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NATURE OF CORRELATION OF THE TITLE AND LITERARY TEXT (ON THE BASIS OF FRENCH LITERATURE)
Martashvili Nato Elberdievna, Ph D., in Philology, Tbilisi State University, E-mail: [email protected]
NATURE OF CORRELATION OF THE TITLE AND LITERARY TEXT (ON THE BASIS OF FRENCH LITERATURE)
Abstract: The two basic types of correlation of the title and text of French literary works are simple correlation, when the title transmits only factual information and no subtext is born and complex, when the correlation between the title and the literary text creates new, conceptual information. Under the above two types of correlation various subtypes of the titles can be distinguished.
Keywords: Titles, French literary texts, correlation, conceptual information, Symbolic title, Metaphorical title, Intertextual title, title-pragmeme, title-prodrome.
The title of the literary text is considered to be the the text based on this parameter i.e. on the parameter of
sign, the semantic radius of which spreads over the entire text. It comprises in the compressed form information that is further extended in the text. [5, 27-28]. It is an integrating element denoting the concept of the entire text [5, 133-134]. From the structural-semantic viewpoint the title represents a starting point in the creation of the concept of the text [6, 31-33].
The title contains either the content of the text [1, 5] or the author's message, expressed either explicitly or implicitly. Thus, the title can be considered as a micro text [2, 34] that can exert a more or less powerful influence on the reading process.
The relationship between the title and the literary text can be of different depth. In the scientific literature devoted to the study of literary titles two forms of the relation between the title and the text are pointed out: explicit and implicit. The explicit relation is superficial and implies the repetition of the title-words throughout the text and especially in its strong positions i.e. in the beginning and the ending of the text. Implicit is regarded a relation that creates new information in the form of subtext [4, 26-32].
Our observation over the titles of French literary texts has shown that the creation of a subtext i.e. new information can be detected not only in implicit relations but in explicit relations also (we will consider this issue below) and since this phenomenon is of essential importance in the correlation of the title and the text, we prefer to differentiate the relation between the literary title and
creating a subtext.
The present article deals with the issue of the nature of correlation of the title and the conceptual and thematic essence of the literary text the nomination of which it is. As a result of a scrupulous study of the problem, the two basic types of relationship between the title and the text are detected - the Simple and the Complex. The relation is Simple, when the title is limited to transmitting only factual information and the relationship between the title and the text does not result in producing new information. The relation is Complex when as a result of the relationship between the title and the text new information, a subtext is created, which by its nature is conceptual information. In accordance with the above two types of relationship between the title and the text, the titles fall into two basic types:
a) Simple titles, among which the Simple title-prodromes and the Simple title -pragmemes are distinguished and
b) Complex titles that fall into two main subclasses of the Complex title-prodromes and the Complex title-pragmemes.
Simple title-prodrome announces in an explicit form the events narrated in the text or names the protagonist of the literary text. So, the reader expects the development of the occurrences the title announces about, and he is not disappointed. This is the rudimentary, primordial function of the title. Simple title-prodromes are common in the nineteenth century, e.g.: "Carmen",
Section 13. Philology
"Matéo Falcone" (Mérimée), "Nana", "Thérèse Raquin" (Zola), "Louis Lambert", "Eugénie Grandet" (Balzac), "Yvette", "La légende de Mont Saint-Michel", "Une aventure parisienne" (Maupassant) etc.
Simple title-pragmeme, explicitly expresses the author's evaluation ofthe event or the character under consideration. Therefore, when reading such a title, without knowing the text the reader already knows the author's attitude towards the character or the phenomenon of the literary work, e.g.: "Les misérables" (Hugo), "Splendeurs et Misères de courtisanes", "Une ténébreuse affaire" (Balzac) etc.
The titles of complex relations with the text have one of the privileged significance in the pragmatic dimension of the text. The semantic dynamics of a complex title goes along the path from pressupposition to implication. In other words, the semantics of such a title passes through three mental stages in the mind of the reader: Ante lectio, In lectio, Post Lectio. Ante lectio is the beginning of impressions that stimulate the imagination system, in lectio - when certain images appear in the perception system; post lectio - when already generated images are modified and become abstract.
Complex title-prodrome similar to the simple title-prodrome, describes the events of the literary work and names the theme explicitly, but unlike the simple title-prodrome it: a) can create new information, a subtext;
b) is a means of deciphering the intensions of the author;
c) it is fully opened only post lectio i.e. its meaning is comprehended retrospectively.
