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ON INTERPRETATION OF LONELINESS IN THE FICTIONAL SPACE (BASED ON SHORT STORIES BY J. ARCHER AND M. BOWEN)
L.A. Nalbandian, master, tutor Online school "Tetrika" (Russia, Rostov-on-Don)
DOLW.24412/2500-1000-2024-5-6-34-38
Abstract. This paper examines the phenomenon of loneliness from the perspective of the range of interpretation approaches which can be implemented by a reader to decode the essence of loneliness as the special psycho-emotional and physical state that is described in two stories -M. Bowen "The Accident" and J. Archer "An Eye for an Eye ".
Keywords: psycho-emotional loneliness, physical loneliness, individual style, explicitness, implicitness, stylistic devices.
The problem of loneliness is the subject of study in various anthropocentric sciences. For instance, this topic becomes central within the frameworks of philosophy, theology, psychology, psychiatry, as well as within humanities disciplines such as philology, literary theory, and pedagogy. Despite its general disciplinary nature, each of these fields focuses on a particular aspect within the semantic diversity of this phenomenon. From an artistic and theoretical perspective, this issue traces its origins back to ancient traditions reflected in the texts of the Bible, myths and legends of peoples, theological treatises, and many other ancient manuscripts that confirm the relevance of interpreting loneliness by the representatives of different eras. The phenomenon of loneliness has not lost its relevance in the current stage of scientific thought development.
This phenomenon is multifaceted, incorporating various forms of manifestation, each of which is individually interpreted by every member of the human community. Consequently, scientific analysis of the problem under study is quite complex and requires consideration of different interpretative approaches. It is confirmed by "cultural-historical and psychologically conditioned forms of loneliness, as well as the ways of relating to it and experiencing it" [1, p. 1].
It is important to note the differences in approaches that have developed in Western and Eastern cultures. The first is characterized by the orientation on the individual success. A person must cope with loneliness inde-
pendently, and it is crucial that his unnerved state was not evident to others: those around should not realize that the individual is struggling with loneliness. In the Eastern tradition, norms and duty are the guiding principles. "The foundation of society consists of small social groups (clans and families), and a person is an integral part of the community, group and must protect its interests and follow its rules. His Individual achievements and successes matter only to the extent which they benefit the community which the he belongs to" [1, p. 2].
Furthermore, the state of loneliness is commonly associated "either with an internal reflective discord of the personality or with a rupture or lack of certain social connections, or with both simultaneously" [2, p. 97]. Thus, this state is considered from two different viewpoints: from the perspective of the inner world of a lonely person and from the perspective of the social environment of a person experiencing loneliness.
Considering the first variant, inevitably the question arises: "What is it within this person that allows him to feel lonely?" To answer it, mental attitudes, behavior patterns, habits, and self-esteem of the person are analyzed and studied - all he aspects that are formed during the development of an individual. When considering the second variant, another question raises: "What must the surrounding be like for an individual or group of people to experience a sense of loneliness?" Here, it is important to investigate social processes that lead to negative consequences [2, p. 97].
The present study focuses on the interpretation of the theme of loneliness in the paradigm of modern English artistic discourse, which confirms its relevance not only within the study of the individual style of concrete authors - J. Archer and M. Bowen, but also serves as a proof of the enduring nature of this theme for humanity's reflections on such an important topic. For example, in Russian literature, it is thoroughly examined by N.V. Gogol, M.Yu. Lermontov,
I.A. Goncharov, and many other foreign writers - F.S. Fitzgerald, J. London, G.G. Marquez, indicating the wide range of sub-themes that are discovered within the broader one - the theme of loneliness. Regarding contemporary English literature, special attention is to be drawn to the literary works by J. Archer and M. Bowen as being particularly marked in terms of individual style and the range of linguistic means which actualize the examined theme. The problem of loneliness in the interpretation of these authors is revealed through the prism of various interconnected psycho-emotional and physical factors that become particularly clear within such stories as "The Accident" by M. Bowen [3] and "An Eye for an Eye" by J. Archer [4].
