MODEL “THE HARSH NORTH” IN THE COGNITIVE-PLOT MATRIX OF J. LONDON’S “THE CALL OF THE WILD”

Research article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2023.48.7
Issue: № 12 (48), 2023
Suggested:
15.10.2023
Accepted:
13.11.2023
Published:
08.12.2023
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Abstract

The article deals with the language representation as a multifaceted format of interpretive knowledge, as a projection of the individual-author worldview, as a synergy of the writer’s intentions, his idiostyle, and the parameters of the cognitive-plot matrix of the text. Attention is drawn to the both relationship and interdependence of the both language representations and concepts as formats of knowledge, including as formats of literary knowledge. The role of language representations in text literary architectonics is analysed in detail. The presence of dominant language representation in the architectonics of literary text is determined. The fact that the model “The Harsh North” appears as a dominant language representation in the architectonics of the research text is determined. The specific features of the formation of the nominative field of the dominant text language representation of “The Harsh North” are revealed. The prevalence of multi-component nominees in the nominative field of the dominant text representation of “The Harsh North” is determined. The conjugation of the nominative fields of three literary concepts, such as the literary concept of “nature”, the literary concept of “space”, the literary concept of “time” which contributes to the creation of a holistic taxonomic model “The Harsh North” in J. London’s “The Call of the Wild” is revealed.

1. Introduction

The issue of language representation in the literary text is one of the current areas in the text architectonics’ interpreting. Some scientists identify text architectonics as a set of literary representations. However, the main difference between language representation and literary representation is based on the fact that literary representation’s meaning is realized in a certain communicative situation, i.e. at the discourse forming. The discourse parameters in such way depend on the purposes and projects of communicative personalities forming the discourse. The parameters of this discourse depend on extralinguistic facts of literary discourse’s implementation in the way of “communication behavior and national language”

. In such way “a discourse matrix sociomodel can be represented in the form of a dynamic discursive formations”
.

The language representation in the sociomodel format is realized in the anthropocentric semantics’ paradigm. The scientists use different terms, such as concept, language representation, language concept and representation. Current studies identify the language representation as the most frequent term.

It is noteworthy, in contemporary linguistics there are three approaches to the definition of language representation.

First of all, language representation in the sense of “icon” as a type of sign is similar to its object interpreted as an iconic sign.

Secondly, the language representation is interpreted as an “internal empirical object”, i.e. it is interpreted as perception. Proponents of this interpretive approach consider the language representation as semantic format forming in the person imagination at the perceiving of language sign.

Finally, language representation is interpreted in a gnoseological sense as the language knowledge reflection of the environment.

In anthropocentric semantics the term “language representation” is used precisely in a gnoseological sense, i.e. as “language knowledge reflection of the environment”

.

It is evident that anthropocentric semantics is aimed at the studying of linguistic projection of real or ideal being in person consciousness. During this process, language representations as the forms of “inner person” are studied.

The term “language representation” is a synonym with the term “language worldview”. To identify these two terms correctly the term “language worldview” is used at the process of conceptualisation, but the term “language representation” is used at the nomination of world segment.

It is evident all three levels of knowledge of communicative event are the base to the generation of language representation.

Firstly, the elementary level of cognition is based on feeling and perception.

Secondly, the intermediate level of cognition is based on imagination.

Finally, the highest level of cognition is based on thinking.

The forming of semantic content of language representations on both elementary level and intermediate level is realised due to attention and memory, while at the highest level the language representation is realized through speech processes.

Obviously, speech processes form the linguistic and creative potential of language representations.

It is proved the subjectivity of language representation is manifested in its special creativity, i.e. linguocreativity. The language representation in such case is a pragmatic format of environment realities as a set of perceiving subjects in the projection of personal experience of their keeping in the memory.

The contemporary level of linguistics in general and the contemporary level of anthropocentric semantics in particular is characterised due to interpretative vector from language representation to concepts as semantic universals fixed in the human mind in the form of projection formats of reality, therefore the term language representation can not explain all semantic paradigm.

