ПОСЛОВИЧНАЯ И АНТИПОСЛОВИЧНАЯ КАРТИНЫ МИРА

The term “language picture of the world” is extremely popular in modern Russian linguistics. In this paper it is translated word for word from Russian into English, though in modern western linguistics this term is hardly ever used, the closest term for the similar concept being “mapping”. In the opinion of the author of this paper the Russian term, going back to the works of L. Weisgerber (Weisgerber 1953), accounts for the meaning it contains in a very explicit manner, as it really refers to the picture of the world reflected in the semantics of language signs.

While the language picture of the world represents the interpretation of the world in the semantics of language signs taken as a whole, the proverbial picture of the world sheds light on the vision of the world present in the semantics of proverbs.

The proverbial picture of the world is a cognitive structure, in which cultural, social and historic characteristics of native speakers are reflected, as well as the geographic peculiarities of their country (Иванова 2002:17). The knowledge contained in the semantics of proverbs is obsolete to some degree, which is invariably true as far as other constituents of the language picture of the world are concerned. This happens because with the advance of time our language inevitably starts to reflect the culture of the past, as E.Sapir puts it (Sapir 1973:102). If we want to reconstruct a more modern vision of the world, we must turn to more modern language signs, e.g., antiproverbs.

Antiproverbs are sayings based on traditional proverbs and changing their meaning. There exists a wider understanding of this term, in accordance to which, an antiproverb is not necessarily based on a proverb, but here we will adhere to the above mentioned narrow meaning of the term. Antiproverbs are so called because they challenge the traditional truths expressed by proverbs, sometimes going as far as mocking them.

In general, the basic ways of creating an antiproverb are as follows: the extension of the proverbial sentence, the addition of one or more components to the proverbial sentence, the replacement of a component.

Money talks – and mostly it says “good-bye”. < Money talks

No man is a hero to his wife’s lawyer.< No man is a hero to his valet.

Not all the best things in life are free.< The best things in life are free

Sometimes only the semantic formula of the proverb is preserved, while all or most of the components are replaced and the meaning changed absolutely:

Lie and the world lies with you; tell the truth and the world lies about you <Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone

Antiproverbs are characterized by irony, satire, sometimes they are aimed at deliberately shocking the recipients. Antiproverbs are born out of the desire of an individual to stand out in a crowd, to show off his ego. This desire is very much different from the aims one pursues when using a proverb. In the latter case a person tries to hide behind the authority of the accepted opinion, which many other people share (Cram 1996:86-87). He wants to join the masses as it were, while the antiproverb user strives to separate himself from the masses.

But despite this difference we can find some similarities. First of all, if we look at the processes of the formation of both proverbs and antiproverbs as reflected in the dictionaries (Oxford concise dictionary of proverbs 1996; Twisted wisdom, modern antiproverbs 2002), we can see that in both cases those processes were gradual and the saying had many variations before the final version came into existence. To be exact, there is no final version for an antiproverb so far, as antiproverbs always exist in a number of versions, but it is possible to imagine that with time only one of them will stay. The dictionary of antiproverbs reflects the very process of the formation of these units, as sometimes it registers more than twenty versions of antiproverbs based on one traditional proverb. But let us have a closer look at some examples.

The traditional proverb “Handsome is as handsome does” is first registered in 1580 and goes as “Goodly is he that goodly dooth”. Then in 1659 appears “He is handsome that handsome doth”, in 1766 – “Handsome is that handsome does”, in 1873 – “Handsome is as handsome does”. The word “handsome” denotes genteel behaviour, but in popular usage the meaning is shifted and refers to good looks, thus the proverb declares the importance of good behaviour over attractive appearance. In antiproverbs the importance of genteel behaviour is deliberately ignored with the good looks going into the focus of attention:

Handsome is as the photographer does.

Handsome is what makeup does.

The genuineness of good looks is very much questioned and made fun of in these two sayings. The variations of the antiproverb are more pronounced: “photographer” and “makeup” belong to absolutely different semantic groups.

The semantic formula of the proverb is used in another version of the antiproverb, only echoing in meaning the original proverb: “Crazy is as crazy does”.

Some antiproverbs have a structure very much different from that of a traditional proverb. They could be long, there could be a long subordinate clause in the sentence or there could  be several sentences. E.g., the next antiproverb based on the same traditional proverb contains a subordinate clause as the subject of the sentence: “Handsome is as handsome does – is the motto of all unattractive people”. This diversity of variations and forms can be accounted for by the fact that antiproverbs represent a language phenomenon, which is currently in the process of its development. This feature makes them very interesting for linguistic study.