The problem of verbalization continues to occupy one of the central places in the an-thropocentric paradigm of linguistic doctrines. Lately, attention has been increasingly focused on the study of concepts relating to psycho-emotional and sensuous sphere of a person. For instance, English lexicographic sources represent a considerable number of conventional forms for loneliness, encompassing various parts of speech. Among the nouns listed in Multitran dictionary, the dominant form is "solitude", on a par with the other possible variants such as: "loneliness", "oneness", "singleness", "solitariness", "for-lornness", "aloneness", "privacy", "seclusion", "ensomhet", "ownsome", "owny-o", "onliness", "desolation", "abandonment", "closeness", "dereliction", "helplessness", "recess", "retirement", "solitary existence", "isolation", "loneness", "lonesomeness", "re-tiredness", "singletonitis", "alienation", "mokus", "singledom", life as a single", "sin-glehood", "single life" and "soleness" [5].
For a detailed consideration of possible ways of wording loneliness by means of adjectives, we selected the following sources: "Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms" by A. Spooner [6] and "Oxford Learner's Thesaurus" by D. Lee [7]. The dominant term is "solitary", among the possible synonymic sequence one finds "alone", "antisocial", cloistered", "companionless", "friendless", "isolated", "lonely", "lonesome", "reclusive", "unsociable", "withdrawn", "individual", "one", "only", "single", "sole", "desolate", "distant", "hidden", "inaccessible", "isolated", "out-of-the-way", "private", "remote", "secluded", "sequestered", "unfrequented", "unknown" [6]. Whereas such alternatives are possible as "lonely", along with its synonym "alone", "isolated", "homesick", "forlorn", "bereft", "desolate" [7]. Therefore, it is important to note the differences in the variety of entries represented above.
As we had already mentioned, loneliness is powerfully reflected among the world's literary works and can be presented by authors both explicitly and implicitly.
Basing on the story "The Accident" by M. Bowen, it is worth noting that the theme of psycho-emotional and physical loneliness prevails throughout the story and is revealed by the narrator both through the direct description and indirect one. So, to depict the secluded area which the protagonists found themselves in, being in a very sticky situation, Mrs. Bowen resorts to the direct method of nomination by means of the sequence of such epithets as: "amazed", "escaped", "flaming car", "lonely road", functioning within the word "common" represented in the utterance "Murchison was amazed at the speed with which he escaped from the flaming car, across the common, for he could now see the red blaze on the lonely road in the distance" [3, p. 7]. This fragment of narration creates image of the whole arduous picture and we can't but feel how lonely and helpless the characters were at that very moment.
Whereas, to convey the relationships between Murchison and Bargrave on a par with their inner ongoing unnerved state caused by their row, the author resorts to the indirect method of characterization. For instance, the antithesis "the fright had seared his memory;
but he certainly knew he loathed Bargrave" [3, p. 7] draws the attention to the fact that Murchison was a kind of a grudge-holding person who was unable to let everything go and forgive the good-for-nothing incident, being even in such ordeal circumstances without any support and help.
Furthermore, his inability to stop thinking about his aversion towards Bargrave suggests that the conflict between them should not have been a single one, as the feeling of hatred invaded the man even when all the other emotions were blocked. The rhetorical question "Do you think that you're alive?" jeered the ghost of Bargrave [3, p. 7] denotes his pet peeve towards Murchison. We can't but state that even the coming death does not serve as the reason to unite and forget about their quarrel. So, we can presuppose that the detachment "an attenuated, grey wisp of a Bargrave, within the metaphor "blown thin by the forlorn breeze" [3, p. 7] pinpoints a jolly intricate phenomenon when both the quality of our life and the number of years we trot this globe and even further reincarnation have direct interdependence with the positive or negative thoughts we have. It also depends on our ability and tendency to build up amicable or evil relationships with other people. Even our conduct can impact the final resolution the Almighty can make at our terminal minutes of life that was designed for us not by a chance. Our life is granted to us to be taught this or that thing, to explore the essence of it and become wiser and stronger. The simile "the landscape was oddly dim, like the dimness of an eclipse" [3, p. 7] symbolizes their continuous nameless misery that is waiting for them in heaven because of their scurvy action and deeds while being on earth.
While considering the story "An Eye for Eye" by J. Archer, one can't but mention that within this literary work the theme of psycho-emotional loneliness predominates over the narration that is conveyed by the author through the implicit style of characterization by means of festering relationships in the wedlock, where the husband is portrayed as an unbelievably cruel person.
First of all, we would like to underline both the distinctive features and the similarities within the abovementioned works.
