STYLE(from the Greek stilos - a pointed stick for writing, manner of writing, handwriting), the choice of a certain number of speech norms, characteristic means artistic expression, revealing the author’s vision and understanding of reality in the work; extreme generalization of similar formal and substantive features, characteristic features V various works one period or era (“style of the era”: Renaissance, Baroque, classicism, romanticism, modernism).
The emergence of the concept of style in history European literature is closely connected with the birth of rhetoric - the theory and practice of eloquence and rhetorical tradition. Style implies learning and continuity, following certain speech norms. Style is impossible without imitation, without recognizing the authority of the word sanctified by tradition. In this case, imitation was presented to poets and prose writers not as blind following or copying, but as a creatively productive competition, rivalry. Borrowing was a merit, not a vice. Literary creativity for eras in which the authority of tradition is unquestionable, meant say the same thing in a different way, within the finished form and given content, find your own. Thus, M.V. Lomonosov in Ode on the day of Elizabeth Petrovna's accession to the throne(1747) transposed into an odic stanza a period from the speech of the ancient Roman orator Cicero. Let's compare:
“Our other joys are set limits by time, place, and age, and these activities nourish our youth, delight our old age, decorate us in happiness, serve as refuge and consolation in misfortune, delight us at home, do not interfere with our journey, they are with us at rest, and in a foreign land, and on vacation.” (Cicero. Speech in defense of Licinius Archius. Per. S.P.Kondratieva)
Sciences nourish young men,
Joy is served to the old,
IN happy life decorate,
Take care in case of an accident;
There's joy in troubles at home
And on distant journeys there is no hindrance.
Science is used everywhere
Among the nations and in the desert,
In the noise of the city and alone,
Sweet in peace and in work.
(M.V. Lomonosov. Ode on the day of Elizabeth Petrovna's accession to the throne)
Individual, non-general, original appear in style from antiquity to modern times as the paradoxical result of devout adherence to the canon, conscious adherence to tradition. The period from antiquity to the 1830s in the history of literature is usually called “classical”, i.e. one for whom it was natural to think in terms of “models” and “traditions” (classicus in Latin means “model”). The more the poet sought to speak on universally significant (religious, ethical, aesthetic) topics, the more fully his author’s, unique individuality was revealed. The more intentionally the poet followed stylistic norms, the more original his style became. But it never occurred to the poets and prose writers of the “classical” period to insist on their uniqueness and originality. Style in modern times turns from individual certificate about the general into identifying an individually comprehended whole, i.e. the writer’s specific way of working with words comes first. Thus, style in modern times is such a specific quality poetic work, which is tangible and obvious in the whole and in everything separate. Such an understanding of style was clearly established in the 19th century. - the century of romanticism, realism and modernism. The cult of the masterpiece - the perfect work and the cult of genius - the all-pervasive author's artistic will are equally characteristic of the styles of the nineteenth century. In the perfection of the work and the omnipresence of the author, the reader sensed the opportunity to come into contact with another life, “get used to the world of the work,” identify with some hero and find himself on equal terms in dialogue with the author himself. About the feeling behind the living style human personality wrote expressively in the article Preface to the works of Guy de Maupassant L.N. Tolstoy: “People who are not very sensitive to art often think that a work of art is one whole because everything is built on the same premise, or the life of one person is described. It's not fair. This is only how it seems to a superficial observer: the cement that binds every work of art into one whole and therefore produces the illusion of a reflection of life is not the unity of persons and positions, but the unity of the original moral attitude author to the subject. In essence, when we read or contemplate a work of art by a new author, the main question that arises in our soul is: “Well, what kind of person are you?” And how are you different from all the people I know, and what can you tell me new about how we should look at our life?" Whatever the artist depicts: saints, robbers, kings, lackeys, we seek and see only the soul of oneself artist."
Tolstoy here formulates the opinion of the entire literary nineteenth century: romantic, realistic, and modernist. He understands the author as a genius who creates from within himself artistic reality, deeply rooted in reality and at the same time independent of it. In the literature of the nineteenth century, the work became the “world”, the pillar became the only and unique one, just like the “objective” world itself, which served as its source, model and material. The author's style is understood as a unique vision of the world, with its own inherent features. Under these conditions, it becomes especially important prose creativity: it is in it that, first of all, the possibility of saying a word about reality in the language of reality itself is manifested. It is significant that for Russian literature the second half of the 19th century. - This is the heyday of the novel. Poetic creativity seems to be “overshadowed” by prosaic creativity. The first name that opens the “prosaic” period of Russian literature is N.V. Gogol (1809–1852). The most important feature of his style, repeatedly noted by critics, is secondary, once-mentioned characters, enlivened by clauses, metaphors and digressions. At the beginning of the fifth chapter Dead souls (1842) a portrait of the still unnamed landowner Sobakevich is given:
“Approaching the porch, he noticed two faces looking out of the window almost at the same time: a woman’s in a cap, narrow, long like a cucumber, and a man’s, round, wide like Moldavian pumpkins, called gourds, from which balalaikas are made in Rus', two-stringed, light balalaikas, the beauty and fun of an agile twenty-year-old guy, flashing and dandy, winking and whistling at the white-breasted and white-sewn girls who had gathered to listen to his low-stringed strumming.”
The narrator compares Sobakevich's head with a special kind of pumpkin, the pumpkin reminds the narrator of balalaikas, and the balalaika in his imagination evokes a village youth amusing pretty girls with his play. A turn of phrase “creates” a person out of nothing.
The stylistic originality of the prose of F. M. Dostoevsky (1821–1881) is associated with the special “speech intensity” of his characters: in Dostoevsky’s novels the reader is constantly faced with detailed dialogues and monologues. Chapter 5 contains 4 parts of the novel Crime and Punishment (1866) main character Raskolnikov, at a meeting with investigator Porfiry Petrovich, reveals incredible suspiciousness, thereby only strengthening the investigator in the idea of his involvement in the murder. Verbal repetition, slips of the tongue, interruptions of speech especially expressively characterize the dialogues and monologues of Dostoevsky’s characters and his style: “You, it seems, said yesterday that you would like to ask me... formally about my acquaintance with this... murdered woman? - Raskolnikov began again - “Well, why did I insert Seems? – flashed through him like lightning. - Well, why am I so worried about putting this in? Seems? – another thought immediately flashed through him like lightning. And he suddenly felt that his suspiciousness, from one contact with Porfiry, from just two glances, had already grown in an instant to monstrous proportions...”
The originality of the style of L.N. Tolstoy (1828–1910) is to a very large extent explained by the detailed psychological analysis to which the writer subjects his characters and which manifests itself in an extremely developed and complex syntax. In Chapter 35, Part 2, Volume 3 War and Peace(1863–1869) Tolstoy depicts Napoleon’s mental turmoil on the Borodino field: “When he was turning over in his imagination this whole strange Russian company, in which not a single battle was won, in which neither banners, nor guns, nor corps were taken in two months troops, when he looked at the secretly sad faces of those around him and listened to reports that the Russians were still standing, a terrible feeling, similar to the feeling experienced in dreams, covered him, and all the unfortunate accidents that could destroy him came to his mind. The Russians could attack his left wing, they could tear apart his middle, and a stray cannonball could kill him. All this was possible. In his previous battles, he pondered only the accidents of success, but now countless unfortunate accidents presented themselves to him, and he expected them all. Yes, it was like in a dream, when a person imagines a villain attacking him, and the man in the dream swung and hit his villain, with that terrible effort that, he knows, should destroy him, and he feels that his hand is powerless and soft , falls like a rag, and the horror of inevitable death seizes the helpless man.” Using different types of syntactic connections, Tolstoy creates a feeling of the illusory nature of what is happening to the hero, the nightmarish indistinguishability of sleep and reality.
The style of A.P. Chekhov (1860–1904) is largely determined by the meager precision of details, characteristics, a huge variety of intonations and the abundance of the use of improperly direct speech, when the statement can belong to both the hero and the author. A special feature of Chekhov’s style can be recognized as “modal” words, expressing the speaker’s vacillating attitude to the topic of the statement. At the beginning of the story Bishop(1902), in which the action takes place shortly before Easter, the reader is presented with a picture of a quiet, joyful night: “Soon the service was over. When the bishop got into the carriage to go home, the cheerful, beautiful ringing of expensive, heavy bells spread throughout the garden, illuminated by the moon. White walls, white crosses on the graves, white birch trees and black shadows, and the distant moon in the sky, standing just above the monastery, it seemed Now, they lived their own special life, incomprehensible, but close to man. It was early April, and after a warm spring day it became cool, slightly frosty, and the breath of spring was felt in the soft, cold air. The road from the monastery to the city went along the sand, it was necessary to walk; and on both sides of the carriage, in the moonlight, bright and calm, pilgrims trudged along the sand. And everyone was silent, deep in thought, everything around was friendly, young, so close, everything - the trees, the sky, and even the moon, and I wanted to think that it will always be like this." In the modal words “it seemed” and “I wanted to think” the intonation of hope, but also uncertainty, can be heard with particular clarity.”