What are the means, facilitating the creation of new information and how is the subtext created by Complex Title-Prodromes? Our observation has shown that the frequent repetition or the play ofthe title words in the text contributes to the semantic transformation, to be more exact, the significance of the referential situation transmitted by the title goes beyond the text space and causes abstraction and generalization of the subject of the literary text. A good example of the complex title-prodrome is the title of Samuel Beckett's play "En attendant Godot", which explicitly names the process described in the play, but the frequent repetition ofvariations of title-words in various contexts of the literary text (namely: - "Allons-nous-en. On ne peut pas, on attend Godot.-C'est vrai" -five cases; "Qu'est-ce qu'on fait maintenant? - On attend Godot.-C'est vrai" -3 cases) contributes to the creation of the subtext and the title acquires an almost philosophi-
cal depth. Here post lectio, a concrete theme acquires general and abstract features and the subtext, created as a result is the absurdity of human existence.
Complex title-pragmeme unlike simple title-prag-meme, implicitly contains an evaluative implication that is a kind of intellectual and emotional message from the author. Thanks to such title the author finds an opportunity to express his ideas about the story, where the narration of the text is most often neutral and nothing points to the author's attitude to the described phenomena. Such titles are presented:
a) with expressions comprising stylistic figures/devices - these are metaphorical titles in a broad, Aristotelian sense of this word, including in itself all the stylistic figures. Such titles contain a moral credo and subjective vision of the author and represent conceptual information. Metaphorical titles, which at first glance have no relation to the text, open up and reveal themselves either in lectio in the context of the literary text, or post lectio, after the profound comprehension of the text. Retro-reading of the metaphorical titles demonstrates axiological attitude of the author to the phenomenon under consideration and reveals the conceptual information of the text, e.g.: "Vipère au poing", "La mort du petit cheval", "Cri de la chouette", "L'église verte" (Harvé Bazin); "Le baiser au lépreux"; "Le noeud de vipères" (Fr. Mauriac) etc.
b) with certain details of material significance taken from the entourage of the protagonist presented in the text - these are symbolic titles. Since the basic principle of the symbol is to present something invisible by something visible, this mysterious title has connotative abilities and functions as a part representing the whole, as a synecdoche or metonymy. Symbolic titles are the suggestive signs with the power of semantic reconstruction of the text. They determine the direction of the narrative of the text and consequently provide the depth of the text. Such titles acquire symbolic meanings in lectio or post lectio, e.g.: "Les Allumettes suédoises"; "Trois sucettes à la menthe" (R. Sabatier);
c) with one or more intertextual words - these are Intertextual titles. Such titles provoke linking chain with the associations of the source text and confer abstractness to the literary text, the titles of which they are. The Intertextual title is a powerful pragmatic means that focuses attention on the most significant (person or event) in the
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novel that is in full compliance with the intentions of the author, e.g.: "Sodome et Gomorrhe" (M. Proust); "Lève-toi et marche" (H. Bazin),"La porte étroite" (A. Gide), "Génitrix" (Fr. Mauriac) etc. The author by choosing the title gives a clue to his intentions to the reader, since it is exactly the title that determines the reading orientation for the reader. That is why the process of choosing the title is very challenging for the author and the title chosen by the author is so important for the reader. G. Genette asks a question: how would we read "Ulysses" byJoyce ifhe had not entitled it as "Ulysses"? [3, 8], because the intertextual title encompasses the entire narrative system of two texts, establishes associative cohesion and determines the spectrum of reading. New information provided is information pertaining the author's thoughts and worldview.
Types of titles with a complex correlation with the text allow the reader to retrospectively read everything that is explicitly missed out or intentionally omitted.
U. Eco notes that the title should contain some mystery and should not provide too much clues to the reader. Since the XX century and to this day the authors consider it important to present in the literary title their personal concepts, their intellectual and emotional outlook of the world, their individual vision of the narrated events by means of all kinds of stylistic figures, symbols and intertextuality in the titles. The title becomes a real arena for creativity, thereby destroying the traditional concept of the text space. The title of a complex type in relation to text combines in its expression the quintessence of a literary work.
References:
1. Heok L., La marque du titre, Paris, La Haye: - Mouton,- 1981.- 5 p.
2. Adam J. M. Pour lire le poème, De Boeck. Duculot, Bruxelles / Paris,- 1992.- 34 p.
3. Genette G., Seuils Le Seuil, coll. "Poétique",- 1987.- 8 p.
4. Джанджакова Е. В. Смысловая сущность заглавия и его перевод (на материале рассказов А. П. Чехова) // Моск. гос. лингвистический универ-ситет. Сб. науч. тр. Вып. 393.- М.,- 1992.- С. 26-32.
5. Гальперин И. Р. Текст как объект линтвистического иссле-дования. - М.: "Наука" - 1981.- P. 27-28; 133-134.
6. Martashvili N. E. The phenomenon of literary title, monograph, - Tbilisi. "Universal" - 2010.
