrésistible tentation de se confondre avec

eux.

Rezumat

In povestirile lui, Isaac Asimov respinge teama de inteligen ţ a artificial ă , pe care o nume şte„Complexul Frankenstein”, sus ţ inând că ma şinile, indiferent cât de evoluate ar fi, nu fac decât să

u şureze via ţ a omului prin preluarea celor mai dezumanizante activit ăţ i. Autorul î şi sus ţ ine ideea

prin elaborarea a şa-numitelor legi ale roboticii care, prin inser ţ ia în creierul robo ţ ilor, îiîmpiedică pe ace ştia să atenteze într-un fel sau altul la integritatea omului. Povestirile lui, în care

temele predilecte sunt confundarea identit ăţ ii, umanizarea, drepturile şi evolu ţ ia robo ţ ilor,

demonstreaz ă cu ingeniozitate că , oricât de mult ar încerca, robo ţ ii nu-i pot tr ăda pe oameni ci,

dimpotrivă , tenta ţ ia lor irezistibil ă este de a se confunda cu ei.

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pp. 46 - 52

Language

and

Literature

OMOTETII FRACTALE ÎN MEMENTO MORI DE M.EMINESCU

Nicoleta Ifrim

Exacerbând algebricul şi analiticul în defavoarea imaginii, gândirea ştiinţifică modernă se depărtează progresiv de dinamica plurală a formelor, preferând unilateralulobiect fizic, fapt comentat de B.Mandelbrot în eseul Zbor deasupra limbajelor fractale, înObiectele fractale, ediţia a treia din 1989. Teoreticianul fractalilor aduce în discuţie

problematica crizei ştiinţifice actuale, în condiţiile în care individul devine martorulgenezei unei noi ştiinţe care postulează primatul imaginii şi care nu mai ader ă la absolutulnonfiguralului abstract. „Gândirea prin intermediul imaginilor” devine astfel o modalitatede apropriere a lumii, dar şi a universului poetic; căci,

„dacă aşa cum crede Mandelbrot, geometria fractală reprezintă o reacţie a imaginiiîmpotriva ascezei iconoclaste a gândirii algebrice, atunci speranţa într-o nouă ştiinţă revineîn fond la nostalgia privind reintegrarea vechiului tip de imaginar, pe suprimarea căruia,tocmai, ştiinţa modernă se edificase [...] Poate că ceea ce este implicat în această nouă dispută a imaginilor este de fapt reintegrarea unui subiect cunoscător reconciliat cu propriasa istorie, adică, în fond, cu întregul cuprins al ontologiei sale. Regăsim astfel, la omuleuropean, faptul că imaginalul reapare latent atunci când revendicarea nevoii de imaginar este mai nestăvilită.” (Patapievici, 2005:292)

La rândul său, creatorul se află sub incidenţa unor astfel de for ţe fenomenologic-formatoare care dirijează tacit raportul cu transcendenţa, căutată mai ales în decodificareafigurală a „stărilor interioare”, poetic marcate de tr ăirea / devenirea temporală. Intrând în„jocul cu timpul”, eul nu se află subjugat acestuia, ci îi imaginează metamorfozele, căci

„virtualizându-se, subiectul scapă câte pu ţ in devenirii; el nu mai face propriu- zis parte din ea, ci devine capabil dimpotrivă de a o domina şi integra în larg ă mă sur ă. Din aceea şi cauză el se temporalizează. În loc de a fi purtat de ea, subiectul o în ţ elege, gra ţ ie virtualit ăţ ilor care se constituie în mod uman. Deoarece se poten ţ ializează , omul devine prin intermediul gândirii survolare a timpului şi capacitate de a rosti lumea.”( Jacob apud Chioaru 2000: 13)

Nu altceva spune eminescianul vers din Epigonii, care sugerează o construcţievirtuală, temporal marcată, a lumii drept coerenţă a imaginii: „Ochiul vostru vedea-n lumeade icoane un palat.”

Pornind de la aceste premise, de la nevoia acută de potenţare a „setei de imagine”, poemul Memento mori se decriptează prin mecanismul fractal al complexităţii figuraleinculcate de „starea interior-poetică” a eului eminescian, care urmează traseul „punerii înformă” pe direcţia matrice – realizat. Poemul adoptă o structur ă conceptual – fractalică ceacţionează asupra gândirii creatoare eminesciene drept „configuraţie euristică” (H.-R.Patapievici), care modelează intrinsec forma internă a reprezentărilor poetice. „Plonjarea

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în istoricitate” se transformă în paradigmă creatoare ce implică un mecanismmandelbrotian de actualizare în universul poetic, cel al gener ării de forme prin reiterarefractală. Procedeul cere în subsidiar o necesar ă schimbare de focalizare critică, de launitatea textuală individuală la observarea simetriilor recursive între nivelele textual-

poetice. Convertind stările interioare în analogii figurale, discursul poetic din Mementomori construieşte vizionar un parcurs al „trecerii” contemplative prin forme de civilizaţie,

pe baza unui generator de tip mandelbrotian, „reproducerea în abis, prin diferenţe, aautosimilarelor” sau „creşterea prin amplificare / diferenţiere” şi generând, „f ăr ă a-şi pierdeidentitatea, forme şi conţinuturi non-identice.” (Patapievici: 288) Coexistenţa formelor istoricizate în acelaşi univers al poemului, determinate de principiul mandelbrotian alexpansiunii, legitimează subtextual figura geometrică a fractalului, promovând drept fir director al gândirii eminesciene „regula identicilor diferiţi” despre care vorbeştePatapievici, în contextul mai larg al filosofiei religiilor:

„Oricare secven ţă a reproducerii similare este autosimilar ă în oricare din păr ţ ile ei, astfel că va exista mereu o dimensiune care să pună în eviden ţă diferitul şi oalta care să eviden ţ ieze identicul. Aceast ă serie infinit ă , generat ă prin angrenarea deidentic şi diferit după o regul ă a autosimilarit ăţ ii, poart ă în matematică numele de

fractal. Figura geometrică a cre ştinismului pare a fi, astfel, fractalul. (Fire şte, eu nuoperez aici cu identificări ontologice, de tipul cre ştinismul este un fractal: sus ţ in maidegrabă ideea că no ţ iunea de fractal este consecin ţ a unei anumite traduceri, în limbajnatural, a unei realit ăţ i teologice cre ştine, bazat ă şi ea pe autosimilarit ăţ i şi solidarit ăţ ide tip formă / con ţ inut, rezultate din modul în care limbajul a putut primi revela ţ iacre ştină ).” (Patapievici:277)

În acest sens, am putea afirma că, în Memento mori, figura geometrică aimaginarului eminescian, cea care îi poate surprinde complexităţile dinamice dar şiautosimilarităţile interioare, este fractalul, ceea ce reconfigurează morfo-genezicdominantele romantice ale onirismului de tip thanatic. Sau, viziunea fractalică devine unadevărat „model cosmologic”, aşa cum este definit acesta de Ioana Em.Petrescu:„Consider ăm că modelul cosmologic constituie o realitate de profunzime a viziunii,depăşind în adâncime nivelul conştiinţei teoretice (ştiinţifice), dar şi nivelul materialuluimitic din care se constituie viziunile cosmogonice explicite din operele literare, pentru că modelul cosmologic este expresia sentimentului existenţei în lume, a raporturilor originare

pe care fiinţa le stabileşte cu universul.” (Ioana Em.Petrescu, 2005:21) Orientat spresurprinderea devenirii continue a universului, care creşte imploziv prin repetitivitateadiferenţiată a propriilor autosimilarităţi, modelul cosmologic fractalic din Memento mori îşi revelă propria esenţă principială în potenţarea poetică a consubstanţialităţii fiinţă – univers, o reintegrare a statutului ontologic în diversitatea morfogenezică a lumii la careare acces prin contemplare onirică şi descătuşare thanatică. Vorbim, în acest context,despre spaţiul onirico-thanatic ca fundal pentru proiectarea mecanismului fractal alautosimilarităţii, care permite creşterea interioar ă a complexităţii viziunilor poematice prin

asumarea raportului infinit (ieşire din formă şi plonjare în multiplicitatea istorizată) – finit (actualizare şi punere în formă conotată temporal).Această relaţie dinamică bi-univocă păstrează ceva din amprenta paradigmei

romantice, care operează cu transgresiuni vizionare ale spaţio-temporalităţii spre asurprinde mecanismul universal al rotirii civilizaţiilor, căci

„eul liric din Memento mori, pă scându- şi <turma visurilor>, pune st ă pânire peroata istoriei, rena şte din haos lumile cuprinse de moarte şi devine spectatorul triumfului viitor al nefiin ţ ei. Îndeosebi prin intermediul somnului şi visului sunt puse în

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valoare virtualit ăţ ile ilimit ării. Gra ţ ie acestora, eul capăt ă demiurgie, for ţ ele gândului se descătu şează , se ascult ă şi se înf ă ptuiesc, iar poetul î şi subordonează haosul pătrunzându-l de propria-i coeren ţă. Trecerea din planul vigil în cel oniric esteechivalent ă , mai totdeauna, cu ie şirea din claustrare în f ăr ă margini: <Când omul risipitu-i, un lut f ăr ă suflare, / Sufletul în afar ă r ămâne surd şi orb: / Un cântec f ăr ă arpă , o rază f ăr ă soare, / Un murmur f ăr ă ape, e suflet f ăr ă corp, / Dar înăuntru-i este olume-ntinsă mare, / Aievea-i pentru dânsul. Cum picături ce sorb / Toate razele lumii

într-un gr ăunte-uimit, / În el îs toate, dânsul e-n toate ce-a gândit.>” (Melian, 1987:11)

De de altă parte, coexistenţa avatarică a lumilor circumscrise istoric din Mementomori confer ă esenţă unui Weltanschauung eminescian, din care nu poate lipsi

„ideea de moarte privit ă ca un corolar al ideii de via ţă. Ea nu numai că a fost una din cele patru mari teme romantice pe lâng ă natur ă , iubire, şi divinitate, ci chiar un sentiment, din ale cărei tr ăiri s-au chintesen ţ iat idei generale, unele care ţ in dedomeniul religiei ca ideea de reîncarnare progresivă şi regresivă (palingeneza şimetempsihoza), ca şi ideea de reminiscen ţă (anamnesis), adesea prezent ă în intui ţ iaomului de geniu. Domeniul psihologic a fost îmbog ăţ it cu no ţ iunea de archaeus, înîn ţ eles monadic sau de arhetip platonic. Vie ţ ile în succesiunea lor fiind experien ţ e în

care arhetipul s-a transpus. Totalitatea acestor vie ţ i ar fi <eternitatea relativă> sau<eternitatea cu grani ţ i>, pe când eternitatea din arheu e <absolut ă> sau<nonexistent ă> [...]. La Eminescu, moartea nu-i definitivă pentru că geniul ei nu-i decât al unei eternit ăţ i cu grani ţ i [...]. Problema mor ţ ii se poate însă întregi înWeltanschauung-ul eminescian al ături de categorii ca devenire, unitate, infinit, timp şi spa ţ iu chemate să explice prezen ţ a unui Univers deschis. La Eminescu, sugestiile pecare le ofer ă poezia şi preocupările sale fragmentare de filosofie, atrag aten ţ ia asupraunor atribute fundamentale ale cosmosului, cum ar fi eternitatea şi schimbarea continuă pe care poetul le-a numit <Ahasverul formelor lumii>. [...] Ideea de univers închis numai putea fi acceptat ă , şi apercep ţ ia romantică îl ducea f ăr ă echivoc la starea de pluralitate a lumilor, proliferant ă pentru fantezia romantică. Coresponden ţ ele vizibileîntre om şi cosmos pe care geniile le-au intuit prin gândirea lor mitică , puteau fi sugestia unui cosmos a cărui existen ţă e numai circular ă , cum întâlnim în Cu mâne

zilele- ţ i adaugi, Glossă , Scrisoarea I. Pe tot atâtea argumente pledează pentru ununivers ce se dezvolt ă în spiral ă , idee mai aproape de evolu ţ ionismul şi proteismul romantic.” (Aurel Petrescu, 1985: 65-66)

Actualizând o adevărată „vocaţie a visului”(Ioana Em.Petrescu), Memento mori devine astfel un proiect programatico-poematic al „timpului cascadă” în care „poezia şivisul se exersează în a întoarce înapoi <roata vremii>, trecând prin <punctele de solsti ţiu>ale fiecărei civilizaţii, spre timpul ei echinoxial, în care şi-a gândit zeii şi şi-a construitmiturile.” (Ioana Em.Petrescu, 2005:113)

Acelaşi mecanism al structur ării „în cascadă” este asumat şi de Mandelbrot înexplicarea funcţionalităţii creşterii fractale a formei, care îşi recuperează identitateatotalizatoare prin coexistenţa regresivă a autosimilarelor sau, altfel spus, prin „punere

implozivă în formă” a omotetiilor interne. Tot în acelaşi fel este construită şi viziuneaonirică din Memento mori asupra temporalităţii istoricizate, cele două categorii temporale

prevalente, „timpul echinoxial” şi „timpul solstiţial” fiind corelativele dominantelor spaţiale, infinit şi finit , sau, în sens fractalic, ale celor doi topoi – „ieşirea din formă” şi„punerea în formă.” Apropriindu-şi visul şi moartea ca posibităţi generice de transgresarespaţială din formă în formă, repetând astfel identicul, dar evidenţiind diferitul, discursul

poetic construieşte viziunea „declinului ciclic al civilizaţiilor” ca morfo-geneză temporală pe cele două coordonate:

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„Timpul – şi el rotitor – se reîntoarce ritmic spre momentele sale aurorale,revitalizându-se într-o perpetuă tinere ţ e. Aici, la izvoare, <timpi r ăcori şi clar r ă sar>ve şnic, str ăini istoriei (adică eroziunii), ritmând o coregrafie astral ă etern identică sie şi. Este un timp pe care l-am putea numi, metaforic, echinoxial, al cumpenei în eternechilibru, un timp care nu cunoa şte dramele ruperii, opririi, declinului, un timp sferic, pe care imagina ţ ia îl aseamănă calotei sferice a universului platonician, ale cărei puncte sunt, toate, echidistante fa ţă de propriu-i centru. Timpul echinoxial este timp

cosmic, cel în care grecii vedeau imaginea mobil ă a eternit ăţ ii, cel pe care Eminescu îl vede mă surat, în adâncul codrilor ve şnici, de cântul monoton al greierilor, orologiicosmice (<Pe când greieri, ca orlogii, r ă gu şit în iarbă sună...> – Memento mori). Ş i, tot metaforic vorbind, dar utilizând de ast ă dat ă o metafor ă esen ţ ial ă a universului poeticeminescian, timpul î şi pierde caracterul cosmic de imagine mobil ă a eternit ăţ ii şi prime şte un caracter istoric (comportând adică eroziunea, ruperea, stagnarea,degradarea) atunci când iese de sub semnul echinoxului şi intr ă sub semnul solsti ţ iului. Marile crize istorice ale umanit ăţ ii (vă zute ca tot atâtea amurguri ale zeilor) sunt înscrise de Eminescu în Memento mori, sub semnul <punctului de solsti ţ iu> în ţ eles caruptur ă tragică în raport cu continuitatea perpetuă a timpului echinoxial: <Ş i-ast ă zi punctul de solsti ţ iu a sosit în omenire. / Din mărire la cădere, din cădere la mărire / Astfel vezi roata istoriei întorcând schi ţ ele ei; / În zadar palizi, sini ştri, o privesccuget ătorii / Ş i vor cursul să-l abat ă. Combina ţ ii iluzorii - / E apus de zeitate, ş-asfin ţ irede idei.>” (Ioana Em.Petrescu, 2005: 61)

Cele două categorii temporale, în schimb, se desprind de tentaţia antinomieiromantice realitate – idealitate, nu mai apeleză la o viziune compensatorie, de transformareutopică a unei lumi reale efemere şi lipsite de autenticitate, ci se înscriu dialectic într-o

poetică fractală a coexistenţei în durat ă, pentru care somnia thanatică devine o soluţieasumată de autentificare a complexităţii în mişcare, în care eul îşi resimte integrată condiţiaontologică. În acest fel, Memento mori, „marele poem al naşterii şi mor ţii civilizaţiilor”,recitit prin grila hermenuticii fractale, devine o panoramare mandelbrotiană a formelor „măririi” şi „căderii” văzute în succesiunea temporalităţii lor, pentru care „lumea ceaaievea” (şi corolarul său – timpul solstiţial) şi „lumea-nchipuirii” (cu corespondentul

temporal al echinoxiului) sunt etapele omotetice ale construcţiei fractale şi nu maiangajează o dichotomie structurală care ar fracţiona antitetic discursul. Modelul fractal alcoexistenţei „identicilor diferiţi” estompează radicala opoziţie structurală de sorginteromantică, în virtutea existenţei unui eu care contemplă lumea în diversitatea formelor ei şile urmăreşte geneza interioar ă perpetuă conform desideratului mandelbrotian alsurprinderii diferitului în identic: „Una-i lumea-nchipuirii cu-a ei visuri fericite, / Alta-ilumea cea aievea, unde cu sudori muncite / Te încerci a stoarce lapte din a stâncei coasteseci; / Una-i lumea-nchipuirii cu-a ei mândre flori de aur, / Alta unde cerci via ţa s-o-ntocmeşti precum un faur / Cearc-a da fierului aspru forma cugetării reci.”

Din alt punct de vedere, reconstruind poetic lumea sau, mai bine spus, regăsindsensul istoric al formelor mundane prin permisiva dimensiune oniric-contemplativă, eulliric din Memento mori transcende individualul pentru a recupera pluralul, fiind o

conştiinţă care descifrează limbajul formelor lumii în succesiunea lor implozivă. În acestfel, incipitul poemului trasează cadrele estetice programatice între care va avea loc morfo-geneza fractală a lumilor, oniricul şi thanaticul constituind cele două nivele fundamentaleîn reiterarea omotetiilor interne ale viziunii poetice, de altfel înţelese, în sensmandelbrotian, ca bază a mecanismului „creşterii” fractale datorită celor două caracteristiciimplicite, contemplarea şi eludarea limitelor individualului:

„Turma visurilor mele eu le pasc ca oi de aur, / Când a nop ţ ii întunerec — înstelatul rege maur — / Lasă norii lui molateci înfoia ţ i în pat ceresc, / Iar ă luna

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argintie, ca un palid dulce soare, / Vr ă ji aduce peste lume printr-a stelelor ninsoare, / Când în straturi luminoase basmele copile cresc. / Mergi, tu, luntre-a vie ţ ii mele, pe-avisării lucii valuri / Până unde-n ape sfinte se ridică mândre maluri, / Cu dumbr ăvi delaur verde şi cu lunci de chiparos, / Unde-n ramurile negre o cântare-n veci suspină , / Unde sfin ţ ii se preîmbl ă în lungi haine de lumină , / Unde-i moartea cu - aripi negre şi cuchipul ei frumos.”

Acestora li se asociază, inedit, formula unui „patriotism selenar” cu funcţie detransfigurare a „realului istoric în mitologie personală” (Mihăilescu, 1982:225), punând înrelaţie „lumina esenţializatoare a lunii şi cea fenomenalizantă a soarelui” (Mihăilescu,1982:227), aşa cum o dovedesc variantele versului „Iar ă luna argintie, ca un palid dulcesoare”: „Pe când luna de argint aleargă palidul al mor ţii soare”, „luna de argint a vieţiisomnoroase palid soare”. Cunoaşterea solar ă, pe de altă parte, marchează o gnoseologie aafirmării formelor, a surprinderii lor într-o identitate prezentificată, recognoscibilă, este omodalitate de cunoaştere a „punerii în formă”, perceptibilă categorial, pe când cunoaştereaselenar ă indică, dimpotrivă, negarea, căutarea apofatică a formei care-şi eludează propriilelimite individuale pentru a se reflecta infinit în diversitatea lumii. „Investirea lunii cuatributul solar [...] indică voinţa poetului de a r ăsturna o lume de valori şi a o repune sub

lumina rece a cunoaşterii, în numele unei căutări neobosite, după primordialitate şiesenţial”, convertindu-se „în sistemul imaginativ eminescian energia care măsoar ă,supraveghează şi în-semnează devenirea.” (Mihăilescu, 1982: 229)

Astfel, Memento mori devine un poem fractalogonic, în care contemplareadiferitelor etape din istoria umanităţii traduce un etern pelerinaj în căutarea formelor decivilizaţie şi gândire, ciclic-fragmentare şi autosimilare. Motivul asumat romantic al luivanitas vanitatum, cuprins în încărcătura semantică a celor două titluri ale versiunilor

poematice, Panorama de şert ăciunilor şi Memeto mori, sau în cele ale subtitlurilor gânditede Eminescu (Tempora mutantur, Vanitas vanitatum vanitas, Skepsis şi Cuget ări)sugerează pentru hermeneutica fractală tocmai nostalgia mandelbrotiană a surprinderiidiversităţii în complexitatea dinamică a formării / de-formării ei. Istoria ca realitate

primar ă, ca punct de iniţiere a căutării, şi formele sale fragmentare, actualizate temporal,

îşi dezvoltă un parcurs circumscris programatic între „a istoriei hotar ă” şi „uriaşa roat-avremei”:

„Când posomorâtul basmu — vechia secolilor strajă —/ Îmi deschide cu cheide-aur şi cu-a vorbelor lui vrajă / Poarta nalt ă de la templul unde secolii se torc — / Eu sub arcurile negre, cu stâlpi nal ţ i sui ţ i în stele, / Ascultând cu adâncime glasul gândurilor mele, / Uria şa roat-a vremei înnapoi eu o întorc / Ş i privesc... Codrii de secoli, oceane de popoare / Se întorc cu repejune ca gândirile ce sboar ă / Ş i icoanele-sîn lupt ă — eu privesc şi tot privesc / La v-o piatr ă ce însamnă a istoriei hotar ă , / Undelumea în căi nouă , după nou cântar mă soar ă —/ Acolo îmi place roata câte-o clipă , s-oopresc!”

Acest mecanism fractal al devenirii presupune şi ocurenţa anumitor nucleerepetitive, semantic-autosimilare, regăsibile în fiecare fragment al panoramăriicivilizaţiilor, observate şi de către exegeza eminesciană, dar puse sub incidenţa tematică a

paradigmei romantice:

„Însă , mai mult decât o imagine a mor ţ ii succesivelor civiliza ţ ii, Memento morie o imagine a na şterii şi a mor ţ ii miturilor, a credin ţ elor, adică e o medita ţ ie asupraîncorpor ărilor (urmate, fiecare, de o inevitabil ă înstr ăinare) a spiritului în istorie. Na şterea şi amurgul zeilor, întruparea şi apusul Ideii, timpul echinoxial (timp istoricauroral, în care natura şi ideea fuzionează în beatitudinea mitului) şi punctele de

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solsti ţ iu ale istoriei – acestea sunt momentele care structurează imaginea fiecăreiciviliza ţ ii panoramate în Memento mori [...] Cu excep ţ ia Daciei mitice [...], toatecelelalte civiliza ţ ii panoramate de Eminescu în Memento mori se desf ăşoar ă conformevolu ţ iei identice a raportului între două elemente constitutive (Natur ă-Spirit), evolu ţ iece cunoa şte trei momente: aspira ţ ie reciprocă – fuziune în mit – ruptur ă , care duce lamoartea civiliza ţ iei respective. Fiecare civiliza ţ ie pare a se na şte dintr-un element primordial (apa în Grecia şi Egipt, pământul în Babilon şi Egipt, focul în Roma etc.), un

element care î şi visează forma şi şi-o prime şte prin efortul modelator al gândirii; fiecareciviliza ţ ie con ţ ine un simbol central al gânditorului (rege sau mag); epuizat ă prinînstr ăinarea gândirii, fiecare civiliza ţ ie se reîntoarce în cele din urmă în elementul dincare s-a nă scut.” (Ioana Em.Petrescu, 2005:179)

Intervine aici, pe lângă aceste elemente reiterate care consolidează construcţiafragmentar-plurală a viziunii eminesciene, şi un alt factor de coerenţă, spectralitatea, casursă a iconicităţii lumilor, căci „oglinzile eminesciene par menite nu atât să restituieimaginea lumii fenomenale, cât să capteze imaginea lumii în Idee” (Ioana Em.Petrescu,2005:198), încât imaginarul poematic surprinde formarea unui obiect ideal mandelbrotian,o reflectare fractalică a mecanismului de intrare în fiinţă a lumilor contemplate. Ilustrativă este imaginea magului egiptean a cărui „oglindă de aur” dezvăluie principiul cosmic de

ordonare autosimilar ă: „În zidirea cea antică sus în frunte-i turnul maur. / Magul privea pegânduri în oglinda lui de aur, / Unde-a cerului mii stele ca-ntr-un centru se adun. / El înmic priveşte - acolo căile lor tăinuite / Şi c-un ac el zugr ăveşte căr ăruşile găsite —/ A aflatsâmburul lumii, tot ce-i drept, frumos şi bun.” Prin medierea „oglinzii de aur”, magulidentifică „sâmburul lumii”, un nucleu fractalic al reiter ării omotetice a formelor,metafor ă-analogon al „sâmburelui de ghindă”, cele două imagini sugerând „un nucleu deimense virtualităţi, rupt din cea mai intimă zonă a individualităţii poetice creatoare”, care„s-a dezvoltat arborescent, s-a ramificat la nesfâr şit în variate forme.” (Zamfir, 1971:227)În această ordine de idei, toposul oglinzii de aur poate fi redefinit, în contextul uneiorganizări fractale a discursului, drept metafor ă centrală revelatorie, cu extensiuni desemnificaţie în tot imaginarul poematic, sugerând un locus al contemplării vizionar-fractale, manipulat de „conştiinţa spaţio-temporală subiectivă” eminesciană. Este oreflectare, la nivelul discursului, a „unei for ţe integratoare, capabilă să unifice dimensiunilespaţială şi temporală într-o experienţă de întrepătrundere omogenă a duratei, a continuităţiişi a spaţialităţii [...]. În momente privilegiate, conştiinţa subiectivă poate stopa curgereatimpului, oferind experienţa eternităţii temporale, în care viaţa este percepută în totalitateaei [...]. Şi, în cadrul unor experienţe cu adevărat vizionare, mintea poate chiar percepeeternitatea per se.” (Ghiţă, 2005: 111) Privită în dimensiunea sa de cronotop central,oglinda de aur , pe lângă funcţia de concentrare a spaţialităţii într-un adevărat Aleph

borgesian, implică şi mecanismul fractal al coexistenţei spaţiale, al „creşterii în şi prinspaţii”, căci „un anumit punct în spaţiu este relaţionat mental cu totalitatea spaţială care, înmod similar, integrează pluralitatea de spaţii într-un singur întreg atotcuprinzător. Înmomentele vizionare, infinitul multidimensional poate substitui finitul tridimensional.”

(Ghiţă, 2005: 104) Privirea în şi prin oglinda de aur dă astfel un sens formator construcţieivizionare eminesciene şi mai ales procedeului contemplativ fractal al descoperirii pivotal-relaţionare a spaţiilor civilizaţiilor coexistente în aceeaşi totalitate integratoare. I seasociază toate figurile spectrale ale imaginarului poematic, ele însele oglinzi reflectoare aletextului, de la oglinda acvatică sau cosmică la privire, având „valoarea de oglinzi magice încare este revelată nu aparenţa, ci natura ultimă, esenţa încifrat ă în formele accesibile

privirii.” (Ioana Em.Petrescu, 2005:198) Avem în vedere funcţia eminesciană a simul ării spectrale care complică, diversifică „identitatea repetitivă”, transformând-o într-omandelbrotiană iluzie veridică.

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Oglindirea fractală a auto-similarelor devine, în aceste condiţii, nu simplă reprezentare mimetică, ci act de generare simulat ă a complexităţilor Istoriei, „acelcomportament repetitiv al cărui produs (fie el un obiect, fie un eveniment sau un şir deevenimente) se raportează la o existenţă primă, proclamată drept model, în asemeneamanier ă încât, din structura sa complexă, care conţine atât elemente de identitate, cât şielemente de diferenţă, un <spectator> să valorizeze cea dintâi categorie, deci

similitudinea.” (Gorcea, 2001:278)

REFERINŢEChioaru , D. (2000) , Poetica temporalit ăţ ii. Eseu asupra poeziei române şti, Cluj-Napoca: Ed.Dacia,Ghiţă, C. , (2005), Lumile lui Argus, Piteşti: Ed.Paralela 45Gorcea, P. M., (2001), Eminescu, vol.I, Piteşti: Ed.Paralela 45Melian, A., (1987), Eminescu – univers deschis, Bucureşti: Ed.MinervaMihăilescu, D. C., (1982), Perspective eminesciene, Bucureşti: Ed.Cartea Românească Patapievici, H.-R., (2005), Cerul vă zut prin lentil ă , Iaşi: Ed.PoliromPetrescu, A. , (1985), Eminescu. Metamorfozele crea ţ iei, Bucureşti: Ed.Albatros Petrescu, I. Em. (2005), Eminescu. Modele cosmologice şi viziune poetică, Piteşti: Ed.Paralela 45Zamfir, M., (1971), Proză poetică românească în sec. XIX, Bucureşti: Ed. Minerva

Abstract:

The fractal model identified by Mandelbrot’s branching process becomes relevant for Eminescu’s Memento mori by means of which the poetic form gains inner dynamism. Its final artistic effect lies in defining poetry as an infinitely mobile summum of formal windows which renders the samemeaning reflected indefinetly within the poetic structure. Therefore, the global poetic meaning isinserted at different textual levels through a fractal development technique.

Résumé

Le modèle fractal, identifié par le processus de ramification proposé par Mandelbrot, devient relevant pour le poème Memento mori d’Eminescu, où la forme poétique étale un certaindynamisme intérieur. Son effet artistique final demeure dans la définition de la poésie, celle d’un

summum mobile indéfini d’ouvertures formelles, reproduisant le même sens reflété dans la structure poétique. Par conséquent, le sens poétique global s’insère à de différents niveauxtextuels par l’intermédiaire de la technique de développement fractal.

Rezumat

Modelul fractal identificat de procesul de ramificare propus de Mandelbrot devine relevant pentru poemul Memento mori al lui Eminescu, unde forma poetică expune un anume dinamisminterior. Efectul său artistic final rezid ă în definirea poeziei drept un summum mobil nedefinit dedeschideri formale redând acela şi sens reflectat în structura poetică. A şadar, sensul poetic global este inserat la diferite niveluri textuale prin intermdeiul tehnicii de dezvoltare fractal ă.

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pp. 53 - 65

Language

and

Literature

METAPHORICAL READINGS IN THE MULTAL PARTITIVE PARADIGM

Silvia Manoliu

To express non-numerical imprecision, speakers of English can rely on a diverse set of

vaguely quantifying items and phrases [1]. With a distribution similar to numbers, some of

them are closed-class items that fit in the vague quantifier + (non)countable noun pattern

and fill in the determiner slot in a noun phrase structure, eg: little / much money, many / several reasons, umpteen jobs , etc. Others, known as quantifying nouns (Biber et al, 1999:

252), partitive nouns or partitives (Quirk et al, 1985: 249; Channell, 1994: 99; Collins

Cobuild, 1996: 110-113), are open-class quantifiers that enter partitive constructions /

structures (Quirk et al, 1985: 249; Channell, 1994: 99; Collins Cobuild, 1996: 110). They

are used to refer to a limited or to a large indefinite quantity of both “masses and entities,”

which are “specified in a following of -phrase” by uncountable mass nouns and plural

countables (Biber et al, 1999: 252) that refer to a single item, part of a whole, a collection

of items or a group/groups of people. The division of quantifiers into non-phrasal and

phrasal partitives is not so strict inasmuch as, except umpteen, all the members in the

former set, can, for emphatic reasons, be optionally postmodified by a prepositional of- phrase in their pronominal function, eg: many (of the) [books], much (of the) [time], etc.

Conceptually, partition can be expressed both in respect of quality (eg: a kind of [artist/weapon]; a sort of [animal/chocolate/crime/iron]) and in respect of quantity (eg: a

bit of [fun] > lot of [fun]). (Quirk et al, 1985: 249) In English, the expression of quantityand of countability, implicitly, is achieved by means of general partitive nouns, eg: piece,bit, item, which are used with a large number of concrete and abstract noncount nouns, of

typical or specific partitives, which are “more restricted and descriptive” and collocate

with “specific concrete noncount nouns” (idem: 250), eg: a grain of [corn/logic/rice/sand/

salt/truth]; a speck of [dirt/dust/information/truth]), and of measure partitive nouns (idem:

251)/standardized measure terms (Biber et al, 1999: 253), which denote exact

measurement, eg: inch, gram(me), hundred, metre, mile, million, ounce, score, yard, pound, etc.[2]

Since some of them refer to ‘a (very) small amount or number of’, some to ‘a (very) large

amount or number of’, and others are neutral with respect to quantity, non-numerical

quantifiers have broadly been categorized as meaning:

(a) ‘+ for quantity’ , meaning ‘much or many’, which are used in the plural

partitive pattern ‘plural quantifier + of + (non)count noun’, eg: bags of , loadsof, lots of, masses of, oodles of; a great/good/vast deal of; umpteen;

(b) ‘- for quantity’ , meaning ‘few or little’, which fit in the singular partitive

pattern ‘a + singular quantifier (+ of + noncount noun)’, eg: a bit of, a scrap of ;a touch of ;

(c) ‘neutral for quantity’ , eg: some, several . (Cf Channell, 1994: 96)

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In Biber et al (1999: 248-252), partitives are subclassified into quantifying

collectives/quantifying collective nouns and unit nouns, which “provide alternative ways

of viewing and referring” with respect to countables and uncountables, respectively,

tending “to have marked collocational patterns.” (idem: 250) Angela Downing and Philip

Locke (1992: 443) distinguish between expressions of measurement (eg: four metres of cloth), certain singular and plural collective nouns (meaning ‘many’), eg: a pack of [lies],

a gang of [thieves], a swarm of [photographers], herds of [tourists], loads of [ideas], andsmall quantities of mass entities (meaning ‘a little’), eg: a bit of [cheese/luck], an item of

[news], a grain/kernel of [truth], etc.[3]

Drawing on Quirk et al’s classification of quantifiers in terms of antonymy

relations[4] and on Biber et al’s framework, phrasal partitives are here approached in terms

of two notional paradigms: the multal partitive paradigm, which is made up of

quantifying collectives/quantifying collective nouns that refer to “groups of single

entities,” expressing a (very) large amount or large amounts of something in both their

singular and plural forms, eg: heap(s) of [books/money/snow], flock(s) of [birds/sheep/

tourists], load(s) of, lot(s) of, masse(s) of, oodles (of ), etc;[5] and the paucal partitive paradigm, which includes quantifying units [6]/quantifying unit nouns, that is, count

nouns denoting a (very) small quantity/amount or (very) small quantities/amounts of

something (eg: bit(s) of , scrap(s) of , etc). The members of the multal paradigm providecollective, neutral reference for separate entities, collocating with nouns that refer to “a

particular type of entity: people (e.g. crowd and gang ), animals (e.g. flock, herd, shoal and

swarm), plants (e.g. bouquet and clump), or inanimate objects or entities (e.g. batch and

set ).” (idem: 249) Some of them are often used disphorically, eg: bunch, gang and pack .Among the most productive and “flexible with respect to the type of entity they refer to”

are bunch, group and set , each of them combining “with over 100 different collocates.”

(idem: 248). Characteristically “general in meaning,” and collocating with nouns that

specify a type of matter or phenomenon, the paucal partitives “make it possible to split up

an undifferentiated mass and refer to separate instances of a phenomenon.” (idem: 250)

Traditionally, the semantics of most of these nominals have been handled in terms

of the standard approach to non-numerical quantifiers, which shows that numerical and

non-numerical quantifiers alike enter into scalar relationships and create scalar

implicatures, the choice of any of them implicating “meanings relevant to the others.”