The style of I.A. Bunin (1870–1953) was characterized by many critics as “bookish,” “super-refined,” like “brocade prose.” These assessments pointed to an important, and perhaps the main stylistic tendency in Bunin’s work: the “stringing” of words, the selection of synonyms, synonymous phrases for an almost physiological sharpening of the reader’s impressions. In the story Mitya's love(1924), written in exile, Bunin, depicting night nature, reveals the state of mind of the hero in love: “One day, late in the evening, Mitya went out onto the back porch. It was very dark, quiet, and smelled of a damp field. From behind the night clouds, over the vague outlines of the garden, small stars were tearing up. And suddenly somewhere in the distance something wildly, devilishly hooted and began to bark, squeal. Mitya shuddered, became numb, then carefully stepped off the porch, entered the dark alley, as if hostilely guarding him from all sides, stopped again and began to wait, listen: what is it, where is it - what so unexpectedly and terribly announced the garden ? An owl, a forest scarecrow, making his love, and nothing more, he thought, but he froze as if from the invisible presence of the devil himself in this darkness. And suddenly again there was a booming sound, shook Mitya’s entire soul howl,somewhere nearby, at the top of the alley, there was a crackling noise- and the devil silently moved somewhere else in the garden. There He first barked, then began to whine pitifully, pleadingly, like a child, whine, cry, flap his wings and squeal with painful pleasure, began to squeal, roll up with such an ironic laugh, as if he were being tickled and tortured. Mitya, trembling all over, stared into the darkness with both eyes and ears. But the devil suddenly fell, choked and, cutting through the dark garden with a death-languorous cry, seemed to have fallen through the ground. Having waited in vain for a few more minutes for the resumption of this love horror, Mitya quietly returned home - and all night he was tormented in his sleep by all those painful and disgusting thoughts and feelings into which his love had turned in March in Moscow.” The author is looking for more and more precise, piercing words to show the confusion of Mitya’s soul.
The styles of Soviet literature reflected the profound psychological and linguistic shifts that took place in post-revolutionary Russia. One of the most indicative in this regard is the “fantastic” style of M.M. Zoshchenko (1894–1958). “Fantastic” – i.e. imitating someone else's (common, slang, dialect) speech. In the story Aristocrat(1923) the narrator, a plumber by profession, recalls a humiliating episode of a failed courtship. Wanting to protect himself in the opinion of his listeners, he immediately refuses what once attracted him to “respectable” ladies, but behind his refusal one can sense resentment. Zoshchenko, in his style, imitates the crude inferiority of the narrator’s speech, not only in the use of purely colloquial expressions, but also in the most “chopped”, meager phrase: “I, my brothers, do not like women who wear hats. If a woman is wearing a hat, if she is wearing fildecoke stockings, or has a pug in her arms, or has a golden tooth, then such an aristocrat to me is not a woman at all, but a smooth place. And at one time, of course, I was fond of an aristocrat. I walked with her and took her to the theater. It all happened in the theater. It was in the theater that she developed her ideology to its fullest extent. And I met her in the courtyard of the house. At the meeting. I look, there is such a freck. She’s wearing stockings and has a gilded tooth.”
It is worth paying attention to Zoshchenko’s use of the poster-denunciatory phrase “unfolded her ideology in its entirety.” Zoshchenko's tale opened up a view of the changing everyday consciousness Soviet man. A different type of change in worldview was artistically conceptualized in his style, his poetics, by Andrei Platonov (1899–1951). His characters painfully think and express their thoughts. The painful difficulty of utterance, expressed in deliberate irregularities of speech and physiologically specific metaphors, is the main characteristic of Plato’s style and all of his art world. At the beginning of the novel Chevengur(1928–1930), dedicated to the period of collectivization, depicts a woman in labor, the mother of several children: “The woman in labor smelled of beef and raw milk heifer, and Mavra Fetisovna herself did not smell anything from weakness, she was stuffy under a multi-colored patchwork blanket - she exposed her full leg in wrinkles of old age and maternal fat; were visible on the leg yellow spots of some kind of dead suffering and blue thick veins with numb blood, growing tightly under the skin and ready to tear it apart in order to come out; along one vein, similar to a tree, you can feel your heart beating somewhere, forcing blood through narrow collapsed gorges of the body" Platonov’s heroes are haunted by the feeling of a “disconnected” world, and that’s why their vision is so bizarrely sharpened, that’s why they see things, bodies and themselves so strangely.
In the second half of the 20th century. the cult of genius and masterpiece (the completed work as an artistic world), the idea of a “feeling” reader are greatly shaken. Technical reproducibility, industrial delivery, the triumph of trivial culture call into question the traditionally sacred or traditionally intimate relationship between the author, work and reader. The warmth of cohesion in the mystery of communication that Tolstoy wrote about begins to seem archaic, too sentimental, “too human.” It is being replaced by a more familiar, less responsible and generally playful type of relationship between the author, work and reader. In these circumstances, style becomes increasingly alienated from the author, becomes an analogue of a “mask” rather than a “living face” and essentially returns to the status that was given to it in antiquity. Anna Akhmatova said this aphoristically in one of the quatrains of the cycle Secrets of the craft (1959):
Do not repeat - your soul is rich -
What was once said
But maybe poetry itself -
One great quote.
Understanding literature as a single text, on the one hand, facilitates the search and use of already found artistic means, “other people’s words”, but, on the other hand, imposes tangible responsibility. After all, in dealing with strangers just shows up yours, the ability to appropriately use borrowed materials. The poet of Russian emigration G.V. Ivanov very often in his late creativity resorted to allusions (hints) and direct quotes, realizing this and openly entering into a game with the reader. Here is a short poem from Ivanov’s latest book of poems Posthumous diary (1958):
What is inspiration?
- So... Unexpectedly, slightly
Radiant Inspiration
Divine breeze.
Above a cypress tree in a sleepy park
Azrael flaps his wings -
And Tyutchev writes without blot:
“The Roman orator said...”
The last line turns out to be the answer to the question asked in the first line. For Tyutchev, this is a special moment of “visiting the muse,” and for Ivanov, Tyutchev’s line itself is a source of inspiration.
In school literature lessons, we all studied speech styles at one time or another. However, few people remember anything on this issue. We invite you to refresh this topic together and remember what literary and artistic style of speech is.
What are speech styles
Before talking in more detail about the literary and artistic style of speech, you need to understand what it actually is - a style of speech. Let's briefly touch on this definition.
Speech style must be understood as special speech means that we use in a certain situation. These means of speech always have a special function, and therefore they are called functional styles. Another common name is language genres. In other words, this is a set of speech formulas - or even clichés - that are used in different cases (both orally and in writing) and do not coincide. This is a speech manner of behavior: at an official reception with high-ranking officials, we speak and behave this way, but when we meet with a group of friends somewhere in a garage, cinema, club, it is completely different.
There are five in total. We will briefly describe them below before proceeding in detail to the issue that interests us.
What are the types of speech styles?
As mentioned above, there are five styles of speech, but some believe that there is also a sixth - religious. In Soviet times, when all speech styles were distinguished, the study this issue was not carried out for obvious reasons. Anyway, it's official functional styles five. Let's look at them below.
Scientific style
It is used, of course, in science. Its authors and recipients are scientists and specialists in a specific field. In writing of this style can be found in scientific journals. This language genre is characterized by the presence of terms, general scientific words, and abstract vocabulary.
Journalistic style
As you might guess, he lives in the media and is called upon to influence people. It is the people, the population, that are the addressee of this style, which is characterized by emotionality, brevity, the presence of commonly used phrases, and often the presence of socio-political vocabulary.
Conversational style
As its name suggests, it is a communication style. This is a predominantly oral language genre; we need it for simple conversation, expression of emotions, and exchange of opinions. He is sometimes even characterized by vocabulary, expressiveness, lively dialogue, and colorfulness. It is in colloquial speech often, along with words, facial expressions and gestures appear.
Formal business style
It is mainly a style of written speech and is used in an official setting to draw up documents - in the field of legislation, for example, or office work. With the help of this language genre, various laws, orders, acts and other papers of a similar nature are drawn up. It is easy to recognize him by his dryness, information content, accuracy, the presence of speech cliches, and lack of emotionality.
Finally, the fifth, literary and artistic style (or simply artistic) is a subject of interest of this material. So we’ll talk about it in more detail later.
Characteristics of literary and artistic style of speech
So, what is this - an artistic language genre? Based on its name, one can assume - and not be mistaken - that it is used in literature, specifically in fiction. This is true, this style is the language of literary texts, the language of Tolstoy and Gorky, Dostoevsky and Remarque, Hemingway and Pushkin... The main role and purpose of the literary and artistic style of speech is to influence the minds and consciousness of readers in such a way that they begin to reflect, so that an aftertaste remains even after reading the book, so that you want to think about it and return to it again and again. This genre is intended to convey to the reader the thoughts and feelings of the author, to help see what is happening in the work through the eyes of its creator, to be imbued with it, to live their lives together with the characters on the pages of the book.