Though, in the literary work by Archer, Mrs. Banks is represented as a married woman, one can't but state that she was no less lonely than compared to Murchison and Bargrave from the previous story because she was regularly abused by her extremely violent husband, named Bruce Banks. The following extract lets us learn about her late husband long history of violence that is interlaced with the cruel treatment of his wife, the damage severity which can be assessed through the gradation "Your client was regularly seen in the local village either bruised, or with a black eye, sometimes bleeding from cuts around the head - once even nursing a broken arm" [4, p. 300]. The very climax drives us at idea that their marriage was just a formality where the poor wife of his had to endure continuously her husband's quirks. It is important to note that the social aspect was crucial to Mrs. Banks. As we had already mentioned there is a type of loneliness in which it is necessary for a person not to let others understand that they are actually lonely. Mrs. Banks' situation can be defined as one of these. The uttered represented speech "She has always stated that those injuries were sustained when working on the farm where her husband was the manager" [4, p. 300] signifies that she was ready to protect her family's reputation by all means possible not to allow others to learn anything about the home truth that she had to put up with. So, we can note how vital it was for Mrs. Banks to pretend all the time and create the illusion of their "happy" wedlock for the society. The very factor distinguishes the type of loneliness from the previous text as Mrs. Bowen refrains from providing us any data whether Murchison along with Bargrave cared about the external aspect of their loneliness or not, but highlights their internal focus. Murchison's and Bargrave's inner unnerved state can be marked by means of various stylistic devices, whereas we learn very little about Mrs. Bank's feelings. The only thing that she was preoccupied of was the people's awareness and their positive view about her private life that is why she was always trying to be as secretive with any people she as she could be. Another uttered represented speech "The only person known to have visited the farm regu-
larly was the postman. Apparently, everyone else in the village refused to venture beyond the front gate" [4, p. 300] points out the high degree of aloofness of the family, despite living in a small village. We can conclude that she might be less frightened of becoming lonely in fact, since she just the kind of person who got used to living suffering lacerations, but creating an image of a luxurious and mundane life for the society.
So, based on the analyzed stories we can come to a conclusion that the problem of loneliness is revealed in two different ways. In the first text, loneliness centers around the protagonists' own feelings. In the second story the attention is shifted to the external side, as loneliness in it is demonstrated through the protagonist's tribulations about what society will think about her relationships with her husband, but not what she believes herself. A common feature can be identified within the both literary works - that is the motive of loneliness and loss. Murchison loses his friend Bargrave and Mrs. Banks loses her husband. The interconnections between the protagonists both in the first and in the second works cannot be called good. That is noted due to the quarrel between Bargrave and Murchison, as well as the ongoing conflict within the Banks family.
So, we can drive a conclusion that despite the common theme of loneliness in both stories, it is revealed differently in the literary works of Archer and Bowen. The reason is that every author has his own unique individ-
ual style which influences both the choice of words and stylistic devices, as well as the certain form of portraying the characters emotions and motives laid down in the concrete literary work.
As for the language design and the choice of expressive means, one should pay attention to the fact that M. Bowen preferred to reveal the theme of loneliness both explicitly and implicitly. For a direct description, she selected a number of epithets, periphrases, and metaphors which helped to convey the idea of isolation both physical and moral. Therefore, to describe the relationships between the protagonists, the author used indirect characterization with the help of numerous stylistic devices: the epithets, antithesis, rhetorical questions, detachments, metaphors, and similes. J. Archer conveyed the same theme resorting to the descriptive method thanks to the introduction into the narration of a set made up of gradation, climax, and uttered represented speech.
So, the short stories under consideration are the vivid examples of the way the individual style influences the process of nomination and objectivization of the idea of loneliness in the present date original fictional texts. The latter are obvious to be stylistically marked due to not only the introduction of a set of codified lexemes with the semantics of "loneliness" but also a set of the expressive means that make the analyzed texts stand out in terms colorful and emotive conveying the idea of loneliness.
References
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ОБ ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИИ ОДИНОЧЕСТВА В ПРОСТРАНСТВЕ ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННОГО ТЕКСТА (НА ПРИМЕРЕ РАССКАЗОВ ДЖ. АРЧЕРА И М. БОУЭН)
Л.А. Налбандян, магистр, преподаватель Онлайн школа «Тетрика» (Россия, г. Ростов-на-Дону)
Аннотация. В статье рассматривается феномен одиночества с точки зрения спектра интерпретационных подходов, которые могут быть имплементированы читателем для декодирования сущности одиночества как особого психоэмоционального и физического состояния на примере двух рассказов - М. Боуэн "The Accident" и Дж. Арчера "An Eye for an Eye ".
Ключевые слова: психоэмоциональное одиночество, физическое одиночество, идио-стиль, эксплицитность, имплицитность, стилистические средства.
