Message and Toning of a Fiction Text

1. Representation of reality in fiction.

2. Theme and message of a text.

3. Symbol.

4. Setting. Chronotope.

5. Tone and atmosphere.

Fiction generally claims to represent “reality” (this is known as representation or mimesis) in some way; however, because any narrative is presented through the symbols and codes of human meaning and communication systems, fiction cannot represent reality directly, and different narratives and forms of narrative represent different aspects of reality, and represent reality in different ways. A narrative may be very concrete and adhere closely to time and place, representing everyday events; on the other hand it may, for instance, represent psychological or moral or spiritual aspects through symbols, characters used representatively or symbolically, improbable events, and other devices. You should remember that all narrative requires selection, and therefore it requires exclusion as well, and it requires devices to put the selected elements of experience in meaningful relation to each other.

Any literary work is an artistic whole which is created by the interaction of all its elements: the characters, setting, plot, stylistic devices, mood, conflicts, symbols, and literary techniques. The writer employs different linguistic means, carefully plans the elements of plot structure to fit one another in order to convey the message of a story and impress the reader.

So, what is the text about? What linguistic tools are used to represent what had been invented by the author? What are the links between the text and the “reality”? How trustworthy and “real” is the text information and what is its impact on the reader?

How does the reader make sense of text?

The dynamic character of the reading process gives the reader a certain degree of freedom, but only a certain, as the text itself has some control over this process – limits of interpretation.

The literary text itself functions as message between author and reader. Of course, the term message must not be taken literally. It would be absurd to imagine that an author two hundred years ago, for example, sent a message to the present-day reader. However, literary texts are usually created for an audience, and by the same token literary texts only come to life when they are actually received by a readership. That author and reader are spatially and temporally deferred from one another in most cases must of course be kept in mind.

The basic problem represented in the story is the theme. Every text has a general meaning which arises after reading it. It centers around the author’s idea preceding its creation. So, theme is a term which stands for what the text is about. It is the represented aspect of life which the story illustrates. As literary works commonly have human characters for their subject of depiction the theme may be understood as an interaction of human characters under certain circumstances (the theme of love or love for one's Motherland; the theme of family relations, war and peace; a clash of cultures; discrimination of any kind, etc.) Within a single narrative the basic theme may alternate with rival themes and their relationship may be complex. All the themes are linked together to represent a unity, the essential characteristic of a literary creation. Thus the theme of the story implies the problem which the writer raises. His view and attitude to this problem is revealed in the way he develops the theme of the story. Synonymic term is topic.

Theme is the general area of interest treated in a story. There are books on the theme of family relations, anti-war theme, love theme. Theme performs a unifying function. Plots of different stories on one and the same theme may be based on an identical type of conflict.

Theme is a distillation of everything that happens in a story’s human drama. Our understanding of the theme grows from our perception and evaluation of the story. Each new subject – love, war, youth, marriage, revenge dictates the correct strategies and approaches. Each aspect of style and plot structure techniques – imagery, characterization, point of view, symbolism, mood, tone, – is a way of getting at the message of the story and shaping its meaning. Some stories handle theme intensively, while others blur theme, create multiple themes, or ignore theme entirely. Stories come in many shapes and sizes. In shaping the material writers of fiction should keep both the tradition behind their craft and the need to “make it new”. Writers, however, do not reduce their stories to single themes.

Message stands very close to theme but there is a sufficient difference between them. Message is the most important idea that the author expresses in the process of developing the theme of the story. It is author’s thoughts about a topic; it’s what an author wishes his or her audience to take as the text’s meanings. That is, it is the author’s view upon the topic and the focus guiding the reader.

The theme (topic) and message of such a highly informative unit as a fiction text can hardly be expressed in a sentence or two. Besides, it may cause different opinions within the readers which may deviate from the author’s original idea. But the text is one and the same. Thr theme is organically connected with the author's message. The message is generally expressed implicitly, i.e. indirectly, and has a complex analytical character, being created by the interaction of numerous implications which the different elements of the literary work have.

As A.Chekhov declared, the artist “must set the question, not solve it.” Modern authors do not ask one question but many questions. In some cases the message of the story will not suggest any solution. On account of all that L.Timofeyev distinguishes the following types of messages:

· messages that suggest definite solutions;

· messages that raise a problem;

· messages in which the solution of the problem is not adequate.

Message is generally expressed implicitly, i.e. inderectly and has a complex analytical character. It is created by the interaction of numerous implications.

Implication is the suggestion that is not expressed directly but understood. It may be conveyed by different techniques: parallelism, contrast, recurrence of events or situations, artistic details, symbols, a special arrangement of elements of plot structure.

Parallelism may be deeply suggestive (e.g. parallel actions of the dream and reality). The events that begin and end the story are parallel. This circling of the action implies that nothing has changed, nothing has improved.

Implication may be conveyed by contrast on different levels: linguistic and extralinguistic. Recurrence is another means of conveying implication. Among the repeated linguistic elements there may be stylistic devices, emotionally coloured words, neutral words, but when repeated in text the latter may acquire special semantic relevance and become a key-word important for the understanding of the message of the story.

Among many examples of recurrence with implication one often finds artistic details. When an artistic detail is repeated several times and is associated with a broader concept than the original it develops into a symbol.

Symbol is a word (or an object the word stands for) that represents something concrete and material standing for something immaterial which has a more significant sense. A literary symbol means more than it is. Whereas an image has one meaning, a symbol has many. The symbols a writer uses may mean different things to different people, so the problem of understanding symbols still exists.