The text of the literary and artistic style is also emotional, like the speech of its colloquial “brother,” but these are two different emotionalities. In colloquial speech, we free our soul, our brain with the help of emotions. When reading a book, we, on the contrary, are imbued with its emotionality, which acts here as a kind of aesthetic means. We will tell you in more detail about those signs of a literary and artistic style of speech by which it is not at all difficult to recognize it, but for now we will briefly dwell on the enumeration of those literary genres that are characterized by the use of the above-mentioned style of speech.
What genres is it typical for?
The artistic language genre can be found in fable and ballad, ode and elegy, in story and novel, fairy tale and short story, in essay and story, epic and hymn, in song and sonnet, poem and epigram, in comedy and tragedy. So both Mikhail Lomonosov and Ivan Krylov can all equally serve as examples of literary and artistic style of speech, regardless of how different their works were.
A little about the functions of the artistic language genre
And although we have already stated above what the main task is for this style of speech, we will still present all three of its functions.
- Impactful (and a strong impact on the reader is achieved with the help of a well-thought-out and written “strong” image).
- Aesthetic (the word is not only a “carrier” of information, but also constructs an artistic image).
- Communicative (the author expresses his thoughts and feelings - the reader perceives them).
Style features
The main stylistic features of the literary and artistic style of speech are as follows:
1.Usage large quantity styles and their mixture. This is a sign of the author's style. Any author is free to use in his work as many linguistic means of different styles as he likes - colloquial, scientific, official and business: any. All these speech means used by the author in his book form a single author’s style, by which one can subsequently easily guess a particular writer. This is how Gorky can be easily distinguished from Bunin, Zoshchenko from Pasternak, and Chekhov from Leskov.
2. Using words that are ambiguous. With the help of this technique, hidden meaning is inserted into the narrative.
3. The use of various stylistic figures - metaphors, comparisons, allegories and the like.
4. Special syntactic constructions: often the order of words in a sentence is structured in such a way that it is difficult to express oneself using this method oral speech. You can also easily recognize the author of the text by this feature.
Literary and artistic style is the most flexible and borrowing. It literally absorbs everything! You can find in it neologisms (newly formed words), archaisms, historicisms, swear words, and various argots (jargons of professional speech). And this is the fifth feature, the fifth distinctive feature of the above-mentioned language genre.
What else you need to know about artistic style
1. One should not think that the artistic language genre lives exclusively in written form. This is not true at all. In oral speech, this style also functions quite well - for example, in plays that were first written and are now read aloud. And even listening to oral speech, you can clearly imagine everything that happens in the work - thus, we can say that the literary and artistic style does not tell, but shows the story.
2. The above-mentioned language genre is perhaps the most free from any restrictions. Other styles have their own prohibitions, but in this case there is no need to talk about prohibitions - what restrictions can there be if the authors are even allowed to weave scientific terms into the fabric of their narrative. However, it is still not worth abusing other stylistic means and presenting everything as your own author’s style - the reader should be able to understand and understand what is before his eyes. An abundance of terms or complex constructions will make him get bored and turn the page without finishing.
3. When writing a work of art, you need to be very careful in choosing vocabulary and take into account what situation you are describing. If we are talking about a meeting between two officials from the administration, you can introduce a couple of speech cliches or other representatives of the official business style. However, if the story is about a beautiful summer morning in the forest, such expressions will be clearly inappropriate.
4. In any text of literary and artistic style of speech, three types of speech are used approximately equally - description, reasoning and narration (the latter, of course, occupies the largest part). Also, types of speech are used in approximately the same proportions in the texts of the above-mentioned language genre - be it a monologue, dialogue or polylogue (communication of several people).
5. An artistic image is created using all means of speech available to the author. In the nineteenth century, for example, the technique of using “speaking surnames” was very widespread (remember Denis Fonvizin with his “Minor” - Skotinin, Prostakov and so on, or Alexander Ostrovsky in “The Thunderstorm” - Kabanikh). This method made it possible, from the very first appearance of the character in front of the readers, to indicate what this hero is like. Currently from use this technique a few moved away.
6. In every literary text there is also the so-called image of the author. This is either the image of the narrator or the image of the hero, a conventional image that emphasizes the non-identity of the “real” author with him. This image of the author actively takes part in everything that happens to the characters, comments on events, communicates with readers, expresses own attitude to situations and so on.
This is a characteristic of the literary and artistic style of speech, knowing which one can evaluate works of fiction from a completely different angle.
Literary style
By considering the concept literary style it is advisable to complete the analysis of typological categories, because it is in style that a variety of features are concentrated, imprinted, and come to the surface work of art. An innumerable number of works of various types are devoted to the description and understanding of this concept. It is well known that it arose in Antiquity within the framework of rhetoric and since then has not ceased to occupy the consciousness of both artists and researchers. Systematization of research related to the interpretation of this category is contained in many works, among which deserve special attention: monograph by A.N. Sokolov “Theory of Styles” (1968) and the posthumously published work of A.F. Losev “The Problem of Artistic Style” (1994).
All those who dealt with this problem were primarily concerned with the question to which area of the work is it most applicable? this concept? The vast majority of researchers have come to the conclusion that the concept of style is associated with a method of representation and expression, in other words, with form. Goethe, using terms simple imitation, manner, style, noticed that style is recognized in visible, tangible images and helps to reveal the essence of things. Hegel, distinguishing manner, originality and style, emphasized that style is manifested in the method of representation, follows from an understanding of the subject and meets the requirements certain type art. Taine also associated style with external expression. The tradition of correlating style with the method of expression was supported by the majority of style theorists in subsequent eras. Such theorists include Russian scientists P.N. Sakulina, V.V. Vinogradova, V.M. Zhirmunsky, A.V. Chicherina, Ya.E. Elsberg, G.N. Pospelova, A.N. Sokolova and others.
Naturally, style was and is perceived as content-based features and methods of expression. In this regard, the question arose about the prerequisites and sources of style, which were named style factors(Pospelov, 1970). Style factors include problematic and thematic issues, type of modality, genre of the work, features of the method and other aspects of the content plan. Parallel to the concept style factors the concept was formed carriers of style, to which, obviously, a variety of aspects of the plane of expression can be classified, differing depending on the type of work the work belongs to - epic, lyrical or dramatic.
However, all these Features of the form and method of expression only acquire the status and significance of style when their selection, combination, and organization demonstrate consistency, regularity, and necessity, determined by the content. In an effort to designate this basic quality of style, scientists have proposed different definitions: order in the expression of thought (Buffon), balance and symmetry (Winkelmann), proportionality (Schlegel), coordination of elements of a work of art (Tain), orderliness (Walzel), unity (Sakulin), structure (Losev), integrity, consistency, systematicity (Pospelov), interaction of components, a sense of regularity in their relationship (Sokolov).
The question of classification or typology of styles at the beginning of the twentieth century. was posed in works devoted to painting, sculpture and architecture, in particular in G. Wölfflin’s book “Basic Concepts of Art History,” where the evolution of style in works of the Renaissance - Baroque was examined and five principles of the organization of form were identified. This question arose in the research of Russian art historians. In relation to literature, this aspect has attracted attention and has been thoroughly discussed in a series of works on theory and typology. literary styles, created at the Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the 70-80s (Theory of Literary Styles, 1976, 1977, 1982.) During the discussion, they identified and characterized classic style (based on the works of Petrarch, Goethe, Lope de Vega, Shakespeare, French classicists, Pushkin); a style characterized by a certain ratio of harmony and disharmony; a style that combines analyticism and polyphony, and styles that have not received a special definition, but are associated with the work of the greatest artists of the word - Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Gorky, Sholokhov.
It is possible, apparently, only through analysis and careful study of the text of the work to discover one or another pattern that allows us to state the presence of a style and its specificity. This is facilitated by the use of concepts such as style dominant, or a system of style dominants (Esin 1998). Of course, when identifying dominants, different paths and different results are possible. Let us cite one of the judgments of a sensitive and attentive researcher who worked in this area: “The stylistic structure of L. Tolstoy’s works, thoroughly organized by the “dialectics of the soul” with its moral imperative, the stylistic structure of Dostoevsky’s novels, “dialogical”, brought to life by the “dialectics of ideas” and which has as its imperative the limit of human capabilities... In relation to Pushkin’s stylistic structure, such a structure seems much more confusing... The stylistic structure of “The Life of Klim Samgin” looks illogical, without consequence, without cause: one event follows another in it. And this is the result of the author’s conscious principle of showing infinitely complicated forms of connections between phenomena and events” (Kiseleva, 311–312). Let's try to show with one example what the path of style analysis can be. And as an example, let us take such a complex creation as “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy.