(Channell 1994: 96-7) There is in this respect a striking similarity in behaviour between

these sets and the adjective, the adverb, the verb and the noun, eg: < few, some, many, most,all > ... <a mouthful of, a cupful of, a barrelful of > ... <cold, cool, lukewarm, warm, hot > ...

<never, seldom, occasionally, sometimes, often, always>... <idiot, simpleton, dunce,dullard, fool, ignoramus> (Cf idem: 97, 116) [7] The scalar semantic relations that hold

between non-numerical quantifying words and phrases account for the status of degree

words, which makes it possible to place them on a scale in relation to each other. Channell

holds that, with the exception of oodles (eg: oodles (and oodles) of [butter / cream /

presents]), plural non-numerical vague quantifiers and their iterative patterns, eg: flocks

and flocks of sheep, masses and masses (of ) data, pints and pints of milk , etc, “fall neatlyinto an analysis as metaphorical extensions from original literal meanings of each word.”

While the literal use is “a true measure or partitive, as in a load of [hay], a bag of [sand], alot of [goods],” the extended, metaphorical uses “maintain the sense of quantifying, but

lose the specific physical characteristics – no actual loads or bags are involved in the

vague uses.” (idem: 104)

According to Patrick Hanks, the metaphorical uses of partitives are among the

“prototypical syntagmatic patterns” that each word is associated with in our mind.” What

contributes “to the meaningfulness of an actual utterance” in a given context is the

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association of each pattern with “a ‘meaning potential’ of a word or a phrase.”

(http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/research/ilash/Seminars/Hanks.doc.:1) The corpus-based-

analysis of the idiomatic and metaphorical uses of the noun storm [8] has identified the set

of criteria that distinguish the syntagmatic contexts which “normally indicate that storm

has a metaphorical meaning.” Mainly drawing on Pustejovsky’s Generative Lexicon

theory, which holds that “[F]or a word to be used metaphorically, at least one of its

semantic values is set aside, while some other semantic feature is emphasized,” Hanksconcludes that the qualia structure of the “most literal sense” of storm and that of the

metaphorical expression a political storm, made up of a classifying adjective + storm,

differ in that the latter “emphasizes the telic and overrides the semantic values of the other

qualia” (idem: 7), as shown in the adapted qualia structure below: [9]

LITERAL storm METAPHORICAL storm

CONSTITUTIVE=high winds, precipitation, thunder,etc. political interaction

FORMAL=atmospheric phenomenon, violent quarrelling

TELIC=disturbing effect >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

AGENTIVE=atmospheric conditions disagreement

Hanks has identified the following other storm patterns which are often given metaphorical

readings: causative verb (eg: arise, cause, create, provoke, raise, spark , unleash; stir up,

whip up) + storm, noun modifier + storm (eg: a royal storm) and the partitive phrase ‘a

storm of something’ / storm + partitive ‘of’ (eg: a storm of protest ), which almost always

involves a metaphorical “violent disturbance in the social sense.” The findings show that

the noun protest is “a statistically significant collocate ... in a standard syntactic relation

with the target word,” storm, “usually (but not always)” occurring in the phrase storm of

protest . Hanks’ corpus illustrates “four prototypical classes of storm as a partitive noun,”

i.e. “storms of negative reactions,” such as a storm of anger / controversy / criticism /

discontent / objections / protest / strikes / unrest , etc, which outnumber “storms of

positive reactions,” such as a storm of applause / cheers addressed to a successful

performance, “storms of emotion,” as expressed by someone’s bursting into a storm of

weeping or a storm of tears, etc, [10] and “storms of other things,” ... “of a miscellaneous

ragbag of things, both entities—locusts, feathers, stones, etc.—and events—movement,

noise, sexual behaviour, etc. —in all of which the storm is metaphorical.” (idem: 11)

The semantic relation between the two nouns in a Det + N 1 + of + N 2 partitive

phrase has in the present paper been reconsidered in terms of semantic marking and the

category of intensification. Literal partitive paradigms have generated paradigms of

contextual, “affective” partitive structures (Ullmann 1967: 148) with various degrees of

metaphoricity, and therefore intensifying force.[11] Organized by the ‘connoteme‘ or along

the dimension euphoric/disphoric, the partitive paradigms confirm that expressiveness is

the result of changing the traditional usage of a lexical item, of violating selection

restriction rules or of semantic incompatibility. Based on the opposition between the theSource term and the Target term that has been mapped onto it, partitives evoke a certain

source domain which differentiates them. It is especially the “distance” between the two

terms, the nature of their basis of comparison, evaluated in terms of value scaling from

neuter to favourable / unfavourable, as well as the size of the Source domain that matters.

The more restricted the domain is, the more expressive the metaphor will be.

I assume that the members of the two paradigms denote intensification values

within a range of ‘less than enough’ and of ‘(much) more than enough’, respectively, on a

bidirectional intensification scale. Enough stands for the vague node where the multal and

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the paucal intervals overlap and from where they extend both ways. While the members of

the paucal paradigm denote (very) low / little, and sometimes infinitesimal values of the

collocate (eg: a fleck / speck of [dust]), the members of the multal paradigm denote values

within a range from high to the highest of their collocate on the intensification cline. In

accordance with my framework for the category of intensification (Manoliu 2007), the

literal / neutral, unmarked for intensification meaning of a partitive, in both its singular and

plural forms, will be [-I] marked for intensification, by contrast with the metaphorically[+I] marked for intensification singular and plural forms. Compare bursts/volleys/ a burst / volley of [automatic rifle fire/water] and bursts/roars/ a burst roar of [laughter], loads / a

load of [wood] and loads of [charm/fun/ideas/money/time/work], bags/a bag of [cherries]

and bags of [language/people/time], tons/a ton of [fish] and tons of [letters].

Specific multal partitives combine with entities or individuals from a diversity of

domains, many of which pertain to senses (sight and hearing). Mainly inspired by Biber et

al’s “collocation types” (1999: 252 - 254), I have grouped quantifying nouns into several

classes. Nouns denoting a multitude, or collective partitive nouns, which make the bulk of

this paradigm, may refer to a large amount or amounts of things, or to a large number of

things or participants, a group or groups, eg: army, band, batch, bevy, board, brood, bulk,bunch, bundle, cluster, collection, colony, constellation, convoy, covey, crowd, crew,

drove, fleet, flock, gaggle, gang, heap, herd, hive, hoard, horde, host, litter, load, mass,nest, pack, pad, pile, pride, rout, school, shoal, skein, stack, stock, string, stud, swarm,troop, troupe. There are also nouns that refer to elements of nature and to geographical

features, which often connote the idea of ‘remarkably or supernaturally large’, eg: cloud,mountain, ocean, sea, or to natural phenomena, often characterized by force and by ‘a

sudden and violent release of energy’, eg: burst , explosion, fit, invasion, plague;

avalanche, cloud , deluge, flood, rain, shower, storm, stream, surge, torrent , etc. Others

denote containers and shape, eg: bag , barrel, crate, keg, pack, packet, pad, sack; cupful ,handful, hatful ; column, curtain, jet , stick, wad, wall, wedge, etc, [12] or standardized

measures, eg: inch, ounce, pint, ton, yard . Expressing approximate numbers, such as

dozens, scores, tens, hundreds, thousands, a thousand and one, etc, plural numerals are

used in partitive “vague expressions for large numbers” (idem: 253), eg: hundreds / thousands of [times]; We’ve bought tons of [beer] for the party tonight (CCD).

By lexicalizing intensification to a high, or to the highest degree, the members of

the multal paradigm basically mean the same, i.e. ‘a lot of, plenty (of)’, ‘a large quantity

of’, ‘a great deal of’, ‘a mass of’ something. The sense relation of synonymy that obtains

between non-numerical quantifiers accounts, for instance, for a great amount of money

being referred to as a lot/bag/bulk/heap/pot of [money], or as lot/bags/bulks/heaps/pots of [money].

The propensity for metaphorization in the multal partitive paradigm in English and

Romanian is illustrated in this paper by the class of nouns of multitude that express ‘a

sudden release of energy’.[13] Conceptually, they may be associated with the MORE IS

UP orientational metaphor, in the sense that whatever exceeds the standard limits can

either excel at or fail in attaining one’s goal. Axiologically, the semantic content of thesemetaphors implies a favourable or unfavourable evaluation of quantity. While a small

quantity usually elicits a favourable appraisal, unless the quantity is felt as insufficient and

may generate a devaluating judgment, a large quantity in terms of number, intensity, size,

etc, usually elicits devaluating judgments that connote lack of quality.

The transfer of meaning between concrete, physical entities includes mergers of

different values. Besides the seme [+QUANTITY], these partitive structures contain

variables such as [+/-ANIMATE], [+/-HUMAN], [+/-MOVEMENT], [+SPEED],

[+SOUND], [+SHAPE], [+ITERATIVE], etc. The emotive effect of these elements is due

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to their evoking the environment or level of style in which they naturally belong. Literally

referring to “bodies of water” (Hanks: 18), of snow, of lava, etc, and metaphorically, by

degrees, to ‘a very large amount of or a large number of things or of people that occur or

arrive at the same time’, the partitives avalache, deluge, flood, stream and torrent share in

their metaphorical uses semes like [+MOVEMENT], [+SPEED], [FORCE], [+SUDDEN

RELEASE], [+/-SOUND]. For example, the idea of [+MOVEMENT] contained in a

stream of , i.e. ‘a long or continuous line of people, animals, vehicles, etc, travelling in thesame direction; a long, continuous series of things; flood’, is further amplified in the

meaning of a torrent of , which additionally suggests [+SPEED] and [FORCE], i.e. ‘a

rushing, violent, or abundant and unceasing stream of anything; a violent, tumultuous, or

overwhelming flow’. Compare: a stream of [abuse/insults/lies/losses/memories/people/

questions/visitors/traffic] and a torrent of [abuse/criticism/hair].

An outburst of something, which is either ‘a sudden period of violent activity’ or ‘a

sudden and strong expression of emotion, especially anger’, and which contains the semes

[+/-SOUND], [SPEED] and [+/-VIOLENCE], has been conceptualized as: a burst of (‘ashort or sudden period of something’); an explosion of (‘a sudden and violent expression of

someone’s feelings, especially anger’, ‘a sudden and serious outbreak of political protest

and violence’); a gush of (‘a sudden plentiful outburst’); a roar of (‘a very loud noise’ or ‘a

very noisy way of applausing or laughing’); a storm of (‘a large amount of comment andcriticism made by people who are very angry, indignant, or excited about a particular

subject’; ‘a sudden loud expression of people’s feelings, which they show by clapping,

laughing, shouting, etc’); a surge of (‘a sudden and powerful increase in an emotion or

feeling’), a wave of (‘a steady increase in a certain feeling, eg: alarm, panic, sympathy, etc,

which overwhelms a person, or which spreads through a place or group of people; surge,

tide; a sudden increase in a particular activity or type of behaviour, boom, spate’), awhirlwind of (‘a situation in which you experience a lot of different activities or emotions

one after another’), etc.

The partitives cascade, cloud , rain and shower involve different types of [+MOVEMENT], i.e. ‘a floating, flowing, or a falling mass of something’: a cascade of is‘an amount of something that falls or hangs down in large quantities’. Compare: Her hair

fell over her shoulders in a cascade of [curls] ... her golden torrent of [hair] ( LDCE ); ‘amass of dust, smoke, gas, etc, moving or floating in the air, or ‘a very large number of

birds or insects flying through the air together’ make a cloud , eg: Way off in the distance

she sees a cloud of [smoke]. (CCD) ... Clouds of [birds] rose from the tree-tops. A large

number of things may ‘fall from above at the same time and with great force’ in a rain, eg:

Like a rain of [bullets], blobs of sulphur would pour down on us. (CCD) ‘A falling

movement of lots of light things’, on the other hand, makes a shower , eg: a shower of [abuse/(falling) leaves/sparks].[14]

The partitives in this class share a whole range of positively, negatively or neutrally

loaded [+/-ANIMATE] and [+/-HUMAN] collocates, eg: avalache/deluge of [politicians/

tourists/volunteers; applications/data/(mis)information/opportunity], flood/floods of

[people/refugees], avalache/torrents of [debris/trash]. Complaints/letters/petitions come ina deluge or in floods, attacks and drugs in an avalache or in waves, electrons in an

avalanche, stream or torrent , errors in a burst or an avalanche, (un)truths in an avalanche, burst , or stream. While the force of applauses is lexicalized in partitive phrases such as

roars/rounds/storms/whirlwinds of [applause], strong protest is expressed in an avalache, cascade, storm, torrent or wave. One may experience a deluge or droves of [trouble], a

burst, gush or whirlwind of [activity].

Further contextual intensification is provided by the modification of partitive

phrases or, less common, of the collocate only, by descriptive adjectives, which contain the

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semes [+QUANTITY], [+DURATION] and [+SOUND]. To illustrate this I have selected

the partitives within the range of applause, eg: (huge/massive/total/tremenduous/endless/

deafening/loud/thunderous) roar of [applause], (big/great/huge/polite/respectful/wild)

round of [applause], (ceaseless/long/never-ending/thunderous/wild) storm of [applause];

Another (wild) round of [applause] rose... A storm of (wild) [applause] followed. In

informal use, it is not uncommon for partitives to be also premodified by intensifiers such

as whole, eg: ... a (whole) (new) way of [life]...This turn of events opened a (whole) (new)vista of [troubles] for me. (CCD).

In Romanian also, the collocational ranges of this class of specific partitives often

overlap, eg: cascad ă / explozie de [ciocolată]; avala şă /explozie de [canale TV/cancere/

case/prospeţime]; explozie/torent de [informaţii/bucurie/lumină]; potop/puhoi/groază / puzderie/val de [bani/lume/oameni]; potop de [ameninţări/critici/invective/înjur ături/

reproşuri]; puhoi/groază /puzderie/sumedenie de [contestaţii/credincioşi/duşmani/filme/

inamici/informaţii/microbişti/nenorociri/nereguli], etc. [15] Crosslinguistically, a shared

conceptual space will enable comparisons, equivalence in form and/or content being a

matter of degree rather than of meaning. The partitive class under examination reveals

much overlapping both in form and collocational ranges between English and Romanian.

The English specific partitives avalache, flood, deluge, wave, stream and torrent of , and

their general partitive equivalents a lot of , lots of , masses of , oodles of and tons of , have asRomanian counterparts the partitives avalan şă , şuvoi, torent, val de and the rather archaic

nouns potop, puhoi, puzderie, groază de, eg: avalache/deluge of [applications/notifications

/jobs]–ro. avalan şă /puhoi/torent/val de [cereri/contestaţii]; avalache of [costs/events/sales]

– ro. avalan şă de [costuri/cumpăr ături/evenimente/scumpiri/vânzări]; avalache/ wave of [accidents/suicide/tourists]–ro. avalan şă /val de [accidente/evenimente rutiere/cumpăr ături /

scumpiri/vânzări/sinucideri/candidaţi/turişti]; explosion of [colour/rage]–ro. explozie de

[sunet, lumină şi culoare/talent şi culoare/mânie/preţuri]; flood/torrents/volley of [words/

oaths] [16] -ro. cascad ă /potop/ şuvoi/torent de [cuvinte/înjur ături/vorbe]; flood/gush of [tears] –ro. puhoi / şuvoi de [lacrimi]; flood of [news] vs. potop de [ştiri]; wave of [love/violence] - ro. val de [afecţiune/dragoste/(acte de) violenţă];

avalache/stream/torrent/wave of [protest] -ro. avalan şă /val de [proteste]; a stream of [cars/people] - ro. puhoi/ şuvoi de [maşini/oameni]; rain of [bullets] - ro. ploaie de

[gloanţe], etc. In both speech and writing, the Romanian counterparts of these partitives

vary between use and abuse. A burst/peal/ roar/round/storm/thunder/volley/wave of [applause], (out)burst/peal/roar / storm of [laughter], flood /whirlwind of [emotions], etc, are

lexicalized in Romanian as furtună / ropot de [aplauze], hohot de [râs] and val de

[compasiune], but also improperly rendered as ?rafal ă de [aplauze], ?ropot de [fluier ături /

râs]. [17]

The following selection from our corpus illustrates the metaphorical uses of some

English and Romanian partitives in this class:

Ski venders give advertizers an avalanche of [opportunity].

(www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack ) ... Thanks to an avalanche of [email] I’veadded a bunch of new items to ... He had set off a (terrible) avalache of [(world) events].

(CCD)... an avalanche of [misoginy] directed at Hillary Clinton

(http://atypicaljoe.com/index.php/site/comments/an_avalanche_of_misogyny_directed_at_

hillary_clinton/)... Flames of [suspicion] leapt up in the breast of each man. (F / PI: 117);

A TV show ... was halted after a flood of [complaints] ... a ( raging ) flood of [doubts]... There followed a (great) flood of [indignation] in the newspapers (CCD) ... She

received a flood of (grateful) [telegrams and letters] (CCD) ... She shed floods of [tears] ...

A storm of [laughter] arose... the storm of [applause] that greeted the actors ... The decision

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provoked a storm of [criticism] from Conservative MPs. (CCD) ... They uttered a stream of (nasty) [curses] ... He sat dumb for several minutes while the stream of [insults] continued

... “The Media Repeats Streams of [Lies] about Obama.”... These ideas have been

hammered into their heads by a stream of [movies, plays and books] ... Stream of [nonsenseness] by Adrian Jimenezb... a (steady) stream of [contributions] on a weekly

basis ... a (steady) stream of [questions] ... There was a (constant) stream of [people] going

both ways ... The research adds weight to a stream of [studies] that have found obesity andother health problems ... (MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer Wed May 7, 11:06 AM )

(Relentless) stream of [untruths] ... A (mounting) wave of [dislike and anger] rose within

me... waves of [fun] (C22: 153)... In the (general) wave of [panic], nobody thought of

phoning for an ambulance.(CCD)... In Paris in May 1968 there was a (massive) wave of (student) [riots]... the recent wave of [bombings] (CCD)... There was a (strong) wave of [applause] punctuated with cheers... Waves of [applause] like ripples from a slow-grinding

fracture.. permeated the subterranean gloom... (http://www.qbsaul.demon.co.uk )... Wavesof [applause] washed over Nicola, swelling her with pride.

(www.asstr.org/~knickers/haremd2html)... a (new) wave of [innovation] for teaching and

learning... a (fresh) wave of [measles] ... Waves of (saphire)[mist] spread from it in the

dusty fog... He has been trading a (new) wave of [sanctions];

In the 1920s, a Burst of American [Art and Expression] Takes Form.(http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2006-06-14-voa4.cfm)... After a burst of [(initial) publicity], all seems to have quietened down on this front (The Financial Express,

Friday, April 04, 2008)... The ingredients in this shot lead to a burst of [flavor] you

wouldn’t expect... Jack Kerouac, fuelled by inspiration, coffee and Benzedrine, set down at

his typewriter and in one burst of [creative energy] wrote the novel that would make him

the voice of his generation. (Kerouac’s On the Road )(http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/ontheroad) (5April 2008)...

Verheugen’s visit triggers a burst of [commentaries] ... She felt a surge of [affection] for

him... There has been a a surge of [people];

Deluge of (Digitally Distributed) Drama ... a deluge of [firms] in Dubai ... a delugeof [ petitions] to the vice-chancellor ... World faces deluge of (human) [trafficking] ...

Rising Miss. River tricky for deluge of [barges] headed downstream ... A deluge of (new)

[trouble]... he has released tons of [songs] for the consumption of the masses. (Biber et al

1999: 253);

Istoria ne-a rezervat o cascad ă de [cacealmale]. ( Jurnalul Na ţ ional -online,

15.06.2006)... o explozie de [populism şi de necunoaştere] ... Explozie de [copii] în lumea

artistică / la Hollywood în 2007... explozie de [bebeluşi] în România ... explozie de

[sinucideri] care sperie medicii ( Ziarul de Ia şi)... explozie de [bere] în centrul Sucevei

(Crai Nou);

Soprana Mariana Nicolesco, care a declanşat furtuni de [aplauze] cu liedurile

enesciene ... stârnind o furtună de [aplauze] în rândurile celor 3.000 de spectatori

(www.onlinegallery.ro/raducanu_tavitian.html) ... fiecare apariţie a sa stârneşte un freamăt

care anunţă furtuna de [aplauze] din final;? Rafale de [aplauze] la “Chicago” (Cotidianul ) ... au urmat câteva aplauze discrete,

anemice şi neconvingătoare. După dans însă, au izbucnit ?rafale de [aplauze]... Din ziua

aia salatele fur ă înecate în ? potop de [oţet] acru de mere.

Well aware of the fact that approaching metaphoricity in the partitive paradigms involves

dealing with extensive corpora,[18] I have discussed the multal metaphorical partitive

structures in terms of general and specific semes, which turn them into expressive markers

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of intensification, focusing on collocational ranges and regularities of partitives, as well as

on abuse in the use of some Romanian multal partitive nouns.

The study has revealed some basic issues concerning the semantics and the

metaphorical uses of multal partitives:

- The meaning of the multal metaphorical partitives is a combination of the common semes

[+PLURAL] / [+QUANTITY] which are “intrinsic to the semantic matrix of collective

nouns” (Cf. GA. I: 109) and of specific semes like [+/-MOVEMENT], [+SPEED],[+SOUND], etc, which convey the idea of exaggeration or of excess.

- Since the semantics of partitives is a function of contiguity, varying with the semantic

load of the collocate, the paradigm members cannot simply be divided into neutral,

positively loaded and negatively loaded items. They have a very wide distribution,

combining with nouns containing the semes [+/-HUMAN] and [+/-ANIMATE], with

neutral, epiphoric and disphoric connotations;

- It is more difficult to establish differences in meaning between individidual partitives

than between cognitive paradigms; they can more profitably be grouped into semantic

classes and subclasses in accordance with the semantic domain they belong to;

- Even though English and Romanian may not have perfectly matching lexicalized

counterparts, their shared conceptual space makes possible crosslinguistic comparisons,

which show that equivalence in form and / or content is a matter of degree rather than of meaning.

It may be held that metaphorical partitives are cases where “... that inner core of

signification which the word calls up even in isolation includes affective factors,” their real

significance being “as much emotional as it is conceptual.” (Stephen Ullmann, 1967: 99) It

is by evoking the environment or level of style to which they naturally belong that conveys

the emotive effect. The speaker’s / writer’s choice in achieving a stylistic effect (i.e.

familiar, pejorative, jocular, slangy or archaic) is, however, the keynote of any

metaphorical or emotional reading.

Notes[1] Speaking about “the inherent vagueness in non-numerical quantifiers,” Joanna Channell (1994: 99) has

pointed out that they are vague in the sense that they are “in some ways rather weak as quantifiers,” saying“nothing absolute about the quantities involved.”

[2] The general partitives bit of , item of and piece of are invariably rendered in Romanian by the general

partitive bucat ă de, in collocation with concrete nouns, eg: bucat ă de (cărbune / cretă / hârtie / metal / pământ), and specific partitives such as felie de [pr ă jitur ă / tort], articol de [îmbr ăcăminte]. Note the

countability of the Romanian abstract nouns informa ţ ie, ştire, sfat , cercetare, etc, which do not need

reclassification by partition.

[3] Noun collocates are typed between square brackets, whereas modifiers are placed between round brackets.

[4] They classify much, many, several and a lot as multal quantifiers and a little, a few, respectively, as

paucal quantifiers with a universal or a partitive meaning (1985: 384-6).[5] Each combining with “well over 100 different collocates,” unit nouns (eg: bit of and piece of ) are

“characteristically general in meaning” and, in a way, “the opposite of collective nouns: rather than providinga collective reference for separate entities, they split up an undifferentiated mass and refer to separate

instances of a phenomenon. Both types of noun provide alternative ways of viewing and referring, collectivenouns with respect to countables and unit nouns with respect to uncountables.” (Biber et al 1999: 250; Cf also Quirk et al 1985: 249) Moreover, as context-sensitive items, partitives, like intensifiers, can connote

divergent values of their collocates. When used to mean the opposite of what it says, an expression of quantity indicates a violation of Grice’s maxim of Quality. Just as the diminisher a bit of appears to indicate a

large quantity, loads of , i.e. ‘a lot of something’, may mean ‘a (very) small amount of something’. Compare:

She’s done (a few) bits of [ shopping ] (‘a small amount of shopping’ vs. ‘quite a lot of shopping’) ... He’s

done loads of [work] (‘has done a lot of work’ vs. ‘has hardly done anything’.

[6] The classifying tag “quantifying units” has been coined on analogy to Biber et al’s “quantifyingcollectives.”

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[7] The bidirectional ordering of gradable items in our intensification framework is the reverse of Channell’sscaling, where the highest in degree values are marked counterclockwise, i.e. leftwards, eg: <all, most, many, some, few>, <a barrelful of, a cupful of, a mouthful of >, etc (See Manoliu 2007: 26)

[8] We have preserved the boldface in Hank’s examples.[9] According to Pustejovsky, there are “four essential aspects of a word’s meaning” that define the qualia

structure: CONSTITUTIVE (i.e. the relation between an object and its constituent parts), FORMAL (i.e.

which distinguishes an object within a larger domain), TELIC (i.e. the purpose and function of the object)

and AGENTIVE (i.e. factors involved in the origin or “bringing about” of something) (idem:7)[10] Since, in terms of the category of intensification and its markers, they all pertain to feelings, these

metaphorical classes may, however, be approached as “storms of emotion” which denote diferent intensity

values along a bidirectional intensification scale.[11] Iorgu Iordan (1975: 333) calls this process „semantic derivation.”

[12] To form a quantifying noun, the suffix – ful can be added to nouns denoting different types of container

...” (idem: 254)

[13] Our corpus has been culled from fiction and media, mainly from http://www.google.ro[14] Note also the intensifying eliptical prepositional phrases in clouds, in droves, in spate, in waves, etc, eg:

The mosquitoes were coming up in clouds... They would come in droves to see Australia’s natural wonder.

(CCD)[15] Note that of is almost invariably rendered into Romanian by the preposition de.

[16] A volley of [words / questions / figures] is ‘a lot of words, questions, etc, which someone says very

quickly and in an agressive way, without giving anyone else a chance to reply’. Remember also a sea of [words]. (Pârlog 1995: 115)

[17] Such collocations abound in the media, eg: ?rafal ă de [cuvinte / moţiuni / oferte / ritmuri / sentimente],? şuvoi de [compasiune / dubii / picături / victime], ?cascad ă de [apartamente], etc.

[18] A great amount of computed data from many spoken and written sources compensate for the scant

attention that partitives receive in lexicographic studies. It is beyond the scope of this paper to determine the

grammatical role of the partitive / quantifier and of its collocate or to give a full-scale record of the

collocational ranges of these partitives. We cannot but agree in this respect with Hanks, who holds that “[I]t

would take a full-scale lexicographical study ... to determine exactly how many words are used as

metaphorical partitives and what semantic features they share.”

REFERENCES

Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică “Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2005). Gramatica limbii române. I

Cuvîntul , Bucureşti: Editura Academiei Române (GA. I)Biber, D., et al .(1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (Biber et al), London: Longman

Channell, J. (1994) Vague Language, OUP

Downing, A., Locke, Ph. (1992). A University Course in English Grammar , Prentice Hall International

Hanks, P. http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/research/ilash/Seminars/Hanks.doc.

Manoliu, S. (2007). Intensification of Meaning. Central Markers, Iaşi: Casa Editorială Demiurg Pârlog, H. (1995). The Sound of Sounds, Timişoara: Hestia Publishing House

Quirk, R., et al. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, London: Longman

DICTIONARIES

Academia R.S.R. Institutul de Lingvistică din Bucureşti (1975). Dic ţ ionarul explicativ al limbii române,Bucureşti: Editura Academiei R.S.R. (DEX)

Benson, M., Benson, E., Ilson, R. (1990). The BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English , John Benjamins

Publishing Company. ( BBI )Chambers Thesaurus. (1991). W & R Chambers Ltd. (CT)

Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary. (1994). Harper Collins Publishers. (CCD) Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Third Edition. (1995). London: Longman. (LDCE)

CORPUS(F/PI) Forster, E.M. (1989). A Passage to India, Penguin Books

(JH/C22) Heller, J. (1979) Catch-22, London: Thirty Bedford Square

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Abstract

Part of the series of articles on peripheral marks of the category of intensification, the current paper approaches the semantics the partitive-amplifying paradigm, the most significant segment which furnishes partitive metaphor in English and Romanian. Reference is mainly made to themetaphorization of collective specific partitives with a metaphorical meaming ‘the sudden relief

of an impressive quantity of energy” such as avalache, deluge, flood, stream, torrent, burst,explosion, gush, roar, storm, wave of , which denote abundance and excess, which indicate,depending on the collocation a quantitively neutral, favourable of unfavourable evaluation. As inthe case of intensifiers, it is more simply to establish meaning differences between cognitive partitives and the partitives themselves. A wider distribution, quite common collocations and associations quite often surprising provide metaphorical meanings with extreme hyperbolicvalences to these quantitative-non-numerical phrases. Romanian, which possesses most of thelexicalizations of the English vocabulary, also reveals the presence of a set of partitives with anarchaic flavour, such as groaz ă /potop/puhoi de , etc., also shows a tendency to improperlyborrow English partitives. The corpus was extracted from dictionaries, literature, mass mediaand on-line sources.

Résumés

S’inscrivant dans la série d’articles consacrés aux marques périphériques de la catégorie del’intensification, ce travail se veut une approche sémantique du paradigme partitif-amplificateur ,le segment le plus significatif fournisseur de la métaphore partitive en anglais et roumain. Nous faisons surtout référence à la métaphorisation des partitifs collectifs spécifiques à sensmétaphorique, « la livraison brusque d’une quantité considérable d’énergie », telles que :« avalanche, déluge, flood, stream, torrent, burst, explosion, gush, roar, storm, wafe of », quidénotent de l’abondance et de l’excès et indiquent, en fonction de la colocation, une évaluationquantitative neutre, favorable ou défavorable. On peut constater, tout comme dans le cas desintensificateurs, qu’il est plus facile à établir les différences de sens entre les paradigmescognitifs qu’entre les partitifs eux-mêmes. Une distribution ample, des colocations souvent communes et des associations parfois surprenantes, tout confère à ces expressions quantitatives-non numériques des sens métaphoriques, à valences extrêmes, hyperboliques. Dans la langueroumaine, où on retrouve une grande partie des lexicalisations du vocabulaire anglais et onremarque la présence d’une série de partitifs à résonnance archaïque, tels que groazã / potop / puhoi de, etc., se manifeste la tendance d’emprunter d’une manière impropre des partitifs del’anglais. Le corpus illustratif a été sélectionné des dictionnaires, de la littérature, des massmedia et des sources internet.

Rezumat

Înscriindu-se în seria de articole dedicate mărcilor periferice ale categoriei intensificării,lucrarea de fa ţă abordează semantica paradigmei partitiv-amplificatoare , cel mai semnificativ segment furnizor de metafor ă partitivă în engleză şi română. Se face în principal referire lametaforizarea partitivelor colective specifice cu sensul metaforic ‘eliberarea bruscă a uneicantit ăţ i impresionante de energie’, precum avalache, deluge, flood, stream, torrent, burst,

explosion, gush, roar, storm, wave of , care denot ă abunden ţă şi exces, indicând, în func ţ ie decoloca ţ ie, o evaluare cantitativ neutr ă , favorabil ă sau nefavorabil ă. Se constat ă , ca şi în cazul intensificatorilor, că este mai lesne de stabilit diferen ţ e de sens între paradigmele cognitive decât între partitivele înse şi. O distribu ţ ie ampl ă , coloca ţ ii adesea comune şi asocieri nu rareori

surprinzătoare confer ă acestor expresii cantitativ-nonnumerice sensuri metaforice, cu valen ţ ehiperbolice extreme. În limba română , unde se reg ă sesc mare parte din lexicalizările dinvocabularul englez şi se remarcă prezen ţ a unui set de partitive cu rezonan ţ e arhaice, precum

groaz ă /potop/puhoi de , etc, se manifest ă tendin ţ a de a prelua impropriu partitive din limbaengleză. Corpusul ilustrativ a fost selectat din dic ţ ionare, beletristică , mass media şi surse online.

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pp. 66 - 72

Language

and

Literature

PAST IMPERFECTS – PRESENT IMAGININGS: (RE) MAKING HISTORY

Ioana Mohor-Ivan

In 1994, when his study on Contemporary Irish Drama was published, Anthony Roche

was introducing his chapter on Northern Irish Drama in the following terms:

Since conflict is the essence of all drama, it should be no surprise that the current

situation in Northern Ireland has generated a considerable number of stage plays.Catholic versus Protestant, British versus Irish, republican versus loyalist, the gun

versus the ballot box: to live in the North is to inhabit a drama of conflict whose

contradictions often result in lethal consequences. (Roche, 1994: 216)

If Roche was referring here to the interconnectedness between the theatrical stage and the

political violence of the last twenty-five years that had become an all too inevitable sight in

Northern Irish culture, the origins of the oppositional patterns referred to above lies with

the historical England-Ireland axis and the fact of colonialism, which, from David Cairns

and Shaun Richards’ perspective, has inflected the making and remaking of the Irish

identity by positing it as England’s other, to the extent to which “no aspect of identity […]

can safely be assumed to be inherent” (Cairns and Richards, 1988: 8). This proves Declan

Kiberd’s assertion, that “it was less easy to decolonise the mind than the territory” (Kiberd,

1996: 6), because the clusters of imagery evolved by each community for self-

representation tend to fall into two categories: on the Protestant side, the basic oppositionestablished by the colonial discourse between self and other, recast as that between

civilisation and wilderness remains central, and the conflict is explained by reinforcing the

stereotype of the irrational and violent Catholic, who has failed to accept the democratic

will of the majority. On the Nationalist divide, violence becomes heroism, and ‘terrorist’

is replaced by ‘freedom-fighter’, by means of the reciprocity principle secured by a long

list of historic ills perpetrated against the natives by their oppressors, which require redress

in the present, the ‘inspiration’ being provided by the actions of legitimated heroes, from

Cuchullain to Connolly (Buckley, 1991: 261).

If history, or better said, its versions of the past remain obsessively afresh in

reinforcing loyalties and asserting identities, one should not forget that, to quote John

Berger’s opinion:

History always constitutes the relation between a present and its past. Consequently, fear of the present leads to mystifications of the past. The past is not for living in: it is a

well of conclusions from which we draw in order to act. Cultural mystification of the

past entails a double loss. Works of art are made unnecessarily remote. And the past

offers us fewer conclusions to complete in action. (Rabey, 1986: 188)

Among other Northern Irish playwrights, Brian Friel has, so far, provided the most

coherent commitment to the investigation of “the established opinions, myths and

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stereotypes which had become both a symptom and a cause of the current situation”

(Ireland’s Field Day, 1985). As co-founder of the Field Day Theatrical Company in 1980,

Friel offered in his own Translations an alternative way “of looking at Ireland, or another

possible Ireland” (Gray, 1995: 8; Andrews, 1995: 165). Set in 1833, at the time when the

Ordnance Survey resulted in the translation of the Gaelic place-names into English,

Translations turned the historical event into a dramatic metaphor able to comment on

present-day Anglo-Irish relations, while, at the same time, it brought into discussion thetraditional nationalist myth of “the cultural dispossession by the British” (McAvera, 1985).

Though a historical play, Translations foregrounded striking contradictions to the

mythology of colonialism through reversed stereotyping, psychological character depth,

instances of meaningful openness to the ‘other’ that asserted the possibility of crossing the

boundaries, and a basically optimistic ending, which suggested the desirability of cultural

fusion between the Gaelic and English traditions. As such, the Frielian text succeeded in

“re-making” history for the contemporary audience, and in this manner an imagined past

became meaningful for the present.