To use a symbol in a literary text is to represent an idea by suggestion rather than by direct expression. The symbol is generally recognized only after the story is read. That is the so-called “shock of recognition”.

Best human moral properties, different objects, precious stones, a great variety of animals and plants can be turned into symbols. Symbols in literary text presuppose that the reader should possess a certain amount of encyclopedic and special knowledge, develop skills of careful and close reading. A literary text which has images increased to symbols represents a system open to multiple interpretations. The meaning of a symbol is more ambiguous than that of tropes: if metaphor might be understood, a symbol can be interpreted, and always with a certain degree of variability.

The major symbol of the story can be often found in the title which may also supply the theme.

There are common (traditional) symbols (e.g. a rainbow, a rose, a cross, a daybreak) and personal symbols which are created by a definite writer.

Universal symbols are symbols that have similar meanings around the world, no matter the culture. Examples of universal symbols would be a dove, water, a snake, the mother, the father, the child, the moon, a circle, a star, or a rose.

Personal symbols are symbols whose meaning varies from one person to the next.

The ability to recognize and interpret symbols requires experience in literary readings, perception, and intuition. It is easy “to run wild” with symbols – to find symbols everywhere. The ability to interpret symbols is essential to full understanding and enjoyment of literature.

Setting – the place and time when a story occurs. It’s the surroundings or background against which the events described in a text take place; the setting or context (in its broad meaning) may be important to the theme or message of the story. Setting refers to geographical location of the story, time period, daily lifestyle of the characters and climate of the story. In a novel, the setting plays an important role. In short stories, sometimes it plays an important role, while for others it is not. Settings of literary forms have been changing according to theme of the literary piece, for example, Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies have the setting of palaces, castles whereas modern and post-modern dramas have setting of houses of common people.

Spatio-temporal setting is called chronotope. The term was introduced by M.Bakhtin. The scholar describes it as “the intrinsic connectedness of temporal and spatial relationships that are artistically expressed in literature”. This is from the Greek “chronos” – time and – “topos” – place, meaning literally a new “reality of timespace”. In Bakhtin’s theory, this term acquires a special meaning, namely, the indivisible unity of time and space. He showed the syncretism of time and space in fiction. Time and space are not separable in fiction. There is no place beyond time, there is no time all by itself, without space. According to Bakhtin, the chronotope constitutes the matrix where the principal temporal and spatial sequences of a work of art meet, where dialogues, encounters, events occur.

The spatio-temporal setting is the compositional frame which provides the preliminary key parameters of the original situation and surroundings depicted by the text.

Atmosphere is the mood or persistent feeling implied by a literary work. An author establishes atmosphere partly through description of setting and partly by the objects chosen to be described.

In some texts the predominant atmosphere (or mood) is an element to be carefully considered. To discover the mood of a passage you may refer to the title, consult your own mind and heart, pay due attention to such contributory elements as

· the presentation of character,

· the setting,

· the art of story telling.

Atmosphere (аlso called mood): the emotional feelings inspired by a work. The term is borrowed from meteorology to describe the dominant mood of a selection as it is created by diction, dialogue, setting, and description. Often the opening scene in a play or novel establishes an atmosphere appropriate to the theme of the entire work. The opening of Shakespeare's Hamlet creates a brooding atmosphere of unease. Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher establishes an atmosphere of gloom and emotional decay.

The descriptions are never arbitrary but in keeping with the characters and ultimately with the effect the writer wants to create. The description of an interior often reveals the personality of a character. Environment is molded by man’s will or taste. If it is an exterior, the description of a landscape, it may be in harmony with the hero’s state of mind or personality (soul).

For example, passionate, romantic heroes (or heroines) are often set (placed) in the middle of a storm. The weather may be an important element in the creation of the atmosphere. When nature is endowed with human feelings, the technique used is called pathetic fallacy.

Colours are often more than descriptive, they are symbolic. Gray and brown may help to emphasize the theme of mediocrity of life in a city. Other colours like red, or blue, or green may suggest passion, happiness or purity and so on.

Tone. It could be said that there is no such thing as a text or verbal utterance without a tone. Tone, taken at its most literal sense, is a feature of non-verbal communication. It is the physical level at which the sound of the human voice is transmitted.

In a general sense, 'tone' is the attitude of the speaker or writer as revealed in the choice of vocabulary or the intonation of speech.

Tone in literature is the attitude of the writer. The writer can show attitudes by scenery, emotions, sounds, and colors. Without good literature attitudes the story or movie can be a failure.

When a writer works on his story, he sets the tone to the reader. The tone could be humorous, very serious, or mysterious. With the tone, the reader know how the writer is feeling and the emotions of the character.

Tone is the attitude a writer has towards the subject he is writing about. It is evident in his diction, style, and opinion if he expresses one. This attitude might be immediately apparent – in tone of voice, for instance. It might on the other hand be a complex and subtle manner which takes time to establish – in an extended piece of writing, for instance.

Written or spoken communication might be described as having a tone which is, for instance: ironic, serious, flippant, threatening, light-hearted, pessimistic.

Tone is perhaps applied more widely in an almost metaphoric sense to convey a whole attitude. For instance we might receive a letter from someone expressing the sentiment that they had trusted us, but felt let down by something we had done. The letter might have an ironic tone, or an angry tone, or an indignant tone.

Tone is used to convey an attitude. This may be done consciously or unconsciously. Tone in this sense is conveyed by an amalgam of choice of vocabulary and syntax on the part of the writer. For the reader, this selection creates an imaginary audible impression, as the tone is heard in the mind's ear.

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 939