Рамазани К. Ф.,Таджибаева А.А.

Региональный социально – инновационный университет

FICTIONAL TEXT AS A CULTURAL UNIT

The nature of fictional text has always caused many discussions. Numerous researchers were made by famous philologists (B. A. Larin, R. Jacobson, I. R. Galperin, V. V. Vinogradov) and the basic notions of fiction such as imagery, emotiveness, implicitness, ambiguity, associative potential, creativity, semantic complexity were discussed in their works. From their point of view, fictional text is a particular type of communication based on both the author and reader’s communicative activity. I.R. Galperin indicates the following features of this text-type:

1. genuine, not trite imagery achieved by means of stylistic devices;

2. the use of words in contextual, and very often in more than one dictionary meaning;

3. the vocabulary which reflects to a greater or lesser degree the author’s personal evaluation of things and phenomena;

4. a peculiar individual selection of vocabulary and syntax, a kind of lexical and syntactical idiosyncrasy [1].

One major feature of the literary text is its structure. There are different approaches to the problem of the text structure. According to Turaeva’s point of view, there are the surface layer and deep layer [2]. The surface layer is considered to shape the structure and the content, while deep layer of the text includes the author’s outlook, his individual world picture, moral values, beliefs and aesthetic views. That is why the deep layer impacts the reader.

M. P. Brandes suggests literary text levels such as compositional, emotive, psychological (M. P. Brandes 1971). Z. L. Khovanskaya speaks of a three-level structure which includes aesthetic, compositional and linguistic [3].

From the position of cultural studies some authors speak of the cultural level of the literary text [43]. This view is very important with regard to the literary text. According to Maslova, the literary text is regarded as a main means of studying culture as a source of cultural knowledge and information [2]. Any literary text can reflect individual and national experience and knowledge about ethnography, history, national mentality, etc. Furthermore, the literary text expresses intellectual, spiritual spheres of human life. Linguocultural studies deal with the following types of cultural values (N. Ph. Alefirenko) :

- vital: life, health, living, environment;

- social: social status, profession, wealth, sexual equality, tolerance;

- political: freedom, democracy, lawfulness, peace;

- religious: God, faith, sacred laws, salvation, blessing;

- moral: goodness, kindness, friendship, honour, love, decency;

- aesthetic: beauty, ideal, harmony, lifestyle.

The literary text includes culture relevant language units - linguoculturemes. Linguoculturemes convey cultural information. They are presented by realia, myths, images, beliefs, customs and traditions [2]. Linguoculturemes can be expressed by nominations of meals, clothes, holidays, traditions, customs, sport, etc.

Very important observations show that one of the most important features of the fictional text is its aesthetic function. That means that it is closely connected with human, his mentality, moral values, activity and culture. Any literary text is a product of the social, cultural, and intellectual context. Thus, fictional text can reflect cultural aspect.

We fully support the view that texts are directly related to culture and penetrated by a multitude of cultural codes. They accumulate and store information about history, ethnography, national psychology, etc., and pass it on from generation to generation [2]. From this standpoint text analysis is aimed to disclose cultural information, to study the peculiar features of national mentality, to define culture relevant language means used in the text. Relationships between language and culture are most clearly seen in fictional texts. It is accounted for by the fact that a fictional text by its very nature is one of the forms of culture. It is a fictional text that first and foremost transmits sociocultural, aesthetic, emotional and evaluative information. It should be noted that cultural information encoded in the text is of a gradual character because different texts are characterized by different degrees of culture-relevant information. Most interesting are the texts reflecting intellectual, spiritual spheres of human life. In this respect nationally specific texts, where objective characteristics of reality are interlaced with national views and personal appraisals are of special attention. Interpretation of such texts requires linguocultural competence, that is the knowledge of national cultural values and priorities. The following passage from Gary Shteyngart’s “The Russian Debutante’s Handbook” is illustrative in this respect:

In the basement, surrounded by plaster dust and loose electrical wires, the

doctor had tried to recreate for himself the rickety village ‘izba’ where he had

spent his childhood: coarse off-white panels listing the walls were supposed to

bring to mind the Russian birch; a set of unfinished wooden chairs gathered

around a three-legged kitchen table bespoke an admirable poverty.

The text presents the description of national vision of a Russian house in XIX-XX centuries. The author stresses national symbols such as Russian birch, Russian house – ‘izba’ and describes an ordinary atmosphere which was inherent to that rural period. But like any dwelling, no matter how simple, it provided much more than shelter. Rituals, customs, and beliefs, as well as the sometimes elaborate decoration of the ‘izba’ reflected the many meanings and functions its inhabitants attached to it. It is associated with traditional rural life and it remains part of the cultural landscape.

Literature:

1. Гальперин, И. Р. Текст как объект лингвистического исследования Текст. / И. Р. Гальперин. -М. : Наука, 1981.

2. Тураева З.Я. Лингвистика текста. М.: Просвещение, 1986

3. Хованская З.И. Анализ литературного произведения в современной французской филологии. – М.: Высшая школа, 1988.