If, starting with its premiere, Translations has met with much acclaim, sometimes

controversy, but an overall impressive host of critical commentary, the same cannot be said

about the other historical play written in the 1980s, Making History (1988)1, to which

Anthony Roche’s study of Contemporary Irish Drama devotes only a passing, andunjustly disqualifying remark that reads: “Friel’s much awaited Making History, his first

new play in six years, was a disappointment” (Roche, 1994: 224). That Making History

was not a “disappointment” can be proved by the fact that Declan Kiberd names it among

his selected triumvirate of Frielian plays to appear in the synopsis of contemporary Irish

literature with which his study concludes (Kiberd, 1996: 633-4).

As a new attempt at writing a historical play, Making History may have been

prompted by Kevin Barry’s remarks on the interaction between history and fiction on

which the latter was basing his appraisal of Translations:

It is certain that both history and fiction imagine and structure a past which neither

could make known without sharing the images and structures of narrative. Bothdiscourses enable the entry into what has been lost into a society’s understanding of its

present. (Friel, Barry, Andrews, 1983: 119)

As Friel himself has confessed in an interview, the writing of a historical play presents the

apparent advantage of dealing with established historical facts that lend accessibility to the

work, but also imposes particular responsibilities for the writer, “to acknowledge those

facts . . . but not to defer to them” (Friel, Barry, Andrews, 1983: 123-4). Consequently,

Making History acknowledges the ‘facts’ of the recorded histories of Hugh O’Neill, the 3rd

Baron of Dungannon and the 2nd

Earl of Tyrone, the leader of the Irish forces in the last

Gaelic rebellion against the English colonisation of Ulster at the end of the 16th

century.

An adept politician and gifted soldier, O’Neill made the most both of his position as a

representative of the English Crown which had secured him the granting of an English

earldom in 1585, as he did ten years later in the Rising of the Northern Earls, when he

became known among his European Catholic contemporaries as the “Prince of Ireland”.

Nevertheless, the action of Making History condenses the events bridging O’Neill’s

marriage to the English Mabel Bagenal in 1591 to the aftermath of Kinsale into a

momentous episode lasting less than two years, in which the points of reference are:

O’Neill’s reciprocated love for Mabel (Act I, Scene 1), his facing the option of turning into

the leader that would coalesce a national resistance (Act I, Scene 2), and the anguished

confession of repentance written to the Queen when a fugitive in the Sperrin mountains

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(Act II. Scene 1). A coda set twenty years later (Act II. Scene 2) shows O’Neill, now an

exile in Rome, endlessly returning to the same incidents of his life as the only means of

preserving some sense of ‘truth’ for his existence: “That is the truth. That is what

happened” (66). This final scene discloses that what the play has enacted so far were the

flashbacks of O’Neill’s mind, engaged in a kind of Yeatsian “dreaming back” of a

selective and subjective record of his life.

Throughout the play, O’Neill’s personal history is juxtaposed with the officialrecord of his life, exemplified by Peter Lombard’s De Regno Hiberniae Commentarius

(1632), a text in which the Catholic Archbishop had promoted O’Neill as the hero of the

European Counter-Reformation, becoming thus central not only to Gaelic historiography,

but also to the Nationalist tradition.

The whole text is structured on this opposition between the private and the public

realms, the inner and the outer selves, and this doubleness is represented by dividing the

stage space through the pairing of different characters. The domestic sphere of O’Neill’s

home in Dungannon places its dramatic emphasis on Hugh’s relationship with Mabel,

highlighting not only the private dimension in his life, but also a harmonious fusion of

Gaelic and English tradition, which also “characterised the central love scene of

Translations” (Kiberd, 1996: 634). Yet this world is intruded by the arrival of another pair

of characters, Lombard and O’Donnell, coming as messengers of the public discourse of politics and tribal loyalties. Hugh O’Donnell’s sensationalist report on the troubled scene

surrounding Dungannon reveals a parochial and divided society, impetuous and unstable,

in a permanent flux of shifting allegiances, as its Gaelic chieftains are, in Lombard’s

words: “Constantly at war - occasionally with the English - but always, always among

themselves”(11). However, this is part of the same world of ancient rituals and ceremonies

that O’Neill inherited at his birth, “a way of life that my blood comprehends and indeed

loves and that is as old as the Book of Ruth”(28). While O’Donell impersonates Hugh’s

attachments to his native culture, the presence of Lombard enlarges the public theme by

placing it into the context of European politics. The Archbishop, “by profession . . . a

Church diplomat”(6), is the emissary of the European Counter-Reformation, speaking the

impersonal and abstract language of the organisers and ideologues. As a self-appointed

chronicler of the Irish situation, he has already inserted Hugh in his text in the preordained

public role of a hero:

And this is a résumé of my Commentarius - a thesis I’m doing on the Irish situation.

Briefly, my case is this. Because of her mismanagement England has forfeited her right

to domination over this country. The Irish chieftains have been forced to take up arms in

defence of their religion. And because of your birth, education and personal attributes, you are the natural leader of that revolt. (7-8)

Despite Lombard’s claim that “History has to be made - before it’s remade”(9), the public

discourse has imposed “a pattern on events that were mostly casual and haphazard” (8).

O’Neill may ponder about his options and resist volunteering to appear in “the big canvas

of national events” (69), but the course of his actions has been pre-ordered either by

policy-makers such as Lombard, the Spanish grandees or the Pope, or by the polarised

language of imperialistic imagery, which, despite his Renaissance self-fashioning under

the guidance of Sir Henry Sydney, will inevitably brand him “Fox O’Neill”, because all

Irishmen “who live like subjects play but as the fox which when you have him on a chain

will seem tame; but if he ever gets loose, he will be wild again” (35). Positioned as

defender of “the Holy Roman Church” (33) by the discourse of militant Catholicism and as

the treacherous barbarian by that of colonialism, O’Neill is eventually forced to conform to

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his public role, and engage in “making” history, while the rupture of his bonds with his

private self will be symbolised by the news of Mabel’s death.

Years later in Rome, with his official part formally ended by the full stop placed in

Lombard’s history after “The Flight of the Earls. . . the final coming to rest”(65-66) and

the position of “inacción” (56) assigned by the present political discourse, a broken,

drunken and penniless O’Neill will be left with a crippled privacy, epitomised in the

frustrating marriage to Catriona. The existent history of personal failure will be once more juxtaposed with Lombard’s story where the former public failure has been turned into a

history of success. To become a “cause for celebration not only by us but by the

generations that follow” (62), the narrative will delete Mabel, signifying both the private

and the English dimension in Hugh’s existence, and will turn O’Neill’s life into a story of

epic proportions where even the “telling” of the battle of Kinsale “can . . . be a triumph”

(65).

Refusing to be imprisoned “in a florid lie” (63), O’Neill engages in his last and, this

time, personal battle to retrieve the wholeness of his lived history, lost in the simplified

narrative of Lombard’s book:

I need the truth, Peter. That’s all that’s left. The schemer, the leader, the liar, the

statesman, the lecher, the patriot, the drunk, the soured, bitter émigré - put it all in, Peter. Record the whole life. (63) (underlining mine)

What Mabel has called the “overall thing”(68) means ultimately to reclaim the multiplicity

of life, in its shifting patterns of opposite manifestations.

And Making History fights its own battle to regain the “overall thing”, by self-

consciously fore-grounding the relativity of absolute categorisations. The glass of whiskey

that Lombard holds in his hand may be both “a lure to perdition” and “a foretaste of

immortality”(69). In a similar fashion, the oppositional terms of the colonial discourse

resurface in various contexts and with subtle re-polarisations, in concordance with Friel’s

dictum that a writer’s task is to acknowledge but not defer to established facts. While for

the English Harry Bagenal, Mabel’s brother, the Irish will always be locked in their

description as “a rebellious race”, “so traitorous a stock” that have to be repressed (6), andO’Donnell will be accordingly nicknamed “the Butcher O’Donnell” (17), truth is always

made relative, and no definitions remain fixed. Bagenal, in his turn, becomes for Hugh

O’Donnell “the Butcher Bagenal” (13), and his raids in the countryside, where he

“slaughtered and beheaded fifteen families” are described by means of the same language

with which O’Donnell boasts his own acts. Even Mabel, despite her openness to her

husband’s culture, is not spared falling prey to the language of English prejudice and,

irritated by her servants, shouts at them: “If you want to behave like savages, go back to

the bogs!” (20). But seconds later in the play, faced with her sister’s retort to the

convention trope of the uncivilised Irish, “treacherous and treasonable. . .steeped in

religious superstitions”, “a savage people who refuse to cultivate the land God gave us”

(24), Mabel crosses the border of the paradigm, and embarrasses her sister by asserting her

conversion to Catholicism and relocating the terms of definition:

As for civility I believe that there is a mode of life here that is at least as honourable and

as cultivated as the life I’ve left behind. And I imagine the Cistercian monks in Newrydidn’t think our grandfather an agent of civilisation when he routed them out of their

monastery and took it over as our home. (24).

Such ironic juxtaposition is a constant of a play which leaves no safe locations for pre-set

oppositions. O’Neill himself may make ironic references to the “Gaelic wilderness” (26),

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the Italians may unexpectedly be conjured by O’Donnell to fill the negative term of the

matrix: “Bloody savages! The only time they ever smile is when they’re sinking a sword in

you!” (32) and even the Spanish view of Elisabeth as “the Jezebel of the North” is

comically reworked in Mary’s report on the English calling O’Neill “The Northern Lucifer

- the Great Devil - Beelzebub” (25).

O’Neill’s mind has the versatility of understanding both codes and see the values

and excesses on each side. On one hand, the Gaelic culture, stretching back “since beforehistory, long before the God of Christianity was ever heard of” (40) lends assurances and

dignity to his people. Yet, on the other hand, the same tradition can also entrap them “in

the old Gaelic paradigms of thought” (27), and the proud defiance of the Irish, exemplified

by the fate of Maguire, may become a suicidal action. Similarly, the English culture is

equally the epitome of the enlightened Renaissance mind, the necessary implement “to

open these peoples to the strange new ways of Europe,. . . ease them into the new

assessment of things” (40) and that of crude materialism, because it also represents “the

plodding Henrys of this world which are the real empire makers” (27).

Still, straddling both worlds, O’Neill proves by his own example that their

reconciliation and fusion is possible, as long as the openness to the “other” is preserved, an

openness also asserted by the meaningful relationships, be them of love or friendship,

established with Mabel and O’Donnell. Moreover, the “Other” can be enriching, because,as Mabel says, his strength lies with him being both Irish and English, becoming thus “the

most powerful man in Ireland” and an enigma to the Queen, “the antithesis of what she

expects a Gaelic chieftain to be.” (38)

The balance is broken the moment O’Neill is compelled to side with the Gaelic

‘pieties’ against his English half. Yet, despite severed attachments and amidst the rash of

battle plans, Mabel’s presence restores her husband to his characteristic “calculation -

deliberation - caution” (37 Nonetheless, his carefully designed scheme of operations is

nullified by the Spaniards’ wrong choice of place, and O’Neill has the instant apprehension

of the fore-coming defeat:

O’Neill: Where do they land?

O’Donnell: ‘Keen-sall.’

O’Neill: Where - where?

O’Donnell: ‘Keen’sall’ - Kinsale, I suppose.O’Neill: Oh, God, no. (42)

After the debacle of Kinsale the fiction of a nation state collapses into the “chaos” (44) of

the former quagmire of “squabbling tribesmen” (38), and O’Neill is confronted once more

with the imperative of opting between the Gaelic paradigm, represented now by his joining

the “Flight of the Earls” and living “the life of a soured émigré whingeing and scheming

round the capitals of Europe” (48), or the pragmatism of his Englishness, which tells him

to follow Mabel’s advice and submit to Elizabeth:

I should accept almost any conditions, no matter how humiliating, as long as I’d berestored to my base again and to my own people (48).

It is at this moment that O’Neill professes his loyalty to the English Crown and surrenders

the last remnants of independence, but he does so fully aware of the consequences of this

act, which would render him “one great fraud” (49) to both sides alike:

O’Neill: Belief has nothing to do with it. As Mabel says, she’ll use me if it suits her.O’Donnell: And your people?

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O’Neill: They’re much more pure, “my people”. Oh, no, they won’t believe me either. But they’ll pretend they believe me and then with ruthless Gaelic logic they’ll crucify me

for betraying them. (50)

O’Neill’s willed confession is done in full recognition that he will be forever considered an

impostor, but it is the only reasonable response to the devious world around him, and

becomes thus as important a chapter in his history as the other glorified events selected byLombard’s book:

O’Neill: And the six years after Kinsale - before the Flight of the Earls - aren’t they going to be recorded? When I lived like a criminal, skulking round the countryside - my

countryside! - hiding from the English, from the Upstarts, from the Old English, but most

assiduously hiding from my brother Gaels who couldn’t wait to strip me out of every

blade of grass I ever owned. And then when I could endure that humiliation no longer, I ran away! If these were ‘my people’ then to hell with my people! (66)

All the same, this episode will be dismissed by the Archbishop as unfit for “the story of a

hero” (67) and because, as Kiberd notes, “history is not written by winners or losers, but

by historians” (Kiberd: 1996, 633), the final lines in the play will be given to Lombard to

seal the divine stature of his character:

A man, glorious, pure, faithful above all Who will cause mournful weeping in every territory.

He will be a God-like prince

And he will be king for the span of his life. (71)

It is a truism that history depends upon the “the surviving documents, which are the past’s

versions of itself” (Friel, Barry, Andrews, 1983: 118). The large brown book placed centre-

stage throughout the last scene, Lombard’s Commentarius , is one such surviving record,

freezing O’Neill into a messianic hero. But Friel’s character breathes alive from the pages

of this “imagined” narrative of his life precisely because it has replaced the repressive

disjunctive co-ordination of the past with the liberating apposition. O’Neill can be a hero,

as well as a famished refugee, as well as a deserter to his nation, as well as many other

things in a play about multiple identity and dual forms of belonging that expose the

shallowness of all stereotypes.

The challenge undertaken by the play, namely to bypass the authority of official

texts by its own fiction has been resolved at the structural level, where the audience were

tricked to dismiss as inauthentic the testimony of an approved document like Lombard’s

Commentarius by linking O’Neill’s corrective reminiscences with their images, which had

been actually enacted during the previous three scenes.

Notes1

For the analysis of this play all references are made to Brian Friel, Making History, London, Boston: Faber

and Faber, 1989, hereafter cited parenthetically in the text.

REFERENCES

Andrews, Elmer (1995) The Art of Brian Friel , New York: St. Martin’s Press.

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Buckley, Anthony (1991) Uses of History among Ulster Protestants in Dawe, Gerald; John Wilson Foster

(eds.) The Poet’s Place: Ulster Literature and Society. Essays in honour of John Hewitt , Belfast:

Institute of Irish Studies, pp 259-271.

Cairns, David and Shaun Richards (1988) Writing Ireland: Colonialism, Nationalism and Culture,

Manchester: Manchester U.P.

Friel, Brian (1989) Making History, London, Boston: Faber and Faber.

Friel, Brian; Barry, Kevin; Andrews, Joseph (1983) Translations and a Paper Landscape: Between Fiction

and History, in The Crane Bag: Perspectives on Irish Cultur e, The Forum Issue, pp. 118-124.Gray, John (1985) Field Day Five Years On in Linenhall Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp 5-10.

Ireland’s Field Day (1985) London: Hutchinson.

Kiberd, Declan (1996) Inventing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation, London: Vintage.

McAvera, Brian (1985) Attuned to the Catholic Experience in Fortnight No. 3/ March Issue, pp 18-21.

Rabey, David Ian (1986) British and Irish Political Drama in the Twentieth Century: Implicating the

audience, London and Basigstoke: Macmillan.

Roche, Anthony (1994) Contemporary Irish Drama: from Beckett to McGuinness, Dublin: Gill &

Macmillan.

Abstract

Brian Friel’s third original Field Day play, Making History , is indicative of the playwright’s

rejection of the oppositional binaries on which both the colonialist and the nationalist definitionsof Irishness are based, and his search for a middle-ground, where the mechanics by which forms

of identity are asserted and problematised may be subjected to a critical investigation. The paper

aims to disclose the various strategies by means of which Friel’s play continually brings such

oppositional constructs into question and opens thus both the colonialist and the nationalist

paradigms to critique.

Résumé

La troisième pièce originale de Brian Friel pour la companie Field Day, Making History ,

témoigne de la rejection de l’auteur en ce qui concerne les paires de concepts opposes qui

constituent l’essence des definitions colonialists et nationals de l’identité du people d’Irlande, et

de sa recherché pour une voie de compromise où la méchanique à travers de laquelle des formes

d’identité sont exposée et mises en question peut faire l’objet d’une investigation critique. Cet

etude a comme objet de reveller les strategies différentes à l’aide desquelles la pieces de Friel met toujours en question de telles conbstructions opposes et elle ouvre également les paradigms

colonialists et nationals à la critique.

Rezumat

Making History , cea de-a treia piesa original ă scrisă de Brian Friel pentru a fi produsă de

compania teatral ă Field Day, reia explorarea spa ţ iul identit ăţ ii irlandeze în contextul revoltei lui

Hugh O’Neill, unul dintre evenimentele cruciale din istoriei coloniz ării Irlandei. Lucrarea î şi

propune să demonstreze că textul frielian rescrie nara ţ iunea istorică în registru imaginativ unde

modelele dihotomice de reprezentare a conceptului de Irishness, (caracteristice atât discursului

colonialismului britanic cât şi celui al na ţ ionalismului irlandez) pot fi destabilizate şi revizuite.

Un veritabil text postmodern, piesa aduce in centrul aten ţ iei suspiciunea fa ţă de nara ţ iunile

totalizatoare, accentuând natura discursivă a reprezent ărilor trecutului şi, implicit, a identit ăţ ii

şi subliniaz ă instabilitatea, relativitatea şi provizoratul acesteia.

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pp. 73 - 80

Language

and

Literature

EFECTUL PERLOCUŢIONAR EFICIENT ŞI COMUNIUNEA FATICĂ ÎNTEXTUL LITERAR DIN PERIOADA COMUNISTĂ

Gina Necula

PreliminariiOcupându-se de ac ţ iunea şi interac ţ iunea comunicativă din perspectiva pragmaticii,Liliana Ionescu-Ruxăndoiu subliniază aspecte de interes pentru demersul nostru:„Comunicarea verbală pune în funcţiune nu numai filtrul gramaticalit ăţ ii […], ci şi filtrulreu şitei şi eficien ţ ei. Există deci enunţuri corecte sau incorecte sub aspect gramatical, dar enunţurile corecte pot fi reuşite sau nereuşite, după cum formularea aleasă de E permitesau nu R să sesizeze intenţiile cu care au fost rostite, iar enunţurile reuşite, la rândul lor,

pot fi eficiente sau ineficiente, după cum au sau nu asupra R efectul dorit de E,modificându-i în mod corespunzător comportarea, ideile sau sentimentele” (Ionescu-Ruxăndoiu, 1991: 11).

După autoarea citată, fiecare enunţ constituie un act de comunicare în a căruistructur ă pot fi identificate:- o componentă locuţionar ă – actele verbale, având o structur ă fonetică, gramaticală şi semantică, independente de situaţia de comunicare – obiectul de studiu al gramaticii;- o componentă ilocuţionar ă – asociază conţinutului propoziţional al enunţurilor o

for ţă convenţională specifică, determinată de intenţiile comunicative ale E şi recunoscută ca atare de către R (acte reprezentative, directive, comisive, expresive, declaraţii;- o componentă perlocuţionar ă – efectele produse de enunţurile cu for ţă ilocuţionar ă asupra R definesc actele perlocuţionare.

Trebuie precizat faptul că nu orice act ilocuţionar are consecinţe perlocuţionaredirecte, ci doar actele eficiente. Ne interesează în mod deosebit efectul perlocuţionar,component al oricărui act de vorbire. Efectul perlocuţionar putând fi eficient sau ineficient,ambele efecte perlocuţionare pot fi definite prin prisma intenţiilor vorbitorului: efectul

perlocu ţ ionar eficient este efectul pe care vorbitorul vrea să-l aibă asupra ascultătorului, întimp ce în cazul efectului perlocu ţ ionar ineficient intenţiile vorbitorului nu sematerializează .

Fenomen de limbaj, literatura nu este numai o construcţie de cuvinte, ci ea implică

o serie întreagă de referinţe extralingvistice. Din perspectiva teoriilor comunicării Cortiafirmă că: „La baza formelor de comunicare literar ă, chiar şi a celor mai originale, există oarie comună de competenţă a emitentului şi a destinatarului, constituită de lectur ă, casistem informativ şi comunicativ” (Corti, 1981 : 24). Fiecare text are un loc în literatur ă,deoarece intr ă în relaţie cu celelalte texte. De fapt, nici literatura, cum de altfel, nicivorbirea obişnuită, nu transmite de fiecare dată idei noi, ci doar repetă teme, motive, tipare.În acelaşi fel se realizează şi decodificarea mesajului unei opere literare, fiind nevoie cacititorul să pună textul în relaţie cu alte texte la care a avut acces, pentru a stabili legăturilede sens necesare.

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În literatur ă posibilităţile semnificative şi comunicative se actualizează altfel decâtîn limbă pentru că limba literar ă e un sistem de comunicare conotativ, cu acumularediacronică, iar sintagmele au un plus semantic care le vine din contextele artistice

precedente în care s-au actualizat.În Principiile comunicării literare, Maria Corti aprecia că „artistul are pe de o parte

asprul destin de a surprinde obscuritatea profundă, indescifrabilă, a realului, iar pe de altă

parte de a asocia într-un mod nou semnele emise de referenţi în universul cultural şiideologic al propriei epoci, proces prin care el participă la natura socială a structurilor literare, de care este condiţionat, fie că favorizează sistemul de aşteptări ale societăţii, fiecă se pune în antagonism cu acesta. Literatura apare aşadar ca un loc de întâlnire sauconfruntare între conştiinţa individuală şi cea colectivă, întâlnire ce se schimbă odată cuschimbarea istoriei ei” (Idem. : 39).

Comuniunea fatică în textul literar din perioada comunistă

Propaganda a ales calea cea mai scurtă şi mai eficientă: activarea instinctelor. Sursaenergetică şi persuasivă a propagandei prin literatur ă este manipularea unor modele

binecunoscute omului simplu. Activarea resentimentelor, aţâţarea sunt cele mai buneinstrumente folosite în controlul mulţimii. Instigarea la ur ă a dat viaţă unei literaturi ce, înmod normal, ar fi trebuit să fie hăr ăzită mor ţii rapide prin intoxicare cu clişee.Felul în care este citit/perceput un text în interiorul unei culturi are semnifica ţie politică.Istoria literar ă este presărată cu exemple de texte care au fost considerate, la un momentdat, periculoase pentru un anumit regim politic. Sarcina criticilor, în astfel de cazuri este să sancţioneze şi să corecteze abuzurile. Sensul orientat al unei opere literare este o invenţie a

politicii.Limba îşi impune singur ă regulile: trebuie să ne conformăm unui sistem gramatical

dar şi unui set de convenţii stabilite prin tradiţie pentru a putea fi înţeleşi de alţii. Există întotdeauna în mesaj o serie de insinuări ale societăţii în care autorul şi cititorul seintegrează. În această idee se înscrie şi afirmaţia lui Green: „we read within traditions of reading, and our assumptions are based on those traditions” (Green, LeBihan, 1996: 187).Subliniem astfel faptul că aşteptările neexprimate ale unui text sunt parte a istoriei pe caretextul respectiv o poartă. Textele par să propulseze cititorul pe un drum

predestinat/predeterminat, dar ele pot fi citite şi interpretate în diverse scopuri ideologice.Trebuie f ăcută precizarea că lectura literar ă este diferită faţă de orice alt tip de lectur ă

pentru că cititorul trebuie să ajungă la o anumită atitudine care să permită reiterarea tuturor valenţelor textului.

Wolfgang Iser, în eseul Interaction Between Text and Reader , analizează comunicarea prin literatur ă în următorii termeni: „a process set in motion and regulated,not by a given code, but by a mutually restrictive and magnifying interaction between theexplicit and the implicit, between revelation and concealment. What is concealed spurs the

reader into action, but this action is also controlled by what is revealed; the explicit in itsturn is transformed when the implicit has been brought to light. Whenever the reader bridges the gaps, communication begins. The gaps function as a kind of pivot on which thewhole text/reader relationship revolves. Hence, the structured blanks of the text stimulatethe process of ideation to be performed by the reader on terms set by the text” (Iser,1989:106). Astfel textul este văzut ca o imagine fragmentar ă a cărei păr ţi lipsă trebuiereconstituite de către cititor.

Abordarea textului literar se face din perspectiva funcţiilor limbii, interesându-neaici, în mod deosebit, funcţia fatică, o funcţie neglijată în majoritatea lucr ărilor de

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specialitate datorită accepţiei şi rolului secundar pe care i le acordă Roman Jakobson. Neîntoarcem aşadar la accepţia lui Bronislaw Malinowski (Malinowski, 1923: 313) asuprafaticităţii unui mesaj. Plecând de la premisa că funcţia principală a limbii nu este aceea dea exprima gândirea, Malinowschi identifică drept funcţie fundamentală a comunicăriiaceea de a juca un rol pragmatic în comportamentul uman. Este vorba aici despre limbafolosită ca instrument de comuniune socială demonstrând că oamenii se adună şi comunică

între ei pentru a ar ăta că fac parte dintr-un grup. Schimbul zilnic, banal de amabilităţi carese întâlneşte în comunicare este numit de autor cu termenul „sociabilities” pentru a sublinianevoia omului de socializare. „There can be no doubt that we have here a new type of linguistic use – phatic communion. I am tempted to call it, actuated by the demon of terminological invention – a type of speech in which ties of union are created by a mereexchange of words”( Idem: 315).

Din observaţiile lui Malinowski reiese că limba este folosită, în primul rând, pentrua îndeplini funcţii sociale, adică relaţiile şi interacţiunile sociale sunt negociate prinintermediul expresiei lingvistice. Ne referim aici la ceea ce autorul numeşte „comuniunefatică” şi pe care autorul o descrie ca fiind: „a feeling of belonging to a community”(ibidem). Comuniunea fatică implică menţinerea sentimentului apartenenţei la ocomunitate, a solidarităţii între membrii grupului, dar şi un sentiment de acceptare a

celorlalţi şi de acceptare de către ceilalţi.Astfel relaţiile între membrii unei comunităţi lingvistice pot fi descrise, în termenii luiMalinowski, astfel:contact / rela ţ ii ierarhice / sentimente pozitive = comuniune fatică

solidaritatecomuniune fatică

statut social rela ţ ii sociale

Toţi aceşti factori definesc limba ca un fenomen dinamic pentru că interacţiuneafatică presupune acordul în privinţa semnificaţiilor, iar faticitatea poate fi negociată şiconstruită prin expresii.

Comuniunea fatică stă la baza proceselor interpretative la care cititorul trebuie să participe în scopul identificării corecte a semnificaţiilor intenţionate de către autor dar neexprimate explicit. Asistăm în cazul literaturii la un tip de comunicare orientată puterniccătre celălalt.

Cele şase funcţii ale limbii sunt prezente în orice mesaj în anumite propor ţii înfuncţie de natura mesajului şi de scopul urmărit. Importanţa funcţiilor în cadrulinteracţiunii sociale determină o ierarhizare a acestora pentru că fiecare mesaj este dominatde o anumită/anumite funcţii în timp ce celelalte sunt doar secundare. Georgeta Ghica preiade la Mannheim o serie de observaţii privitoare la abordarea semiotică a acestui fenomen,constatând faptul că acest tip de abordare „a dus la considerarea funcţiilor referenţială,conativă, fatică şi expresivă ca fiind semiotic- extrovertite, deoarece obiectul mesajuluieste în afara lui, pe când funcţiile metalingvistică şi poetică sunt considerate semiotic-

extrovertite, deoarece obiectul lor este însăşi activitatea semnului” (Cf.Ghica, 1999: 140 ).Referindu-se la relaţia dintre funcţia fatică şi alte funcţii ale limbii, Georgeta Ghicaconsider ă că: „Exercitându-se la nivelul canalului, care reprezintă conducta material ă sauleg ătura psihologică (cf. Jakobson) dintre emiţător şi receptor, funcţia fatică se raportează inevitabil la funcţiile emotivă şi conativă, orientate asupra celor doi factori menţionaţi maisus. Caracterul explicit sau, dimpotrivă, estompat al acestui raport este o consecinţă firească a diversităţii situaţiilor de comunicare” (Ghica, 1999: 140 ).

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Funcţia fatică întâlneşte funcţia emotivă în zona interjecţiilor. Acestea au dublu rol: pe de o parte, atrag atenţia interlocutorului, pe de altă parte, poartă încărcătur ă afectivă,aducând informaţii cu privire la starea emotivă a vorbitorului.

Funcţia fatică şi cea conativă interacţionează – mesajele trebuie să fie perceputecorect pentru a fi decodate de către receptor. Ghica consider ă că „un asemenea rol dublu – fatic şi conativ – se observă mai ales la elementele care contribuie la declanşarea /

stimularea comunicării. Intrate în structura mesajelor, aceste elemente aduc receptoruluiinformaţii suplimentare, cum ar fi rolul sau statutul pe care vorbitorul îl acordă receptorului; natura relaţiei pe care emiţătorul o propune, ajutându-l astfel pe receptor înopţiunile pe care urmează să le facă” (Idem: 145 ).

Relaţia dintre funcţia fatică şi cea metalingvistică este prezentată în lucrarea citată astfel: „Adesea, în verificarea codului, vorbitorul recurge la întrebări de tipul mă înţelegi?,ştii? care, în acelaşi timp, atrag sau fac să crească atenţia interlocutorului, îndeplinind, deci,un rol fatic” (Idem: 148). Funcţia fatică are în comun cu cea metalingvistică faptul că, întimp ce una verifică dacă există comunicare, cealaltă este folosită de către participanţii la

procesul de comunicare pentru a verifica dacă se foloseşte acelaşi cod în vederea unei bunecomunicări.

În literatur ă posibilităţile semnificative şi comunicative se actualizează altfel decât

în limbă pentru că limba literar ă e un sistem de comunicare conotativ, cu acumularediacronică, iar sintagmele au un plus semantic care le vine din contextele artistice

precedente în care s-au actualizat.Unele aspecte care interesează aici ţin de pragmatica textului, adică acelea legate de

cooperare. Cooperarea este definită de către Umberto Eco ca fiind acel aspect al pragmaticii textului „care îl determină pe destinatar să extragă din text ceea ce textul nuspune (dar presupune, promite, implică şi implicitează), să umple spaţiile goale, să pună înlegătur ă ceea ce se găseşte în acel text cu ţesătura intertextualităţii în care îşi are origineaacel text şi cu care se va contopi” (Eco, 1991: 25 ).

Comunicarea fatică este o tr ăsătur ă specifică conversaţiei zilnice. Efortul de amenţine comunicarea demonstrează faptul că o conversaţie trebuie să fie dinamitată cumărci afective pentru că relaţiile sociale sunt negociate şi controlate prin asemeneamijloace. Stabilirea unei legături între participanţii la procesul de comunicare poatesemnaliza raporturi de incluziune, defineşte relaţiile şi raporturile.

După cum declaram la început, intenţia acestei lucr ări este să demonstrezeimportanţa „comuniunii fatice” în cazul unui tip de comunicare pândită de tentaţia clişeuluişi aflată sub ameninţarea cenzurii.

Nevoia de a „congrega”, de a face parte dintr-un grup poate fi urmărită în textulliterar, mai ales în acele texte care, pândite de pericolul cenzurii, trebuiau să stabilească contactul cu cititorul prin diversiuni care să înşele vigilenţa ideologiei de partid. Unuldintre maeştrii disimulării înregimentării este Marin Preda, autor la care stabilireacomuniunii fatice se poate face doar cuun cititor care poate citi ironic sau parodic clişeullingvistic subminat.

“Bine, continuă Moromete adresându-se prietenilor lui liberali, dat fiind că statul arenevoie de parale fiindcă nu mai suntem ca pe vremea regimului burghez al mo şierului…de mo şieri, cu sămân ţ a lor, de unde i-au mai scos şi pe-ăştia, care şti ţ i şi voi aldeCostache şi alde Matei că se luă mo şia a mare a coanei Marica îndat ă după ăl ălalt r ă zboi, şi nu acuma, dar dat fiind că numai ei au nevoie de bani, noi n-avem, să zicemcă fonciirea trebuie achitat ă…”

(Preda – Morome ţ ii II , 126)Textul acesta atrage atenţia asupra unei tr ăsături specifice discursului ideologic: - e

vorba de un discurs unic, difer ă doar persoana care îl rosteşte şi „patima”,

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ascultătorii/cititorii avizaţi se „lămuresc” repede că aşa stau lucrurile; - discursul nu are învedere un referent real ci doar reproduce clişee; funcţia sa principală este „să-i facă să nu

priceapă”, să manipuleze. În ceea ce priveşte modalităţile de inserare în discurs a clişeelor constatăm, aşa după cum afirmă şi Rovenţa-Frumuşani, „bivalenţa funcţională a clişeului:valoarea sa de introductiv al replicii şi rolul său fatic” (Rovenţa-Frumuşani, 1994: 12). Fiecă este asumat sau nu, clişeul este un element care contribuie la realizarea comuniunii

fatice, constituindu-se în liantul care marchează apartenenţa la o anumită clasă socială saulegătuirle cu o anumită ideologie.La Buzura, preluarea sloganului se face cu intenţie demistificatoare, cu atât mai

mult cu cât şi contextul trimite către ironizarea tendinţei de nivelare socială prin limbaj.Personajul din Vocile nop ţ ii, Pintea tr ăieşte o experienţă limită, este supus la interogatorii

pentru o culpă necunoscută. Reacţia în faţa tor ţionarului probează dorinţa autorului de aobţine aprobarea cititorului:

„Ave ţ i voi îndr ă zneala să bate ţ i un om al muncii, pui şor? Pe un frunta ş în produc ţ ie?Se pomeni Pintea întrebându-l cu o nea şteptat ă siguran ţă. P ăi, cine crede ţ i că vă d ă vouă pâine? N-ai citit că e interzisă bătaia chiar şi în sânul familiei? P ăi, ai habar câ ţ i ţ in eu în spate, eu acesta pe care de-abia a ştep ţ i să-l legi? Ş ase micimane! Dar eu

cred că sunt mai mul ţ i. Confunda ţ i oamenii, îi scula ţ i din somn. Ş i tocmai acum? P ăi, ţ ara tr ăie şte cu mâinile suflecate, produce o ţ el, pâine, carne, şi voi ce face ţ i? M ă scoate ţ i din ritm, mă obosi ţ i, mă enerva ţ i. Nu vă da ţ i seama că întârzia ţ i cu voiaconstruirea noii societ ăţ i? Se poate? Î ţ i tai ra ţ ia, în ţ elegi? Începând de azi îmi aleg peal ţ ii care să mă căl ărească”.

(Buzura, Vocile… , p. 27)

Identificăm aici, pe de o parte, nevoia de a afirma apartenenţa la un grup prinasimilarea şi asumarea de clişee şi, pe de altă parte, nevoia de a submina aceste barierelingvistice care ajung să devină bariere sociale.

Nevoia de socializare a individului îi impune să se supună unui anumit ritual lingvistic,dacă societatea impune aceste tipare, dar ironia amar ă, care se degajă din astfel de citate,demonstrează dorinţa de transmite cititorului mesaje subliminale.

„Pentru astea va avea grijă colectivul să facă ni şte comitete de batere la cap. Ei o să-mi dea sfaturi, eu, spăşit, pe un ton dramatic, o să-mi iau ni şte angajamente şi gata. Zgomot mare pentru o nimic toat ă. Dacă o să fiu cuminte, mă vor coopta şi pe mineîntr-un asemenea colectiv şi voi fi dat de pild ă că am ajuns la fel de cenu şiu ca al ţ ii,bun de arbitru la concursul Cine-i cel mai incolor câştig ă!”