It is possible to relate the development of antiproverbs to the phenomenon “crossing of proverbs”, long known to the scholars and the collectors of proverbs. “Crossing of proverbs” refers to the existence of proverbs-antonyms, proverbs that contradict each other. Proverbial antonyms are numerous, they can be found in practically any proverbial group. They allow us to look at the same situation from a different point of view and at the same time they reveal the contradictive character of human mentality.

As a hypothesis, it is possible to suggest that at the time of the appearance, at least, some of these proverbs were looked upon as antiproverbs. They were antiproverbs of the time, developing later into proverbs. But this, of course, is only a suggestion.

Antiproverbs form an antiproverbial picture of the world similar to proverbs forming the proverbial picture of the world. This antiproverbial picture reflects more modern mentality and more modern view of the surrounding world than the proverbial one. This statement should be made with some reservations, first, because antiproverbs may get obsolete very quickly, second, because the dictionary of antiproverbs contains sayings belonging to different decades of  this and the last century. To get the “ultramodern” picture of the world we must do some field research, for this reason we will have to be satisfied with the relatively modern worldview the antiproverbs from the dictionary can give us.

It is interesting to compare the proverbial and the antiproverbial pictures of the world. In the latter we can find many concepts that are central for the former as well, such as MONEY, WORK, WOMAN, HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS etc. Let us consider the concept MARRIAGE in more detail.

Proverbs display positive and negative attitude towards marriage:

A man without a wife is but half a man.

He that has a wife, has strife.

The attitude to marriage expressed in antiproverbs could be sceptical, ironic, mocking, but never positive.

Matrimony is the root of all evil, < Money is the root of all evil.

This antiproverb sounds threatening and expresses a very dark, highly negative view of marriage, which we won’t find in the proverbial picture of the world. 

In proverbs marriage is opposed to love in favour of the latter: “Marriage is the tomb of love”, “Love is a fair garden and marriage a field of nettles”

The same opposition is found in antiproverbs:

Love is blind, and when you get married you get your eyesight back. < Love is blind.

The course of true love never runs smooth – it usually leads to marriage < The course of true love never did run smooth

Antiproverbs touch upon some aspects of marriage that are never mentioned in traditional proverbs, such as cheating and having mistresses.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the proof of the marriage is in the cheating. < The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Opposites attract: many a man has a brunette wife and a blonde sweetheart.<Opposites attract.

In the proverbial picture of the world money is considered both important and unimportant for marriage:

Money makes marriage.

Never marry for money, ye’ll borrow it cheaper.

 In the antiproverbial picture of the world money the role of money is emphasised.

Man proposes, and the girl weighs his pocketbook and decides.

In both pictures of the world a man faces the risk of losing his money:

Wife and children are bills of charges.

A married man and his money are soon parted. <A fool and his money are soon parted.

The new thing is the description of the role of money in the relationship with your own children:

Money isn’t everything, but it sure keeps you in touch with the children. < Money isn’t everything.

The dominance of a woman in marriage is acknowledged by traditional proverbs:

He that has a wife has a master.

An obedient wife commands her husband.

The same outlook is found in antiproverbs:

No man can serve two masters, unless he has a wife and grown-up daughter. < No man can serve two masters.

If experience is the best teacher how is it that some husbands still think they’re the boss of the family? <Experience is the best teacher.

In antiproverbs the woman’s voice sounds louder than in proverbs which are the expressions of male mentality:

A woman’s work is never done, especially the part she asks her husband to do <A woman’s work is never done

A man’s home is his castle – let him clean it < A man’s (An Englishman’s) home is his castle.

What is also new for the antiproverbial picture of the world is the portrayal of the relationship between a man and his mother-in-law. In the proverbial picture of the world the relationship between a woman and her mother-in-law is described in a couple of proverbs, but here the opposite relationship goes into the foreground:

No man is a hero to his mother-in-law < No man is a hero to his valet

Man proposes, his mother-in-law opposes. < Man proposes, God disposes.

On the whole a man comes out as a sufferer in marriage in the antiproverbial picture of the world to a greater degree than he does in the proverbial picture of the world, where in general the outlook on marriage is more balanced.

On the whole the comparative analyses of the concept MARRIAGE in the proverbial and antiproverbial pictures of the world shows both similarities and differences in the outlook on marriage. The similarities are accounted for by the fact that in general the situations a person finds himself in remain the same throughout the centuries. The differences are connected with the changes typical of the modern world, like the equal rights of women with men or the growth of sceptical attitude to marriage. The traditional proverbial portrayal of marriage is more detailed due to the much larger number of proverbs than antiproverbs.

To sum up, it is necessary to say that antiproverbs, being a currently developing phenomenon of language,  deserve close attention on the part of linguists.