It is advisable to start from the very beginning general view on the work, which first of all implies the perception of it as a whole, and this, in turn, is associated with genre qualities. As you know, Tolstoy seriously thought about the genre of his work: “What is “War and Peace”? This is not a novel, still less a poem, even less a historical chronicle. “War and Peace” is what the author wanted and could express in the form in which it was expressed” (Tolstoy 1981, T. 7, 356). It is well known that in the end this great creation received the name: an epic novel. Clarifying the question about the genre of “War and Peace,” it should be said that Tolstoy’s work is undoubtedly connected with the novelistic tradition. The novel, as noted in the section “Literary Genres,” involves depicting a situation where the fate of the individual is at the center. This is evidenced by the works of Constant, Stendhal, Balzac, Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev, Goncharov, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy himself, the author of the trilogy “Childhood”, “Adolescence”, “Youth”, known at that time. Of course, in most of the works of these writers, the novelistic situation, that is, the focus on extraordinary heroes and their personal qualities, emerged very clearly, although the heroes were sometimes shown in diverse and sometimes broad relationships with one or another environment. But such a large-scale depiction of Russian society during the period of war and peace, which was conceived by Tolstoy this time, has never been seen before. Probably, this circumstance made the writer doubt that his work belonged to the novel tradition.
In fact, here too, the focus, and therefore the center of the plot, is the fate of five heroes - Andrei Bolkonsky, Pierre Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova, Marya Bolkonskaya and Nikolai Rostov. In total, “War and Peace” contains more than 500 characters, who are described by the author with varying degrees of completeness and scrupulousness. Total time validity is about 15 years. The first meeting with the heroes takes place in July 1805. The novel opens with a scene of an evening at the maid of honor Scherer in St. Petersburg, where Bolkonsky and Bezukhov are present; in the seventh chapter of the first volume, the reader finds himself in the Rostov house in Moscow, where they celebrate family holiday– name day of Natasha and Countess Rostova; The meeting with Princess Marya will take place in chapter 22, which tells how she lives with her father in the family estate of Bald Mountains. The separation occurs seven years after the end of World War II.
As for Prince Andrei, it can be noted that his life, with all its difficulties and vicissitudes, unfolded before the eyes of readers from 1805 to 1812, when he was mortally wounded as a regiment commander during the Battle of Borodino. Speaking about the fate of Pierre, it must be said that it was especially difficult for him in this life: he had no family, he felt like an illegitimate son, Prince Vasily pushed him into the midst of golden youth, then into the arms of his cold, calculating daughter Helen, which led to an absurd marriage. In addition, Pierre faced special trials: he felt the breath of death on the Novo-Devichye Field, survived captivity, when hungry and barefoot he was forced to walk on frozen ground, saw the death of the French, and Russians, and his friend Karataev, and in the end - young Petya Rostov. To all this, undoubtedly, were added observations of the behavior of the upper strata of Russian society after the War of 1812, which strengthened him in the idea of the inevitability of changes in the country and the need for his participation in their implementation. Therefore, seven years after the end of the war, we find him arriving from St. Petersburg to the Rostov estate Bald Mountains, obviously after meeting with like-minded people, concerned about the fate of Russia. Thus, to understand his role and his purpose, according to Tolstoy’s plan, it took him a lot of time. Natasha Rostova also experienced quite a lot - the acquisition and loss of Bolkonsky, the death of her father, younger brother, wartime hardships, and the ruin of her family. Therefore, a meeting with Pierre after the war, the opportunity for a happy family life and having a spiritual understanding of them for each other is a reward for the suffering she endured. Princess Marya also experienced a lot. Nikolai Rostov, being a military officer, fortunately remained alive, gained life and moral experience, although intellectually he changed little.
As for the mass of heroes, including Anna Pavlovna Sherer, Helen Kuragina-Bezukhova, Prince Vasily, even such heroes as the writer liked the elder Rostovs and their relative Marya Dmitrievna Akhrosimova, it is very obvious that in their everyday life and especially their inner world, That is, in our consciousness, nothing fundamentally changes from year to year. Means, time boundaries of the story, components of about 15 years, are determined by time, which is determined by the novel's idea, that is, Tolstoy's plan to show a person in the process of intellectual and moral searches, in the course of his formation and conscious acquisition of his “I” and his place in life.
Location also testifies to the novel’s beginning as a defining one, for the place of action is, first of all, the place of stay of Prince Andrei and Nikolai Rostov in different parts of Europe and Russia, Pierre - on trips around Russia, in Mozhaisk, Borodino; Rostov and Bolkonsky in Moscow, St. Petersburg, estates, as well as in Mytishchi, Posad, Yaroslavl, Voronezh.
Of course, their life takes place in contact with many people, but their immediate environment is family. Belonging to a certain type of family and being rooted in it is a very important factor in the formation of an individual as a personality. The most favorable conditions in this regard developed for Prince Andrei and Princess Marya. The harsh atmosphere of life in the Bald Mountains and the habit of doing business of any kind instilled in Andrei a desire for serious studies, and in Princess Marya the need for spiritually rich and moral life. Natasha is just as deeply connected with the Rostov family, which is favorable for her and for her relatives, since the world of this family is a world of love, sincerity, simplicity, and naturalness. In addition to the family, the same persons are connected with a wider circle of people - with the military environment, with the mass of Muscovites and St. Petersburg residents, with provincial circles, with the local world. Thanks to this, Russian society 1805–1812. is outlined with the utmost completeness and thoroughness, and the concept of “encyclopedia of Russian life,” introduced by Belinsky, applies no less to “War and Peace.” However, the completeness and scope in the depiction of society do not interfere with constant attention to the fate of the main characters and thereby the development and preservation of the novel idea that organizes the text.
Involvement in the sphere of attention of the events and circumstances of 1812 unusually expands the spatial framework of the narrative due to the depiction of a huge number of events - burning Moscow, abandoned by the Russians and filled by the French, military battles and related troop movements, the movement of Kutuzov’s headquarters, the actions of partisan detachments, etc. At the same time, here too, that is, in the corresponding chapters of the third and fourth volumes, as a rule, the presence of the novel’s heroes is reported briefly or in detail (Prince Andrei in a conversation with Kutuzov on the eve of the battle, then on one of the sections of the Borodino field; Pierre first there same, and then in Moscow and in captivity; Nikolai in his detachment; Natasha and her family in preparations for departure from Moscow and in organizing assistance to the wounded, even fifteen-year-old Petya in Denisov’s detachment, etc.). But the main task in many chapters is to depict Russia at that moment, which Hegel would call the heroic state of the world, since here the fate of the country, and with it the fate of individual people, is decided. This task is also reflected in the nature of the passage of time.
The first two volumes describe the events of seven years (1805 - mid-1812), when an even flow of time prevails, very often accompanied by an indication of the date of a particular episode. In general, dates are mentioned 95 times in the narrative, including 50 times in the first two volumes, and 45 in the third and fourth volumes. But the number 50 refers to seven years, and the number 45 actually refers to one year. This means that at the end time seems to condense: in 1812, dates are mentioned in 40 cases; in 1813, 1814 and 1820 – in five. If the date and month of the year are not named, then very often it is reported: the next day, after so many weeks, after three days, etc. This contributes not only to the feeling of authenticity of what is depicted, but also to the possibility of including what is happening to the characters in historical time. The change of episodes, scenes and situations is subject to the chronicle principle, while the transition from one situation to another occurs so organically and naturally that it does not cause surprise or doubt, and the border of the transition is very often indicated by an indication of time, be it a year, a month or even a date.
So, Tolstoy’s work does not lose the qualities of a novel, but acquires the qualities of an epic. Because of this, the chronotope does not change, but is enriched. Time thickens, concentrates, and is saturated with events of immediate historical significance. However, in the epilogue, the writer returns the characters from the heroic to the novel world and shows what the life of two families - the Rostovs and the Bezukhovs - looks like seven years after the tragic events of 1812. Therefore, designating the genre of the entire work as an epic novel is completely justified.
The indicated genre and, consequently, content features give rise to the principles of image that determine the style Tolstoy, in to the greatest extent manifested in this work. The impression of breadth, scale, and completeness of the picture of the world recreated by the writer is achieved primarily due to the predominance subject representation and its functional significance, that is, the ability to clearly, visibly convey the appearance of the heroes, the scene of action, be it a house, a landscape, a battlefield, a meeting of the council or headquarters, official reception or a social event.
This quality evokes a feeling of plasticity and clarity of what is depicted. A lot of examples can be given as proof. It's worth remembering the pictures local life in Bald Mountains, Bogucharovo, Otradnoye, on the estate of Uncle Rostov, scenes of Moscow, St. Petersburg and military life in different periods of time. At the same time, Tolstoy reproduces not only and not so much the interiors and decoration of houses, as Gogol loved to do, but the behavior of people living within the walls of country or metropolitan houses, on the streets of Moscow and on the battlefields. The description of the name day in the Rostov house, preparations for the ball of Natasha and Sonya, hunting scenes, decorous dinners in the Bolkonsky house and relaxed holidays in the Rostov house is excellent.