Therefore, the both terms such as “language representation” and “concept” are connected. It is known the concept is a collective, individual and psychological, national and cultural marked thing. It is the semantic universality, in the other words, the concept is a meaning unit in the person mind. The concept is represented by language and speech means. It is evident, the both terms such as “language representation” and “concept” are not the synonyms, because they are not similar thing, but they intersect.

The intersection area, otherwise area of overlay of interpretive fields of the both terms such as “language representation” and “concept” is due to the goals of the research.

It is known both terms such as “language representation” and “concept” one of the basic characteristics of a concept is the ability of a mental entity to be displayed in a language. As a result, the concept includes the language representation in its interpretive field. However, this statement is debatable.

So, the researchers suggest using of the complex term language image-concept, defining it as a culturally and psychologically deterministic mental essence depicted in the language.

The complex term language representation-concept exposes the figurative, associative and evaluation components of the conceptual side of speech. In such way, it is significant that language representation-concept includes objective, rational components as a result of a person knowing of the realities’ world as a reflection of realities in the human mind.

The interpretive format of the language representation, along with the interpretive format of the concept, in particular the literary concept and the literary concept image, form the cognitive-plot matrix of the literary work. Yu. M. Lotman argued that “a literary text is a complex meaning. All its elements are semantic ones”

. The interpretive paradigm in this case, according to N.N. Boldyrev, “places linguistic issues in the broader perspective of human cognition and conceptual organization by analyzing linguistic interpretation as a cognitive process”
. In such way, “the long-term availability of knowledge structures depends on the coherence of knowledge structures”
. «Немаловажно и то, что текстовый формат знания предстаёт как «text-structure-oriented»
.

Language representation, literary concepts, literary concept-images are represented by various language means, subject, conceptual-ideological, evaluation, etc. The language representation in this sense is used as a “unit of both analysis and interpretation of the meaning of a literary text”

as a collection of characters. The text symbolic systems suggest that “the literary world is the world of regularities and summarizing caused by the cultural lows and symbols”
.

It is important the literary world in this case is the world of “cognitive linguopoietics”

. In this world, the fact that text opposition correlates with “interpretation of text and world interconditionality”
.

The purpose of the research is to identify the multifaceted language representation of the harsh North in the novel of the famous American writer of the XIX-XX centuries J. London’s “The Call of the Wild”. The multifaceted character of the research language representation is predetermined by the conjugation of the writer’s intentions, his idiostyle and the cognitive-plot matrix of the literary text.

2. Materials and methods

The material of the research is J. London’s “The Call of the Wild”. Using a continuous sampling method, 342 nominees were identified. These nominees create a multifaceted language representation of the harsh North. The nominees in this case mean the both words and phrases marking the parameters of the language representation’s model. The main method of research is the method of cognitive-hermeneutic modeling, aimed at interpreting the text implementation of the language representation in the interpreting text. Modeling is a significant interpretive format that represents the multifaceted character of the language representation.

3. Discussion

J. London’s “The Call of the Wild” is a knowledge format in which the “author’s conceptual worldview”

is recruited. In the research text, the author’s worldview appears in the form of a unit of language representations, which over time appear as cognitive artifacts. The model “The Harsh North” is as a dominant language representation. The model “The Harsh North” gives the features of life in the North during the “Alaska gold rush” of 1898. Due to the fact that the combination of language representations of the literary text appears as a literary projection of both phenomena and events of the indicated historical period, this knowledge appears as “cognitive artifacts”
, since “narrative texts are also considered by naratologists themselves as cognitive artifacts”
.

The research of text cognitive artifacts is based on its modeling. V.I. Karasik clarifies the model as “a research construct of reality to research the essence of the phenomenon in its both systemic and functional relationships with phenomena of a more general order”

. In such way, these modeling properties of reality “forms an idea of conceptual structures and the possibilities for describing them using cognitive models”
. The text in this case is a dynamic environment.