(Buzura, Vocile… , p. 34)

Distingem pe de o parte, „intenţia autorului de a fi cu ceilal ţ i prin intermediul textului creatşi, pe de altă parte, str ădania cititorului ca, prin acelaşi text, pe care încearcă să-l decodezeadecvat, să capteze un mesaj din nenumăratele mesaje care îl asaltează. Recunoaştemtotodată, în ceea ce Malinowski numeşte atmosfer ă de sociabilitate, cooperarea pe care orealizează cititorul cu autorul textului în procesul lecturii, cooperare care decurge dinfuncţionarea solidar ă a comprehensiunii şi a evaluării”( Ghica, 1999: 135 ).Există însă şi situaţii în care ridicolul supraîncărcării semantice a unui cuvânt iese foarteuşor în evidenţă. Prin personajul său, Ilie Moromete, Preda ironizează cuvintele de acestgen sugerând intenţia de a le învăţa când, de fapt, e vorba doar de mimarea acestui efort:

„Moromete surâdea: «Auzi, mă , Matei, ce zice lipoveanul ă sta, că tu şi cu Giugudel ( şi l-a mai ad ăugat şi pe Cârstache la rând) cică sunte ţ i uneltele mele. Adică cumunelte?» (Era un cuvânt din ziare, prin care erau desemna ţ i astfel acei ţărani care

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continuau încă să fie în rela ţ ii pa şnice cu chiaburii, cuvânt necunoscut în sat princare erau desemna ţ i cei cu stare.) Prin unelte, Moromete d ădea de în ţ eles că se gânde şte la o furcă , o sapă , o grebl ă…”

(Preda, Morome ţ ii II: 124).

Interesat fiind de sociologia limbii, Fishman consider ă că limba nu este doar un instrument

de realizare a comunicării interpersonale şi de influenţare, sau doar purtătoarea desemnificaţii, fie ele manifeste sau latente, ci: „Language itself is content, a referent for loyalties and animosities, an indicator of social statuses and personal relationships, amarker of situations and topics as well as of the societal goals …” (Fishman, 1997 : 27 ) .

Dominique Mangueneau susţine că „în calitate de discurs, literatura nu poate să se plaseze în exteriorul cerinţelor principiului cooper ării sau a legii modalit ăţ ii, dar, încalitate de literatur ă, ea se supune, în funcţie de economia sa proprie, de raportul pe carefiecare oper ă sau tip de oper ă îl instituie cu utilizările nelimitate ale discursului”(Maingueneau, 1990: 121).

Concluzii

Ideea de comuniune fatică ne ajută, în cazul de faţă, să înţelegem mai bine felul în caresunt negociate relaţiile autor-cititor în cazul discursului literar, putând menţiona, dinaceastă perspectivă, două tipuri fundamentale de comuniune identificabile în textelestudiate: o comuniune care are la bază ideologia asumată şi una care se stabileşte prindisimulare, urmărind de fapt subminarea limbii de lemn. Identificăm astfel două tipuri deautori/cititori: un tip naiv, care se identifică cu textul ideologic şi ader ă la el doar dinnevoia integr ării într-un grup şi un alt grup care stabileşte comuniunea fatică tocmai prinrecuzarea unui discurs considerat ilogic.

Sănătatea unei naţii poate fi apreciată după starea în care se află literatura care oreprezintă. Limbajul literar este diferit de cel comun pentru că finalitatea lui nu este aceeade a exersa competenţele limbii, ci aceea de a exprima cultura şi civilizaţia, pe care le

poate modela. Limbajul standard are funcţie comunicativă, iar cel literar vizează intelectul pentru că exprimă esenţa unei gândiri şi este centrat pe funcţia estetică. Din această cauză punctul de vedere al unui scriitor nu poate fi decât unic, nicidecum colectiv. Un scriitor nueste purtătorul de cuvânt al grupului social din care face parte, ci vocea unei conştiinţe.Discursul literar devine, prin infuzia ideologiei, o formă a culturii populare, propovăduind,în mod intens, principiile realismului social şi ale poporanismului. El dobândeşte uncaracter militant, servind atingerii „celor mai sfinte idealuri ale poporului”. Scriitorii suntnumiţi de Stalin „ingineri ai sufletelor omeneşti”, având responsabilitatea de a lupta cu„armele” specifice domeniului lor de activitate împotriva culturii burgheziei.

Distingem aşadar, pe de o parte, intenţia autorului de a fi cu ceilal ţ i prinintermediul textului creat şi, pe de altă parte, str ădania cititorului ca, prin acelaşi text, pecare încearcă să-l decodeze adecvat, să capteze un mesaj din nenumăratele mesaje care îl

asaltează. Recunoaştem totodată, în ceea ce Malinowski numeşte atmosfer ă de sociabilitate, (cooperarea pe care o realizează cititorul cu autorul textului în procesullecturii, cooperare care decurge din funcţionarea solidar ă a comprehensiunii şi a evaluării.

Nevoia de a „congrega”, de a face parte dintr-un grup poartă, în termenii lui Malinowski,denumirea de comuniune fatică. Comuniunea fatică stă la baza proceselor interpretative lacare cititorul trebuie să participe în scopul identificării corecte a semnificaţiilor intenţionate de către autor dar neexprimate explicit. Asistăm în cazul literaturii la un tip decomunicare orientată puternic către celălalt.

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Specific comunicării literare este faptul că unei competenţe lingvistice a autorului îicorespunde o competenţă a destinatarilor, pentru că aceştia din urmă sunt puşi în situaţia dea descoperi în mesaj semnificaţiile intenţionate de autor. Astfel constatăm că opera conţineîn ea însăşi imaginea cititorului căruia îi este destinată însă raportul destinatarului cu operanu poate fi niciodată acelaşi pentru că destinatarul, ca şi emitentul, sunt o sumă de relaţii

psihologice, istorice, socio-culturale, semiologice. De interes deosebit, aşadar, în ceea ce

priveşte receptarea, conform unor dezvoltări şi aplicaţii ale unui alt adept al teoriei luiVéron, „contractul de lectur ă” serveşte pentru a caracteriza funcţionarea, în orice tip de„suport de presă”, a „dispozitivului de enunţare”, adică a „modalităţilor de a spune”,cuprinzând: a) imaginea celui care transmite un mesaj, locul pe care şi-l atribuie acesta faţă de „ce spune”; b) imaginea celui căruia îi este destinat discursul, locul ce-i este atribuitacestuia; c) relaţia dintre emiţător şi destinatar, care poate fi, de fapt, altul decât receptorulreal.

REFERINŢE:

Corti, Maria (1981), Literatur ă şi comunicare, în Principiile comunicării literare, Bucureşti, Editura

Univers , p. 21-33Dumistr ăcel, Stelian (2006), Limbajul publicistic românesc din perspectiva stilurilor func ţ ionale, Iaşi, Ed.Institutul European

Eco, Umberto (1991), Cititorul model, în Lector in fabula, Bucureşti, Editura UniversFishman, Joshua A. (1997), The Sociology of Language, în Sociolinguistics a Reader and Coursebook,

London, Edited by Nickolas Coupland and Adam JaworskiGhica, Georgeta (1999), Exprimarea func ţ iei fatice în operele literare, în Elemente fatice ale comunicării în

româna vorbit ă, Bucureşti Editura ALCRIS-M94Green, Keith, LeBihan, Jill (1996), Language, linguistics and literature, în Critical theory and practice, A

Coursebook – Routledge, New York & LondonIonescu-Ruxăndoiu, Liliana (1991), Pragmatica – domeniu al ac ţ iunii şi interac ţ iunii communicative, în

Nara ţ iune şi dialog în proza românească, Bucureşti, Editura Academiei RomâneIser, Wolfgang (1989), Interaction between text and reader, în S.R. Suleiman and I. Crossman (eds.), The

Reader in the Text: Essays on Audience and Interpretation, Princeton: Princeton University Press,106-112

Maingueneau, Dominique (1990), Pragmatique pour le discours littéraire, Paris, BordasMalinowski, Bronislaw (1923), The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages, în The Meaning of

Meaning – A Study of the Influence of Language Upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism byC.K. Ogden & J.A. Richards with supplementary essays by B. Malinowski & F. G. Crookshank, AHarvest Book, Harcourt, Brace & Company New York

Minet, Pierre (1997), Le contrat de lecture dans les journaux télévisés belges: comparaison entre science et football , în Sciences et Médias, p. 223 – 231

Rovenţa-Frumuşani, Daniela (1994), Introducere în teoria argument ării, Bucureşti, Editura Universităţii

Surse literare:Buzura, Augustin , Vocile nop ţ ii, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1980.Preda, Marin , Morome ţ ii, vol. II, Bucureşti, E.S.P.L.A., 1967.

Abstract Human communication is seen as a very complex reality. Bronislaw Malinowski is the one whoidentifies the phatic function of language as fundamental for understanding the communication principles. Among the first conclusions drawn from his observations Malinowski states that language is used to perform social functions; in other words, social relationships and interactionwere geared to the use of linguistic expressions. One of such functions consists of what he called fatic communion. Language is used to maintain fatic communion - a feeling of belonging to acommunity. Fatic communion involves the maintenance of a sense of community, of solidaritywith other members of the group, of a particular status within the hierarchies of the group, and at the same time a feeling of accepting others and being oneself accepted by others. The present

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article tries to identify the way ”fatic communion” works within literary discourse, especiallywithin censored literary text that supposed to make use of extra means in order to communicatewith its reader

This article aims to prove that literature has a significant role in exposing themanipulating policy of the communist boilerplate language. In this respect, intertextuality provesto be an appropriate instrument of communication between author and reader. Such contexts helpto de-constructing this language and showing up its phonines. Our interest focuses on verbal

irony which is to be illustrate through literary texts belonging to the communist era when the”freedom of speech, thought and action” was just a dream, so that the only way to reallycommunicate was by twisting the clichés.

Résumé

La communication humaine est saisie comme une réalité complexe. Bronislaw Malinowskiidentifie la fonction phatique de la langue jouant un rôle fondamental dans la compréhension des principes de la communication. Malinowski s’appuie sur ses observations et en extrait ses premières conclusions : la langue est utilisée afin d’accomplir ses fonctions sociales ; autrement dit, les relations et les interactions sociales ont été organisées pour l’usage des expressionslinguistiques. Une de ces fonctions représente ce que l’auteur nomme la communion phatique. La langue est utilisée pour entretenir la communication phatique – le sentiment d’appartenanceà une communauté.

La communion phatique inclut le maintient d’un certain bon sens de la communauté, dela solidarité avec les autres membres du groupe, le maintien d’une position spéciale dansl’hiérarchie du groupe et, en même temps, du sentiment d’acceptation des autres et du sentiment d’être accepté par les autres. L’article essaie d’identifier la manière dont la communion phatique fonctionne au niveau du discours littéraire, du texte littéraire censuré de préférence, supposé àutiliser des moyens supplémentaires dans la communication avec le lecteur. L’article veut démontrer que la littérature joue un rôle significatif dans le récit de la politique de manipulationdu langage de bois communiste. Par conséquent, l’intertextualité devient un instrument appropriéà la communication entre l’auteur et le lecteur. De tels contextes vont contribuer à ladéconstruction de ce type de langage et à la mise en relief de son haut degré de fausseté. Notreintérêt porte sur l’ironie verbale illustrée par des textes littéraires appartenant à l’époquecommuniste. A cette époque-là « la liberté de l’expression, de la pensée et de l’action » n’étaient qu’un rêve et, la communication n’était possible que par la modification des clichés.

Rezumat

Comunicarea umană este perceput ă ca o realitate complexă. Bronislaw Malinowski identifică fucn ţ ia fatică a limbii ca jucând un rol fundamental în în ţ elegerea principiilor de comunicare. Pebaza observa ţ iilor sale, Malinowski include printre primele sale concluzii faptul că limba esteutilizat ă pentru îndeplinirea func ţ iilor sociale; cu alte cuvinte, rela ţ iile şi interac ţ iunile socialeau fost preg ătite pentru utilizarea expresiilor lingvistice. Una dintre aceste fubc ţ ii const ă din ceea ceautorul nume şte comuniunea fatică. Limba este utilizat ă pentru a între ţ ine comunicarea fatică – sentimentul de apartenen ţă la o comunitate. Comuniunea fatică implică pă strarea unui sim ţ al comunit ăţ ii, al solidarit ăţ ii cu al ţ i membri ai grupului, al unei pozi ţ ii speciale în ierarhiile grupului şi, în acel şi timp, şi unsentiment de acceptare a celorlal ţ i şi de a fi acceptat de ceilal ţ i. Articolul de fa ţă încearcă să identifice modul în care func ţ ionează comuniunea fatică la nivelul discursului literar, cu deosebire în textul literar cenzurat, presupus a utiliza mijloace

suplimentare în comunicarea cu cititorul. Articolul urmăre şte să demonstreze că literatura joacă un rol semnificativ în expunerea politicii de manipulare a limbajului de lemn comunist. Astfel,intertextualitatea se dovede şte un instrument adecvat pentru comunicarea dintre autor şi cititor. Astfel de contexte contribuie la deconstruc ţ ionalizarea acestui limbaj şi la sublinierea înaltului său grad de falsitate. Interesul nostru se concentrează asupra ironiei verbale ilustrat ă prin texteliterare apar ţ inând epocii comuniste când „libertatea exprimării, a gândirii şi a ac ţ iunii” eradoar un vis, astfel încât singurul mod de a comunica, într-adevăr, era doar prin modificareacli şeelor.

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pp. 81 - 90

Language

and

Literature

BODY LANGUAGE: SOMATIC IMAGERY IN WOMEN’S POETRY

Lidia Mihaela Necula

Body language and somatic imagery are two issues that have been dealt with quite a lot

lately. The answer for this might be that women writers nowadays have been making

poetry labeled as ‘extravagant’ by some and ‘outrageous’ by others. It should be mentioned

that what we nowadays call ‘shocking’ has in fact three subspecies: what strikes the

imagination – the extravagant; what strikes the senses – the repulsive; what torments and

tortures the feeling – the terrifying. Women poetry is trapped somewhere in between the

extravagant and the repulsive.The aim of the paper is to examine three sorts of representative attitudes

discernable in women poets who explore female bodily experience associated with three

sorts of verbal strategies. In the work which is referred to, the familiar vertical standard has

shattered; body is not assumed to be inferior to some higher principle. The attitudes are

rejection, ambivalence and affirmation; the verbal devices are irony, comedy and

revisionist symbolism. Of special interest are the emotions, the forms employed and the

reinterpretations of other matters which follow from interpreting the body.

During the last three decades, America poets have been employing anatomical

imagery both more frequently and more intimately than their male counterparts. Their

female audiences enjoy this. Male readers, unsurprisingly, tend to be more uncomfortable

by female candor and to feel that it is inartistic. The American artist sometimes avoided her

femininity by getting her mental hysterectomy early. She will often not speak for femaleexperience even when the men do. She will be the angel-artist, with celestially muted

lower parts. Sometimes, in any of the arts, where women’s work remains beautifully

mandarin or minor, it may not be because of their womanhood but from their lack of it.

It is of course difficult for any of us to evade the mental yardstick which seems to have

been let down from heaven like Jacob’s ladder, governing thousands of years of religion,

philosophy and literature, according to which the mortal and corruptible flesh imprisons

the immortal and incorruptible soul, the body is base and the mind exalted.

If anatomy is destiny, we all want to escape it. From Plato to Freud, and beyond

Fred to Simone de Beauvoir, civilization means vertical mobility: one transcends the body

in order to achieve something o public worth. In The Second Sex (1972) Simone de

Beauvoir develops this idea more explicitly than any other writer, in the course of a

argument designed to show that male biology, because its strength and independence

encourage the masculine deeds of control, acts relatively to man’s advantage, while female

biology, because it is organized to serve the iron grasp of the species (ends of procreation)

rather than the individual, is a handicap. For de Beauvoir, the inferior life of immanence

associated with the body must become superior life of ‘transcendence’ willed by the

striving individual ego; this, she believes, will improve the lives of individuals of both

sexes, and the quality of civilized life.

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As to woman, woman in mythology is the flesh when men write about her as she has not

been required to write about the flesh herself.

From pleasure to pain

If, traditionally, the flesh has been either overlooked or disregarded, that has happened due

to two main reasons. The flesh is both corrupt and corruptible; that is, both inherentlysinful and inherently subject to change and death. The former grievance is expressed

morally, the latter lyrically – and with the understanding that in the youth and prime of life,

the flesh is a source of pleasure.

A large number of women poets since the 1960’s appear to view the body as a

source essentially of pain, not pleasure. The topicality of such issues as: abortion, breast

surgery, rape have become part of women’s poetic repertoire. There exists a subgenre of

poems in which a woman’s flesh and blood are manipulated by a condescending doctor

figure. The damaged bodies of war victims, the hungry bodies of famine victims are

important images in the work of Adrienne Rich, Muriel Rukeyser, and Denise Levertov.

Women also seem drawn to describe psychic hurt in somatic terms.“We sat across the table,/ he said, cut off your hands,/ they’re always poking at things,/ they might

touch me./ I said yes./ Food grew cold on the table,/ he said burn your body,/ it is not clean and smells like sex,/ it rubs my mind sore,/ I said yes./ I love you, I said,/ that’s very nice, he said,/ I like

to be loved,/ that makes me happy./ Have you cut off your hands yet?” (Piercy Marge, The

Friend , 1973: 65).

The very beginning lines point to an idea of distance and coldness between the two

protagonists who have already engaged themselves in an incessant love battle for

supremacy: both of them have clearly marked their own territories ‘across the table’. The

hands have turned into lifeless/ loveless objects that are ‘always poking at things’ : they no

longer are the mouth of the body which once kissed, touched and felt and comforted the

beloved one. The lines are filled with images that describe the metamorphosis of pleasure

into pain: love is the ‘food’ which ‘grew cold on the table’ with the passing of time and the

two lovers have obviously lost the passion which de-flamed their bond. The idea that love

is not only painful but filthy thus requiring purification by fire is in the line ‘he said burn your body’ , which, paradoxically enough might be seen as a solution to the riddle of love if

we are to translate it into ‘go and inflame you body, go and fill it with life, with fire and

passion’ . The imagery created is so strong and powerful that we can almost picture the two

lovers sitting across the table while poking at each other, and smell the strong stench of

sweat gliding down the two bodies after having had animalistic sex. The woman seems to

be mentally crippled since she is unable to take attitude and react against her being turned

into a mere (sexual) object: ‘I said yes’ .

With Anne Sexton, the body is turned into a protagonist of the poem: there is a

suggestion of self-abandonment into comfort, into tranquility, the tranquility that one needs

to flee back from all the ado of the modern world.‘Oh, darling, let your body in,/ let it tie you in,/ in comfort …/ What I want to say, Linda,/ is that

there is nothing in your body that lies.’ ( Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman, 1973:124).

Most women writers make use of powerful somatic imagery in their poems to

render the idea of psychic hurt and scorn of the flesh: there is always a strong connection

between physical vulnerability and ironic self-rejection.‘Stop bleeding said the knife./ I would if I could said the cut./ Stop bleeding you make me messy

with this blood./ I’m sorry said the cut.’ (Swenson May, Bleeding , 1978: 54).

The normal as well as the abnormal in a woman’s life may feel like imprisonment,

as in Lisel Mueller’s Life of a Queen (1975: 134) which summarizes the biological cycle of

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cognate species: ‘They build a pendulous chamber/ for her, and stuff her with sweets … A crew

disassembles/ her royal cell’ , or the opening of Anne Sexton’s Snow White: ‘No matter what life you lead/ the virgin is a lovely number,/ cheeks fragile as cigarette paper,/ arms and legs made of

Limoges,/ lips like Vin du Rhone,/ rolling her china blue eyes/ open and shut’ (1973:84).

To understand the connection between physical vulnerability and ironic self-

rejection, we may consider Sylvia Plath. Plath’ work is filled with body images both

internal and external: skin, blood, skulls, feet, mouths tongues, wounds, bone, lungs, heartand veins, legs and arms. She writes of both male and female bodies. She also projects

human anatomy into the natural world. The moon is ‘a face in its own right, / White as a

knuckle and terribly upset’ (1973: 142). Goldfish ponds being drained ‘collapse like

lungs’ , an elm speaks like a woman pregnant, or cancer-ridden – one cannot tell the

difference: ‘Terrified by this dark thing/ That sleeps in me; / All day I feel its soft, feathery

turnings, its malignity’ (145). When the poet is hospitalized, tulips breathe: ‘Lightly

through their swaddlings, like an awful baby,/ their redness talks to my wound, it

corresponds/ They are opening like the mouth of some African cat’ (146). The organic, for

Plath, is approximately identical with suffering. Her poetry offers fragments of beings, not

whole persons. In The World as Icon (1970:73) the critic Annette Lavers notices that the

living flesh is felt as a prey to axes doctor’s needles, butchers’ and surgeons’ knives,

poison, snakes, tentacles, acids, vampires, leaches and bats, jails and brutal boots.Similarly, small animals are butchered and eaten, man’s flesh can undergo the final

indignity of being cut to pieces and used as an object. Subjects and metaphors include a

cut, a contusion, the tragedy of thalidomide, fever, an accident, a wound, a paralysis, a

burial, animal and human sacrifice, the burning of heretics, lands devastated by wars, and

extermination camps. Therefore, Plath’s poetry is a ‘garden of tortures’ in which

mutilation and annihilation take nightmarishly protean forms.

A number of persistent motifs are particularly feminine. Plath’s imagery for

strangulation implies in extreme form the woman fatally imprisoned and stifled by her own

body. Attacks by miniature enemies evoke the idea of a woman’s body as a parasite,

feeding from her life. Children are hooks sticking in one’s skin, and placenta and umbilical

cord threaten to poet in Medusa. Most painfully, her imagery of laceration suggests

woman’s essential anatomical condition, shameful to endure, difficult to confess as in Cut where the poet runs through a series of brilliant metaphors for the thumb she has just sliced

with a kitchen knife ‘instead of an onion’. All the metaphors are masculine and military:

‘Little pilgrim …, redcoats …, homunculus …, kamikaze man’ before the final ‘How you

jump -/ Trepanned veteran./ Dirty girl,/ Thumb stump’ (1973:149).

What, after all, is more humiliating than being a bleeding dirty girl? At the same

time, the landscape of war and mutilation in a poem like Getting there, the references to

Jews and Nazis in Daddy and Lady Lazarus, the Hiroshima Ash of Fever 103 and even the

sour commercial comedy of The Applicant in which a wife is sold like a household

appliance and only the mutilated man can be normal enough to marry, reinforce Plath’s

vision of worldly existence as at worst holocaust, at best tawdry sideshow. The drama of

social and political life plays out, on a nightmarishly large scale, the victimization of the

body.

Plath demonstrates a will toward detachment from body and word in two ways, of

which the first is Art – the distancing of experience through poetic manipulation. Her early

verse employs tight formal structures, bookish diction, a harmony of allusions to

sanctioned works of art and literature, and a consistently ironic impersonality of tone,

which has everything to do with rising above experience, little to do with dwelling in it.

The looser, less traditional forms of her late work rather intensify than relax our sense of

the poet’s control. She manipulates rhyme and off rhyme, regular and irregular mater, with

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the casualness of a juggler tossing knives, and her mature mastery of colloquial idiom

illustrates her contempt for the vulgar and cruel social relations which generate such idiom.

She becomes a mocker of the vernacular, using language against itself: ‘The peanut-

crunching crowds shoves in to see/ Them unwrap me hand and foot - /The big strip tease’

( Lady Lazarus, 1973:152). But ‘Dying/ Is an art, like everything else’. The implicit

equation is clear as early as ‘Two Views of a Cadaver Room’ , which places a real-life scene

with corpses next to the ‘panorama of smoke and slaughter’ in a Breughel painting. In The Disquieting Muses, Plath rejects her mother’s cheery songs and stories for the three bald

and faceless figures she accepts as artistic guides. And in Ariel , as in poem after poem, the

poet unpeels herself from her body, lets it flake away, annihilates the trash of flesh which

disgusts her because it would make her kin to the ogling peanut-crunching crowd – as she

transforms herself from the gross matter to a ‘pure acetylene virgin’ rising towards heaven,

or to dew evaporating in the sunrise – transcendence always means death. And if she fears

and scorns death’s perfection: ’Perfection is terrible. It cannot have children’, ‘This is

what it means to be complete. It is horrible’ (153) , self annihilation is nevertheless the

ultimately ironic response to humiliation.

Plath is an extreme example. One may view her work aesthetically as a radical

extension of the mode of disenchanted alienation in the Eliot – Auden – Lowell line. One

may view it morally as a capitulation to weakness, self-indulgence. Perhaps it is both. Inany case, the identification of woman and body, body and vulnerability, vulnerability ad

irony – which in effect responds to the implacable indifference or cruelty of the external

world by internalizing it – is a common phenomenon in women’s poetry of the last thirty

years or so.

Advertising women

As W. B. Yeats has his ‘beautiful mild woman’ (actually Maude Gonnet’s sister) observe

in Adam’s Curse, ‘to be born a woman is to know / Although they do not speak of it at

school /Women must labor to be beautiful (1983:56).

The idea of vulnerability and self annihilation appears not only in the poems

marking the passing from pleasure to pain but also in such poems dealing with the

woman’s permanent concern to do away with the stereotype of exchange value created and

kept alive by men.

In reply, one may imagine a chorus of not-so-mild women poets remarking: you

said it. The labors of loveliness have not been traditionally spoken in poetry, beyond

misogynist attacks on the foulness of the painted woman. But they are now, commonly to

hilarious effect. Honor Moore’s poem ‘M’ Mother’s Moustache (1988:67) gives a wry and

detailed account of adolescence with and without depilatories. Karen Swenson tells of a

bosom which never attains movie star amplitude, and hopes (with oral metaphors in the

Spenser – Keats tradition) to find a man who will settle for dumplings at the feast of life.

Kathleen Fraser writes A Poem in Which My Legs are Accepted (1993:89). The opening

poem of Diane Wakoski’s Motorcycle Betrayal Poems (1971: 78) complains about ‘thisridiculous face/ of lemon rinds/ and vinegar cruets’ . Grumbling with the voice of

multitudes in Woman Poem (1973:69) , Nikki Giovanni summarizes: ‘it’s a sex object if

you’re pretty/ and no love and no sex if you’re fat’.

Beauty, when a woman stops to think about it, mans bondage. In A Work of

Artifice, Marge Piercy compares the feminine fate with that of a bonsai tree, artificially

miniature.

‘It is your nature/ to be small and cozy,/ domestic and weak;/how lucky little tree …/ within

living creatures/ one must begin very early/ to dwarf their growth:/ the bound feet,/ the

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crippled bran,/ the hair in curlers,/ the hands you love to touch.’ (1973:153). Obviously, as

a woman, there seems to be a continuous interest for keeping up with some beauty

standards as early as the adolescence days. The feminine fate is compared to that of a

bonsai tree the symbolism of which sends us to the idea of limitation: it is its (her) innate

nature not to grow and say ‘dwarf, small and cozy’ all its (her) lifetime.

In Pro Femina, Carolyn Kizer advertises women and forwards the idea that there

are commercial-economic and emotional reasons that lead to a woman’s entrapment and psychological handicapping.

‘Our masks, always in peril of smearing and cracking,/ In need of continuous check in

the mirror or silverware,/Keep us in thrall to ourselves, concerned with our

surfaces./…/ So sister, forget yourself a few times, and see where it gets you:/ Up the

creek, alone with your talent, sans everything else./ You can wait for the menopause,

and catch up with your reading.’ (1980:42)

The adaptation of advertising language in the opening lines grimly indicates that a

woman’s face is not her own but someone else’s fortune. But what can she do? She needs

to be loved. Further on Carolyn Kizer talks about women of letters and addresses the

unique dilemma of the lady with the brains and ambition.

Is our perpetual concern of always wearing masks and pretending to be something

that we are not derived from our wrong ideas that we might not think ourselves worthy of aman’s love? Is this frailty ego, deception? Could this be a demystification of the woman? If

beauty is just refraction, a distorted one, into the mirrors of our minds, why can’t we do

away with the bondage we have crated? We should remember Luce Irigaray’s Speculum

of the Other Woman (1985) where the mirror, used in its connotative meaning, is the

instrument of penetration in gynecology, but it also triggers off the process of

specularization – speculation (phalocentric thinking) and specularization – looking into a

mirror, therefore a narcissistic act.

While quizzical poems on the topic of beauty versus truth as applied to cosmetics

will admittedly weigh lightly in most literary scales, they typically embody two interesting

stylistic decisions. First, the poems are not openly autobiographical and factual, but anti-

literary, even anti-aesthetic, in the sense that they refuse, rather than cultivate, formal

distance.In the volume of women’s poetry Making the Park, Marina La Palma wrote

Holding Fast , a poem on the woman-flower theme:‘In a shop there are dark red/ and purple flowers growing from a pot./ My fingers

hesitate, then press against their/ folds – which yield only a little/ and give no sign

that they’ve been touched/ “Like intestines” he woman says./ To me they are inside/ vagina convoluted folds./ I hesitate before I say it/ thinking it might shock her/ obvious

and careful point of view.’ (1981: 76)

No persona, no gloss of verbal refinement intervenes between the poet and the

sense of personal inadequacy, or between herself and her audience. There is no extension

of personality here. As readers, we are asked to participate in the predicament of someone

who wants to be beautiful while challenging, implicitly or explicitly, the standards or value

of beauty for a woman, and who does not pretend to transcend the situation. It would beinappropriate to make the poem itself too beautiful.

But the poem must be comic. Comedy enables writer and reader to agree that the

predicament is, after all, innately absurd. Not a life-or-death matter, is it? Clowning shows

that we have perspective. Or perhaps we laugh that we may not show the frown lines to the

mirror? He rollicking meter and jaunty-to-blustery tone of Pro Femina, unlike Kizer’s

more usual lyric style, serve the same function as a woman’s preening: they make a

disguise for a naked emotion, as paint for a woman’s naked face.

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Possibly, the funniest, certainly the most outrageous poem of this subgenre is Erica

Jong’s tour de force Aging , subtitled Balm for a 27 th

Birthday. Jong at the outset presents

herself as: ‘Hooked for two years now n wrinkle creams/ creams for crowsfeet ugly lines (if

only they were one)/ any perfumed grease which promises youth beauty/ not truth but all I

need on earth’ (1978: 67). She imagines through several lines the advancing track of the

wrinkles as ‘ruin proceeds downwards’ and the face begins to resemble ‘the tragic mask’ .

Her tone grows increasingly nervous, but the poem is undergoing a transformation of itsown, from self- mocking panic to self-loving acceptance. Though ‘the neck will give you

away’ and the chin in spite of face-lifts ‘will never love your bones as it once did’, ‘the

belly may be kept firm through numerous pregnancies/ by means of sit-ups jogging

dancing (think of Russian/ ballerinas) and the cunt/ as far as I know is ageless possibly

immortal becoming simply/ more open and more quick to understand more dry-eyed than

at 22/ which/ after all is all that you were dying for…’ (67).

If a woman is naturally narcissistic, she might as well go the whole hog. Beauty is,

Jong reminds us, as beauty does. Incidental amusements like the play on lines and plotting

in a woman’s face or her writing (both of which show promise of deepening ) occupy the

reader through the first part of the poem. The four-letter term at the poem’s crux has been

cunningly prepared for by suggestions that decline in on aspect may bring ascendance in

another. The close gracefully offers the pun on ‘what you were dying for’ and concludeswith a deft inversion of a centuries-old poetic convention. Time, the enemy of love in lyric

poetry since the Greek Anthologia, has become sequence of lovers-blundering, presumably

young and inexperienced lovers at that – to whom a woman, ripe with herself, can

condescend.

Jong writes less successfully when she attempts to make narcissism look sublime

rather than ridiculous, and poems of self examination in this surface sense do not easily

survive the comic mode. Because humor can effectively spotlight problems and conflicts

which are naggingly real and ostensibly trivial, the comic-autobiographical mode has

become a major opinion in women’s writing.

Female body symbolism

When women write to praise the body rather than attack or joke about it, their most

significant technique is symbolism. Water, moon, earth and living things, the natural as

opposed to the artificial, provide the strongest sources or imagery for women poets

engaged in commending the basic physical self, just as they always have for men

describing women.

Nevertheless, there are differences. The identification of woman with flowers, for

example, is as least as old as the Le Roman de la Rose. Elizabethan poets agreed that

‘Beauty is but a flower/ Which wrinkles with devour’. Keats urged the melancholic lover to

glut his sorrow on a rose, a wealth of globed peonies, or his mistress’s peerless eyes, all of

which with beauty that must die. Poets have seen both woman and flower from without,

whether in erotic poetry, poetry of witty seduction, or poetry of reflection on the transienceand mutability of life. But, when Diane Wakoski compares an armful of roses first with

skin and then with internal organs the, focus changes.

‘The full roses with all their petals like the wrinkles of laughter/ on your face as you

bend to kiss someone/ are bursting on the bush,/ spotting my arm, as I carry a bundleof them,/ to my friends;/ they seem to have come out of my skin/ on this fragrant night,/

and I imagine the inside of my body/ glowing, phosphorescent, with strange flower

faces/ looking out from the duodenum/ or the soft liver,/ white as my belly, the eyes are

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always disbelieving/ the ugly processes that make a living body.’ ( In Gratitude to

Beethoven, 1968: 54)

In their particularized detail-color, texture as well as dramatic quality, these flowers

resemble Plath’s poppies and tulips. One experiences not beauty but an overwhelming

vividness, energy and terror in the sense of self as living organism. The rapid and radical

alterations of focus in Wakoski’s lines blur spatial distinctions between night and roses,ace, arm and the inside of the body, until everything seems equally bursting, hot, fragrant

and in flux. The extreme vitality of flowers and body approaches the obscene, as in Plath it

approaches the predatory. Though wrinkled, there is nothing frail or weak in the blossoms

of either poet.

The personalism and particularism of women writers can provoke both disapproval

and approval given that, on the one hand, the female tendency to define the self in terms of

relationships with others is a defect, and on the other, a virtue, since relationship,

communication and identification are primary devices for women writers. Again, when

Adrienne Rich writes of dividing into the wreck, or Sharon Barba of entering ‘that dark

watery place’ , both poets accept a woman-water identification held in common with

Shakespeare’s Cleopatra, identified with the fertile and capricious Nile, or with Milton’s

Eve – whose first act in Paradise Lost is to kneel and behold her own image in water,where Adam at the moment of his creation sprang upright and looked at the sky. One also

recalls the sea-mother in Whitman’s Out of the Cradle, and the Mermaids of Prufrock’s

plunge into memory, into fantasy, into that brief moment of womblike ease before he

wakes and chokes on mortal air. Throughout western tradition, descent into waters

signifies danger or death, consistently associated with the feminine.

Women who make the same plunge also evoke the dangerous and the unknown, but

they tend to evoke at the same time a sense of trust. The destructive element is their

element. It is alien, and yet it is home, where one will not be hurt. Rich notes that

relaxation rather than force is required to maneuver here, and she is confident of finding

treasure as well as devastation. At the deepest point in the poem she becomes her deepest

self, the androgyne: ‘I am she … I am he’. Barba anticipates, from these waves, the birth of

a new Venus, closer to nature than Boticelli’s.Still again, if our most celebrated and compendious symbol for woman is earth,

adored as mother, revered as virgin, earth is of course other than the celebrant; she is

always the principle of passive material life divided from the mental or spiritual and she is

always subject to conquest. Women who identify with earth, however, include Margaret

Atwood who in her Circe/ Mud Poems (1973) taunts Odysseus: ‘Don’t you get tired of

saying Onward?’ and Yosana Akiko who in Mountain Moving Day (1983) makes the

mountain a symbol both of women’s bodies and of their awakening consciousness. The

idea of a consciousness invisible from the earthy body appears in Anne Sexton’s notorious

In Celebration of my Uterus, written on the occasion of a medical reprieve which has

defied rational diagnosis. Sexton’s opening is euphoric, buoyant, and hyperbolic.