It is impossible not to notice Tolstoy’s skill in describing “collective scenes,” that is, all kinds of balls, receptions, receptions, and battles. In such scenes, the characters of the characters emerge, and most importantly, the atmosphere of a particular circle or community is conveyed. It is worth remembering the evening at Scherer’s, the reception at the English Club in honor of Prince Bagration, the ball in Vilna on the day the war began, meetings at Kutuzov’s headquarters, episodes of the Battle of Borodino, etc. Let us give a small fragment of the description of the St. Petersburg ball (Natasha’s first St. Petersburg ball), which was marked by a visit royal personage: “Suddenly everything began to stir, the crowd began to speak, moved apart again, and between the two parted rows, at the sound of music playing, the sovereign entered. The master and hostess followed him. The Emperor walked quickly, bowing to the right and left... The musicians played Polish, known then by the words composed for it. These words began: Alexander, Elizabeth, you delight us. The Emperor walked into the living room, the crowd poured to the doors; several faces with changed expressions walked back and forth. The crowd again fled from the doors of the living room, in which the sovereign appeared. Some young man with a confused look was advancing on the ladies, asking them to move aside. Some ladies, spoiling their toilets, pressed forward. Men began to approach the ladies and form Polish pairs.”
In addition to the art of object representation, which Tolstoy masterfully mastered, he was unsurpassed in image inner world characters. With a few strokes, the artist was able to convey the state of any character, be it the aging Countess of Rostova, young Nikolenka Bolkonsky and many others. Notable are the scenes of Countess Rostova’s anxiety for Natasha, for Petya, Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskaya for her son, as well as moments indicating Nikolai Rostov’s fear during one of the battles in Europe; Andrei Bolkonsky's indignation at the sight of disorder in the Russian army in 1805; Kutuzov’s worries about the outcome of the Battle of Borodino, and even more so about the course of events and the need to preserve the army during the expulsion of the French from Russia.
But the writer’s main merit was in the analysis and reproduction of the subjective world of novel characters, which required special attention and appropriate methods of depiction. Using the thought of one of the researchers of Turgenev’s work, we can say: “The most complex multi-component material is used to build the characters of the dominant heroes” (Dolotova, 1973). This can also be applied to Tolstoy’s heroes. Tolstoy's psychological manner is characterized by the fact that his psychologism, unlike that of Dostoevsky, “does not strike the eye.” It can be indirect, when the hero’s state is conveyed through appearance, gestures, manners, facial expressions and the actions themselves, as in episodes recreating Natasha’s excitement before the ball, at the ball, before the explanation with Bolkonsky, after the news of his injury and the presence of the wounded in the convoy. The portraits of heroes are psychologically expressive, for example, the portrait of Andrei Bolkonsky, when he, having left St. Petersburg, came under the command of Kutuzov and felt himself needed in military affairs: “In the expression of his face, in his gait, the former pretense, fatigue and laziness were not noticeable; he had the appearance of a man busy with something pleasant and interesting. His face expressed more satisfaction with himself and those around him; the smile and look were more cheerful and attractive.”
Direct psychologism is where their state is conveyed directly, in the words of the characters themselves. The most representative from this point of view monologue speech, very often addressed to ourselves. Nikolai Rostov’s monologues arise at moments of special excitement and therefore are very emotional: “Six hundred rubles, ace, corner, nine... it’s impossible to win back! ...And how fun it would be at home... Jack on the pe... this cannot be! And why is he doing this to me?...” Natasha too: “Is it really me, that girl-child (that’s what everyone said about me), am I now from now on a wife, equal to this stranger, dear, smart person, respected even by my father? Is this really true?
Is it really true that now it’s impossible to joke with life, now I’m big, now I’m responsible for my every deed and word? Yes, what did he ask me? Prince Andrei’s reflections, which arise on various occasions, personal and public, are, as a rule, more calm and logical: “Yes, these are kind, nice people who don’t understand even one bit the treasure that they have in Natasha; But good people, which constitute the best background for this particularly poetic girl, overflowing with life and charms, to stand out against it!” Pierre is emotional to varying degrees, depending on the situation and the topic of his thoughts: “Yes, he is very handsome (about Dolokhov), I know him. It would be a special delight for him to dishonor my name and laugh at me, precisely because I worked for him and looked after him, helped him. I know, I understand what salt this must add to his deception in his eyes, if it were true. Yes, if it were true; but I don’t believe, I don’t have the right and I can’t believe.” There are many examples of this kind that can be given.
The uniqueness of Tolstoy's psychologism lies in the ability to combine and match thoughts and moods expressed through the hero's direct speech with thoughts and states conveyed in the form of indirect or improperly direct speech, accompanied by comments from the narrator-author. Improperly direct speech is more complex and difficult for readers to perceive, since here the mental and psychological state of the characters is conveyed by the words of the author, while preserving the features of the hero’s speech. There is an opinion that in “War and Peace”, internal monologues conveyed by direct speech come first; in “Anna Karenina” these two forms coexist” (Kozhevnikova, 1994). When comparing the two novels, this conclusion is probably true, but in War and Peace there are also a lot of cases of using improperly direct speech. In such cases, the interpenetration of the voices of the hero and the author, in particular the introduction of the author's voice, becomes especially noticeable. Here is one example: “He (Prince Andrei) looked at Natasha singing, and something new and happy happened in his soul. He was happy and at the same time he was sad. He had absolutely nothing to cry about, but he was ready to cry. About what? About former love? About the little princess? About your disappointments? About your hopes for the future? Yes and no."
A remarkable feature of Tolstoy’s manner lies in his ability to imperceptibly move from conveying direct speech to indirect speech, then improperly direct speech and back again. Moreover, these switchings seem very organic, and the reader is amazed at how Tolstoy is able to comprehend and convey the state of heroes of the most different types, including women. “Ashamed as she (Princess Marya) was to admit that she was the first to love a man who, perhaps, would never love her, she consoled herself with the thought that no one would ever know this and that she would not be to blame if she life, without telling anyone, to love the one she loved for the first and last time,” these are the thoughts of the heroine after meeting Nikolai Rostov in Bogucharovo before the arrival of the French.
The characters' statements in the form of internal monologues or indirect and improperly direct speech fit so organically into a specific situation that in this case, too, the impression of clarity, visibility of individual images and the situation as a whole arises. The feeling of plasticity and picturesqueness (not in the sense of beauty, but in the sense of clarity) is created in the process of both narration and description. At the same time, the narrator seems to be absent, giving the right to the characters themselves to demonstrate their thoughts and actions.
However, at times the narrator does not want to remain unnoticed; he directly accompanies the narration and description with reasoning, or better yet, emotionally charged reflections on historical events and circumstances with which the fate of the heroes were connected (this happens especially often in the third and fourth volumes of the work). Exactly historical events twelfth year, very significant for the destinies of Russia, make the author need to characterize them in as much detail as possible and accompany them with his judgments, thoughts about them possible reasons and existing assessments.
Here, obviously, the author himself appears in the guise or image of the narrator, conveying his thoughts to him. This is evidenced by the nature of his speech, which combines the voice of Tolstoy the novelist, Tolstoy the historian and Tolstoy the judge, passing judgment on the foreign invaders and proving that victory over the French was inevitable and inevitable, and main role This victory was played by the feeling of the Motherland, which turned out to be inherent in the commander of the army, the wise Field Marshal Kutuzov, and in the soldiers, officers, and men who joined the partisan detachments and did not want to sell hay and other fodder to the French, and the residents of Moscow who left it before the entry of the French army: “They went because for them there could be no question: whether it would be good or bad under the control of the French in Moscow. It was impossible to be under the control of the French: it was the worst of all... They left each for themselves, and at the same time that majestic event took place, which will forever remain the best glory of the Russian people.”
As we can see, the intonation here is emotional and pathetic, created by various verbal means. This intonation is especially noticeable in Kutuzov’s assessment: “Kutuzov knew not with his mind or science, but with his whole Russian being, he knew and felt what every Russian soldier felt, that the French were defeated; but at the same time, he felt, together with the soldiers, the full weight of this campaign, unheard of in its speed and time.” And further: “To the representative of the Russian people, after the enemy was destroyed, Russia was liberated and put on highest degree his glory, the Russian man, as a Russian, had nothing more to do. Representative people's war there was nothing left but death. And he died." What is important here is not so much the statement of fact as the emotional assessment of the author.
So, the proposed brief analysis of the content-formal features of “War and Peace” allows us to note that the peculiar dominant style in this work there is a predominance of substantive depiction, which includes, in addition to the reproduction of actions, deeds, descriptions of interiors, nature, appearance of the characters, the transfer of their internal state with the help different types speeches of the characters themselves and the author-narrator. The recreation of a person’s inner world, i.e., psychologism, which is inherent in Tolstoy’s most varied works (“dialectics of the soul,” according to Chernyshevsky), is so organic that sometimes it becomes unnoticeable, intertwined with the narrative and testifying to the artist’s amazing ability to draw everything that can be seen , imagine, imagine and “hear” with your inner ear. This gives rise to a feeling of plasticity, i.e. visibility, clarity, picturesqueness or sculpturality of the depicted world, which does not exclude expressiveness and emotionality emanating from the moods of the characters themselves, and the assessment of everything that happens by the interested author.