The consideration of J. London’s novel in the form of a unit of language representation and their subsequent modeling showed the specific features of the text representation of the individual author’s worldview. Over the time, such kind of worldview appears in the form of a unit of cognitive artifacts, among which the main artifact is embedded in the title of the work. This is the artifact of J. London’s novel.

A cognitive-hermeneutic analysis of the nominative fields of the language representation of “The Harsh North” showed that in the model of this language representation the nominative fields of three literary concepts are conjugated, such as the literary concept of “nature”, the literary concept of “space”, the literary concept of "time". It is identified 342 nominees of the language representation of “the harsh North”. About 50% of the nominees are the nominees of the literary concept of “nature”. About 35% of the nominees are the nominees of the literary concept of “space”. About 15% of the nominees are the nominees of the literary concept of “time”.

Cognitive-hermeneutic analysis revealed the following features of the implementation of the model of “The Harsh North” such as:

1) among the nominees of the literary concept of “nature” revealed:

a) nominees associated with the perception of the North by man such as the model “The Harsh North”, and model “Lonely North”;

b) nominees associated with the perception of events happening by Dog Buck such as “the wild life in the forest”

; “dictating his moods”
, “directing his actions”
, “deep in the forest a call was sounding”
;

2) nominees of the both literary concept of “space” and the literary concept of “time” are conjugated in a space-time continuum such as “back on the river with a quarter of a mile to the day’s credit”

, “lying by the river bank through the long spring days”
.

Due to the high frequency of nominees of the space-time continuum in the language representation, it is necessary to consider this phenomenon in detail.

Example 1. “As the day wore along, and the sun dropped to its bed in the northwest (the darkness had come back, and the fall nights were six hours long), the young bulls retraced their steps”

.

Cognitive-hermeneutic analysis shows that in these context chronemes “the day”

, “the fall nights were six hours long”
are connected with proxemes “the sun dropped to its bed in the northwest”
, “the young bulls retraced their steps”
.

Example 2. “The Thirty Mile River was wide open. Its wild water defied the frost, and it was in the eddies only and in the quiet places that the ice held at all. Six days of exhausting toil were required to cover those thirty terrible miles”

.

Cognitive-hermeneutic analysis shows that in this context the chroneme “six days” are connected with proxemes “the Thirty Mile River was wide open”

, “in the quiet places”
, “to cover those thirty terrible miles”
.

Thus, the conjugation of the nominative fields of all three literary concepts, such as the literary concept of “nature”, the literary concept of “space, the literary concept of “time” contributes to the creation of a holistic taxonomic model of the language representation of “the harsh North”.

4. The main results

The main results of the research are as follows:

1) determining of the spectrum of multi-format nominations that create a text representation of the harsh North and identifying of prevalence of multi-component nominees;

2) identifying of the conjugation in the model of the language representation of “the harsh North” the nominative fields of three literary concepts, the literary concept of “nature”, the literary concept of “space”, the literary concept of “time”;

3) creating an interpretive model of the language representation of “the harsh North” as a projection of the author’s worldview.

5. Conclusion

The language representation implemented in a literary text is a complex taxonomic cognitive-hermeneutic model, the parameters of which are determined by the writer’s intensity, his idiostyle, and the cognitive-plot matrix of the text.

The research of taxonomic models of individual language representations reveals the features of forming of a holistic model in literary text. In this case, a single language representation appears as an informative channel that allows to interpret the author’s model as a component of the individual author’s model of worldview.

Cognitive-hermeneutic taxonomic modeling of J. London’s “The Call of the Wild” in the form of a unit of linguistic representation showed the following specific features of the text representation of an individual author’s worldview:

1) among the text language representations, the language representation of “the harsh North” is prevailing,

2) the nominees of the model “The Harsh North” are the conjugation of all three literary concepts, the literary concept of “nature”, the literary concept of “space”, the literary concept of "time";

3) nominees of the model “The Harsh North” are multi-format constructions, among which multi-component nominees prevail.

The research of the structure of the model “The Harsh North” repriced in the J. London’s “The Call of the Wild” showed the multifaceted nature of its taxonomic model.

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