‘They wanted to cut you out/ but they will not…/They said you were sick onto dying./ but

they were wrong./ You are singing like a schoolgirl’ (1989:68).

The poem’s central portion compares the uterus with ‘soil of the fields … roots’ and the

poet announces, in an engaging combination of insouciant self-confidence and generosity:

‘Each cell has a life. / There is enough her to feed a nation’ (68).

The abundance and fertility of the poet’s imagination in inventing her group of

women of all types, from all religions of the globe, must be understood as a parallel to, or

an extension of, her uterine health. Moreover, this chorale of far-flung women cannot be

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perceived from without, precisely as the continued vitality and fertility of the womb has

evaded external discernment:‘Many women are singing together of this:/ one is in a shoe factory cursing

the machine, /…/ one is tying the cord of a calf in Arizona,/one is straddling a cello in

Russia,/ one is shifting pots on the stove in Egypt,/ …/ one is staring out the window of a train/ …/ anywhere and some everywhere and all/ seem to be singing although some

cannot/ sing a note.’ (68)

As matter, so spirit. Both, according to this poem, lie within, in the realm of the

immanent rather than the transcendent. The function of spirit is to celebrate matter, not to

subdue or escape it, and women become mutually connected beings by the participation of

spirit in the principle of flesh they commonly share. (Sherry Ortner, Is Female to Male as

Nature is to Culture? 1974: 98)

Sexton has used a conventional fertility-and-harvest symbolism to lure us into a set

of convictions – here presented as perceptions – entirely opposed to those of the vertical

standard.

For a woman, perhaps the most decisively difficult act is to think of herself as

powerful, or as more powerful than a man, and capable of influencing the outward world

without sacrificing femaleness.

One poet who has asserted hat female biology equals power, and has found a set of symbols to state is nature, is Robin Morgan. In the series of poems entitled The Network

of the Imaginary Mother (1977), Morgan describes a conversion from flesh-loathing to

flesh-affirmation while nursing her dying mother, and defines her biological capacities in

terms of goddess-figures – Kali, Isis, African and Pre-Columbian madonnas – representing

a triumphant will to love and nurture. Her husband in this poem is Osiris, a consort and her

son teaches the simple secret of delight. For Morgan is not the god-man of the Gospels, but

a nursing woman who says to her own son, and by extension, all children, envisioning a

world un-threatened by violence and famine: ‘Take. Eat. This is my body,/ this real milk,

thin, sweet, bluish,/ which I give for the life of the world …/ as honest nourishment/ alone

able to sustain you.’ ( Lady of the Beasts, 1977:82)

Biological facts and spiritual interpretation here become indistinguishable. He

poet’s fantasy of a maternal politics would eliminate the burden of conflict betweenhumanity and nature, between individual and species, between woman’s body and social

change.

Self as world

Poets have perennially occupied themselves with discovering analogies between the

macrocosm of the world and the microcosm of the self. For many women poets at present,

the microcosm means, emphatically, a physical self from which it is neither possible nor

desirable to divide mental or emotional existence.

A particular endeavor of twentieth-century thought has involved a questioning of

distinctions between private and public life, in order to understand how each influences

and reflects the other. Here too, women poets seem inclined to insist that we begin with the body to understand the body politic. None of these poets seems disposed to celebrate a

world of transcendent public action at the cost of minimizing the physical self. For some,

the dominant experience of life in the flesh is suffering. One can scarcely deny the public

validity of such an apprehension in the light of history. For other writers, the relation

between private and public means a conflict between what used to be called appearance

and reality. To cosmetize or not to cosmetize? This is a battle fought on the fields of the

skin, as well as on more dignified terrain. For still others, the body is felt as strength, a

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kind of connective tissue uniting human beings at a level beneath the particularities of

individual ego or circumstance, a set of capacities both socially and personally valuable.

Compared with the variety and richness of works by omen in this area, the works of

most male poets in the 1970’s appears inhibited and unoriginal. If we may say that women

have contrived to make a continental landscape out of the secret gardens to which they

have been forcefully confined, we may say by the same token that men have endued a

certain self-imposed exile. Distance remains a virtue in the male poetic establishment, almost like a corollary

of the training which defines the masculine body exclusively as tool or weapon, forbids it

to acknowledge weakness or pain, and deprives in accordingly of much potential

sensitivity to pleasure – a sensuous man is an effeminate man – apart from the pleasures

associated with combat or conquest. The discourse of male bonding may derive from big

and little, game hunting and the tennis court, or from allusions to the responses of women

in bed. These are the safe, sane, blush proof topics.

Men also look in mirrors, experience troublesome and delicious sensations

contribute to the generation of species and ride throughout life the tide of emotions

influenced by glandular secretions. They too get ill, grow old and withered, and are, in

sum, precisely as rooted in nature as women. Will they in due time acknowledge this

condition? Will women begin comparing the bodies of men to flowers?Confronting old age, Yeats divided himself into two beings: a old man craving fiery

purification from the flesh and an old woman – Crazy Jane – raucously declaring her

satisfaction with it. One must assume that the discoveries women poets are making about

bodily experience, and the verbal tactics employed to name their discoveries, will enter

common usage and become readily available to men as well as women. Crazy Jane stands

at the foot of the tower, inviting the man to come down.

ReferencesAkiko, Y. (1983), Mountain Moving Day in Gill E. (Ed.), Mountain Moving Day: Poems by Women,

Trumansburg & New York;

Atwood, M. (1973), Circe/ Mud Poems in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic

Consciousness. An Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;

Barba, S. (Ed.), (1983), A Cycle of Women in Rising Tides: 20th

Century American Women Poets, RandomHouse, New York;

Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.) (1973), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness. An Anthology of

Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;De Beauvoir, S. (1972), The Second Sex, H. M. Parshley (Trans.), Penguin Books, London & New York;

Fraser, K. (1993), A Poem in which my Legs are Accepted in DiYanni R. & Rompf, K. The McGraw-Hill

Book of Poetry, The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York;

Giovanni, N. (1973), Woman Poem in Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgment, Pocket Books, New York;

Irigaray, L. (1985), Speculum of the Other Woman, Gillian C. G. (Trans.), Cornell University Press, NewYork;

Jong, E. (1978), Aging. Balm for a 27 th

Birthday in Fruits and Vegetables, The Holt, Rinehart and Winston

Publishing House, New York; Kizer, C. (1980), Pro Femina in Knock Upon Silence, Random House, New York;

La Palma, M. (1981), Holding Fast in Making the Park, University of California Press, Berkeley;

Lavers, A. (1970), The World as Icon: on Sylvia Plath’s Themes in Charles Newman (Ed.), The Art of

Sylvia Plath, Indiana University Press, Bloomington;Morgan, R. (1977), Lady of the Beasts in The Network of the Imaginary Mother, Random House, New York;

Moore, H. (1988), Mother’s Moustache in Memoir: Poems, Chicory Blue Press, Connecticut, USOrtner, S. (1974), Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture? in Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo & Louise

Lamphere (Eds.), Women, Culture and Society, Stanford University Press, California;

Piercy, M. (1973), The Friend in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic


*** (1973), A Work of Artifice in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine PoeticConsciousness. An Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;

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Plath, S. (1973), Ariel in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness. AnAnthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;

***(1973), Cut in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness. An

Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;***(1973), Daddy in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness. An

Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;

***(1973), Fever 103 in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness. An

Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;*** (1973), Getting There in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness.

An Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;

***(1973), Hiroshima Ash in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness.An Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;

***(1973), Lady Lazarus in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness. An

Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;

***(1973), Medusa in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness. AnAnthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;

*** (1973), The Applicant in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic Consciousness.

An Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, Dell Publishing, USA;***(1973), The Disquieting Muse in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche. The Feminine Poetic


Rich, A. (1975), Women in Poems Selected and New, Norton & Company, New York;

Sexton, A. (1973), Little Girl, My String Bean, My Lovely Woman in Barbara, S. & Rainey C. (Eds.), Psyche.

The Feminine Poetic Consciousness. An Anthology of Modern American Women Poets, DellPublishing, USA;

***(1989), In Celebration of My Uterus in Love Poems, Mariner Books, New York;

Suckenick , L. (1975), The Poster in Laura Chester and Sharon Barba (Eds.), Rising Tides: 20th

CenturyAmerican Women Poets, Random House, New York;

Swenson, M. (1978), Bleeding in Things Taking Place: Poems Selected and New, Little Brown & Co.,

Boston;

Wakoski, D. (1971), I Have Had to Learn to Live with My Face, in The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems,Touchstone, New York;

*** (1968), In Gratitude to Beethoven in Inside the Blood Factory, Garden City: Doubleday, New York;Yeats, W.B. (1983), Adam’s Curse in Finneran R.J. (Ed.), The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats, Oxford

University Press, London.

Abstract

The present paper aims at examining three sorts of representative attitudes discernable in women

poets who explore female bodily experience associated with three sorts of verbal strategies.

Résumé

Cet article essai d’examiner trois catégories représentatives qui peuvent être identifiées dans la poèsie des poétesses qui explorent l’expérience sensorielle du corps en l’associant aux trois

catégories de stratégies verbales.

Rezumat

Lucrarea de fa ţă î şi propune spre analiz ă trei tipuri de atitudini reprezentative ce pot fi

identificate în poezia scrisă de poetese care exploreaz ă experien ţ a corpului feminin asociindu-itrei tipuri de strategii verbale.

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pp. 91- 98

Language

and

Literature

UTRAQUE LINGUA – BILINGVISMUL GRECO-LATIN ŞI IMPLICAŢIILE

SALE

Mihaela Paraschiv

Expresia utraque lingua, cu sensul "ambele limbi", apare şi în variantele sinonimiceutraque oratio, uterque sermo la autorii latini care recomandă sau elogiază exprimareacurentă în limbile greacă veche şi latină, indispensabilă formării omului cult. În

introducerea tratatului De officiis, dedicat fiului său Marcus, Cicero îl îndeamnă să-i imiteexemplul pentru a deveni la fel de capabil să se exprime în ambele limbi: ut ipse ad meamutilitatem semper cum Graecis Latina coniunxi, idem tibi censeo faciendum, ut par sis inutriusque orationis facultate (aşa cum eu însumi am îmbinat mereu cele latine cu celegreceşti) la fel cred că trebuie să faci şi tu pentru a deveni deopotrivă de abil în exprimareaîn cele două limbi).[1] Tot Cicero recomanda oratorului să vorbească sau să scrie în caredintre cele două limbi ar voi: aut dicat aut scribat utra voles lingua.[2] Într-o odă dedicată lui Maecenas [3], Horatius i se adresează cu apelativul docte sermones utriusque linguae(iscusitule în literaturile celor două limbi), iar între sfaturile înţelepte adresate tinerilor deOvidius în Ars amatoria figura şi acesta: Impodobe şte- ţ i mintea cu artele frumoase,/ Înva ţă şi latina şi graiul lui Homer.[4]

Pedagogul Quintilianus recomanda învăţarea paralelă în şcoală a celor două limbi;

e bine să se înceapă cu greaca, opina el, dar imediat şi apoi paralel trebuie să urmeze latina, pentru ca nici una să nu-i dăuneze celeilalte "atunci când vom începe să ne preocupăm cuaceeaşi grijă de ambele limbi" (cum aequali cura linguam utramque tueri coeperimus) [5]Recomandarea sa vizează tendinţa devenită curentă în rândul pedagogilor (în majoritate deorigine greacă) de a-i învăţa pe copii să vorbească doar greceşte: N-a ş vrea totu şi să se

procedeze atât de pedant, încât <elevul> să vorbească sau să înve ţ e mult ă vreme doar grece şte, a şa cum obi şnuiesc cei mai mul ţ i.[6]

De la istoricul Suetonius aflăm că în primele şcoli înfiinţate la Roma, pedagogi precum Livius Andronicus şi Ennius (unul grec din Tarent, celălalt bun cunoscător allimbii greceşti), îi instruiau pe copii în utraque lingua, înlesnind de timpuriu (sec.III a.C.)formarea unor generaţii bilingve.

O preocupare de seamă a filologilor clasicişti a fost stabilirea unui terminus a quo al bilingvismului latino-grec. A.Meillet, studiind lexicul comediilor plautine, crede că însecolul al III-lea a.C., publicul lui Plautus din păturile inferioare ale societăţii romane eracapabil să înţeleagă numeroasele grecisme din comediile acestuia, întrucât cunoştea limbagreacă.[7] Şi în opinia lui Johannes Kramer, prezenţa exclamaţiilor, a adverbelor şiimprecaţiilor de origine greacă în comediile plautine este un detaliu semnificativ pentrumăsura în care circula vocabularul grec în păturile inferioare; acest bilingvism popular seva regăsi în romanul lui Petronius, fapt care demonstrează, crede Kramer, că, la fel caRoma, şi Italia meridională a fost bilingvă.[8]

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P.Boyancé contestă această interpretare, opinând că numai începând cu secolul alII-lea a.C. şi numai în mediile culte se poate vorbi de bilingvism; el remarca însă faptul că magistraţii romani bilingvi selectau cu multă atenţie circumstanţele în care îşi permiteau să vorbească în limba greacă, pentru a nu-ţi submina prestigiul de reprezentanţi oficiali ai

poprului roman învingător.[9] Şi Pierre Grimal e de părere că doar din secolul al II-lea a.C.gândirea şi limbile celor două naţii, greacă şi romană, au tr ăit într-o simbioză aproape

totală, deoarece, prin educaţie, tinerii romani, mai ales din păturile superioare, ajung a poseda cele două limbi de cultur ă şi, implicit, o dublă formaţie spirituală.[10] Tot înmediile aristocrate e de părere şi J.Marouzeau că a început a fi cunoscută şi vorbită laRoma limba greacă, dar cu mult înainte de secolul II a.C.; unul dintre argumentele salesunt acele cognomina Graeca pe care le-au primit aristocraţii elenofili încă din secolul IVa.C., precum consulul Paulus Sempronius care a fost numit în 304 a.C. Sophus. [11]

În propagarea elenismului în mediul roman un aport precumpănitor l-a avut CerculScipionilor, întemeiat de Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus în secolul II a.C.; despremembrii acestui cerc cultural elenofil, Cicero spunea cu admiraţie: Aceast ă cetate <Roma>nu a dat oameni mai renumi ţ i prin glorie şi mai desăvâr şi ţ i prin cultur ă , decât P.

Africanus, C.Laelius, L.Furius, care nu s-au ferit să aibă mereu în anturajul lor pe cei maiînvăţ a ţ i oameni din Grecia.[12] Informaţia lui Cicero "nu s-au ferit să aibă" ( palam

habuerunt ), alude, desigur, la opozanţii facţiunii filoelene romane conduse de Scipioni,între care cel mai vehement a fost Cato Maior. În calitate de censor acesta a avut dou ă iniţiative xenofobe, motivate, în opinia sa, de necesitatea imperioasă de a îndepărtainfluenţa nefastă a grecilor, care, spunea el indignat chiar şi pe noi, romanii, ne numescbarbari [13]: în 173 a.C. au fost alungaţi din Roma filosofii şi retorii greci, iar în 155 a.C.este expulzată delegaţia ateniană condusă de filosofii Carneades, Critolaos şi Diogenes.P.Grimal crede că totuşi Cato nu ar fi refuzat sistematic tot ceea ce era grecesc, mai alesdacă provenea din tradiţia atică şi că ar fi învăţat limba greacă nu la bătrâneţe, cum sespune, ci în tinereţe, în timpul campaniilor militare din Graecia Magna. [14]

În pofida unor atitudini ostentativ naţionaliste, precum cea a lui Cato Maior, bilingvismul se va încetăţeni la Roma, în rândul reprezentanţilor clasei superioare, faptatestat de mărturiile autorilor: Cicero îl numea pe epicureicul roman Titus Albucius, planeGraecus (grec sadea) [15]; despre Titus Pomponius Atticus, prietenul lui Cicero, Cornelius

Nepos afirma că "aşa <de bine> vorbea greceşte, încât părea că s-a născut la Atena" ( sicenim Graece loquebatur, ut Athenis natus videretur) [16]; după informaţia lui Quintilianus,omul politic roman Licinius Crassus cunoştea bine cinci dialecte greceşti, astfel că, încalitate de guvernator în Asia, era capabil să dea o sentinţă în oricare dialect ar fi cerutcineva să i se facă dreptate. [17] Măsura cunoşterii limbii greceşti de către Cicero poate fidedusă mai ales din corespondenţa sa, presărată cu numeroase expresii, versuri, proverbede origine greacă; totuşi, observă pe bună dreptate Marouzeau, Cicero nu recurge laelenisme decât în corespondenţa cu prietenii mai apropiaţi, dintr-o anume cochetărie(lascivia), specifică stilului familiar. [18] Aceasta, întrucât, cu toată admiraţia sa pentrulimba şi cultura greacă, Cicero consider ă ca pe o datorie civică folosirea limbii materne şi i

se pare ridicol abuzul de elenisme în vorbire: sermone eo debemus uti, qui innatus est nobis, ne ut quidem Graeca verba inculcantes, iure optimo rideamur (se cuvine să nefolosim de limba care ne-a fost dată prin naştere, ca să nu ne facem, pe bună dreptate, derâs, precum cei care intercalează <în vorbire> cuvinte greceşti).[19] Totuşi, Cicero, la felca alţi autori latini, în pofida naţionalismului lingvistic profesat oficial, şi-a scris unelelucr ări în limba greacă; el îl informează pe Atticus că şi-a redactat în greacă memoriiledespre consulatul său, pe care le-a trimis spre lectur ă filosofului grec Poseidonios şi că acesta a fost uimit de expresia lui curgătoare şi limpede, cu nimic mai prejos de cea a unuigrec: Poseidonios mi-a scris, nu de mult, că citind acele memorii, nu numai că n-a fost

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îndemnat să mai scrie, ci a fost descurajat de-a binelea. Ce vrei? Am speriat tot neamul grecesc. [20]

În ce priveşte opţiunea romanilor bilingvi de a se exprima ocazional în greacă, maiales în scrisori şi în conversaţiile intime, Pabón e de părere că ea sugerează un ton deîncredere, de familiaritate, o anume intimitate cu destinatarul. Un caz mult discutat deistorici şi filologi au fost vorbele adresate înainte de moarte de Caesar lui Brutus, rostite în

limba greacă, spune Suetonius: tradiderunt quidam Marco Bruto irruenti dixisse Caesarem K αι σύ , τέκνον. (Unii <autori> au transmis că Caesar i-a spus lui Marcus Brutus când senă pustea asupra lui: şi tu, fiule?) [21] Explicaţia dată de R.Flacelière acestui fapt estedestul de anostă: "mulţi romani cultivaţi se exprimau spontan în greacă, mai ales pentru că

preferau să fie înţeleşi de cei din jur." [22] Într-un articol dedicat acestei celebre replici,M. Dubuisson afirmă că prima limbă însuşită, numită în mod curent maternă, lasă oamprentă de neşters în subconştientul vorbitorului bilingv, ea r ămânând limba viselor, aexclamaţiilor instinctive, a cuvintelor pronunţate într-un stadiu incitativ de mânie, delir,spaimă, nelinişte. Or, aşa cum ne informează Quintilianus, greaca reprezenta pentru tineriiromani din elita societăţii, dacă nu limba maternă propriu-zisă, cel puţin cea dintâi limbă învăţată. Explicaţia lui Dubuisson privind opţiunea romanilor pentru greacă ca limbă aintimităţii este susţinută ţi de observaţiile ironice ale satiricului Iuvenalis referitoare la

tentaţia femeilor de neam italic din Roma, de a o face pe grecoaicele în conversaţiile lor intime: ştiu femei care cu toate că-n Toscana sunt nă scute,/ Socotesc că-s mai distinsedându-se din neam elin./ Ş i pretind că-s din Atena, când de la Sulmona vin./ Toate-s după moda greacă şi nici una nu ro şe şte/ că nu ştie cum se cade să vorbească latine şte./ T ăinuiesc, glumesc, se ceart ă pe grece şte: limba lor! Pe grece şte le e frică , pe grece şte facamor.[23]

Despre Octavianus Augustus, Suetonius ne informează că iubea literatura greacă,că primise o bună educaţie retorică şi filosofică de la dascălii săi greci, dar că nu vorbea cuuşurinţă limba greacă ( Augustus, 89).

În vremea imperiului, folosirea limbii greceşti cunoaşte o vogă nemaiîntâlnită până atunci la Roma, oraş care devenise, spune Iuvenalis o urbs quasi Graeca; în consecinţă, seva recurge uneori la o intervenţie oficială pentru a impune o anumită decenţă în uzulgrecismelor. Suetonius relatează că împăratul Tiberius, deşi era un abil vorbitor de limbă greacă, a cerut excluderea cuvintelor greceşti din decretele senatoriale, acceptând doar încazuri de strictă necesitate un împrumut lexical sau semantic; el însuşi a cerut în prealabilscuze senatului atunci când a fost constrâns de lipsa unor echivalente latine să folosească într-un discurs cuvintele greceşti monopolium şi emblema (Tiberius, 71). Acelaşi istoric neinformează însă că alţi împăraţi nu s-au sfiit să-şi etaleze public bilingvismul. ÎmpăratulClaudius recunoştea în orice împrejurare frumuseţea limbii greceşti, pe care o consideralimba naţională a romanilor, lăudându-l pe un sol str ăin că vorbea curent "ambele noastrelimbi" (uterque sermo noster – Claudius, 42); el a scris în limba greacă 20 de căr ţi despreetrusci şi 8 despre cartaginezi. Şi despre Nero Suetonius spune că la o vârstă foarte tânăr ă

pleda la procese atât în latină cât şi în greacă ( Nero, 7).

În studiile moderne consacrate implicaţiilor bilingvismului latino-grec [24], se faceapel la conceptele de contact şi de interferen ţă; primul se refer ă la contextul spaţial şitemporal al utilizării celor două limbi, al doilea vizează consecinţele fenomenului istoric alcontactului asupra evoluţiei lor. În legătur ă cu începuturile contactului latino-grec, părerilelingviştilor sunt diferite: E.Peruzzi e de părere că primele contacte între greci şi latini ar data din epoca talasocraţiei miceniene (mileniul al II-lea a.C.) [25]; F.Biville [26] acceptă în principiu această teorie care urcă mult în timp preistoria contactului latino-grec, faţă decronologia acestuia propusă de G.Devoto (secolul al VIII-lea a.C.). [27] În cele ce urmează

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vom pune pe scurt în discuţie principalele aspecte ale interferenţei, ocazionate de bilingvismul latino-grec, preluând reperele taxinomice ale lui Fr.Biville.

A. Interferen ţ a prin rela ţ ionare comportă două variante principale: textual ă şimetalingvistică.a. Intereferen ţ a textual ă este reprezentată de texte bilingve în care cele două limbi coexistă independent; noţiunea însăşi de text biling acoper ă, în fapt, realităţi diferite: 1) texte

bilingve propriu-zise constând în acelaşi text scris în ambele limbi, precum Res gestae divi Augusti; 2) glosare bilingve care pun în relaţie cuvinte sau fraze tip, un precedent antic alghidurilor de conversaţie; 3) înserarea unor cuvinte şi expresii greceşti în textele latine,frecventă, cum am menţionat, în corespondenţa lui Cicero.

b. Interferen ţ a metalingvistică constă în conştientizarea asemănărilor şi deosebirilor dintrecele două limbi, a limitelor şi lipsurilor sistemului lingvistic latin comparativ cu cel grec.Lucretius era nemulţumit de "săr ăcia limbii str ămoşeşti" ( patrii sermonis egestas – Dererum natura, I, 139), care f ăcea imposibilă exprimarea unor concepte filosofice greceşti;şi Seneca recunoştea imposibilitatea de a echivala în latină un concept fundamentalexprimat prin grecescul ουσία (ουσία nullo modo Latine exprimare possim – Epistulae ad

Lucilium, 56, 6), cu toate că Cicero propusese calcul essentia. Ia naştere în urma acestor reflecţii lingvistice precedentul antic al lingvisticii

contrastive, care pune în lumină specificul structural al fiecărei limbi; iată în această privinţă câteva opinii ale lui Quintilianus [28], edificatoare pentru conştientizareadiferenţelor frapante între latină şi greacă de către un roman perfect bilingv: "chiar în

privin ţ a sunetelor limba latină este mai dur ă , deoarece nouă ne lipsesc cele maiarmonioase litere grece şti, anume o vocal ă şi o consoană care au cea mai pl ăcut ă

sonoritate din alfabetul lor [literele υ şi φ- n.n.]; dar şi accentul nostru atât din cauzaunei anumite rigidit ăţ i, cât şi pentru monotonia lui, este mai pu ţ in pl ăcut; inferioritatealimbii noastre se remarcă mai ales prin faptul că foarte multe idei nu au în limba noastr ă termeni proprii, încât trebuie să recurgem la metafore şi perifraze. Observaţiile luiQuintilianus sunt obiective dar nu pesimiste, căci el îşi invită semenii la o adevărată emulaţie expresivă cu grecii: Nu putem fi atât de delica ţ i ca ei; să fim mai viguro şi!Suntem învin şi în fine ţ e, să fim mai tari prin gravitate!

B. Interferen ţ a prin transfer comportă şi ea două importante aspecte:a. Aportul masiv de elemente aloglote de origine greacă la toate nivelele limbii

latine, cel lexical fiind cel mai privilegiat: se împrumută lexeme care servesc la denotareaunor concepte şi realităţi str ăine , fapt mai evident în limbajele specializate şi în limba

popular ă.[29]Cele mai vechi elenisme în limba latină datează din epoca preliterar ă şi, în privinţa

lor, trebuie f ăcută diferenţa între împrumuturile indirecte şi cele directe: primele au avutloc în secolul al V-lea prin intermediar etrsuc, comportând tr ăsături ale limbii etrusce,

precum înlocuirea consoanelor sonore prin surde ( θρίαμβος > triumpus; αμόργη >amurca); [30] împrumuturile directe provin mai ales din coloniile doriene sud-italice dinGraecia Magna şi asupra lor şi-au pus amprenta unele tr ăsături ale latinei arhaice, precum

apofonia vocalei în silabă post-tonică ( μαχανά > machina; καμάρα > camera).Apariţia primelor opere literare latine, create după model grec, a ocazionat un nouaport de elenisme care vor suferi o adaptare fonomorfologică în limba latină şi, pentru a le

putea transcrie, apar grafemele y,z şi diagrafele ch, ph, rh, th. O reacţie puristă,naţionalistă, se va manifesta însă la Roma începând cu sfâr şitul secolului al II-lea a.C.,explicabilă şi prin motive de ordin psihologic: mândria naţională îi oprea pe romani să imite limba grecilor învinşi (în 146 a.C. Grecia devenise provincie romană); prestigiullimbii greceşti era diminuat şi de faptul că la Roma, mulţi sclavi elenofoni, prizonieri der ăzboi, exercitau profesiuni prea puţin nobile. Nu se mai doreşte împrumutarea directă a

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cuvintelor greceşti ci echivalarea lor prin crearea unor calcuri lexicale şi semantice. Ciceroeste în secolul I a.C. reprezentantul cel mai de seamă al acestei tendinţe şi lui i se datorează acele calcuri care s-au impus în limba latină precum qualitas pentru ποιότης , humanitas

pentru φιλανθρωπία, essentia pentru ουσία, veriloquium pentru ετυμολογία.[31]. Cicero afost însă un purist rezonabil, întrucât el nu contestă în bloc elenismele, ci doar pe cele carenu erau necesare; pentru cele necesare şi utile, intrate deja în uzul curent, recomandă

naturalizarea lor în limba latină (nostra ducamus – să le socotim ale noastre).Epoca Principatului este din nou favorabilă uzului elenismelor, conform declaraţieide principiu a lui Quintilianus: confessis quoque Graecis utimur verbis, ubi nostra desunt (ne folosim de cuvinte curat greceşti, când ne lipsesc ale noastre). [32] Latina epociiimperiale cunoştea două tipuri de pronunţie a cuvintelor greceşti, care reflectă şi ostratificare socială a bilingvilor: de o parte pătura superioar ă, cultă, deprinsese prininstrucţie o pronunţie fidelă limbii greceşti, de cealaltă parte, straturile sociale, inferioareadaptaser ă pronunţia grecismelor sistemului fonologic latin. Un nou val de elenismeirumpe în limba latină odată cu penetrarea creştinismului în lumea romană, întrucâtterminologia creştină era greacă la origine. Autorii latini creştini, buni cunoscători ai limbiigreceşti, vor forja un vocabular latin de specialitate, "culegând câte ceva din ambelelimbi", cum afirmă Tertullianus (si quid utriusque linguae praecerpsi) [33] , mărturie

relevantă pentru mijloacele lingvistice de care s-au servit autorii creştini: împrumut,adaptare, resemantizare.

b. Traducerea, ca ipostază a interferenţei prin transfer, a prilejuit confruntarea adouă puncte de vedere: 1.cel al traducerii literale, verbum e verbo, de a cărei imperfecţiuneCicero era conştient atunci când afirma: perturbationes animi ... Graeci πάθη appelant;ego poteram morbos et id verbum esset a verbo, sed in consuetudinem nostram noncaderet (grecii numesc πάθη pătimirile sufletului; eu puteam să le numesc morbi şi acestcuvânt ar fi conform celui grec, doar că nu e conform cu uzul nostru) [34]; 2. cel altraducerii literare, practicate de Cicero şi recomandate şi de alţi autori latini: traducândunele discursuri ale lui Demosthenes şi Eschines, Cicero spune că nu a considerat necesar să traducă cuvânt cu cuvânt, ci să păstreze tonul de ansamblu şi for ţa expresivă a cuvintelor greceşti (non verbum pro verbo necesse habui reddere, sed genus omne verborum vimque

servavi) [35]; Horatius îi recomandă oricărui tânăr autor dramatic să nu se preocupe a reda,ca traducător fidel, cuvânt cu cuvânt modelul literar grec, dacă vrea să abordeze un subiect

poetic cunoscut (nec verbo verbum curabis reddere fidus/ interpres) [36]; la acest îndemnhoraţian pare să facă aluzie Aulus Gellius, atunci când afirmă: Când este nevoie să setraducă sau să se imite pasaje mai însemnate din operele poetice grece şti, nu trebuie să ne

str ăduim întotdeauna, se spune, să red ăm cu orice pre ţ cuvânt cu cuvânt textul original,căci pierde din elegan ţă şi frumuse ţ e. Sunt anumite construc ţ ii şi expresii care refuză oastfel de traducere gramatical ă. [37]

c. Interferen ţ a prin fuziune vizează trei tipuri de conexiune lingvistică:a. Hibridizarea produsă mai ales la nivel lexical, constând fie în crearea unor

derivate de la un cuvânt latin cu sufixe greceşti ( fratrissa < lat. frater + sufixul grecesc –

issa pentru formarea unor feminine), fie prin combinarea unor sufixe (-itanus < lat. – anus + gr. ίτ <ης >); b. Apari ţ ia unor cuvinte bastarde, numite de lexicografii latini notha verba, prin

"coruperea", adică prin integrarea latină a cuvintelor greceşti (nomen nothum, ex partecorruptum), precum leo, leonis pentru λέων, λέοντος, Achilles pentru Aχιλλευς [38]. ŞiVarro spune despre aceste cuvinte că şi-au pierdut identitatea, nefiind nici greceşti, nicilatineşti (parum similia videntur esse Graecis ... parum similia nostris). [39]

c. Intersec ţ ia celor două coduri lingvistice, latin şi grec, în baza moştenirii lor comune, indoeuropene şi a evoluţiei paralele. La nivel lexical e vorba de acele communia

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nomina, communia verba, cum le numeau lexicografii latini, precum domus/ δόμος ; fero/ φέρω; ago/ άγω; ego/ εγώ; tu/ τύ , etc.

În conştiinţa romanilor cele două limbi ajung a fi atât de intim legate încât seajunge uneori la a i se atribui unui cuvânt grec o etimologie latină sau invers, ba, lucru şimai important, la a se invoca provenienţa latinei din greacă, idee pe care o exprimă Quintilianus [40], dar care-şi are cel mai probabil originea în mediul grecesc.

Ca o concluzie la această sumar ă investigaţie a problematicii bilingvismului latino-grec, vom spune că influenţele lingvistice şi culturale ale elenismului asupra limbii şiculturii latine nu au dus la o pierdere de identitate a acestora în cursul fenomenului deaculturaţie şi că fenomenele de contact şi interferenţă mai sus discutate au constituit unincontestabil factor de progres, profitabil în posteritate pentru cultura şi spiritualitateaeuropeană.

Note:

[1] Cicero, De oficiis, I, 1, tr.n.[2] Idem, Orator , 235[3] Horatius, Carmina, III, 8, v.5[4] Ovidius, Ars amatoria, II, vv.123-124, trad.Gr.Tănăsescu în vol. Antologia poeziei latine, Bucureşti, Ed.

Albatros, 1973, p.167[5] Quintilianus, Institutio oratoria, I, 1, 14[6] Ibidem, I, 1, 13, tr.n.[7] A.Meillet, Esquisse d'une histoire de la langue latine, Paris, 1945, pp.108-111[8] J.Kramer, L'influence du grec sur le latin populaire. Quelques réflexions, "Studii clasice", XVIII,

Bucureşti, Ed.Academiei R.S.R., 1979, p.131.[9] P.Boyancé, La conaissance du grec à Rome, "R.E.L.", 34, 1956, pp.111-116[10] P.Grimal, Literatura latină, trad. de Mariana şi Liviu Franga, Bucureşti, Ed.Teora, 1997, p.20[11] J.Marouzeau, Quelques aspects de la formation du latin litteraire, Paris, 1949, p.133[12] Cicero, De oratore, II, 154, tr.n.[13] Apud Plinius Maior, Naturalis historia, XXIX, 7[14] P.Grimal, op.cit ., pp.99-100[15] Cicero, Brutus, 131[16] Cornelius Nepos, De viris illustribus, XXV, 4, 1

[17] Quintilianus, op.cit ., XI, 2, 50; vide et Valerius Maximus, Memorabilia, III, 7, 6[18] J.Marouzeau, op.cit., p.175[19] Cicero, De officiis, I, 3, tr.n.[20] Cicero, Ad Atticum, I, 20, tr.n.[21] Suetonius, Caesar , 82, 2[22] R.Flacelière, Istoria literar ă a Greciei antice, Bucure ti, Ed.Univers, 1970, p.462.[23] Iuvenalis , Satirae, VI, vv.191-197, trad. T.Măinescu şi A.Hodoş în vol. Persius, Iuvenal, Mar ţial, Satire

şi epigrame, Bucureşti, Ed. pentru literatur ă, 1967, p.126.[24] James Noel Adams, Bilingualism and the Latin Language, Cambridge University Press, 2003;

M.Dubuisson, Le contact linguistique gréco-romain: problèmes d'interférences et d'emprunts,"Lalies", 10, 1992, pp.91-109; Fr.Biville, Contacts linguistiques, "Studii clasice", XXVII-XXXIX, 2001-2003, Bucureşti, Ed. Academiei Române, pp.189-201.

[25] E.Peruzzi, Aspetti culturali del Latio primitivo, Firenze, 1977; idem, I greci e le lingue del Latio primitivo, Roma, 1978.

[26] Fr.Biville, L'emprunt lexical, un révélateur des structures vivantes des deux langues en contact (le casdu grec et du latin; "Revue Philologique", 65 (1991), pp.45-58.

[27] G.Devotô, I primi grecismi nella storia della lingua latina, în Mélanges à E.Boisacq, I, 1937, pp.327-332;

[28] Quintilianus, Institutio oratoria, XII, 10, 27-36, trad. Maria Hetco.[29] Cf.Fr.Biville, Grec et latin: contacts linguistiques et création lexicale. Pour une typologie des

hellénismes lexicaux du latin, "CILL", 15, 1989, p.1-40.[30] J. Kramer, op.cit ., p.128; G. Devoto, Storia, p.88.[31] G.Devoto, Storia, p.148.[32] Quintilianus, op.cit ., I, 5, 58, tr.M.Hetco.[33] Tertullianus, Adversus Praxean, III, 2.