Returning to theoretical definition style, it should be emphasized once again that style - This is not a simple connection of form elements, but the principle of their combination and interaction. Therefore, the style can be viewed in different works one author, and sometimes in the works of different authors, mostly belonging to the same period or era. Then the style acquires the properties of a typological phenomenon. At the same time, in the work of the artist who turns to different topics and genres, there may be a tendency towards different stylistic variations. It follows from this that style is an individual phenomenon, characteristic, as a rule, great masters, due to which the concept arose great style. But general trends can be noticed in the style, determined by the commonality of artistic searches in the field of literature at one or another stage of its development.
The concept of “style” in literary criticism. The style of a literary work. Style functions, style carriers, style categories. Concept style dominant a work of art. Types of style dominants.
Style (from gr - a pointed stick for writing on tablets covered with wax) became used metonymically by Roman writers to designate the peculiarities of writing by a particular author. Features of the verbal structure of the pr-y. The aesthetic unity of all figurative and expressive details of the form of the pr-y, corresponding to its content, is style
STYLE- in literary criticism: a set of individual characteristics of artistic techniques (linguistic, rhythmic, compositional, etc.) or a certain work, or genre, or period of the writer’s work, determined by the content. For example, Gogol the satirist is characterized by comparisons of heroes with the world of domestic animals, tongue-tied speech of characters, attention in their appearance not to the eyes, but to the nose, anti-aesthetic actions (spit, sneezed), etc., which are connected together by the thought of the lack of spirituality of the people depicted ( “Dead Souls”, “How Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforov and why”, etc.). In linguistics, the concept of S. is somewhat narrower (linguistic style).
G.N. PospelovSTYLE OF LITERARY WORKS
Word style(gr. stylos - a pointed stick for writing on tablets covered with wax) began to be used by Roman writers metonymically, to designate the peculiarities of written speech of a particular author. This word is still used in this meaning today. Many literary critics and linguists still believe that only the features of the verbal structure of a work should be called “style”.
But since the second half of the 18th century. the same word began to be used to describe the features of form in works of other types of art - sculpture, painting, architecture (in architecture, for example, Gothic, Romanesque, Moorish and other styles are distinguished). Thus, a broader, general art meaning of the word “style” was established. In this sense, it is not only possible, but also necessary, to be used in theory and in the history of fiction. It is necessary because the form of a literary work is not limited to its speech structure; it also has other aspects - substantive visualization and composition. All these aspects of the form in their unity can have one or another style.
There is also the opposite extreme in the use of this word. Some literary scholars believe that style is a property of a work of art as a whole - in the unity of its content and form. This understanding is not convincing. Can we say that the characters that the writer reproduces in the images of his work have a certain style, or those aspects and relationships of these characters in which he is especially interested and which he highlights, strengthens, develops by constructing the plot of the work and resolving its conflict? or that emotional attitude towards these aspects of characters, for example romantic or satirical, which the writer expresses through all components of the form of the work? Of course not. The content of the work in all these aspects has no style. The style has a figurative and expressive form of the work, completely and completely expressing its content, completely corresponding to it.
The form of works of art has a certain style precisely because of its imagery and expressiveness. A work in terms of its form is a system of images, consisting of many different subject and verbal semantic details, compositional and intonational-syntactic devices, and these figurative details and devices carry one or another ideological and emotional expressiveness. The aesthetic unity of all the image and expressive details of the form of a work corresponding to its content is style.
The perfection and completeness of style are distinguished to the greatest extent by works that have depth and clarity of problematics, and even more so with historical truthfulness of ideological orientation. The shallowness of the issues easily leads to a pile-up of random, internally unjustified plot episodes, subject details and character statements. All this deprives the form of the work of its aesthetic integrity.
But the dignity of content does not mechanically give rise to the dignity of form. To create a perfect form that matches the content, the writer needs, as already said, to show talent, ingenuity, and skill. What is also very important is the writer’s ability to rely on the creative achievements of his predecessors, to choose from the creative experience of his national literature and other national literatures the forms that best correspond to his own, original artistic ideas, and rebuild them accordingly. To do this, the writer needs a broad literary and general cultural horizon. If the writer has neither great talent nor a broad creative outlook, works may arise with great merits in content, but not perfect in form, devoid of style. This is the “lag” between form and content.
But on the other hand, a literary and artistic form can also have independent aesthetic significance. This especially applies to the verbal side of the form, to artistic speech, which has the greatest significance in lyrics with its meditativeness and poetry. The poetic and verbal form is often extremely sophisticated and refined in its entire structure; it can, with its external aesthetic significance, seem to cover up the shallowness and insignificance of the content expressed in it. This is the “lag” of content from form. Such were, for example, many works of Russian decadent poetry of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Literary works, distinguished by the artistry of their content and the corresponding perfection of form, always have a certain style that has developed in certain conditions development of national literature.
To judge a writer’s style, one must understand the patterns of historical development of national literatures.
Styles of Russian literary language
High culture of spoken and written speech, good knowledge and development of a sense of the native language, ability to use it expressive means, its stylistic diversity is the best support, the surest help and the most reliable recommendation for every person in his public life and creative activity.
V.A. Vinogradov
Language- is a means of communication between people, a tool for the formation and expression of thoughts and feelings, a means of assimilation of new information, new knowledge. But in order to effectively influence the mind and feelings, the native speaker of a given language must be fluent in it, that is, have a speech culture.
M. Gorky wrote that language is the primary element, the main material of literature, i.e. that vocabulary, syntax, the entire structure of speech is the primary element, the key to understanding the ideas and images of a work. But language is also an instrument of literature: “The struggle for purity, for semantic precision, for the sharpness of language is a struggle for an instrument of culture. The sharper this weapon is, the more accurately it is aimed, the more victorious it is.”
Stylistics(the word “style” comes from the name of the needle, or stiletto with which the ancient Greeks wrote on waxed tablets) is a branch of the science of language that studies the styles of literary language (functional styles of speech), the patterns of language functioning in different spheres of use, the peculiarities of the use of linguistic means in depending on the situation, content and purpose of the statement, the sphere and condition of communication. Stylistics introduces the stylistic system of the literary language at all its levels and the stylistic organization that is correct (in compliance with the norms of the literary language), accurate, logical and expressive speech. Stylistics teaches the conscious and purposeful use of the laws of language and the use of linguistic means in speech.
There are two directions in linguistic stylistics: stylistics of language and stylistics of speech (functional stylistics). Language stylistics examines the stylistic structure of language, describes the stylistic means of vocabulary, phraseology and grammar. Functional stylistics studies, first of all, various types of speech and their conditionality for various purposes statements. M. N. Kozhina gives the following definition: “ Functional style is a linguistic science that studies the features and patterns of language functioning in various types of speech corresponding to certain spheres of human activity and communication, as well as the speech structure of the resulting functional styles and the “norms” for the selection and combination of linguistic means in them” 1. At its core, stylistics must be consistently functional. She must reveal the connection different types speech with the topic, purpose of the statement, with the conditions of communication, the addressee of the speech, the attitude of the author to the subject of speech. The most important category of stylistics is functional styles- varieties of literary speech (literary language) serving various aspects of public life. Styles-This different ways using language when communicating. Each style of speech is characterized by the originality of the selection of linguistic means and their unique combination with each other.
Thus, five styles of the Russian literary language are distinguished:
Ø conversational
Ø official business
Ø scientific
Ø journalistic
Ø artistic.
Conversational style
Conversational style refers to the oral form of language. The distinctive features of oral speech can be entirely attributed to the conversational style. However, the concepts of “oral speech” and “conversational style” should not be confused. Oral speech- a phenomenon broader than style. Although the conversational style is mainly realized in the oral form of communication, some genres of other styles are also realized in oral speech, for example: report, lecture, report, etc.
The intra-style features of the conversational style include ease of presentation, its specificity, expressiveness, expression of a subjective attitude to what is being presented, the direct influence of extra-linguistic elements, etc.
The actual linguistic features of the colloquial style are determined by its intra-style features.
Conversational style vocabulary is divided into two large groups:
1. commonly used colloquial words;
2. accelerating words, socially or dialectally limited.
Commonly used vocabulary, in turn, is divided into colloquial-literary (bound by the norms of literary use) and colloquial-everyday (not bound by strict norms of use), the latter is adjacent to vernacular.
Colloquial vocabulary is also heterogeneous:
1) vernacular, on the verge of literary use, not rude in essence, somewhat familiar, everyday, for example: potatoes instead of potatoes, ingenuity instead of ingenuity to do instead of happen, to be fined instead of to be guilty.
2) extraliterary, rude colloquialism, for example: to drive up instead of to achieve, to flop instead of to fall, to weave instead of to speak absurdly, to trudge, to hang around instead of to walk around idle; this includes vulgarisms themselves, and swear words thorn (eyes), die, die; weakling, lackey, etc. Such words are used for certain stylistic purposes - usually when depicting negative phenomena in life.
