The cognitive aspect of the concept of masculinity in literary text

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The cognitive aspect of the concept of masculinity in literary text

Maslova Svitlana Yakivna, Candidate of Science in Pedagogics

Abstract

This article examines the concept of masculinity and its representation in literary texts, with a focus on contemporary English discourse. Gender studies have gained increasing importance in linguistics, aiming to understand the role of gender in society beyond biological differences. The article highlights the relevance of studying the concept of "masculinity," which has received relatively less attention compared to the concept of "femininity" in gender research. The article begins by discussing the origins and theoretical foundations of gender studies, particularly the identification of differences in the social statuses and roles of women and men. It then delves into the concept of "masculinity," one of the fundamental polar concepts along with "femininity," representing a model of social behavior rooted in ancient times. The concept of masculinity is often analyzed in comparison with feminine traits, rather than as a separate, ordered structure.

However, the article argues that examining the linguistic personality of male representatives can provide insights into the societal models of masculinity prevalent at different historical stages. The article outlines the research objectives, which include considering the concepts of "gender," "masculinity," and "femininity," tracing their manifestations in the behavior of male and female characters in contemporary English discourse, analyzing linguistic and stylistic features that influence the formation of the masculinity concept, and conducting a semantic analysis of linguistic means used to realize the concept. The research discusses the emergence of interest in masculinity studies, influenced by philosophical directions such as existentialism, structuralism, and postmodernism. It explores the concept of "hegemonic masculinity" introduced by R. Connell and the various types of male socialization identified by gender scholars. The article then focuses on the verbalization of the masculinity concept in a literary text, analyzes the linguistic units, such as lexemes, phraseological units, and sentence patterns, used to represent masculinity, including the key word "man" and its associations with social roles like "father," "husband," and "lover." The article contributes to the understanding of the masculinity concept in literary texts and its linguistic representation, shedding light on the societal models of masculinity and their evolution.

Keywords: concept, masculinity, literary text, cognitive aspect, verbalization.

Анотація

Когнітивний аспект концепту маскулінності в художньому тексті

Маслова Світлана Яківна кандидат педагогічних наук

У статті розглядається концепт маскулінності та його репрезентація в художніх текстах, з акцентом на сучасному англомовному дискурсі. Гендерні дослідження набувають все більшого значення в лінгвістиці, маючи на меті зрозуміти роль статі в суспільстві поза біологічними відмінностями.

У статті підкреслюється актуальність вивчення концепту «маскулінність», якому в гендерних дослідженнях приділяється порівняно менше уваги, ніж концепту «фемінінність». Стаття починається з обговорення витоків і теоретичних засад гендерних досліджень, зокрема виявлення відмінностей у соціальних статусах і ролях жінок і чоловіків. Далі розглядається поняття «маскулінності» - одне з фундаментальних полярних понять поряд з «фемінністю», що репрезентує модель соціальної поведінки, яка сягає корінням у глибоку давнину. Поняття маскулінності часто аналізують у порівнянні з фемінними рисами, а не як окрему, впорядковану структуру. Однак у статті стверджується, що вивчення мовної особистості представників чоловічої статі може дати уявлення про суспільні моделі маскулінності, що панували на різних історичних етапах.

У статті окреслено завдання дослідження, які полягають у розгляді концептів «гендер», «маскулінність» і «фемінність», простеженні їхніх проявів у поведінці чоловічих і жіночих персонажів у сучасному англомовному дискурсі, аналізі лінгвостилістичних особливостей, що впливають на формування концепту маскулінності, а також у проведенні семантичного аналізу мовних засобів, що використовуються для реалізації концепту. У дослідженні розглядається виникнення інтересу до вивчення маскулінності під впливом таких філософських напрямів, як екзистенціалізм, структуралізм і постмодернізм. Досліджується поняття «гегемоністської маскулінності», введене Р. Коннеллом, а також різні типи чоловічої соціалізації, визначені гендерними дослідниками. Далі стаття зосереджується на вербалізації концепту маскулінності в художньому тексті, аналізує мовні одиниці, такі як лексеми, фразеологізми та речення, що використовуються для репрезентації маскулінності, зокрема ключове слово «чоловік» та його асоціації з такими соціальними ролями, як «батько», «чоловік» та «коханець». Стаття сприяє розумінню концепту маскулінності в літературних текстах та його мовної репрезентації, проливаючи світло на суспільні моделі маскулінності та їхню еволюцію.