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[34] Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes, III, 7.[35] Cicero, De optimo genere oratorum, V, 14.[36] Horatius, Ars poetica, 133-134.[37] A.Gellius, Noctes Atticae, IX, 9, 1-2, trad. David Popescu.[38] Isidorus din Sevilla, Etymologiae, 12, 2, 3.[39] Varro, De lingua latina, X, 69-71.[40] Quintilianus, op.cit., I, 1, 58.

Abstract

This paper deals with an essential issue in the making of the European linguistic and conceptual community, namely, Latin and Greek bilingualism. First acknowledged by the Latin writers’ phrase utrasque lingua, the fusion of Latin and Greek elements was commented upon in modernexegeses, which refer to the concepts of contact and interference. The former has a historical dimension, denoting the use of the two languages within a particular spatial and temporal context, whereas the latter addresses the consequences of this contact for the evolution of the twolanguages. We have approached both concepts, but insisted on the latter, drawing on thetaxonomic criteria established by the French linguist Fr. Biville, and further elaborating on thetypology of interference:

A. Relational interference, which is either textual, in bilingual texts, or metalingual, whichreveals the Latin authors’ awareness of the limits and flaws of their linguistic system,compared to Greek, an attitude that provided the basis for modern contrastivelinguistics;

B. Interference by transfer, which involves an impressive number of Greek loans in Latinand the translation of Greek texts into Latin;

C. Interference by fusion, manifest in the following three types: hybridization (i.e. Latinderivatives suffixed on a Greek or a hybrid basis), the coining of hybrid words (by phonologically and morphologically adapting Greek loans to Latin) and a common stock of words, by virtue of the Indo-European origin of the two languages.

The linguistic and cultural contact and interference between Greek and Latin contributed not only to their growth but also to fostering European cultural and spiritual communion.

Résumé

Le travail aborde un problème essentiel pour la création de la communauté linguistique et conceptuelle européenne, notamment le bilinguisme latin et grec. Reconnue tout d’abord par lesécrivains de langue latine, sous la forme de l’expression utrasque lingua, la fusion entre leséléments d’origine latine et ceux d’origine grecque, a été longtemps commentée par les exégèsesmodernes qui font référence aux concepts de contact et d’interférence. Le premier concept a unedimension historique, dénotant l’emploi de ces deux langues dans un certain contexte spatial et temporel, tandis que, le second réfère aux conséquences du concept sur l’évolution des deuxlangues. Nous avons attaqué les deux concepts - avec un plus d’attention pour le second – entenant compte des critères de classification établis par le linguiste français Fr. Biville et,élaborant la typologie de l’interférence :

A. L’interférence relationnelle qui peut être soit textuelle, soit métalinguistique dans lestextes bilingues et relève du fait que les auteurs latins connaissaient les limites et les

défauts de leur système linguistique, par comparaison au système grec, attitude qui amis les bases de la linguistique contrastive moderne;

B. L’interférence par transfert qui compte un nombre impressionnant d’emprunts grecsdans le latin et la traduction des textes grecs en latin;

C. L’interférence par fusion, caractérisée par trois types : l’hybridisation (les dérivés latinsobtenus par la suffixation d’une racine grecque ou d’une base hybride), la création des formations hybrides (par l’adaptation morphologique et phonétique des emprunts grecsaux caractéristiques de la langue latine) et l’existence d’un fond commun de mots,résultat de l’origine indo-européenne commune des deux langues.

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Le contact et l’interférence linguistiques qui caractérisent les langues grecque et latine ont contribué non seulement à l’enrichissement de ces deux langues mais aussi à l’extension de lacommunion spirituelle et culturelle de l’Europe.

Rezumat

Lucrarea abordează o problemă esen ţ ial ă în crearea comunit ăţ ii lingvistice şiconceptuale europene şi anume, bilingvismul latin şi grecesc. Recunoscut ă mai întâi de către scriitorii de limba latină , sub forma expresiei utrasque lingua, fuziunea dintre elementele latine şti şi cele grece şti a fost comentat ă în exegeze moderne care fac referire la conceptele de contact şiinterferen ţă. Primul are dimensiune istorică , denotând utilizarea celor două limbi într-un anumecontext spa ţ ial şi temporal, pe când cel de-al doilea se refer ă la consecin ţ ele acestui contact asupra evolu ţ iei celor două limbi. Am abordat ambele concepte, însă am insistat asupra celui de-al doilea, ţ inând cont de criteriile de clasificare stabilite de lingvistul francez Fr. Biville, şielaborând tipologia interferen ţ ei:

A. Interferen ţ a rela ţ ional ă , care este fie textual ă , fie metalingvistică în textele bilingve şicare relevă faptul că autorii latini erau con ştien ţ i de limitele şi defectele sistemului lor lingvistic, comparativ cu cel grecesc, atitudine ce a asigurat fundamentul lingvisticiicontrastive moderne;

B. Interferen ţ a prin transfer, care implică un număr impresionant de împrumuturi grece ştiîn limba latină şi traducerea textelor grece şti în limba latină;

C. Interferen ţ a prin fuziune, manifest ă în următoarele trei tipuri: hibridizarea (derivatelelatine şti ob ţ inute prin sufixarea unei r ăd ăcini grece şti or o bază hibrid ă ), crearea unor forma ţ iuni hibride (prin adaptarea morfologică şi fonetică a împrumuturilor grece şti lacaracteristicile limbii latine) şi existen ţ a unui fond comun de cuvinte, ca urmare aoriginii indo-europene a celor două limbi.

Contactul şi interferen ţ a lingvistică caracterizând limbile greacă şi latină au contribuit nu numaila îmbog ăţ irea acestor limbi ci şi la extinderea comuniunii spirituale şi culturale europene.

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pp. 99 - 106

Language

and

Literature

THE FASCINATION WITH THE WOR(L)D. (RE)PRESENTATION OR

CREATION

Steluţa Stan

Introduction

Before going into the analysis proper of the way in which the metafictional text

articulates, we consider it necessary to mention that, in our opinion there are at least two

types of postmodernism that differ from one another both through organization of the

narrative material and their vision: a playful , self-ironical and parodic postmodernism,

the features of which are narrative discontinuity, open, even ostentatious, display of the

narrative strategies and compositional procedures, parody of the literary conventions

and the challenging of the reader (as in Barth, Pynchon, Vonnegut or Barthelme), and a

second postmodernism, one that Carmen Muşat (2002) labels as imaginative/

anthropocentric, concentrating on the human being, in an attempt at recovering the

symbolic imagination and visions (as in Fowles, Murdoch or Styron).

Heterogeneity being one of the characteristics of postmodernism, most often

than not the two types contaminate each other, so that none of the writers mentioned for

either of the types is unfamiliar with the devices used by their “co-workers” in the other

category. The distinction is necessary only if we consider the dominant of the text, the

author’s preference for one series of devices or the other.

Metafictional novels are the ones to overtly reveal their fictionality and reflect

on their own status and narrative procedures. Within this self-reflective category, LindaHutcheon distinguishes between overt , diegetic, metafiction (that takes as main theme

its own status, rules and the very process of narration) and covert , linguistic, metafiction

(that suggests through language games, parody and intertextual references, the inability

of language to function as a means of communication or, even more important than this,

its ability to create other worlds, alternative to and more meaningful than the “real”

one). (Hutcheon, 1980)

This second category of novels, of a bewildering type, unlike the traditional

realistic one, breaks the illusion that what it tells about is an objective reality, truthfully

reflected in language; instead, its purpose is to raise questions and pose problems, to

tease the readers out of their easy acceptance of the traditional and pre-established

modes of thinking, to invite them to take part in the literary game. As the area that

explores the relationship between fiction and reality is concerned, however vigorous the post-structuralist insistence to see fiction (as well as literature, in general) as a free

game of signifiers with no signifieds, the metafictional novel makes an open invitation

at finding answers for a set of unexpected and startling questions:

Is there a reality ontologically separate and different from our linguisticconsciousness? And if there is, can we know it without altering it by our knowledge? And if we can, can we ‘render’ it in language? And if we can, does

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this rendering correspond to or give a truthful view of that ontologicallydifferent reality that we have assumed to exist? Or are we fooling ourselves inbelieving that there is such a reality, when in reality we are locked up in the prison-house of language, in the reading gaol?

(Kums in Bignami and Patey, 1996: 151)

The borders become even more fluid and obscured due to the juxtaposition of a number

of possible worlds: the real, the fictitious, the fictionalised fictitious and metafiction

itself, all of which seeming to fall on Baudrillard’s four phases of the image.

Ultimately, the central and most relevant issue, intimately and necessarily linked to this

set of questions, remains that of truth.

Factual or fictional

Regarding the distinction between factual and fictional discourse, Peter Lamarque

offers the following solution for the existence or inexistence of reference and truth: we

either admit that the objects in fiction match the existence of objects in the real world,

or consider that the only objects that exist are those of the real world, thus denying any

existence to the ones in fiction. Therefore, the very ground for the distinction between

fictional and factual discourse disappears: “Fiction is whatever is man-made(conceptually or linguistically). Truth is man-made (conceptually or linguistically).

Therefore, truth is just a species of fiction.” (Lamarque in Nash, 1994: 137)

In an interview, Fowles claims that “all novelists are liars because fiction is the

business of telling falsehoods about people who do not even exist”. (Fowles in

Ciugureanu and Vlad, 1998: 73)

Through lies, stories born sometimes from the desire to embellish a monotonous,

thus boring, reality, another world is born, different from the existing one, the same as

Bagdhad (before the war that brought a sad fame upon it), meant the city of the “one

thousand and one nights”, or, as Barth puts it in Chimera (1972), some fictions were so

much more valuable than fact that in rare instances their beauty made them real.

Bringing to focus the gap between art and life that conventional realism tries to

conceal, metafictional discourse appears in the work of English novelists in the form of asides (from prefaces and mottoes to direct, authorially intrusive, passages) in novels

primarily concentrated on traditional means of conveying the message, portraying

character and describing action; such passages are considered manipulative as they use

the conventions of realism and, in the same time, acknowledge their artificiality even as

they employ them; they disarm criticism by anticipating it; they flatter the reader

considering them their intellectual equal, a reader sophisticated enough to be familiar

with the conventional fictional representation, the intricacies of weaving a text, and

aware that the work of fiction is a verbal construction rather than a “slice

of life”. As to metafictional writers, Lodge, was saying that they have “a sneaky habit of

incorporating potential criticism into their text and thus ‘fictionalize’ it.” (Lodge,

1992: 208)

From the logical point of view, fictional discourse is defined in terms of zerodenotation[1]: the linguistic constituents that, in factual discourse, have a denotative

function (proper names, deictics, demonstratives…) lack any denotation proper. The

fictional statement has a meaning without having a referent. If we are to think how

much, for example, we care if Ulysses existed or not, we would realize that, beyond the

issue of the presence or absence of the denotation of fiction in the real world, a special

attention deserves the cognitive richness that fiction offers. A statement that lacks

denotation because it is read literally can become true (can denote) if read

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metaphorically. Don Quixote never existed but his name applies metaphorically to a

certain category of people. Therefore, the intrinsically literary characteristics as well as

the expressive qualities of writing are part of the referential structure of both the

symbolic system and the denotative one: if a piece of writing does not denote because it

is fictional, it does not necessarily lose its referential dimension. With metafiction, what

is non-denoted, but real-ised, is fiction itself. This way, the discussion about the

construction of the text becomes the content proper.On the other hand, the same as we move in everyday life from a kind of world to

another, fiction allows us free access to different and successive worlds, parallel to the

ones the human being is aware of historically and socially; consequently, the structure

of fiction should be understood as resembling to the one of a ladder on which, more or

less real and more or less fictional worlds define human reality by inter-action and

inter-reflection: “Strangely enough, […] when using the term ‘world’ one is using a

space term […] But narrative fiction calls our attention to time and a sequence in time

[…] Literature is generally to be classed as a time-art (in distinction from painting and

sculpture, space-arts).”(Wellek and Warren, 1993: 147)

As a result, the world of a novel is a structure or a complex organism made up of

a wide range of constitutive elements, combined to create the illusion of reality; this

illusion depends on the effect it has on the reader to be assimilated as the reality of awork of fiction. It is the task of narratology to analyse these elements and establish the

manner in which they contribute to the presentation of the events.

The wave of metafictional novels in the ‘60s and ‘70s may have lost its force in

the ‘80s, but it did not disappear as its critics, who used to see in this kind of writing just

a futile attempt of the novel at postponing its own death, heralded. Those who attacked

metafiction accused it of “self-flattering narcissism” (a term that Hutcheon transforms

in her 1980 essay in grounds for pride), of elitism (novelists talking to themselves and

to one another about how great and how utterly important their writing practices are), of

narrowness, circularity and repetitivity (resembling dogs chasing their own tail as if it

were the most important thing in the world). From this perspective, metafictional novels

are those in which the epic respiration gives way to the self-annihilating experiment.

Beyond all these accusations lies the assumption that the novel should tell about people and reality, taking over the tradition of social realism, in a clear message. Thus,

metafiction becomes, to use Barth’s words in a somehow distorted interpretation, a

literature of exhaustion, the last stage before its death. The reaction of rejection towards

this type of literature is also triggered by its labeling, without any further distinctions, as

postmodernist , even deconstructivist . Consequently, the latter’s critics transferred their

accusations upon metafiction: the lack of a final, stable meaning of the text[2], its

refusal of any forms of closure, the ignoring of literary tradition and of the cannon; as in

the case of deconstructivism, the critics of metafiction consider it to “sin” by taking

pleasure in ambiguity and contradiction, by incorporating heterogeneous material

(fantasy, fairytale, documents, fiction, journalism)[3], and this way, erasing the

boundaries between the genres, by incorporating its own criticism and reading

instructions, by toying with the printing conventions etc. In short, the novel (by the

judgment of its dissenters) tends to become an unrecognizable category, downgraded to

a kind of jumbled and jangled text.

Taking out the exaggerations, one cannot ignore such reactions, at least because

they exist, even if coming from conservative positions, resistant to change.

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Mimesis[4] or diegesis[5]

It is true that, although metafiction and deconstructivism are not the same (the latter

being a critical attitude, a practice of approaching any linguistic expression, literature

included), what they have in common is a certain, permanent, self-search and self-

questioning, and the refusal to accept existing forms and hierarchies as such and for

ever.

Among the critics who embarked upon offering counter-arguments, mentionmust be made of Patricia Waugh ( Metafiction, 1984), Linda Hutcheon ( Narcissistic

Narrative, 1980), Steven Kellman (The Self-Begetting Novel , 1980). They showed that

self-questioning in fiction is not a symptom of exhaustion but a necessary and very

important stage in the development of the analysis, and that the value of metafictional

literature resides exactly in this self-scrutiny, sometimes playful, some other times

painful.

It would be absurd to suppose that metafiction sets as its goal to demonstrate its

own futility and irrelevance; the “message” it carries is, nevertheless, different from that

of the traditional realist novel, because, unlike this one, metafictive writings do not want

to preserve the illusion that they reflect reality objectively and truthfully. However deep

this undermined the fictional conventions, and however confusing the avoidance of the

final meaning, the metafictional novel always has an implicit intention (even explicitmany times): to challenge the reader into giving up their final formulations, and

accepting that posing questions with no easy, even impossible, answers, is beneficial.

As for the question about the possibility to represent the world into the literary fiction,

the metafictional novel has a negative answer: “what can be represented is the discourse

of that”. (Waugh, 1984: 3)

If the novel uses language, either to represent a world or even create it, then it

becomes very clear that the fundamental theme of metafiction is the linguistic paradox:

novelists are permanently confronted with the inability of language to express the

richness of their visions; in consequence, they fight a constant battle with the

limits/prison of language in order to achieve appropriate expressiveness. Despite all

this, by the very means of this language, poor as it may be, they create the most

coherent and spectacular fictional worlds and completely expose their transparency as“worlds of words”, not worlds haunted by the stubborn and rejecting resistance of

reality:

What is to be acknowledged is that there are two poles of metafiction: one that finally accepts a substantial real world whose significance is not entirelycomposed of relationships within language; and one that suggests that there cannever be an escape from the prison-house of language and either delights or dispairs in this.

(Waugh, op. cit.: 53)

Here is Lodge’s novelist at a crossroads! In what the British one is concerned, he

chooses, most of the times, the road of the realist novel, the road to the compromise between the fictional and the empirical modes of writing, although admitting that the

pressure of skepticism on the esthetic and epistemological premises of traditional

realism is so intense that many novelists feel confronted with a choice, the one

mentioned above, between the non-fictional novel and fabulation, as Robert Scholes

names it, giving as examples Günter Grass, William Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon etc.

What Lodge recommends, himself with a leg in the boat of criticism and one in that of

literary creation, is that writers take at least the time of hesitation, or, as many already

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did, build that hesitation within the écriture itself, to which he attaches the following

label:

[t]he novel-about-itself, the trick-novel, the game-novel, the puzzle-novel, thenovel that leads the reader (who wishes, naї vely, only to be told what to believe)through a fairground of illusions and deceptions, distorting mirrors and trap-doors that open disconcertingly under his feet, leaving him ultimately not withany simple or reassuring message or meaning but with a paradox about therelation of art to life.

(Lodge, 1971: 105)

Not exactly the same thing happens across the Atlantic. American novelists repeatedly

approach the issue of the words as a unique system for the translation of reality into

fiction in their novels, primarily in the self-reflective ones. The process of the

trespassing of ontological barriers is summarized by Bellerophon in Barth’s Chimera:

“Loosed at last from mortal speech, he turned into written words: Bellerophonic letters

afloat between two worlds, forever betraying, in combinations and re-combinations, the

man they forever represent”. (Barth in Toma, 2004: 80)

This growing fascination with words is part of the similar growing introversion

of the postmodernist novel, being yet another mark of the fact that this one is aware of it

being an invented reality, opposed to the real reality. This attitude towards language, its

use to attract attention upon itself, not upon external reality, expresses, as we could

expect, the refusal of the literature of our times to immortalize the symbols of reality,

the loss of confidence in its stable values and the transformation of this loss into a

supreme faith. Todd Andrews, the barthian character in The Floating Opera (1956),

offers the only possible solution:

So, reader, should you ever find yourself writing about the world, take care not to nibble at the many tempting symbols she sets squarely in your path, or you’ll be baited into saying things you don’t mean and offending the people you want most to entertain. Develop, if you can, the technique of the pall-bearer and myself: smile, but walk on and say nothing, as though you hadn’t noticed.

(Barth in op. cit.: 85)

The focus on fictionality becomes essential in the attempt to playfully order the

(seemingly) random, the accidental, attach some significance to it or ironically ignore it.

Even if sometimes and only for a while the illusion of reference to the real world is

maintained, the reader is permanently “brutalised” with passages that violate the code of

realism. Lodge mentions in this respect Joseph Heller’s novel Good as Gold (1979),

where one of the numbered chapters begins like this:

Once again Gold found himself preparing to lunch with someone [...] and thethought arose that he was spending an awful lot of time in this book eating and

talking. [...] Certainly he would soon meet a schoolteacher with four childrenwith whom he would fall madly in love, and I would shortly hold out to him thetantalizing promise of becoming the country’s first Jewish Secretary of State, a promise I did not intend to keep.

(Heller in Lodge, 1992: 42)

The above-mentioned trespassing is achieved in two ways: on the one hand, admitting

that Gold is a character in a book, not someone in the real world; on the other,

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underlining the fact that he has no autonomy whatsoever, being, simply and completely,

at the disposal of a creator who is not sure what to do with him. About the same thing

happens in Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, an intrusion like “This was I. That was me.

That was the author of this book” being a usual one. Such “gestures” are labelled as

“breaking the frame” or “revealing the device” or, more simply, “metafiction”. By itself,

the procedure is not new at all and similar examples of exposure of the fictionality of

fiction can be easily found in Cervantes, Fielding, Sterne, Thackeray or Trollope, butnot in the modernist ones, because such a foregrounding of the author’s existence, the

very source of diegesis, is contrary to the modernist principle of impersonality and the

mimesis of consciousness. Quite paradoxically, metafictional devices might appear as a

way to continue the exploration and exploitation of the sources of realism,

simultaneously to the admittance of their conventionality.

The more the authors reveal themselves in such texts, the more they become a

voice, function of their own fiction, a rhetorical construct; not privileged authority, but

object to interpretation. A possible conclusion is that postmodernist literature re-affirms

diegesis; not harmoniously interweaved with mimesis (as in the classic realist text), not

subordinate (as in the modernist one), but foregrounded, through contrast, by mimesis:

The stream of consciousness has turned into a stream of narration – which would be one way of summarizing the difference between the greatest modernist novelist, Joyce, and the greatest postmodernist, Beckett. When the Unnamable says to himself, ‘You must go on. I can’t go on. I’ll go on’, he means, on onelevel at least, that he must go on narrating.

(Lodge, 1992: 44)

Also in reference to the British writers and their relationship with postmodernism

(especially some of its attributes such as the questioning of metanarrative, the

decentring of cultural authority, and the ironic disruption of the self-contained fictional

world), Dominic Head (2002) agrees that their novels also convey a conviction about

the moral and emotional function of narrative fiction, and its ability to make readers re-

engage with the world they know. In this way, the writers offer a re-working of therealist contract, involving the reader’s willing acceptance that the text provides a bridge

to reality. Much the same as Lodge, Head considers that the British authors are not

postmodernist in the meaning of “experimentalist” only, but their writings should be

viewed as the expression of a mode of writing capable of generating an emotional

response, beyond the distractions of self-conscious trickiness; this understanding of

postmodernism, as a hybrid form of expression that renegociates tradition, is the one

that could make a case for British Postmodernism, and that could account for the work

of practitioners such as Margaret Drabble, Martin Amis, Graham Swift, Peter Ackroyd,

Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis or Angela Carter. As about the metafictional writing, the

self-conscious fiction that underlines its own fictionality, Head says:

This degree of playfullness is self-deprecating in the sense that it has the effect of devaluing the role and function of ‘literature’. No longer capable of high seriousness, the literary object colludes in its own debunking, participating in thecultural logic that blurs the distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture. Theconsequence of this is a culture of pastiche, with no vantage point from whichvalue can be assigned with authority. [...] It is this kind of ludic postmodernismthat has failed to gain a purchase in British literary culture.

(Head, 2002: 229)

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A further consequence, in Head’s oppinion, is a “waning of affect”, the production of

self-conscious culture in which powerful emotion can no longer be communicated

without mediation, qualification, or reservation. This kind of ludic postmodernism

seems to have failed to gain a purchase in British literary culture, unlike in the

American one.

Notes[1] Roland Barthes expresses in Writing Degree Zero (1967) the hope that language can be used in anutopic way and that there are cultural codes that can be trespassed. At the beginning of the ’70s, he began

to see language, the same as Derrida, as a space the metaphoric character of which remains unknown. In Empire of Signs (1970), Barthes gives up any claim to describe or analyze reality., mixing cultural formsof an extreme diversity, from haikus to different machines, pieces of a sort of anti-utopic landscape in

which everything is surface, nothing is form. Writing becomes a goal in itself. In his last text, Barthes by Barthes, concepts do not count for their validity or invalidity, but for their efficiency as a writing tactic.[2] The two alternative endings in The French Lieutenant’s Woman are an excellent illustration of the

‘forking paths technique’ that McHale (1987: 106-10) considers to be postmodernist par excellence.

[3] Arguing in favour of the metafictional novel and referring to its connections and affinities with other genres, Guido Kums says: “It is also evident that these novels all to a greater or lesser extent display this

magpie tendency to collect other genres of writing: they all contain letters, diaries, documents with

political, philosophical or sociological discourse, and they all parody various styles and fashions of

writing.” (Kums in Bignami, 1996: 153)

[4] In the Republic, Plato distinguishes between diegesis (the poet represents the actions in his own voice)

and mimesis (the actions are represented in the voices of the character or characters), and considers that inthe epic genre we meet an alternation of the two discoursive types, the poet’s and the characters’.

Bakhtin, in his turn also makes the distinction between the author’s direct speech – diegesis, the

represented speech of the characters – mimesis, and the double-oriented speech – referring not only tosomething that exists in the world but also to the speech act of another charater, neither diegesis nor

mimesis, nor a mixture of the two, but, as Lodge calls it, ‘a sort of pseudo-diegesis’; for example, in the

last episodes of Ulysses, the narrator-author disappears and he is replaced by the voice of the reviews for women. Lodge’s conclusion is that: the classic realist text is charaterized by a ballanced and harmonious

mixture of diegesis and mimesis, the author’s speech and represented speech; the modern novel, by the

domination of mimesis over diegesis, impersonality and dramatization; the postmodernist novel, by there-introduction of the author exiled by the modernists into the text and a revival of diegesis.

[5] In postmodernist fiction, Lodge distinguishes the following categories: transfiction, surfiction,

metafiction, new jurnalism, non-fictional novel, faction, fabulation, le nouveau roman, le nouveaunouveau roman, irrealism, magic realism etc. In his opinion, the British postmodernism ignores modernist

experiments that “Joyce, Woolf and Co. thought had despatched for good”. (Lodge, 1990: 25)

References

Barthes, R. (1967). Writing Degree Zero, Annette Lavers, Collin Smith (trans.), London: Cape.

Baudrillard, J. (1983). Simulations, Paul Foss et al. (trad.), New York: Semiotext(e).

Bignami, M. & C. Patey (eds.) (1996). Moving the Borders. Milano: Edizioni Unicopli.Ciugureanu, A. & E. Vlad (1998). Multiple Perspectives, Constanţa: Ex Ponto.

Head, D. (2002). The Cambridge Introduction to Modern British Fiction. 1950-2000, Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.Hutcheon, L. (1980). Narcissistic Narrative: The Metafictional Paradox, London: Methuen.

Lodge, D. (1990). After Bakhtin. Essays on Fiction and Criticism, London: Routledge.

Lodge, D. (1992). The Art of Fiction, London: Penguin Books.Muşat, C. (2002). Strategiile subversiunii. Descriere şi nara ţ iune în proza postmodernă românească,

Piteşti: Paralela 45.

Nash, Ch. (ed.) (1994). Narrative in Culture, University of Warwick Centre for Research in Philosophy

and Literature, Great Britain: Routledge.Toma, I. (2004). Uses and Abuses of Tradition in Postmodernist Fiction, Iasi: Premier.

Waugh, P. (1984). Metafiction: The Theory and Practice of Self-Conscious Fiction, New York &

London: Methuen.

Wellek, R. & A. Warren (1993). Theory of Literature. London: Penguin Books.

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Abstract

Most postmodernist novels ceased to even pretend they believe in the direct mirroring in thetext of a purely linguistic construction of reality. In metafictional writings, the focus is on the plurality of meaning due to the inherent plurality of language, effect of a plural reality, thenegociation being made between the text and the reader, the (re)producer of meaning. Fictionalising the world via the media makes the “realistic” attitude of postmodernist writers presuppose acknowledgment and assumation of the constructed character of reality; thus,however paradoxical it may seem, postmodernist prose becomes mimetic but in a completelydifferent way than the realistic prose of the 19th century.

Résumé

La majorité des romans postmodernistes ne prétendent m me plus qu’ils croient à la misedirecte de la réalité dans le texte, la réalité devenant une construction purement linguistique.

Dans les écritures métafictionnelles, l’accent est mis sur la pluralité de sens due à la pluralitéinhérente à la langue, effet de la pluralité de la réalité. La négociation est faite alors entre letexte et le lecteur, le (re)créateur du sens. La fictionnalisation du monde par les médiasremoule l’attitude «réaliste» des écrivains postmodernes qui parvient à reconnaître et assumer le caractère construit de la réalité. La prose postmoderniste devient, de la sorte,quelque paradoxale que cela puisse paraître, mimétique, mais dans un sens complétement différent de la prose réaliste du XIXe siècle.

Rezumat

Majoritatea romanelor postmoderniste nici măcar nu se mai prefac că ar crede în oglindireadirect ă a realit ăţ ii în text, realitatea devenind o construc ţ ie pur lingvistică. În scriiturilemetafic ionale, accentul cade pe pluralitatea în ţ elesului datorat ă pluralit ăţ ii inerente limbii,

efect al pluralit ăţ ii realit ăţ ii, iar negocierea se face între text şi cititor, (re)producătorul de sens. Fic ţ ionalizarea lumii prin mass media face ca atitudinea „realist ă“ a scriitorilor postmoderni să presupună recunoa şterea şi asumarea caracterului construit al realit ăţ ii, proza postmodernist ă devenind, oricât de paradoxal ar putea suna, mimetică , dar într-un senscomplet diferit de cel al prozei realiste a secolului al XIX-lea.

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pp. 107 - 111

Language

and

Literature

WHAT MAISIE KNEW UNDER LINGUISTIC STYLISTIC LENS

Daniela Şorcaru

Henry James significantly contributed to the criticism of fiction, particularly in his

insistence that writers be allowed the greatest freedom possible in presenting their view of

the world. His imaginative use ofpoint of view, interior monologue and possibly unreliable

narrators in his own novels and tales brought a new depth and interest to narrative fiction.

He is one of the major figures of trans-Atlantic literature. His works frequently

juxtapose characters from different worlds – the Old World (Europe), simultaneously

artistic, corrupting, and alluring; and the New World (United States), where people are

often brash, open, and assertive – and explore how this clash of personalities and cultures

affects the two worlds.

James favored internal, psychological drama, and his work is often about conflicts

between imaginative protagonists and their difficult environments.

His earlier work is considered realist because of the carefully described details of

his characters’ physical surroundings. However, throughout his long career, James

maintained a strong interest in a variety of artistic effects and movements. His work

gradually became more metaphorical and symbolic as he entered more deeply into the

minds of his characters. In its intense focus on the consciousness of his major characters,

James’s later work foreshadows extensive developments in 20th century fiction. The prose

of the later works is marked by long, digressive sentences that defer the verb and include

many qualifying adverbs, prepositional phrases, and subordinate clauses as James seeks to pin down the bifurcating streams of his characters’ consciousness.

Henry James, coming to fiction through an apprenticeship in criticism, brought an

attitude more consciously that of the artist. His restricted personal experience as well as his

special interests imposed upon him a more narrowed range of material and themes. His

great concern became the revelation of thought and emotion, the penetration into the

meaning of human relationships and concerns. More and more he devoted his art to

revealing such fine shades of meaning as completely as possible.

The author relied on the more involved, psychological approach to his fiction in

What Maisie Knew (1897), the story of the sensitive daughter of divorced and irresponsible

parents. The novel has great contemporary relevance as an unflinching account of a wildly

disfunctional family. The book is also a notable technical achievement by James, as it

follows the title character from earliest childhood to precocious maturity.It’s not surprising from the book’s title that knowledge and education form a major

theme in this bittersweet tale of Maisie’s development. Her keen observation of the

irresponsible behavior of almost all the adults she lives with eventually persuades her to

rely on her most devoted friend, Mrs. Wix, even though the frumpy governess is by far the

least superficially attractive adult in her life.

The common reading of What Maisie Knew is that of a species of bildungsroman,

as the story of Maisie’s emotional and intellectual development at the hands of her

divorced parents, and the subsequent machinations of their various partners and surrogate-

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figures, is undoubtedly the core theme of the novel. The realization of such dimensions of

the novel relies heavily on the linguistic devices employed to create a certain message

meant to reach the reader.

Nevertheless, the focus of the present study is laid on the intricate ways of pleating

stylistic functions, analyzing the artful manipulation that James exerts on the language

used in the novel, with a view to discovering the stylistic effects created at text level and

accounting for his being a step closer to the stream-of-consciousness linguistic techniques.The excerpts taken into consideration for analysis are grouped according to the

purpose of the present study to prove how stylistic functions of the language pleat at the

level of the text in order to create the desired impact on the reader. Another reason behind

the grouping of the text is the need to show how James’s dependence on tradition and the

linguistic cannon already turns into what the stream-of-consciousness represents. He takes

a further step closer to the linguistic and graphological techniques involved in the textual

realization of the trend under discussion.

Text 1. “Miss Overmore considered; she coloured a little; then she embraced her

ingenious friend. ‘You are too sweet! I’m a real governess.’

‘And couldn’t he be a real tutor?’

‘Of course not. He’s ignorant and bad.’‘Bad – ?’ Maisie echoed with wonder.

Her companion gave a queer little laugh at her tone. ‘He’s ever so much younger –

’ But that was all.

‘Younger than you?’

Miss Overmore laughed again; it was the first time Maisie had seen her approach so

nearly to a giggle. ‘Younger than – no matter whom. I don’t know anything about him and

don’t want to,’ she rather inconsequently added. ‘He’s not my sort, and I’m sure, my own

darling, he’s not yours.’ And she repeated the free caress into which her colloquies with

Maisie almost always broke and which made the child feel that her affection at least was a

gage of safety. Parents had seemed too vague, but governesses were evidently to be

trusted. Maisie’s faith in Mrs. Wix, for instance, had suffered no lapse from the fact that all

communication with her had temporarily dropped.” (James, 1985:59)

Text 2. “‘You must allow me to reply to that,’ cried Mrs. Wix, ‘that you knew

nothing of the sort, and that you rather basely failed to back me up last night when you

pretended so plump that you did! You hoped in fact, exactly as much as I did and as in my

senseless passion I even hope now, that this may be the beginning of better things.’

Oh yes, Mrs. Wix was indeed, for the first time, sharp; so that there at last stirred in

our heroine the sense not so much of being proved disingenuous as of being precisely

accused of the meanness that had brought everything down on her through her very desire

to shake herself clear of it. She suddenly felt herself swell with a passion of protest. ‘I

never, never hoped I wasn’t going again to see Mrs. Beale! I didn’t, I didn’t!’ she repeated.

Mrs. Wix bounced about with the force of rejoinder of which she also felt that she mustanticipate the concussion and which, though the good lady was evidently charged to the

brim, hung fire long enough to give time for an aggravation. ‘She’s beautiful and I love

her! I love her and she’s beautiful!’” (p. 209)

Text 3. “Here again they were delayed by another sharp thought of Mrs. Wix’s

‘But what will she live on meanwhile?’

Maisie stopped short. ‘Till Sir Claude comes?’

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It was nothing to the violence with which her friend had been arrested. ‘Who’ll pay

the bills?’

Maisie thought. ‘Can’t she?’

‘She? She hasn’t a penny.’

The child wondered. ‘But didn’t papa – ?’

‘Leave her a fortune?’ Mrs. Wix would have appeared to speak of papa as dead had

she not immediately added: ‘Why he lives on other women!’Oh, yes, Maisie remembered. ‘Then can’t he send – ?’ She faltered again; even to

herself it sounded queer.

‘Some of their money to his wife?’ Mrs. Wix gave a laugh still stranger than the

weird suggestion. ‘I daresay she’d take it!’

They hurried on again; yet again, on the stairs, Maisie pulled up. ‘Well, if she had

stopped in England – !’ she threw out.

Mrs. Wix considered. ‘And he had come over instead?’

‘Yes, as we expected.’ Maisie launched her speculation. ‘What, then, would she

have lived on?’

Mrs. Wix hung fire but an instant. ‘On other men!’ And she marched downstairs.”

(p. 224)

The first group of three texts considered may be regarded as displaying the highest

degree of James’s traditional dimension, although stream-of-consciousness techniques

already ‘sabotage’ the text, in that the stylistic pleating of functions hinders meaning

recovery on the part of the reader at times.

Most of the vocabulary is formal, but intrusions of the consultative and the

informal, corresponding to everyday conversation register especially in Masie’s lines and

her interlocutors’, when engaged in speaking to the child. Thus, until is replaced by till and

contracted forms work their way in the body of the formal text, e.g. I’m, couldn’t, He’s,

don’t (Text 1); wasn’t, didn’t, She’s (Text 2); Who’ll pay the bills? (Text 3).