Colloquial vocabulary, socially or dialectally limited, includes such lexical groups as colloquial professionalisms (for example, the names of varieties of brown bear: vulture, fescue, antbird, etc.), dialectisms (gutorit - talk, veksha - squirrel, stubble - stubble) slang vocabulary (plaisir - pleasure, fun; plein air - nature), argotic (to split - to betray; new guy, little guy - young, inexperienced; crusts - boots). Many jargons arose even before the revolution in the speech of the ruling classes; some jargons were preserved from the speech habits of declassed elements. Slang vocabulary can also be associated with the age community of generations, for example, in the language of youth: crib, pair (deuce).
All these categories of vocabulary have a narrow sphere of distribution; in terms of expression, they are characterized by extreme reduction.
The main lexical layer of the colloquial style consists of commonly used words, both colloquial and colloquial. Both of these categories of words are close to each other, the line between them is unsteady and mobile, and sometimes difficult to discern; it is not for nothing that in different dictionaries many words are marked with different marks (for example, the words squat, indeed in “ Explanatory dictionary"edited by D.N. Ushakov are classified as colloquial, and in the four-volume “Dictionary of the Modern Russian Literary Language” - as colloquial; words richer, carminative, sourness in the Explanatory Dictionary, ed. D.N. Ushakov are assessed as vernacular, but in the “Dictionary of the Modern Russian Literary Language” they do not have a mark, i.e. they are classified as interstyle - stylistically neutral). In “Dictionary of the Russian Language,” ed. S.I. Ozhegov expanded the boundaries of colloquial vocabulary: many words marked in other dictionaries as colloquial are classified as colloquial. Some colloquial words in dictionaries have a double label - colloquial and regional, since many common dialectisms pass into the category of colloquial words.
The colloquial style is characterized by the predominance of words with an emotionally expressive connotation, marked “affectionate”, “playful”, “abusive”, “ironic”, “diminutive”, “contemptuous”, etc.
The syntax of colloquial speech is also characterized by omissions, incompleteness of statements, an abundance of ellipses and incomplete sentences, word-sentences, numerous repetitions, plug-in structures, the use of interrogative and exclamatory sentences, rhetorical question as a form of emotional statement or summing up, inversion various parts speech (especially adjectives in the role of definition in noun phrases), weakening of syntactic forms of connection between parts of the statement, the use of non-union complex sentences, synonymous with complex sentences, the predominance of coordinating sentences over subordinating ones; the dialogical nature of the statement.
Colloquial speech can be used for certain stylistic purposes. In the author’s speech, it performs the functions of stylization and evaluation.
In the evaluative function, colloquial speech in combination with book speech (in the speech of the author and in the speech of the characters) serves the purpose of satirical reduction (this explains its ability to act in the evaluative function), a means of creating comic effect. Colloquial speech is also used to realistically depict the life of a certain social environment, to convey the manner of simple, relaxed speech. It is also a wonderful means of speech characterization.
Vernacular speech, which does not have the emotional connotations of harsh condemnation, gives the statement a rude tone, and therefore its use in literary speech is very limited. It is used mainly for artistic and expressive purposes (as a means of speech characterization of a character). In official business and scientific styles, colloquialism is unacceptable.
In works of modern fiction, elements of conversational style are very often used in improperly direct speech.
Currently, the literary-colloquial variety of the colloquial style is the main functional-stylistic variety of the national language, on the basis of which book styles are enriched.
Formal business style
Let us dwell on the characteristics of the most closed book style from a functional point of view - official business style.
Official business style includes various documents: from government acts to business correspondence. Despite the differences in the language of different documents (depending on their purpose), this style as a whole has many common features that are specific to it. The main intra-style features of this style include clarity, accuracy, imperativeness, prescriptive nature, completeness and objectivity of the statement, specificity, clarity of wording, which is determined by the main purpose of the documents - to inform about indisputable facts. This is also the logic and laconicism of presentation, special forms of arrangement of material.
Intra-style features form the entire linguistic structure of the style.
Standardization, uniformity speech means, speech standards and even a well-known template inherent in a number of documents are necessary for ease of communication in this area.
In terms of the degree of standardization, official business documents are heterogeneous. Some without a certain standard form lose their legal value (for example, a passport), others are printed as a stereotype for ease of communication (for example, forms), others (for example, reports, protocols, business correspondence, etc.) do not have stable standard forms.
However, all three groups share certain linguistic characteristics. This is at the lexical level: a unique vocabulary and phraseology not found in other styles (for example: lives, occupies an area instead of lives, a person instead of a person, enlists instead of accepts, is granted leave instead of given): the use of words in their direct specific meanings; lack of emotionally charged and foreign-style (colloquial, colloquial) vocabulary; widespread use of speech standards (including with denominate prepositions in order, at the expense of, from, in the area and verbal nouns) and other verbal stencils that are quite appropriate in a number of genres of official business style.
Some species official business documents characterized by the use of words not in a literal, but in a figurative sense, as well as the use of “high” vocabulary. “High” vocabulary (the ambassador has left (not left), now, power, etc.) is used to give the speech significance and solemnity.
To comply international etiquette in diplomatic statements, the so-called etiquette, complimentary vocabulary is used: His Highness, Madam, His Excellency, etc.
At the syntactic level, what is specific to the official business style is the clear construction of a complex sentence with a clear division into certain segments and bright expressed connection between parts of a sentence (conjunctive, prepositional, pronominal, adverbial), with adverbial and participial phrases. Word order is usually straight. Introductory words are usually placed at the beginning of the sentence. An adverbial clause is placed before the main clause if the emphasis is on the circumstances of the action, and at the end if they only explain main idea; the circumstance is placed closer to the word to which it refers. Widely used in formal business style passive constructions. They are used in cases where it is necessary to emphasize the very fact of performing an action (for example: 125 people were hired, a telegram was sent, etc.) without indicating the subject of the action. Passive constructions are also used for speech etiquette (for example, we have repeatedly indicated, emphasized, noted, etc.).
There are standard speech models for a number of documents. Thus, an official document is usually structured according to the following scheme: introduction, main part, evidence, conclusion. The introduction substantiates the question or indicates the reason for its occurrence; A link is given to the higher organization, in pursuance of whose order or decision the official document is being drawn up. The main part sets out (and proves) the essence of the issue. In conclusion, conclusions are drawn that should logically follow from the presentation.
Scientific style
What are the features of the second, relatively functionally closed style - scientific?
Scientific style is a broad concept. It is used in the field of science and technology, but it unites types of literature that are heterogeneous in form, which are very diverse in purpose and content.
TO scientific literature include monographs, articles in scientific journals, scientific reference, reference and encyclopedic, educational literature, scientific and technical information (abstract, abstract, etc.), production and technical literature, etc.
For scientific style the specific intra-style features that form its entire linguistic system are abstract generality, logic, objectivity and accuracy, in contrast to artistic speech, the general property of which is artistic-figurative concretization.
Scientific presentation is designed for logical, rather than emotional and sensory perception. Therefore, emotional linguistic elements do not play a decisive role in scientific works. However, this does not exclude scientific works(especially in polemical) emotional elements. Moreover, they impart deep persuasiveness to scientific prose, especially because they sharply state the general “dispassionate”, dry nature of scientific presentation.
What is typical for scientific speech today?
First of all, the scientific style is characterized by saturation with factual material, accurate and concise information.
The task of a scientific work is to prove certain provisions and hypotheses, their argumentation, and a systematic presentation of scientific problems. Therefore, a scientific work mainly consists of a chain of reasoning and evidence.
As is known, the task and content of the statement determine the form of expression. A scientific statement has its own form of expression, its own style, determined by the content of the scientific message and the goals that it faces.
The scientific style refers to the written-book type of speech (however, it can manifest itself in oral speech in the form of conversations, reports, messages, speeches, questions, remarks in discussions, lectures, etc.) and therefore has all its features, and, First of all, by the fact that scientific works are written in a generally literary, strictly standardized language. But the scientific style is typical of a special stock of words, phrases and constructions necessary in this area of communication.
The following general linguistic features of the scientific style can be named: compliance with the norms of literary language, accuracy, clarity and conciseness in the expression of thoughts, a high percentage of terms, the use of words in their subject specific meanings, “impersonality”, the monological nature of the statement, consistency, completeness, completeness of the statement, close connection individual parts statements, which is achieved by the widespread use of complex sentences with conjunctions, pronominal, adverbial connections, participles, participial phrases, enumeration, the use of nominal combinations (definitions with the word being defined) with a “chain” of genitive cases (especially in titles), the use of conventional signs and symbols.
The scientific style is heterogeneous in its composition. In it, first of all, one can distinguish such varieties and substyles as scientific-technical and scientific-humanitarian speech.
Scientific works may differ in their linguistic features depending on genre differences, the reader's address, the individual style of the writer, etc.
The lexical and phraseological composition of the scientific style includes book and written vocabulary.
The basis of any scientific presentation, more than half of its entire vocabulary, is made up of commonly used words in their direct, specific meanings.
In scientific works, foreign style vocabulary is not used, words that in the Russian language dictionary correspond to the following marks: abusive, ironic, playful, endearing, familiar, etc., words with a bright stylistic coloring, taken from other styles (for example, vernacular), are rare, almost none there are figurative meanings of words.
