Argumentative links, informativity, and composition of lyrical discourse

https://doi.org/10.20339/PhS.2-19.003

Zeldovich Gennadiy М.,

Doctor of  Philology, Professor

Warsaw University, Institute for Applied Linguistics,

General and Applied Linguistics, Poland

e-mail: zeldowicz@yahoo.com

The paper is concerned with the most prominent compositional division proper to lyrical discourse, consisting in that normally lyrical poem first reports some experience open to the author, and next goes on to its transcendence, i.e. to discovery of some significant, more general truth and/or substantial change in the author’s attitude towards himself and/or the world. It is shown that one of linguistic means employed for delimitation of this divide are argumentative links, i.e. links between the relevant utterance itself, and consequences that it (often tacitly) implies, the latter ones being of importance for hearer or reader, and being calculated by them based on pragmatic rules, their current needs and priorities, their view of speaker/writer’s intentions, etc. Normally, such a procedure depends on commonly assumed view of the world, but in some instances, in order to establish relevant links, this view must be reconsidered. If this is the case, other things being equal, relevant utterances must be more informative, and one may expect them to show especially high incidence in most important fragments of lyrical discourse, i.e. in those ones, where transcendence is to be found. Several examples testifying to this claim are analyzed at some length.

Keywords: lyrical discourse, composition, empirical part, focus, argumentativeness, informativity.

References

1. Sil’man T.I. Zametki o lirike. Leningrad: Sovetskii pisatel’, 1977.

2. Zel’dovich G.M. Kompozitsiia liricheskogo stikhotvoreniia i “tesnota” stikhovogo riada: Tipologicheskoe bogatstvo informatsii kak marker pervogo diskursivnogo plana v liricheskom tekste // Liudmila Savchenko. Dusha vosplamenennaia. Khar’kov: Khar’kovskii natsional'nyi universitet, 2017. S. 273–333.

3. Zeldowicz G. Extraverted consciousness, introverted consciousness, and composition of lyrical discourse // Linguistica Copernicana. 2016. No. 13. P. 301–318.

4. Ducrot O. Les échelles argumentatives. Paris: Minuit, 1980.

5. Ducrot O. Le dire et le dit. Paris: Minuit, 1984.

6. Sperber D., Wilson D. Relevance: сommunication and сognition. London: Blackwell, 1995.

7. Sadock, J.M. Almost / Cole P. (ed.). New York: Academic Press, 1981. P. 257–271.

8. Hitzeman J. The selectional properties and entailments of almost // Proceedings of the Chicago Linguistic Society. 1992. Vol. 28. P. 225–238.

9. Jayez J., Tovena L.M. Presque and almost: How argumentation derives from comparative meaning / O. Bonami, P. Cabredo Hofherr (eds.) // Empirical Issues in Syntax and Semantics. 2008. Vol. 7. P. 217–239.

10. Horn L. Assertoric inertia and NPI licensing // Chicago Linguistic Society. 2002.Vol. 38. Part 2. Р. 55–82.