The nouns in the texts reveal a subtle stylistic play upon the real world and the

inner world of human thought and mind. In our case, the former is employed so as to

identify Maisie’s relationships to other people and their place in her life, whereas the latter

displays a rich array of needs, sensations, feelings and experiences that the child

undergoes: friend, governess, tutor, wonder, companion, laugh, tone, giggle, caress,

colloquies, child, affection, safety, gage, Parents, governesses, faith, lapse, fact,

communication (Text 1); night, passion, things, heroine, sense, meanness, desire, protest,

force, concussion, lady, brim, aggravation (Text 2); thought, violence, friend, bills, penny,

child, papa, fortune, women, money, laugh, suggestion, stairs, speculation (Text 3).

Along the same line of opposing inner universe to reality, the adjectives in the

texts, apparently dominated by the graphologically marked real , are use to qualify parts of

the child’s world as opposed to pieces of the real one, e.g. ingenious, sweet, real, ignorant,

bad, queer, little, younger, free, vague (Text 1); senseless, better, sharp, disingenuous,

swell, good, beautiful (Text 2); sharp, dead, queer, stranger, weird (Text 3). The obviousrepetition of the synonymic series queer, stranger, weird may stylistically signal the

child’s confusion about matters in the real world and her trying to grasp how things work.

Moreover, the abundance of adverbs, either making up superlative degrees or

setting space and time boundaries for actions, also serve the stylistic purpose of rendering

the Maisie’s attempts to make sense of the real world, e.g. too, so much, ever, again,

inconsequently, almost always, evidently, temporarily (Text 1); so, even, so much,

precisely, very, never, again, evidently (Text 2); again, immediately (Text 3).

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The great number of verbs in the excerpts enhances the dynamic dimension of

discourse, while also corresponding to the pattern of human speech, which makes up most

of the body of the texts, e.g. considered, coloured, embraced, are, I’m, couldn’t he be,

echoed, gave, was, laughed, had seen, approach, don’t know, don’t want, added, repeated,

broke, made, feel, had seemed, were, to be, had suffered, had temporarily dropped (Text

1); must, allow, to reply, knew, failed, to back me up, pretended, did, hoped, may be, was,

stirred, had brought, to shake, felt, wasn’t going, to see, didn’t, repeated, bounced,anticipate, to give (Text 2); were, live, stopped, comes, was, had been arrested, pay,

thought, Can’t, hasn’t, wondered, Leave, would have appeared, to speak, had she not

immediately added, lives, remembered, can’t he send, faltered, sounded, hurried, pulled

up, threw, expected, launched, hung, marched (Text 3). Thus, James takes a step further in

depicting human behaviour as speech and thought.

The sentence structure also observes the rules of human speech, i.e. the sentences

are short, simple sentences most often. A clear distinction is imposed, as the authorial

intrusions are marked by longer simple, compound or complex sentences.

Furthermore, the human speech dimension of discourse is even better rendered by

the elliptical sentences that seem to have suddenly been cut off, as interlocutors often break

communication all of a sudden or are interrupted abruptly, e.g. ‘Of course not. He’s

ignorant and bad.’ ‘Bad – ?’ Maisie echoed with wonder. Her companion gave a queer little laugh at her tone. ‘He’s ever so much younger – ’ But that was all. (Text 1); The

child wondered. ‘But didn’t papa – ?’ ‘Then can’t he send – ?’ She faltered again; even to

herself it sounded queer. ‘Well, if she had stopped in England – !’ she threw out. (Text 3).

The disruptions register at a further graphological level, considering the choice of

the author to write the three words in italics in the three fragments analyzed, e.g real,

never, she. The option of the author in the contexts the words in italics are used is meant to

emphasize the importance of the entity or concept in the narrative thread.

Thus, much like Forster but taking a step closer to the stream-of-consciousness,

James’s discourse displays the same linguistic battle between tradition and the cannon, on

the one side, and the desire to set language free from any constraints.

Disruptions of traditional discourse are more obvious with James at various levels of

the text. Thus, the formal register is at times (violently) interrupted by intrusions of the

informal up to the colloquial vocabulary, even insults.

Moreover, the traditional long, well-formed sentences alternate with short, sometimes

abruptly cut off simple sentences, which struggle to render human thought and speech.

Graphological disruptions are not to be neglected either, as there are numerous

instances of graphic emphasis achieved by the author’s use of italics for specific words that

play an important role in the context or that may help render the intonation of everyday

speech.

Last but definitely not least, James’s use of barbarisms and of what we dare call

‘erudisms’, i.e. larger fragments encoded in foreign languages that disrupt the body of the

English text, anticipates the complex Joycean encoding. The numerous texts in various

foreign languages to be found in Joyce’s discourse represent the linguistic climax of selecting readership according to the knowledge they possess.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Avădanei, Şt., Teaching (Literature) as a Literary Genre, “University English”, no.2, 1995.Bantaş, A., Descriptive English Syntax, Institutul European, Iaşi, 1996.

Barry, P., Beginning Theory. An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory, Manchester University Press,

Manchester and New York, 1995.Brooker, P. (ed), Modernism/Postmodernism, Longman, London and New York, 1992.

Creţescu-Gogălniceanu, C., The Negotiator , Institutul European, Terra Design, Iaşi, 2001.

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Croft, S., Cross, H., Literature, Criticism and Style – A Practical Guide to Advanced English Literature,Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997.

Crystal, D., The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.

Ducrot, O., Schaeffer, J.-M., Noul dic ţ ionar enciclopedic al ştiin ţ elor limbajului, Editura Babel, Bucureşti,1996.

James, H., What Maisie Knew, Penguin Books, London, 1985.

Leech, G., M. Short, Style in Fiction, Longman, London and New York, 1990, eighth impression.

Praisler, M., On Modernism, Postmodernism and the Novel , Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti, 2005.Sandig, B., Selting, M., Discourse Styles, in “Discourse as Structure and Process”, vol. I, SAGE Publications,

London, 1998.

Wales, K., A Dictionary of Stylistics, Longman, London and New York, 1991, second impression.

Abstract

The essence of this approach finds itself in the complex ways of putting together the stylistic

functions investigating the artistic manipulation by means of which Henry James influences the

language he makes use of in this novel, trying to discover the stylistic effects created at the text level and to consider which of these ways is the closest to the stream-of-consciousness technique.

The fragments which were selected for analysis are grouped according to the aim of this

approach, i.e., to reveal the assembling procedures of the language stylistic functions at text level in order to create a certain impact on the reader. The excerpts structuring is also accounted for

by the necessity of showing how James’s depending upon the tradition of the linguistic canon has

already become the essence of the stream-of-consciousness technique. One more step need to betaken to get closer to the graphic and linguistic techniques involved in the technical achievement

of the trend in discussion.

Resumé

Le noyau de cette étude-ci est représenté des modalités complexes d’assembler les fonctions

stylistiques, en analysant la manipulation artistique avec laquelle Henry James influence lelangage utilisé dans le roman, en essayant de découvrir les effets stylistiques créés au niveau du

texte, et de considérer qu’il est plus proche des techniques linguistiques du « stream-of-

consciousness ». Les fragments choisis pour l’analyse sont groupés en conformité avec le but de

cette étude-ci pour démontrer la modalité d’assemblage des fonctions stylistiques du langage auniveau du texte, pour créer l’impact désiré avec le lecteur. Un autre motive justifiant le groupage

du texte est le besoin de montrer comme la dépendance de James de la tradition et du canon

linguistique se transforme déjà en l’essence du « stream-of-consciousness ». Il fait encore un pas pour s’approcher aux techniques linguistiques et graphologiques impliquées dans la réalisation

technique du courant en discussion.

Rezumat

Acest studiu are ca element esen ţ ial analizarea complexelor modalit ăţ i de asambalre a func ţ iilor

stilistice, analizând manipularea artistică prin care Henry James influen ţ eaz ă limba folsit ă înroman, încercând să descopere efecte stilistice create la nivelul textului. Fragmentele selectate

pentru analiz ă sunt grupate conform obiectivelor prezentului studiu, pentru a crea impactul dorit

asupra cititorului. Un alt motiv care justifică gruparea propusă a textelor îl constituie nevoia de

a descrie maniera în care dependen ţ a lui James de tradi ţ ie şi de canonul lingvistic se transformă deja în esen ţ a tehnicii curentului de con ştiin ţă. Nu mai este nevoie decât de un pas pentru ca

autorul să se apropie de tehnicile lingvistice şi grafice implicate în realizarea tehnicii curentuluiîn discu ţ ie.

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pp. 112 - 118

Language

and

Literature

SINCERITY: TEXTUAL CLAIMS TO VALIDATION

Daniela Ţuchel

Sincerity emerges in modernity as a moral quality in which the avoidance of

dissembling is a positive virtue associated with plain speaking. Sincerity is congruence

between avowal and actual feeling or a number of other definitions [1], ranging from a

mere trustworthiness claim to the mapping of text onto thoughts. A possible framing of the

whole issue is the interior state of S (the abbreviation to be read further down as

sender/speaker of a message) matching an outward textual form to be decoded by R (theabbreviation henceforth for recipient/reader of the encoded message). Problems connected

with the not-exactly-linguistic notion of sincerity (except for pragmatic areas) are of a

diverse nature.

Sincerity is more easily discussed in public discourse, being based on solid textual

evidence. For ordinary verbal intercourse, it is ungraspable, unless paralinguistic factors

contribute to guesswork in this respect. For the text of newspaper articles, there are

additional difficulties of diagnosis, unless we pick on some more special manifestations,

such as, let us say, scare-quotes. As for who they are intended to scare, an example will

suffice: “[...] explicit, analytical, retrievable and ‘scientific’ procedures”. If they are

intentional and strategically placed, the single quotes around one particular attribute will

cast doubt on the truthful content thus marked off, and one can even suspect irony.

Actually, when a writer disagrees, (s)he should stand by what they write and be sincerewith no need for words in quotation marks, except the convention to underline by means

of them.

In prose literature, the printed word amounts to nothing more than a mimetic

illusion of speech and thought. Biber and Finegan [2] state that they have chosen to

exclude third person reference when analysing affective language to convey the emotion at

hand. They claim the third person presentation is primarily descriptive rather than directly

expressive of the speaker’s own feelings. It seems, however, reasonable to avoid making

such a distinction with prose literature, as all the utterances or thoughts of the characters,

be they presented in first or third person, are an artifice, an expression of the author’s

‘intent’, not that of the character at hand.

Maybe it is not misplaced to attempt a precis of more recent research on sincerity

values in literary or non-literary communication. The co-authors cited above have studiedthe lexical and grammatical marking of two concepts: evidentiality and affect . By the

former term, they refer to a speaker’s attitude to knowledge and its reliability. They use

the latter term in the same way as in another co-authored study of the same year [3], which

makes a powerful plea for the emotive force of language, without offering, however, a

model of application. Affect - Ochs and Schieffelin explain - is broader in meaning than

emotion. Affect includes feelings, moods, dispositions and attitudes with persons or

situations. The authors are mainly concerned with the display of affect through linguistic

means, preferring not to take into account whether the affective expression is sincere or

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not. Their main thesis entails an argument that “almost any aspect of the linguistic system

that is variable is a candidate for expressing affect: in other words, language has a heart as

well as a mind of its own” [ibidem].

The kind of performance that will be credited as sincere is generally assessed as such

or as its opposite by some common-sense criteria that cannot also perform linguistic work.

It is only for pragmatics to say that (a) an utterance can be deemed valid or invalid, and (b)

validity will be judged in terms of three claims: (1) truth; (2) appropriateness; (3) sincerity.At this point, in the relation between S and R, one takes into account the display of

trustworthiness. Claims to sincerity are the most difficult to guarantee since they implicate

a match between the outward form of the utterance and the speaker’s interior state.

Habermas [4] comments that truth and appropriateness may be validated implicitly

or explicitly by negotiation through discursive activity, while sincerity has to be taken on

trust – it is vindicated or validated only by the subsequent behaviour of S.

Halliday [5] continues Habermas’s distinctions, and, by combining the findings of

both linguists, here is a summary model of how the conduct of reason in social life

functions towards communication. Inside we can see the way sincerity fits.

1) Domain of reality: external nature; mode of communication: cognitive;

validity claim: truth; general function: representation of facts.

2) Domain of reality: social world ; mode of communication: interactive;validity claim: appropriateness / felicity; general function: establishment and maintenance

of relations.

3) Domain of reality: world of intentions; mode of communication:

expressive; validity claim: sincerity; general function: disclosure of speaker subjectivity.

Achieving a relation to speech acts, the result is that representatives (for instance,

asserting, denying, concluding) foreground the claim to truth; directives (suggesting,

demanding, requesting) and declaratives, which effect immediate changes in institutional

states-of-affairs (excommunicating, christening, passing sentence), foreground the claim to

appropriateness; commissives, which commit the speaker to some future course of action

(promising, offering, threatening), and expressives, which express a psychological state

(apologizing, thanking, welcoming), will implicate most strongly the claim to sincerity.

In Goffman’s terms [6], there is a participation framework of a complex nature,

meaning that S in each particular case speaks at moments for others (in particular, for an

audience) as well as for himself or herself. S adopts a shifting mode of address. For

example, a politician speaks most of the time to the nation, even to the world beyond, and

sometimes to reporters, etc. Any straightforward statement of emotion by S is likely to put

sincerity at risk . It is perhaps interesting to mention the following case in fiction that, to

some, may approximate sincerity: there is no controlling voice, there is an withholding of

textual manifestations of a full authorial persona. Thus, the author exploits the separation

of the discourse worlds while he himself refrains from creating the illusion of cooperative

presence. Sometimes it is easier for a text interpreter R to focus on the cognitive process of

reading a fictional text as part of a language event rather than focusing exclusively on the

ontological status of the fictional world constructed in reading.It is also generally accepted that some genres lend themselves to a discussion about

their sincerity content, while others do not. Some genres also lend a high valency to

sincerity and others do not. Researchers interested in radio shows, television and theatre

apprehend the sincerity paradox when discussing the following situation: if a person’s

behaviour is perceived by others as performance, it will be judged to be insincere, for

sincerity presupposes, as its general condition, the absence of performance. Laboratory

reports and legal cross-examinations will not routinely implicate sincerity, but the

exchange of vows in a wedding ceremony does. Joking is a genre unlikely to be judged as

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sincere, but a eulogy may be. Ultimately, there must be common-sense, in all probability,

used as a recognizable criterion for the kind of performance that will be credited as

sincere.

Irony is a hard nut to crack for the present thematic concern, for it relies on an

apprehension of the indirect criticism which is indeed expected to be transmitted in

sincerity. Sperber and Wilson [7] come with the following example of ironic

manifestation: in a shop, a furious customer is observed as such and commented upon – you can tell he’s upset , says a bystander. Sperber and Wilson take this to be

understatement as a type of irony, and we remember that the definition of understatement

is to say less than is reasonable in the given situation of communication. We can claim that

the definition applies here, for the anger is strikingly obvious; the commentary beginning

with you can tell is, in a way, naively inadequate, but it is more interesting pragmatically

to maintain that it is an ironic use of understatement. If S assigned the utterance you can

tell that X to a situation when normally the signs of X are barely discernible, S would

sooner be interpreted as speaking literally. Thus, in the former case of problem-solving, S

is covertly disagreeing, and, in the latter case, S is openly and sincerely involved in a

literal communicative act.

Two felt experiences, motivation and intention, are, as a rule, anticipated to be

sincere. The dictionary entry ‘intenţie’ (lat. intentio) elaborated by Mihai Stroe in Pîrvu [8]defines this basic concept for dealing with sincerity as a semantic and ontologic vector

relating to the feature ‘whatever is directed to something’ and coins the Romanian term

despreitate (a derivation of the preposition ‘despre’). After reviewing the major landmarks

in a theolological-intentionalist theory threading its way through (to quote only a few)

Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Boethius, Avicenna, Bacon, Descartes, Newton, Darwin, Kant,

Blake, Hegel, Bergson, Mihai Stroe stops upon the American New Criticism,

recommending the technique of ‘close reading’. Thus the intentional fallacy can be

circumvented; it is erroneous to judge a literary work according to the author’s intention as

long as nothing is relevant but the work itself. The work belongs to the public (Wimsatt,

Beardsley, ibidem) and it is only through it that the public can assess authorial intentions.

It is fundamental, in this undertaking, to distinguish between an original meaning of the

text and an anachronistic meaning – subsequent interpretation projected onto the text

through historical distancing.

If we take emotion to be public and feeling to be private, then the latter term –

feeling – can be explained as bodily arousal in the consciousness of the speaker, whereas

the former – emotion – can be looked upon as the correlation between the bodily arousal

and the circumstance or situation. Emotions, in their turn, will be subdivided into primary

ones (they are innate) and secondary (socially constituted through cultural resources). The

expression of emotions needs happen in sincerity as long as emotions are inferential signs

with a major role in cognition.

Following psychological practice, emotions and evaluations have the status of

affect and are construals of experience on various scales of positive and negative values. At

least evaluation always sets up an opposition in this respect: cases may be good or bad,desirable or undesirable, loveable or hateful. As Burke [9] writes, negation is “a peculiarly

linguistic marvel” as “there are no negatives in nature”. To evaluate anything positively

involves the exclusion of the possibility that what does not exit might exist and vice versa.

Negation is not only a matter of form, it is an evaluative, epistemic and deontic action,

forbidding, stipulating, affirming or denying. The negated is in a dialectical relation to

what is asserted. Negation brings up the rejected opposite, the irrealis, the mere possibility

of the other . This possibility is felt, and the more intense the affect, the stronger the

negated alternative. Let us approach sincerity in a few subtle attitudinal biases. We say, for

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example, it is pretty bad , which does not imply that something is good, but it is a weaker

claim than it is very bad . We say it is not too bad , which does imply that the object

described is at the good end of the polarity scale. It understates, at the same time, an

impolite belief: “I anticipated that what you did would be bad”. Honesty or sincerity lies in

understating things or generating the figure of speech known as litotes, the reason for its

occurrence in speech ultimately being understood by R to be a mild variant of praise

(politeness) or a covert form of unfavourable opinion derived by implicature(impoliteness). Disambiguation of what is essentially and sincerely communicated is

worked out by the exophoric details of the situation. S would have had at his disposal the

possibility of not underplaying meanings while saying it is good enough, where only a

concessive attitude is contained and no indirect hurt. This is what is effected pragmatically

when the negatively evaluative adverb too gets replaced by the positively evaluative

adverb enough.

Conversational routine usually carries out phatic intentions with the avoidance of

embarrassment; there are certain expectations of participants, but sincerity is not the most

pressing problem. Let us exemplify with the following case: the opener How are you? (or

any other alternative cliche, Is everything all right? How’s life? etc.) may reflect genuine

interest if and only if supported by some other elements, for instance, insistence to find out

more. It seems that, unlike the common English expression, the Romanian ce mai faci easily triggers a response that is a description of the addressee’s momentary condition. A

close relationship even requires more than a positive short answer [10] and the story of the

addressee’s latest mishap expects consolation as an expression of social harmony.

At the same time, a negative response to the opening question can be expressed by

inarticulate sounds or by gestures. For example, one may hear a prolonged /m/ sound in a

falling tone, with a shrug of shoulders, a double rock of the dominant hand, a slight roll of

the eyes. This could be received in the place of a (moderately) negative answer in words.

One possible interpretation is that the addressee does not want to complain but also needs

to be sincere about not being very well.

Laughter is another type of response that is contextually interpretable as sincerity or

its opposite. A variety of social occasions for its occurrence can be described as the end of

self-disclosing and painful stories, funny or idiotic moments in a talk, surprise and

amusement during an utterance, and so on. Laughter may result in the maintenance of a

collaborative floor and it usually signals sincere and active participation, continual

involvement, while not committing the addressees to speak in their turn.

One of the speech acts to pre-condition sincerity with priority is complimenting the

interlocutor. Broadly defined, a compliment is an expression of praise or positive regard.

There have been studies to research the following aspects: the most frequent syntactic

patterns; the attributes praised more insistently; the most appropriate verbal responses to

compliments; the relationship between the giver and the recipient of the compliment;

similarities and differences in this respect across cultures and continents. Let us sum up the

findings for each aspect.

Compliments generally fall into one of the following three patterns: Noun Phrase +is/looks + Adjectival Phrase (e.g. Your essay is great ), I + like/love + Noun Phrase (e.g. I

love your haircut ), Pronominal form + is + Modifier + Noun Phrase (e.g. These are

delicious cookies). Socialites prefer to compliment physical appearance and abilities first,

work and study next, and the form they adopt can lead to a classification of compliments

into: (a) direct vs. indirect, (b) specific vs. general, (c) normal vs. amplified lengths, (d)

including a comparison vs. no comparison. As for the last mentioned point, it has been

noted that comparisons are preferably exchanged between individuals of the same sex and

in a close, rather than distant, relationship. Another important observation is that there is a

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tendency to give appreciation to those details of personal appearance that are the result of

deliberate effort, not simply a manifestation of natural attractiveness. Besides, this is

particularly the case when females compliment other females. Males tend to compliment

more on personality traits, some of which being loyalty, kindness, intelligence. Precisely

due to a possible interpretation of insincerity, it has been found that by repeatedly

complimenting someone in an attempt to be friendly, S may trigger the unwanted effect of

discomfort and withdrawal of the person complimented. In case sincerity in thecomplimenter acquires validity in the eyes of R, the latter can adopt one of the following

strategies: thanking and agreeing; thanking and returning the compliment; joking; doubting

the praiseworthiness; denigrating the object of praise; merely commenting on the history of

the object; no acknowledgement (shifting the topic or no response), etc.

As a rule, complimenting is a positive politeness strategy. It answers the

expectation of being complimented when the person has made efforts to improve

appearance, performance of some sort or to obtain a new possession. That person may feel

disappointed, even upset, if this is not taken into account or merely noticed, so as to

become a complimentee. Actually, the complimentee seems to be ‘forced’, in the social

comedy that is being played, to accept the favour of the compliment and to express

gratitude, since a rejection of it (although a possible strategy when performed

‘insincerely’) runs counter to the positive face of the complimenter. This is an interestingconclusion. “Although seemingly beneficial to the complimentee, complimenting

potentially threatens the complimentee’s face. The compliment obliges her/him to repay

the debt in some way” [11]. The indebting nature of compliments is discussed by many

researchers, including Brown and Levinson, because the analysed speech act, if sincere,

expresses envy or admiration, thus indicating that the compliment-payer likes or would

like something belonging to the compliment-recipient/R. As a result, the latter takes action

either to protect the object of the praise or to offer it to the complimenter/S (for instance,

Arabic interlocutors make a ritual out of the offering of thecomplimented object and do not

literally take the object).

It often happens (in any speech community) that participants engage - with

sincerity or fake sincerity - in a remedial verbal action upon committing an offence, in a

word, to apologize. Speech communities differ in what counts as an offence, then in the

severity of the same offensive event, and afterwards in the appropriate compensation.

Apologies are carried out by a set of strategies, like every other type of verbal interaction.

To ‘make it go away’, S can either offer an explicit apology and/or assume responsibility,

first and foremost. Besides, the apologetic person can upgrade the force of the speech act,

downgrade the severity of the offence, downgrade his own responsibility, offer repair, and

so on. R will rightly ask themselves whether all such is uttered with sincerity of feeling.

Maybe some context-internal factors can decide upon its presence or lack. There is a direct

way of influencing – with these factors – the choice of the apologetic formula, its

intensification and its occurrence into one of two patterns: apology + account and apology

+ offer of compensation. The decisive context-external factors are social power and social

distance. Correlations can be established in the following ways: (a) the lower theoffender’s status, the more he will feel inclined to apologize to the offended with an

explicit formula; (b) the closer the interlocutors, the more likely the offender will expressly

assume responsibility. The conformity to these social regulations of behaviour can pass for

sincerity in the relationship.

Cross-culturally, distinctions are numerous and baffling sometimes, such as in the

case of ‘contrary-to-face-value’ messages. Understanding grows in importance when what

S says does not prize face-value sincerity, but H’s ability to read between the lines or

decode the message from a holistic, context-based perspective. The contributions that are

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contrary-to-face-value are looked into by pragmaticists for an inner motivation: to say “no”

instead of “yes” for avoiding another person’s disadvantage (an other-service answer)

while simultaneously maintaining a desirable good rapport (the self-service).

To discuss, therefore, self-serving and other-serving as related to ‘face’ is a practice

of sincerity because those two categories are not mutually exclusive. For the sake of

illustration, we can build up the situation of communication in which N. offers a ride to M.

when it is raining and M. does not have a car; M. definitely needs the ride, but replies bysaying, No, thanks, I don’t want to be too much trouble. If M. speaks haltingly or

undecidedly, N. will know that he should not take the words literally and that the negative

answer is a way of being considerate. The following situation is worth looking into: during

a dinner party, the guests kept complimenting the hostess for the food served, but the

response was the ‘no’ type (Oh, no, the dishes were not so well-prepared ). It was plain that

she wanted to make the guests feel comfortable and to avoid throwing light upon the long

hours spent while preparing the meal. Both the situations described above are of the type

saying ‘no’ for ‘yes’ and other-serving .

Saying ‘yes’ for ‘no’ and other-serving (or, instead of the affirmative particle, head-

nodding will do) illustrates the fact the communicators are harmony-oriented and avoid

confrontation. An easy way to distinguish an authentic ‘yes’ from a fake one is the

observation of the level of enthusiasm manifested by S.When ‘no’ for ‘yes’ and self-serving is the case, it will be received as a lie. The

utterance is contrary to the truth in order to avoid punishment (The drunk said, No, I didn’t

knock the window to pieces). In the following situation ‘yes’ is for ‘no’ and self-serving : a

man in order to increase his credibility lies to his partners that he is going to an important

meeting, but he is not invited to any such event. Thus, this is a simple deceptive

communicative act, strategically misleading in a conscious way.

In sum, contrary-to-face-value communication is strategic and manipulative, while there

are cultural practices for decoding the message in the right, ‘sincere’ (that is, truthful) way.

It is a matter of communication competence and it takes an insider’s perspective on

contextual clues.

Face-saving manoeuvres accommodate a number of speech acts, not only those under

scrutiny here, and possibly some involving lengthy negotiations, in which partners develop

an interest in the presence of sincerity. Ultimately, though Searle himself states that there is

no sincerity requirement for greetings, for instance, even those have been found to exhibit

both sincere and insincere attitudes. Grice’s whole theory has been built on a notion of

‘benevolence’, so maybe it is too much to expect absolute sincerity as well. Against the

risks of idealization, it can be enough to say that the major concern should be the

possibility of everyone, Ss and Rs, to cooperate linguistically and nothing more.

At present, the methodologies of cross-fertilizing disciplines of study [12] have

opened the way to the tolerant ‘dialoguing’ between authors and their commentators,

exploring aspects of life, language and literature, where a sincere positioning is expected.

Sincere communicators, ultimately, resist the temptation to resolve differences between

them artificially. The diversity of positions helps identify tensions which can be negotiatedwithout impinging upon sincerity.

REFERENCES

[1] Ţuchel, D. (2004). Pragmatics Primer . Bucureşti: Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică R.A., p. 21.

[2] Biber, D. and Finegan, E. (1989). “Styles of Stance in English: Lexical and Grammatical Marking of Evidentiality and Affect”. Text . 9 / 1 (pp. 93-124).

[3] Ochs, E. and Schieffelin, B. (1989). “Language Has a Heart”. Text . 9 / 1 (pp. 7-25).

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[4] Habermas, J. (1979). “Universal Pragmatics”. J.Habermas (ed.) Communication and the Evolution of Society. Boston, MA: Beacon Press (pp. 1-68).

[5] Halliday, M.A.K. (1985). An Introduction to Functional Grammar . London: Edward Arnold.

[6] Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of Talk . Oxford: Basil Blackwell.[7] Sperber, D. and Wilson, D. (1986). Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Oxford: Blackwell.

[8] Pîrvu, B.S. (2005). Dic ţ ionar de genetică literar ă. Iaşi: Institutul European (pp. 111-117).

[9] Burke, K. (1961). The Rhetoric of Religion. Boston MA: Beacon Press (p.19).

[10] Pietreanu, M. (1984). Salutul în limba română. Bucureşti: Editura Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică.[11] Chen, R. (1993). “Responding to compliments”. Journal of Pragmatics. 20 (58).

[12] Bamberg, M. and Andrews, M. (2004). Considering Counter-Narratives. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John

Benjamins Publishing Company.

Abstract

A definition of sincerity as a claim to trustworthiness simultaneously involves a correct match of outward form and interior state of the speaker. There is a broad

correspondence, which will be discussed and illustrated, between sincerity and a

number of speech acts, as well as between sincerity and discourse types.

Résumé

La sincérité peut être définie comme un rapport de confiance entre l’émetteur et lerécepteur. En même temps, il faut réaliser une concordance aussi juste que possible

entre la forme de l’expression et la condition emotionnelle de l’émetteur. Le sujet de cet

article est la sincérité de certains actes de langage et celle de certains types dediscours.

Rezumat

Dacă se define şte sinceritatea ca un raport de încredere între emi ţător şi receptor,

concomitent se face trimitere la o corelare just ă între forma de exprimare şi stareaemo ţ ional ă a emi ţătorului. Discu ţ ia în articolul de fa ţă şi exemplele invocate vizeaz ă

sinceritatea anumitor acte de vorbire şi a anumitor tipuri de discurs.

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119




pp. 119 - 123

Language

and

Literature

LA CONFIGURATION DE L’UNIVERS TEXTUEL : COHERENCE ET

COHESION

Angelica Vâlcu

La cohérence textuelle constitue un objet d’étude fondamental dans la linguistique

textuelle. Notre communication a pour objectif l’analyse de divers aspects concernant

l’organisation et de la structuration interne d’un texte par le biais des moyens linguistiques

et discursifs spécifiques à la cohésion et à la cohérence textuelles. Ces moyens – la

progression thématique, les relations anaphoriques, les isotopies, les connecteurs - peuvent

être repérés dans le texte sous leur forme de surface ou sous leur forme de profondeur. Ce

qui nous conduit à développer une telle démarche c’est la propriété du discours qui fait

que tous les segments qui le composent soient liés sémantiquement les uns aux autres,

autrement dit sa cohérence.

Le texte est considéré, d’une manière générale, comme un support langagier

spécifique, comme un ensemble de phrases ou d’énoncés qui forment la trace d’un discours

ancré dans un contexte d’énonciation. Harald Weinrich (1973) considère le texte « unréseau de déterminations », «un tout où chaque élément entretient avec les autres desrelations d’interdépendance ». Ces éléments, soutient ce grammairien, ou groupes

d’éléments se suivent « en ordre cohérent et consistant, chaque segment textuel compriscontribuant à l’intelligibilité de celui qui suit. Ce dernier à son tour, une fois décodé, vient éclairer rétrospectivement le précédent » [1] (Weinrich, H., 1973 : 22)

Selon M. Riegel et all.« la cohérence est une propriété du discours, qui est mis enrelation avec les conditions d’énonciation, alors que la cohésion est une propriété du texte,qui est envisagé fermé sur lui-même. Ainsi, les jugements de cohérence dépendent desconnaissances du monde et de la situation, qui sont partagées ou non par l’énonciateur et

son destinataire, alors que la cohésion du texte s’évalue en fonction de l’organisation sémantique interne » [2](Riegel, M.,1994 : 605)

Dominique Maingueneau (1996 ) considère que la cohésion résulte de

l'enchaînement des propositions, de la linéarité du texte, tandis que la cohérence s'appuie

sur la cohésion mais fait aussi intervenir des contraintes globales, non linéaires, attachées

au contexte. « Analyser la cohésion d'un texte, c'est l'appréhender comme unenchaînement, comme une texture, [...] où des phénomènes linguistiques très divers font àla fois progresser le texte et assurent sa continuité par des répétitions. Mais un texte peut

exhiber les signes d'une cohésion parfaite sans pour autant être cohérent. Pour qu'un texte soit dit cohérent, il doit être rapporté à une intention globale, [...] La cohérence passeaussi par l'identification du thème du texte, de quoi il traite, à l'intérieur d'un certainunivers (fictif, historique, théorique ...) ».[3](Maingueneau, 1990 :32)

Mais il ne sert à rien de relever les marqueurs de cohérence d'un texte si l'on ne

peut déterminer, en même temps, s'ils sont en quantité suffisante ou s'ils ont été utilisés

d’une manière appropriée. Il faudrait, donc, ajouter à la liste des procédés de cohérence

établie par les grammairiens du texte, des critères d'évaluation qui nous permettent de

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repérer les défauts de cohérence d'un texte, d'en trouver la cause, d'expliciter notre

jugement et de proposer une correction appropriée.

C’est pourquoi, à partir des travaux de Lorraine Pépin de l’Université du Québec

[4] nous avons essayé d’analyser quelques défauts de la cohérence textuelle, défauts reliés

à la cohésion textuelle. Lorraine Pépin propose une typologie des défauts de cohérence

textuelle en analysant la cohésion, l'étagement ou hiérarchisation (le regroupement des

informations, leur ordre de présentation, leur coordination, leur articulation, l'annonceexplicite de leur organisation hiérarchique, etc.) et ce qu’elle appelle « la résolutionincertaine » (juxtaposition des informations, mauvaise organisation des informations,

imprécision des informations, déviation des informations, retard des informations, etc.).

Le texte se déroule dans le temps ce qui fait que, d’une phrase à l’autre, soit

absolument nécessaire le rappel de ce dont on vient de parler, à savoir la cohésion

thématique, et en même temps, le rappel de la signification de ce que l’on vient d’en dire,

c’est - à - dire la cohésion sémantique.

Les procédés qui garantissent la cohésion d’un texte sont classifiés en deux sous-

groupes :

a) la récurrence, la coréférence, la contiguïté sémantique, le parallélisme

sémantique, le contraste sémantique et la résonance qui portent la trace thématique ou

sémantique de ce qui vient d’être dit ; b) la jonction (liaison par connecteurs) qui assure la cohésion en désignant le sens

d’une relation entre deux phrases.

On peut parler de la cohésion d’un texte si ces traces peuvent être reconnues par les

lecteurs et si elles sont suffisamment visibles d’une phrase à l’autre. Nous nous arrêterons

seulement sur quelques-uns des procédés mentionnés ci-dessus. Et pour cela nous allons

analyser des exemples de carences de cohésion liés au parallélisme sémantique, au

contraste sémantique et à la résonance. Le parallélisme sémantique désigne une correspondance sémantique biunivoque

entre les syntagmes comparables de deux phrases, correspondance qui met en relief les

ressemblances et les dissemblances entre ces deux phrases. Si l’on n’applique pas

complètement ce procédé du parallélisme sémantique, on jette dans l’oubli les informations

contenues dans la première phrase, informations non reprises dans la deuxième phrase de

la paire et donc inutiles.

Prenons quelques exemples :

1. L’informatique est un domaine essentiel pour le développement d’un pays maisles équipements en sont très chers. Est-il naturel que l’informaticien ait un salaire plus

grand que le directeur de l’entreprise?Ex.1. a) – variante proposée : L’informatique est un domaine essentiel pour le

développement d’un pays mais très cher. Est-il naturel que l’informaticien [et ici on

pourra ajouter : « doive mettre au point la structure informationnelle de toute l’unitééconomique» pour établir un parallèle avec le mot essentiel ] et qu’il ait un salaire plus

grand qu’un directeur d’entreprise? [mis en rapport avec très cher].

Ex. 2. Le directeur d’entreprise conduit, chaque jour, toute l’activité économiquede l’entreprise tandis que l’informaticien dirige seulement le secteur informationnel. .

2. a) – variante possible : Le directeur d’entreprise conduit, chaque jour, toutel’activité économique de l’entreprise tandis que l’informaticien dirige seulement le

secteur informationnel [on peut ajouter : en y intervenant lorsqu’il est nécessaire et mettre

ainsi en correspondance avec chaque jour].