The main attention in scientific works is drawn to the logical side of what is being presented. Therefore, they are widely used here manual and technical terminology (since it has the function of conveying scientific concepts) and general scientific vocabulary, including abstract words denoting abstract concepts.. The names of specific objects, as well as people, are mainly given by attribute, action, specialty or position.
At the syntactic level, the scientific style is characterized by the widespread use of phrases (including polynomial, especially nominal) and forms genitive case in nominal combinations, for example: Analysis of the concentration values of individual measurements in each series is low.
A specific feature of scientific speech is its completeness, completeness and logical sequence of presentation, the close connection between individual sections of the text and individual sentences. The main structure of scientific speech is a narrative sentence with neutral (in terms of style) lexical content, with a logically correct word order with allied communications between parts of a sentence.
Interrogative sentences perform specific functions in scientific speech related to the writer’s desire to attract attention to what is being presented.
Scientific texts are characterized by complex and complex sentences of various types. At the same time complex sentence in scientific works it is distinguished by a clear logical structure and clarity of syntactic connections.
In scientific works, complex sentences are more common than complex sentences. This is explained by the fact that subordinate constructions express complex causal, temporal, conditional, consequential and similar relationships, and by the fact that the individual parts in a complex sentence are more closely related to each other than in a complex sentence.
Syntactic means of expression are used in scientific literature very limitedly and for a different purpose than in fiction or journalistic literature. Here it is, as a rule, a means to help the reader more easily grasp scientific truths.
In general, scientific speech is characterized by a very clear syntax, which allows one to broadly argue one or another position, avoid ambiguity, unclear statements, and logically present a train of thought.
Journalistic style
As for the latter, the actual communicative book style (journalistic) and aesthetic-communicative (artistic), these styles do not have functional closure and, in essence, include elements of many styles.
Journalistic style is a heterogeneous concept, and this is due to the variety of journalistic genres.
The intra-style features of the journalistic style include informative richness of speech, concreteness, factuality, logic, conciseness and expressiveness, emotionality, and motivation of presentation.
The journalistic style, serving the sphere of politics and ideology, aims to accurately, promptly and in an accessible form inform the population about major events events that happened in our country and abroad, as well as influence the reader, evoking in him a certain attitude towards what is depicted, for journalism is a means of mass media and propaganda.
The informative function of the journalistic style, its logic and factuality lead to the widespread use in this style of information sentences reporting about an event or fact. Such stylistic features of the journalistic style as expressiveness, emotionality, and motivation lead to the widespread use of lexical, phraseological and syntactic means of expression (tropes and figures) in this style.
The journalistic style is implemented in periodicals, on television, radio, and in political speeches. Newspaper and journalistic genres are different and multifaceted. The peculiarities of the newspaper language are determined by the functional diversity of newspaper genres and their stylistic heterogeneity. Some genres are pure journalism (report, review note), others border on fiction (feuilleton, essay, pamphlet), and others border on official business literature (editorial article).
The basis of newspaper journalism is the principles of social and evaluative use of linguistic means. In the language of newspaper journalism, the organic unity of logical and figurative principles, generalization of reasoning and evidence of scientific presentation and figurative concretization of artistic description is realized. Hence, the language of the newspaper combines information content, logic and obligatory emotionality, evaluativeness, the unity of such opposing linguistic tendencies as a focus on standardizing speech, the use of speech standards (speech clichés), on the one hand, and the desire for expression, to enliven speech, on the other.
At the syntactic level, the newspaper-journalistic style is characterized by simplicity of syntactic structures; streamlining the structure of sentences; frequent inversion of sentence members, which are the logical center of the phrase; the use of elements of poetic syntax (rhetorical question, anaphora, epiphora, gradation, etc.), especially in propaganda works; use of elements of conversational syntax (ellipsis, addition, question-answer form, etc.).
The report combines strict documentary, objectivity and protocol with the emotionality and picturesqueness of the image (the effect of the presence of the author).
The editorial is specific in language and style, containing ideologically and politically important material and posing problems of national and international significance. This is both a directive and a journalistic work. Hence the presence in the editorial of speech clichés, on the one hand, and emotional-expressive structures, on the other.
The essay (a genre bordering between journalistic and fiction), in which the presence of the author’s “I” is especially noticeable, and the feuilleton, and the pamphlet, are diverse in linguistic and stylistic features, the basis of which is satire, a satirical attitude to reality and a direct assessment of negative facts, and hence the use of emotionally expressive means.
In general, the language of the newspaper is characterized by bright journalistic passion; the use of semantically significant language units, expressive-modal forms; the convergence of book speech with colloquial speech (democratization of language), which leads to stylistic looseness and a variety of means of expression; conciseness, accuracy, clarity, accessibility.
The concept of the language of fiction is ambiguous. It includes the concept of the writer's language and style. The writer’s language refers to the linguistic units used in the text and performing certain functions there. The style of a writer, his work of art is the reflection and implementation in the text of the work of elements of the artistic style of speech, his figurative system. __
The language of fiction occupies a special place in the literary language, because it uses all the means of the national language to create artistic images and influence the mind and feelings of the reader.
The features of the style of fiction include, firstly, the unity of the communicative and aesthetic functions, which is determined by the dual task of fiction: not only to tell, but also to influence the reader; secondly, this is the variety of linguistic means used in fiction: essentially elements of any functional style can be used here; thirdly, this is the widespread use of tropes, figures and other figurative and expressive means of language; fourthly, this is the presence of the author’s image, his author’s individuality, his worldview, worldview, ideological and aesthetic views, etc.
Fiction is a special way of reflecting and understanding reality. In a work of art, according to V.V. Vinogradov, an emotional, figurative, aesthetic transformation of the means of the national language occurs. The writer’s task is to give a truthful artistic and social understanding of the depicted facts.
Distinctive intra-style features of artistic speech are artistic imagery, semantic capacity and ambiguity. artistic word, artistic and figurative concretization and emotionality. All linguistic means and stylistic devices in artistic speech are subordinated to the disclosure of the ideological and artistic intent of the work, and it is the intent of the work that determines the appropriateness and motivation of the linguistic means and stylistic devices used by the author.
“In the writer’s style, in accordance with his artistic intentions, all the linguistic means used by the artist are internally connected and aesthetically justified.”
When analyzing a work of art, it is necessary to reveal the features of the verbal form that expresses the ideological content.
The style of fiction is wider and more diverse than individual functional styles. The style of fiction is not a set of techniques, but the most important property of poetic imaginative thinking. The writer takes from all the functional styles of the popular language what he needs to reveal the topic of his choice.
In a work of art there are actually three speech plan: author's narration, characters' speech, author's characterization of the hero.
In the author's narration, which is an example of literary language among true artists of the word, the normative literary language, usually with extensive use of non-neutral language units, elements of colloquial literary speech are widely used, especially in works written in the form of a casual conversation with the reader.
IN author's description characters most often use expressively and stylistically colored linguistic units of the literary-colloquial variety of colloquial style of speech. Sometimes colloquial elements are also used.
In the speech of characters there may be (depending on social status hero, for the speech characteristics of the hero) all elements of colloquial speech: literary and non-literary (colloquial, slang, dialect, etc.).
When analyzing speech characteristics characters, it is important to remember the stylistic features of the colloquial style, since they are the ones that are realized in the speech of the characters. This is ease, liveliness, concreteness of speech, its emotionality and expressiveness, a kind of standardization and stereotyping in the choice of language means, which is associated with the stereotyping of many everyday life situations. But in the speech of each hero these features are realized differently. That's why special attention When analyzing the speech characteristics of characters, one should pay attention to individual characteristics speeches of characters that reveal the speech portrait of a given hero. The character’s language corresponds to his inner appearance, reveals his character, thoughts and moods, and also corresponds to his social, professional status and cultural environment.
Particular attention should be paid to the issue of figurative speech in a literary text. Imagery here is created not only by the figurative meaning of the word and special lexical-syntactic devices. And stylistically neutral means of language, connected by the unity of the poetic tone of a passage or the entire work, can play a role in creating an image. The imagery and poetic power of a word sometimes lie in special phrases, 8 of which the most ordinary words acquire great power, and in individual stress keywords. Examples include many prose works Pushkin and Chekhov, in which, it would seem, the most everyday words (and not tropes) create an image.
Both the grammatical forms of a word and various syntactic means of language can become more expressive. Not only stylistic figures, but also parallel syntactic structures, word order, etc.
Thus, to create imagery, two types of linguistic means are used: firstly, these are the actual figurative means of the language itself - lexical, semantic, phraseological poetisms, tropes, figures; secondly, these are elements that are neutral in general language, which become figurative in the structure of a work of art.
In general, the individual style of a writer’s work is determined by its theme and lexical composition.
References
1. Golovin B.N. Fundamentals of speech culture / B.N. Golovin.-M.: Higher school, 1988.-320 p.
2. Pustovalov P.S. A guide to speech development / P.S. Pustovalov, M.P. Senkevich.- M.: Education, 1987.-288 p.
3. Cheshko L.A. Russian language/L.A. Czech.- M.: Vyssh.shk., 1981.-261 p.
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