Place and Function of Context in the Interpretation of Literary Work: Methodological Aspect

Filatov Anton V.,

PhD in Philology,

Associate Professor at the Department of Theory of Literature

Lomonosov Moscow State University

e-mail: avphilatov@yandex.ru

The paper deals with the methodological significance of context in the interpretation of a work of art. The immanent and contextual approaches are compared as two strategies for studying a literary text. Based on V.E. Khalizev’s scholar works, it is proved that their unilateral application distorts the meaning of the interpreted work, while the coordination of these approaches, on the contrary, ensures the correctness of interpretation. It is emphasized that the principle of the primacy of immanent analysis in relation to contextual analysis, which has been established in literary criticism, does not indicate the self-sufficiency of immanent consideration and indicates only the sequence of these methodological operations. The author substantiates the difficulty of creating a methodology for analyzing the context of a literary work caused by the wide range of meanings of this concept. It is shown that modern literary theory distances itself from the problem of contextualization of artistic meaning, referring it to the sphere of competence of literary history, although the task of determining the general principles of selection and analysis of contextual information necessary to identify a range of correct and adequate readings is clearly theoretical. To solve it, it is proposed to be guided by the provision according to which the structure of a literary text always directs the selection of contextual information. Thus, the context becomes a variable and at the same time an obligatory parameter of the analytical and interpretative activity of a literary critic.

Keywords: context, interpretation, immanent analysis, contextual consideration, V.E. Khalizev, literary theory, literary methodology

References

1. Khalizev V.E. O sostave literaturovedeniia i spetsifike ee metodologii // Nauka o literature v XX veke: istoriia, metodologiia, literaturnyi protsess. Moscow: INION RAN, 2001. S. 7–29.
2. Gus’kova Yu.V. Immanentnyi i kontekstual’nyi podkhody k literaturnomu proizvedeniiu (k istorii voprosa) // Vestnik Nizhegorodskogo universiteta im. N.I. Lobachevskogo. 2013. No. 1 (2). S. 67–73.
3. Tiupa V.I. Teoriia literatury. Moscow: RGGU, 2024. 254 s.
4. Khalizev V.E. Interpretatsiia literaturnogo proizvedeniia kak nauchnaia problema // Metodologicheskie problemy istorii i teorii literatury: programma i materialy respublikanskoi Iubileinoi nauchnoi konferentsii, posviashchennoi 400-letiiu so vremeni osnovaniia Vil’niusskogo universiteta, 11–12 maiia 1978 g. Vil’nius: Vil’niusskii gos. un-t im. V. Kapsukasa, 1978. S. 108–112.
5. Burkhanov R.A. Transсendental’noe, immanentnoe i transcendentnoe v filosofii Immanuila Kanta // Obshchestvo: filosofiia, istoriia, kul’tura. 2016. No. 6. S. 12–16.
6. Mikhaylov A.V. Izbrannoe: istoricheskaia poetika i germenevtika. St. Petersburg: Izd-vo Sankt-Peterburgskogo un-ta, 2004. 560 s.
7. Tiupa V.I. Analiz khudozhestvennogo teksta. Moscow: Akademiia, 2009. 336 s.
8. Khalizev V.E. Teoriia literatury. Moscow: Vyssh. shk., 2004. 405 s.
9. Kholikov A.A., Filatov A.V. Perspektivy razvitiia teoretiko-prikladnogo literaturovedeniia v sisteme vysshego obrazovaniia: istoriko-metodologicheskii i didakticheskii aspekty // Aktual’nye problemy filologii i pedagogicheskoi lingvistiki. 2023. No. 3. S. 192–206.
10. Skaftymov A.P. Poetika khudozhestvennogo proizvedeniia. Moscow: Vyssh. shk., 2007. 535 s.
11. Gasparov M.L. Izbrannye trudy. T. 2: O stikhakh. Moscow: Iazyki slavianskoi kul’tury, 1997. 504 s.
12. Iakobson R. Raboty po poetike: perevody / sost. i obshch. red. M.L. Gasparova. Moscow: Progress, 1987. 464 s.
13. Akhmanova O.S. Slovar’ lingvisticheskikh terminov. Moscow: Editorial URSS, 2004. 576 s.
14. Tiupa V.I. Kontekst // Poetika: slovar’ aktual’nykh terminov i poniatiy / gl. nauch. red. N.D. Tamarchenko. Moscow: Izd-vo Kulaginoi: Intrada, 2008. S. 104.
15. Fukson L.Yu. Chtenie. Kemerovo: Kuzbassvuzizdat, 2007. 222 s.
16. Tamarchenko N.D. Poetika // Poetika: slovar’ aktual’nykh terminov i poniatiy / gl. nauch. red. N.D. Tamarchenko. Moscow: Izd-vo Kulaginoi: Intrada, 2008. S. 182–186.
17. Mestergazi E.G. Khudozhestvennaia slovesnost’ i realnost’ (dokumentalnoe nachalo v otechestvennoi literature XX v.): avtoref. dis. … d-ra filol. nauk: 10.01.08. Moscow, 2008.