A la suite de la lecture des corrigés proposés en (1.a) et (2.a) on se rend compte de

l’application du parallélisme sémantique dans la deuxième phrase des paires de phrases de

(1) et de (2). On observe que les syntagmes ajoutés ont pour conséquence la mise en valeur

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de tout ce qui a été dit dans la première phrase et ces rattachements peuvent se constituer

soit en un simple rappel soit en une explication [voir l’exemple (1)] ou en une mise en

opposition [voir l’exemple (2)].

Un autre procédé qui assure la cohésion d’un texte est lié à l’application correcte du

contraste sémantique. Le contraste sémantique met en évidence une opposition

sémantique déjà manifestée entre deux phrases ; c’est à l’aide de l’antonymie que se réalise

l’opposition sémantique entre deux termes essentiels de ces phrases.Ex. 3. Marie est une jeune fille très délicate. Cependant, souvent elle accomplit des

tâches avec beaucoup d’énergie. Dans l’exemple ci-dessus l’opposition manifestée déjà par le connecteur cependant

est reprise, confirmée et soutenue par l’emploi de l’antonymie des mots délicate et avecénergie.

Il y a des cas où le contraste sémantique est redondant parce que le sens qu’il

exprime est donné déjà dans la deuxième phrase, et d’autres cas où il est essentiel.

Ex. 4. Marc est parfois déplaisant. Pourtant, aujourd’hui il s’est montré aimable enoffrant des fleurs à son amie.

L’exemple nous permet d’observer la redondance par le fait que le sens du mot

aimable est déjà suggéré par le syntagme offrir des fleurs.

Lorraine Pépin soutient que l’application du contraste sémantique est essentielle àla compréhension d’une opposition entre deux phrases surtout lorsque cette opposition est

faiblement exprimée et alors il faut absolument la renforcer. Pour illustrer ses dires, elle

donne les exemples :

Ex. 5. Dans ma famille, nous sommes des gens bien ordinaires. Mais grâce auxnombreuses années passées dans le monde de la politique, mes parents et moi avonsacquis un sens de la critique et de la tolérance très élevé.

5. a) variante proposée : Dans ma famille, nous sommes des gens bien ordinaires. Mais grâce aux nombreuses années passées dans le monde de la politique, mes parents et moi avons acquis un sens de la critique et de la tolérance extraordinaire ou hors du

commun. (On a ajouté les mots soulignés pour mettre en contraste avec le syntagme gens

bien ordinaires et pour remémorer cette expression. L’adverbe très élevé est trop faible

pour soutenir l’opposition exprimée par Mais ).Ex. 6. Suite de l'exemple précédent : Mais grâce aux nombreuses années passées

dans le monde de la politique, mes parents et moi avons acquis un sens de la critique et dela tolérance très élevé. Pourtant, vers le mois de janvier, nous apprenions que leshockeyeurs demandaient un plus gros salaire.

6. a) variante proposée : Mais grâce aux nombreuses années passées dans le mondede la politique, mes parents et moi avons acquis un sens de la critique et de la tolérancetrès élevé. Pourtant , c’est avec indignation que …vers le mois de janvier, nous apprenionsque les hockeyeurs demandaient un plus gros salaire. (On a ajouté le syntagme souligné

pour le mettre en contraste avec tolérance et de cette manière on comprendra mieux

l’opposition annoncée par Pourtant. Par le défaut du contraste sémantique pourtant mettra

en opposition deux énoncés qui ne sont pas comparables : 1) Nous sommes tolérants et 2)(pourtant) nous avons appris telle nouvelle.Un troisième facteur de cohésion et implicitement de cohérence textuelle est lié au

phénomène de résonance discursive. La résonance consiste en l’utilisation de termes

disjoints : moi,…je, pour ma part…, Marie, elle..., Jean, quant à lui …etc. Ce procédé

assure la continuité thématique lorsque les exigences de la progression du discours

nécessitent l’introduction des thèmes nouveaux.

Ex. 7. Marie lit beaucoup, Hélène, elle aime la peinture.

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Dans cet exemple il n’est pas du tout nécessaire d’en lire davantage pour se rendre

compte que Marie et Hélène sont liées. Les termes disjoints Hélène, elle…évoquent

obligatoirement, par résonance, la présence d’un autre dans la phrase antérieure et par cela

on soutient la continuité thématique. L’emploi des termes disjoints a pour but la correction

des ruptures thématiques dans les chaînes discursives ; la résonance est réclamée lors des

changements brusques de la thématique.

Ex. 8. Max rentra dans un café et s’assit à une table...etc. Sa femme fila ausupermarché pour acheter des…etc.

8.a) on pourrait dire : Sa femme, elle, fila au… ou Quant à sa femme…ayant en

vue la rupture thématique (le rhème).

Ex. 9 Selon une enquête faite récemment auprès des Canadiens, les Québécois sont les plus gros consommateurs d'autos au pays. L'auto leur permet une plus grandeindépendance. Les habitants de Montréal aiment davantage voyager en avion...

9. a) version proposée : Les habitants de Montréal , eux...ou Les habitants de

Montréal, quant à eux...

Dans l’exemple 9) la scissure thématique provoquée par l’introduction de la

nouvelle information (sur les habitants de Montréal) est éliminée et la continuité

thématique est rétablie au moyen du phénomène de la résonance.

La cohérence d’un texte est due, comme nous avons vu, à divers facteurs qui sesituent, tous, soit à un plan sémantique, qui couvre la compréhension des unités

linguistiques, soit à un plan pragmatique, qui touche aux rapports de sens entre les énoncés

et la situation où ils sont produits. Il est très important de bien saisir que la cohérence ne

relève pas d’un ensemble de règles arbitraires imposées par une grammaire quelconque,

mais, au contraire, de l’observation des mécanismes au moyen desquels les lecteurs ont

tendance à traiter les textes qui leur sont soumis.

Pour qu’un texte soit apprécié comme étant cohérent, il faudrait que rien ne manque

de ce qui est nécessaire à l’atteinte de la fin qui a géré sa rédaction. Un texte cohérent ne

doit pas laisser au lecteur l’impression de quelque chose d’incomplet ou de tronqué.

Il y a des situations où un texte peut endurer certaines carences à cause d’une

variété de raisons, à savoir, un manque de documentation, une mauvaise compréhension

du problème qui conduit l’auteur à laisser de coté des données essentielles, un style

insuffisamment explicite, etc.

En guise de conclusion nous apprécions que pour rédiger un texte cohérent le

scripteur doit tenir compte de plusieurs aspects dont nous ne rappelons que quelques uns

[5] :

- le lecteur ne connaît pas ce dont le scripteur veut traiter: celui-ci doit développer,

expliquer, illustrer ; le texte doit permettre au lecteur qui ne connaît pas les données de se

les représenter ;il sera donc parfois nécessaire de reformuler de façon différente, de

traduire des chiffres en mots etc.

- le lecteur n'a pas les idées claires: le texte du scripteur doit être clair, organisé

visuellement et linguistiquement, etc. ;

- le lecteur ne croit pas ce qu’il lit : le texte doit être véridique, fondé sur dessources crédibles, des témoignages, des citations d'experts, avec un vocabulaire exact ;

- le lecteur n'a pas envie de lire: le texte doit être séduisant, doit avoir un style

communicatif, une mise en pages attrayante, une longueur des phrases entre 10 et 15 mots.

Comme professeurs, nous parlons de cohérence textuelle pour décrire les marques

par lesquelles un scripteur assure les liens entre les idées et fait avancer sa pensée dans son

texte. Dans notre pratique pédagogique, c’est un problème d’écriture, de rédaction par les

élèves et d’évaluation de la clarté et de la qualité de leurs textes pour nous, les enseignants.

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Etudier la cohérence et la cohésion textuelles en tant que phénomènes qui facilitent

la lecture, la production et la compréhension des textes, c’est amener les étudiants à

découvrir la manière de construire et d’interpréter le sens partiel au niveau de la phrase, le

sens global au niveau du texte et en même temps, la manière d’interpréter les aspects

discursifs au niveau de cette superstructure qui est le texte.

REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHIQUES[1] Weinrich, Harald, Le temps, Editions du Seuil, Paris, 1973, p.22;

[2] Riegel, M., Pellat, J.-C., Rioul, R., Grammaire méthodique du français, PUF, 1994, p. 605[3] Maingueneau, Dominique, Éléments de linguistique pour le texte littérair e, Bordas, Paris, 1990

[4] Pépin Lorraine, Analyse de quelques défauts de cohérence textuelle, Correspondance, volume 4,

numéro 2, nov. 1998, in www.ccdmd/qc.ca/correspo/Corr4-2/lecture.html[5] www.revel.unicefr/cycnos/sommaire.html?=10 Charolles, Michel, L’encadrement du discours : univers, champs, domaines et espaces, Cahiers de

Recherches Linguistiques, CNRS 1035, Université Nancy 2, 6, pp. 1-73

Kleiber G., 1990, Quand "il" n'a pas d'antécédent, Langages, 97, 24-50.Kleiber G., 1992a, Cap sur les topiques avec le pronom « il », L'information Grammaticale, 54, pp.

15-26.

Weinrich, Harald, Grammaire textuelle du Français, Didier Hatier, Paris, 1989

www.oasisfle.com/documents/progressions_thematiques.htm www.unige.ch/lettres/linge/moeschler/Discours/Discours4/sld002htm

http://membres.lycos.fr/chrismoulin/lexique.htm#r1

Abstract

To acquire the skill of writing, be it in a foregin language or not, imposes it on the learner toacquire the competence of formal communication, which is accessible only during classes,through a continuous contact with written ’products’.

Our paper will describe results of an effective observation of several aspects which weconsider to underly the coherence of a text, and which may be translated at the level of textuality.We are convinced that the didactic practice on textual coherence will enable learners to identifytheir own competence in the reading of a certain text type and to resort to this competence todetermine the acceptability limits of the written text the learner has just produced.

Résumé

L’habitude d’écrire dans une langue, étrangère ou non, demande à l’étudiant, à part l’acquisitiondes compétences de communication formelle, accessibles pendant les heures de classeexclusivement, le contact continu aux « produits » écrits.

Notre article se propose d’observer, effectivement, la manière dont les divers aspectsque nous jugeons être à la base de la cohérence textuelle, se traduisent au niveau de latextualité. Résolument, la pratique didactique portant sur la cohérence textuelle aidera l’étudiant à identifier ses propres compétences de lecture pour un certain type de texte et en faire ainsiréférence, afin de fixer les limites d’acceptabilité du texte écrit qu’il vient de produire.

Rezumat

Deprinderea de scrie într-o limbã, fie ea strãinã sau nu, solicitã studentului, în afarã dedobândirea unor competen ţ e de comunicare formale care sunt accesibile doar în cadrul orelor decurs, contactul continuu cu « produsele » scrise.

Articolul nostru î şi propune sã observe, efectiv, modul în care diverse aspecte, pe carenoi le considerãm a fi la baza coeren ţ ei unui text, pot sã fie traduse la nivelul textualitã ţ ii. Avemconvingerea cã practica didacticã asupra coeren ţ ei textuale va ajuta studentul sã- şi identifice

propriile competen ţ e de lecturã într-un anume tip de text dat şi sã apeleze la aceste competen ţ e pentru a determina limitele de acceptabilitate ale textului scris pe care tocmai l-a produs.

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Annals of the “Dunărea de Jos” University of GALAŢIFascicle XIII, New Series, Issue 25, XIII (XXIV), 2006

Book reviews pp. i - vii

i

INTERFERENŢE LINGVISTICE ÎN DIACRONIA LIMBII ROMÂNEDoina Marta BejanBucureşti: Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică, 2005, 238 pp.

Limba română, limbă romanică, îşi conturează individualitatea printre celelalte limbineolatine şi prin nivelul lexical, asupra căruia, de-a lungul secolelor, s-au exercitat influenţe

lingvistice str ăine fie ca urmare a contactelor directe cu diferite populaţii, fie a interferenţelor

la nivel cărtur ăresc. Observaţii privind aceste interferenţe, afirmaţii cu caracter teoretic sau

aplicativ apar în literatura etimologică descriind limba română sub formă de volume (Hristea

1968, Ciobanu 1996, Dinu 1996, Sala 1999, Felecan 2004), dicţionare (Ciobanu 2004,

Cior ănescu 2002) studii (Mihăilă 1960, Avram 1997) capitole sau subcapitole dedicate ariei

etimologice (structura etimologică procentuală a vocabularului, argumentarea etimologiei

unor unităţi lexicale apar ţinând fie fondului principal de cuvinte, fie limbajelor specializate;

pentru detalii a se vedea Zugun 2000) sau interferenţelor lingvistice.

Cartea pe care o prezentăm selectează şi sintetizează

informaţia dintr-o bogată literatur ă de specialitate care

abordează direct sau aluziv, diferite aspecte ale acestor influenţe. Tema propusă de autoare este prezentată pe

parcursul a aproximativ 240 de pagini, fiind structurată în

cinci mari capitole. Prevăzut cu un cuprinzător aparat critic,

volumul este recomandat tuturor celor interesaţi în

aprofundarea aspectelor teoretice şi practice ale etimologiei

limbii române, care pot extrage din aparatul critic informaţii

bibliografice utile.

Aşa cum se arată în secţiunea introductivă intitulată

Considera ţ ii preliminare, interesul autoarei “s-a oprit

asupra acelor interferenţe care au contribuit la fixarea

specificului limbii noastre în interiorul familiei limbilor

romanice, influenţa slavă, sau la influenţele care au dus la

modernizarea limbii române actuale, împrumuturile neologice având ca urmare sporirea

posibilităţilor de exprimare a celor mai noi şi mai variate idei” (8).

Sunt prezentate în capitole de sine stătătoare influenţe exercitate de acele culturi şi

limbi într-o anume perioadă din evoluţia limbii noastre, respectiv perioada în care româna

începe să cunoască forma sa cultă (literar ă) de manifestare. Structural cartea propune un

model bazat pe un nucleu al influenţelor, dezbătut în capitolele centrale şi două capitole

care asigur ă limite interferenţiale, interpretate prin prisma cronologiei evenimentelor socio-

culturale reflectate în vocabularul limbii române.

Primul capitol, Influen ţ a slavă, începe prin a descrie cadrul istoric şi temporal în

care slavii „...îşi fac apariţia pe teritoriul Daciei...” (14), şi continuă cu periodizarea

influenţei slave. Apreciem, în mod deosebit, demersul complet propus de autoare, prinreferirile la influenţa limbilor slave învecinate şi a limbii slavone, exercitată, în cazul

acesta, prin intermediul limbii scrise. Capitolul se încheie cu bogate exemplificări extrase

din lexicul de origine slavonă din patrimoniul limbii române.

Cea mai întinsă parte a lucr ării, 133 de pagini, este reprezentată de trei capitole:

Influen ţ a latină , Influen ţ a italiană , şi Influen ţ a franceză care au fost concepute într-o

viziune sistemică pentru a argumenta fenomenul „‘occidentalizării romanice’ (termen

propus în 1978 de Al. Niculescu pentru ceea ce numea, la 1940, Sextil Puşcariu –

reromanizare). Este un proces de întărire a caracterului romanic originar al limbii române

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ii

prin influenţa latină cult ă sau savant ă şi a altor limbi romanice, italiană şi franceză în

principal, [...] în limba română existând astăzi, din această sursă, cel mai mare număr de

neologisme şi de calcuri, acoperind toate sferele vieţii materiale şi spirituale româneşti.

Astfel, după unsprezece - douăsprezece secole de izolare de occidentul romanic, româna îşi

regăseşte, prin intermediul culturii, locul ce i se cuvine în lumea romanică”(5).Ultimul capitol, Influen ţ a engleză, prezintă, în linii mari, contribuţia engleză,

acceptată ca fiind cea mai recentă şi mai puternică influenţă care se exercită asupra limbii

noastre, asigurând receptarea neologismelor cu caracter internaţional.

Capitolele au, în linii mari, o structur ă asemănătoare: împrejur ările istorice în care

s-a produs contactul între limbi, periodizarea influenţei respective, un inventar al unităţilor

lexicale, stabilit pe criteriile semantic şi morfologic, particularităţi ale adaptării

neologismelor de originile amintite la sistemul fonetic şi morfologic al limbii române, un

subcapitol despre calcuri de diverse tipuri şi un subcapitol despre formarea cuvintelor, în

care sunt înregistrate afixele separate din cuvintele împrumutate, şi care au devenit

productive în limba română.

Aproape fiecare capitol încearcă să lămurească problema etimologiei multiple a

unor unităţi lexicale în limba română. Binevenită este prezentarea fenomenului fran ţ uzismelor aparente, numite de Theodor Hristea pseudofran ţ uzisme, prin analogie cu

pseudoanglicismele, adică acele cuvinte care nu există în limba franceză sau engleză, dar

care au fost create în limba română sau în alte limbi de unde româna le-a preluat, prin

combinarea unor teme sau elemente formative de origine franceză / engleză: grandoman, grandomanie, tenismen, recordmen etc.

Informaţia fiecărui capitol se completează cu bogate note care detaliază aspecte din

bibliografia consultată, de obicei r ăspândită prin diverse reviste de specialitate sau în actele

congreselor de lingvistică.

Oferind o imagine sintetică asupra unui important capitol de istorie a limbii

române, lucrarea se parcurge, datorită sistematizării, cu uşurinţă, asigurând cititorului o

mai bună înţelegere a devenirii limbii noastre.

Referinţe şi sugestii bibliografice: 1. Avram, Mioara, Anglicismele în limba română actual ă, Bucureşti, 1997

2. Ciobanu, Georgeta, Anglicisme în limba română, Timişoara, 1996

3. Ciobanu,Georgeta, Romanian Words of English Origin, Timişoara, 2004

4. Cior ănescu,Alexandru, Dic ţ ionarul etimologic al limbii române, Bucureşti, 2002

5. Dinu, Mihai, Personalitatea limbii române. Fizionomia vocabularului, Bucureşti, 1996

6. Felecan, Nicolae, Vocabularul limbii române, Cluj-Napoca, 2004 (pp. 92-122)

7. Hristea, Theodor, Probleme de etimologie, Bucureşti, 1968 (pp. 108-114)

8. Mihăilă, G., Împrumuturi vechi sud-slave în limba română. Studiu lexico-semantic,

Bucureşti, 19609. Niculescu, Al., Individualitatea limbii române între limbile romanice. Contribu ţ ii socio-culturale, Bucureşti, 1978

10. Sala, Marius, Introducere în etimologia limbii române, Bucureşti, 1999 (pp. 166-218)

11. Zugun, Petru, Lexicologia limbii române, Iaşi, 2000 (pp. 80-83).

Floriana Popescu

Universitatea Dunărea de Jos, Galaţi

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WHEN ALMA MATER HEARS FROM HER OFFSPRING

CULTURAL MEDIATION. A CASE STUDY OF SAMI RESEARCHElena Mirona Ciocîrlie

University of Tromsø, Faculty of Social Sciences, 2005, 158 pp.

THE WAYS OF THE NOVEL: OR, THE QUEST FOR VERISIMILITUDE IN THEEIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH AND ENGLISH NOVELGabriela Iuliana Colipcă Leiden: UFB/ GrafiMedia Universiteit Leiden, 2005, 504 pp.

What the two books introduced in this double reviewing share is the fact that they were

both written by young graduates from the University of Galaţi and were published under

the aegis of two universities in Europe. Each marks a step further in its authoress’

academic accomplishment.

Such is the state of contemporary societies faced with the liberal market of cultural

homogenization, which reflecting on their own diversity

has become a necessity nowadays. The group of Sami

researchers connected with the University of Tromsø in

Norway, engaged in experimenting themes and methods

while mediating aspects of indigenous culture with a view

to challenging the Western paradigm, is a case in point.

The first book under discussion here grew out of

the two years spent by Mirona Ciocîrlie as a student of the

Indigenous Master Programme at the University of

Tromsø, and represents her dissertation submitted for the

degree of Master of Philosophy on Indigenous Studies at

the Faculty of Sciences there.A graduate from the Faculty of Letters at the

University of Galaţi and also a MA in Cultural Studies at the

Bucharest University, Mirona Ciocîrlie is currently employed

as a project assistant with the Centre for Sami Studies at the University of Tromsø and is

qualifying for a funded PhD position at the Faculty of Humanities at the said university.

In her study, she makes the most of the Sami researchers’ innovative and

experimenting work with the intention of revealing the process of globalization in a specific

cultural area in Northern Norway in its interaction and communication with the academic area.

The theoretical approach is sustained by two case studies resulting from Mirona

Ciocîrlie’s intercourse with two interviewees benefited by their position both as academics

and members of the Sami indigenous culture. Ande Somby is Associate Professor at the

Faculty of Law, and his article Some Hybrids of the Legal Situation of the Sami People in Norway, giving vent to his frustrations as a Sami subjected to the process of

norweginisation, makes the object of his conversation with Mirona. (32-53) Henry Minde

is Professor of Sami History at the Faculty of History and he is being interviewed on his

article Assimilation of the Sami – Implementation and Consequences. (54-74) The two

texts are indeed the core of this research as they appear complementary to one another, and

the full transcriptions of the two conversations reveal Mirona Ciocîrlie as an apt

interviewer, able to elicit relevant responses from each of her interlocutors.

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iv

In mapping her theoretical concepts, the authoress comes closer to such specific

aspects as the Western discourse about the Other (S. Mills), the reader-response theory

(Wolfgang Iser’s translatability and recursive looping), colonial and post-colonial

theorizing (Edward Said, Arnold Krupat) and, of course, postmodern and poststructural

critical paradigms (Michel de Certeau, Michel Foucault, Brian McHale, Paul Ricœur, or H.White). Not infrequently, the dense scholarly discourse is enlivened by occasional

(auto)biographical glimpses. At the beginning of her studies at Tromsø, Mirona Ciocîrlie

confesses, she found herself immersed in a new cultural environment where she became

aware of the political and administrative dimensions of the Indigenous Discourse which

tended to describe indigenous communities as politically weak, economically inadequate

and culturally stigmatized. While aware of being the product of a European type of

civilization valuing critical, objective estimation of the facts of life, she found similarities

in her childhood upbringing amidst rural population back in the rural Romania, relevant for

a better understanding of how to deal with issues of difference. The scholarly tension is

also released with cases taken from Sami past and recent history, of Shamanic tradition, of

environmental protests, of legal action taken against expropriation of property, all of these

meant to take the reader into the realities of the Sami people in Norway.However, the reader may consider that it takes more than two texts/ interviews to

substantiate the point that seems to be focal for the study under discussion, viz. that the

ways in which indigenous researchers have challenged the Western discourse on

indigenous cultures are far more numerous and diverse than previously expected. Further

cases in point might have indeed been welcome to demonstrate the diversity of the

discourse of the intelligentsia in native communities as evidence of their mounting

determination to preserve their spiritual and material identities.

Despite being marred by a number of errors caused by editorial mismanagement,

the book is an outstanding achievement of cultural synthesis coupled with a compelling

analytical approach, and speaks to specialists and non-specialists alike.

The second book to be reviewed is the result of its

authoress’ full time doctoral research with the

Comparative Literature Department at the University of

Leiden as the recipient of a PhD grant by the Pallas

Institute of that university. Also a graduate from the

University of Galaţi, Gabriela Iuliana Colipcă received an

MA degree in Translation and Interpretation from her

Alma Mater where she has been employed since 1999.

Now she holds the position of senior lecturer.

In an impressive study (five hundred pages or so

long), Gabriela Colipcă conducts a comparative

examination of the emergence and development of fictionin two major European literatures, the English and French

ones, with special focus on the verisimilitude-creating

devices which, in her opinion, marked the shift from the

Enlightenment to the Romantic age. Actually, the concept of verisimilitude appears indeed

as the cornerstone that sustains the whole theoretical edifice informing this work. From the

Aristotelian principle of mimesis to the early eighteenth-century concept of outer verisimilitude and further to inner verisimilitude in the latter half of the century, the book

traces the avatars of the aesthetic component of lifelikeness placed within the framework

GABRIELA IULIANA COLIPCĂ

THE WAYS OF THE NOVEL:

OR,

THE QUEST FOR VERISIMILITUDE

IN THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY

FRENCH AND ENGLISH NOVEL

UNIVERSITEIT LEIDEN

2005

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v

of the eighteenth-century European mentalities. This can be seen in each of the four

sections (Parts) where verisimilitude is constantly resorted to as a key concept. Thus, Part One: Verisimilitude and the Illusion of Reality brings to the focus, through subsequent

subchapters, the ways in which the novel managed to change its status from marginal to

canonical by experimenting with new means of creating verisimilitude. Part Two:Verisimilitude and the Voyage Abroad. Philosophical Quests looks at travel narratives as

marking the spiritual transition from stability to mobility when “realism of assessment”

emerged as another essential dimension of the verisimilitude pattern of the voyage abroad

(148). Part Three: Verisimilitude and the Picaresque Journey outlines and discusses the

multiple uses of the picaresque vein as a favourite device of representing reality in the

eighteenth-century novel. Part Four: Verisimilitude, Voyages and the Passion Pattern is

perceived as the most heterogeneous of all since the examination of the preference for the

voyage due to its capacity of conveying verisimilitude calls for a reiteration of all the main

directions of the previous discussion. This section examines the gradual metamorphosis

and final triumph of inner verisimilitude while maintaining that “the ideals and

verisimilitude models of the Enlightenment man (…) make way for those of the Romantic,

modern individual who continues to travel, but with a different goal and within the boundaries of different horizons” (473).

Close reading exploration into the texts of representative eighteenth-century French

and English fiction authors (mention is made of as many as 46 titles) provide a stimulating

and thought-provoking addition. Making the most of a bibliography encompassing the

whole gamut of theoretical research in the field from, say, the now classical Wellek and

Warren to the very latest, Gabriela Colipcă’s book brings together all the salient points that

landmark a crucial moment in the development of the modern novel.

Excellently written, well documented, clearly structured, this is a compelling

reading for students, scholars and anyone with an interest in the novel.

Eugenia Gavriliu

“Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi

LE GOUT DES MOTS. SAVOAREA CUVINTELOR.Dicţionar francez-român de termeni culinari*.

Virginia Veja şi colectiv.

Bucureşti: Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică. 2006

Ce dictionnaire se propose d’investiguer une zone

toujours intéressante de l’univers du discours public: le

vocabulaire d’orientation gastronomique, plus spécialement le

vocabulaire de la cuisine.Elaboré par un groupe d’étudiantes en DEA, certaines

d’entre elles devenues par la suite nos collègues, le

dictionnaire reflète les éléments thématiques en usage et tente

de mettre en évidence le rapport qui existe, en général, entre

la culture, la langue et leurs représentations lexicographiques.

Né d’un évident besoin, tant pour l’utilisateur commun

que pour le spécialiste terminologue et/ou le traducteur, ce

dictionnaire met à la disposition du public intéressé une liste

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vi

d’environ 6000 mots et lexies identifiés dans des corpus bilingues, français et roumain,

traités de façon à ce qu’ils donnent une image de l’univers thématique dans les langues

mises en rapport.

Les auteurs de ce travail ont essayé d’éviter le dérisoire d’un « faux dictionnaire »

et se sont impliquées avec beaucoup de passion dans l’élaboration d’un vrai dictionnaire,capable de décrire ce monde savoureux de la cuisine française et bien davantage.

Ce dictionnaire que nous proposons non seulement à un emploi ponctuel dicté par

des nécessités de compréhension, mais aussi à la lecture encyclopédique, se donne pour

tâche d’harmoniser une présentation lexicographique, caractérisée par des entrées

polysémiques, classification alphabétique et marquage différentiel, avec une présentation

terminologique, dans le but de mettre en évidence les zones de la constitution du sens

autant au niveau de la langue source (le français) qu’à celui de la langue cible (le roumain).

Conf. Univ. dr. Angelica Vâlcu

Université “Dunărea de Jos”, Galaţi

ON MODERNISM, POSTMODERNISM AND THE NOVEL

Michaela PraislerBucureşti: Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică, 2005, 183 pp

Modern and contemporary literature has long been the object of debate. Critics have

emphasized its avant-garde nature and have pointed out the intricacies of its fabric, readers

have dismissed it as either too innovative to be pleasing or as difficult and eclectic, students

have coped but not actually got to grips with its discourse. Michaela Praisler’s book partly

adds to the debate, partly informs and stimulates. It addresses philology undergraduates,

offering them ideas about how to read the (post)modern novel, how to enjoy its strange

experiments, and how to assess its value. In this it is intended to support the daring enterprise

of teaching literature and to encourage reading in the era of texts being sooner browsed,

listened to or watched rather than interacted with in the old

fashioned way.

On Modernism, Postmodernism and the Novel examines the main strands of twentieth-century fiction,

including post-war, post-imperial and multicultural fiction. In

so doing, it looks into the metamorphoses of novel modes of

writing and challenges canonical patterns by shedding new

light on generally recognised valuable contributors to the

literary stage and by observing their latest reformulations

with writers who still have to enter this exclusivist zone, but

whose works clearly deserve our attention.In short, it focuses on the most popular of literary

genres and is structured into two parts, which concentrate

on the trends announced by the title and which develop

“from a theoretical base to individual writers and

representative works”. Inspired and necessary for a

coherent survey of the twentieth century literary phenomenon and its contemporary

hypostases, the choices operated are:

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vii

Henry James, Edward Morgan Forster and Joseph Conrad ( Early Modernism); Virginia

Woolf, James Joyce and David Herbert Lawrence ( Experimentalism); Angus Wilson and

Kingsley Amis (The Angry Novel ); Lawrence Durrell, John Fowles and David Lodge ( Metafiction); Doris Lessing, Fay

Weldon and Helen Fielding ( Feminine/Feminist Fiction); Salman Rushdie and KazuoIshiguro ( Postcolonial Writing ).

The writers’ contribution to the novel is placed within the wider historical and

cultural frame of the time of writing but, more importantly, of the time of their reception,

with a view to pointing out the openness of interpretation, the multitude of possible

interpretative strategies. Furthermore, the explicit and implicit core of their writings is

accessed through the lens of major critical directions, thus having theory and practice come

together and familiarising readers not only with the discourse of fiction, but with that of

criticism also.

Including a selection of Texts (excerpts from The Portrait of a Lady, A Passage to India, Heart of Darkness, Mrs. Dalloway, Ulysses, Sons and Lovers, Anglo-Saxon Attitudes, Lucky Jim, The Alexandria Quartet , The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Changing

Places, The Diaries of Jane Somers, Down Among the Women, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Midnight’s Children and The Remains of the Day), Michaela Praisler manages to put things

into perspective, to illustrate that which has previously been stated with reference to style,

diction, narrative practice and technique, to thus allow students to practice actual text

analysis, guided along by Tasks which orient and facilitate the approach. The Useful Terminology section which precedes the Bibliography serves practically the same

purposes, defining terms and giving examples.

Neatly structured and pertinently presented, the volume touches on the most

neuralgic of issues associated with the novelty of modernism and the controversy of

postmodernism, constituting itself at once into an appealing course of lectures and a

thought-provoking collection of texts illustrative of the language of literature at its best.

Having read Michaela Praisler’s book, one is compelled to acknowledge that the novel has

remained as purposeful and relevant form as it was one hundred years ago.

Ioana Mohor-Ivan

“Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi

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The Annals of the “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi.

Fascicle XIII. Language and Literature

New Series, Issue 25, XIII (XXIV), 2006

ISSN 1221- 4647

Contributors

Dr. Simona Antofi is an associate professor at the Department of Literature, Linguistics

and Journalism, Faculty of Letters and Theology, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi. She is

coordinator of research projects and author of papers exploring such topics as “Cultural Identity

and Multiculturalism. A Romanian Identity Profile” (in Cultural Limits and Literature, Galaţi,

2006) or “Les modèles culturels identitaires roumains, des solutions d‘intégration européenne et

d’autolégitimité” (in CEDIMES , Târgovişte, 2006). Contact: [email protected]

Dr. Doina Marta Bejan an associate professor at the Department of Literature,

Linguistics and Journalism, Faculty of Letters and Theology, “Dunărea de Jos” University of

Galaţi. Her latest publication, Interferen ţ e lingvistice în diacronia limbii române (Bucureşti:

Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică R.A., 2005) fully mirrors the author’s scientific interests (see the

Book Review for details). Contact: [email protected]

Dr. Ruxanda Bontilă is an associate professor of British and American Literature at the

University of Galati, Romania. Her recent publications include Vladimir Nabokov’s English

Novels. The Art of Defusing Subjectivism (2004) and The Romantics and the Victorians. Views

and Weaves (2005). Contact: [email protected]

Raluca Bourceanu graduated from the Faculty of Letters (German - French), a “Al. I.

Cuza” University of Iaşi and has won several scholarships to study in Germany (Konstanz şiMünchen) and France (EPHE - Paris). As a young academic she teaches at “Al. I. Cuza”

University of Iaşi and carries out research at the Collège de France, Paris. Her fields of interest

include: theoretical linguistics, translation studies and the philosophy of language. Contact:

[email protected]

Dr. Anca Cehan is an associate professor of linguistics and applied linguistics at the

Faculty of Letters, the English Department, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi. She has

carried out research and published studies in the fields of semantics, ELT methodology, discourse

analysis and pragmatics. Contact: [email protected]

Dr. Mihaela Cirnu is a lecturer at the Department of Literature, Linguistics and

Journalism, the Faculty of Letters and Theology, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi. Her

research interests focus mainly on the Romanian language of advertising. Contact:

[email protected]

Damian Matei, a PhD student and a young academic of the the Department of Literature,

Linguistics and Journalism, Faculty of Letters and Theology, “Dunărea de Jos” University of

Galaţi will thoroughly investigate the Romanian literature in his quest for data on the image of the

press in the Romanian literature. Contact: [email protected]

Dr. Petru Iamandi is an associate professor at the English Department, Faculty of

Letters and Theology, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi. His research interests cover mainly

the field of SF literature and history of SF literature. Contact: [email protected]

Nicoleta Ifrim, a young academic of the Department of Literature, Linguistics and

Journalism, the Faculty of Letters and Theology, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi, is

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Contributors

Fascicle XIII. Language and Literature. Vol. 18 (2006)

currently preparing her doctoral thesis in the Romanian literature. Contact:

[email protected]

Silvia Manoliu is a lecturer at The Department of Germanic Languages, Faculty of

Letters and Sciences of Language and Communication, ”Ştefan cel Mare” University of Suceava.

Her research interests focus mainly on applied linguistics (with a special interest in phonetics and

phonology, semantics and translation studies) Contact: [email protected]

Dr. Ioana Mohor-Ivan an associate professor at the English Department, Faculty of

Letters and Theology, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi. The grants she was awarded by the

British Council enabled her to have direct access to Irish culture and literature. Contact:

[email protected]

Gina Necula is a young academic of the Department of Literature, Linguistics and

Journalism, the Faculty of Letters and Theology, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi.

Currently she is performing research in Romanian linguistics, with a sepecial interest in the boiler

plate language. Contact: [email protected]

Lidia Mihaela Necula is a young academic of the English Department, Faculty of

Letters and Theology, “Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi whose research interests focus on

contemporary English literature. Contact: [email protected]. uk

Dr. Paraschiv Mihaela, associate professor at the Department of Classical Languages,

Italian and Spanish, of the Faculty of Letters “Al. I. Cuza” University of Ia şi. Author of two

volumes published in 2003 ( Femeia în Roma antică, Iaşi: Junimea) and 2004 ( Documentele latine

de cancelarie din Moldova (sec.XIV-XVIII), Iaşi: Junimea), Dr. Paraschiv has also published three

bilingual volumes of translations: M.Tullius Cicero, Despre divina ţ ie, Iaşi: Polirom, 1998,M.Tullius Cicero, Despre destin, Iaşi: Polirom, 2000 and Sextus Aurelius Victor, Carte despre

împăra ţ i, Iaşi: Ed.Universităii "Al.I.Cuza" 2006. Contact: [email protected]

Steluţa Stan is a lecturer at the English Department, Faculty of Letters and Theology,

“Dunărea de Jos” University of Galaţi. Her research interests cover mainly the field of postmodernist literature and she has also taken a special interest in the study of English modality.

2006 full text

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