Ключові слова: концепт, маскулінність, художній текст, когнітив- ний аспект, вербалізація.

Setting a problem

In latest decades close attention of linguistics is aimed at the anthropological aspect of the functioning of language, in connections with which gender studies are of particular importance. It is a direction of interdisciplinary research that focuses on the role of the gender factor in the life of society. The gender approach in linguistics does not imply biological differences between male and female sexes, but the significance of the cultural, social, and psychological characteristics of the individual. The basis of gender research was the identification of differences in the statuses of women and men in various spheres of life using a comparative analysis of dominance traits in various areas, based on the gender role performed by the individual.

Gender studies aimed at studying the basic polar concepts of “masculinity” -- “femininity” have drawn a pattern that the implementation of each of them varies depending on the scientific focus of each of the disciplines of the humanities. Factors influencing the choice of certain linguistic means in the communicative process are being studied at the present stage in linguistics in various types of discourse. Due to this interest, gender theory tries to interpret in its own way literary texts, which are essentially a special type of discourse, in which present linguistic pictures of the world that characterize male and female views of the world. Of particular interest are literary texts from the 19th century and their analysis, allowing compare modern gender status with the status of that time, which determines the writing of this work.

The concept of “masculinity” analyzed in this work is one of the constituent components in a fundamental pair that originated in ancient times and represents a special model of social behavior. Consideration of the concept of “masculinity” is often discriminated against character. Firstly, signs of masculinity are always analyzed in comparison with female traits of the opposite nature; they are not considered as a separately ordered structure.

However, analysis of the linguistic personality of a representative of this concept allows linguists to draw a conclusion about the social model of masculinity that dominates that or another stage of historical development, as well as provide assistance in the anthropocentric direction of modern linguistic science.

The relevance of this work is due to the fact that the gender factor in the scientific paradigm of linguistic studies is a relatively new area of research, in particular the number of works devoted to the analysis of the concept of “masculinity” is relatively small, which allows us to conclude that this concept is poorly studied in a comparative aspect with the concept of “femininity”.

The object o f the concept of “masculinity” and its verbalization in a literary text. The aim of the research - to identify the peculiarities of verbalization of the concept "masculinity" in a literary text.

The latest researches and publication analysis. The research focuses on the studies of researchers in the field of gender linguistics, devoted to issues of social and cultural conditioning of gender in scientific paradigm linguistic sciences (R. Connell, S.A. Orlyansky), works on the theory of power and feminist linguistic theory (M. Foucault, G. Rubin, R. Lakoff), research in the field of linguistics (E. Sapir, O. Jespersen, F. Mauthner), works by representatives of the theory of gender as a system (I. Hirdman, M. Wittig).

Findings and discussions. At the dawn of gender studies, the problem of masculinity began to interest scientists along with femininity as a special phenomenon. The factor of revision of the established principles of patriarchal culture by various philosophical directions, such as existentialism, structuralism and postmodernism influenced the emergence of this interest.

A similar situation appears and in other languages, however, in English these synonyms are distinguished (“masculinity” -- masculinity, “manhood” -- maturity, manhood, mature age) [7].

The androcentrism of language, which has been criticized within feminist linguistics, has led to the idea that representation about the picture of the world is based only on male opinion and language acts only on behalf of the male subject. The following examples help to verify this:

1) In European languages not delimit concepts "Human" and “man”: in English “man”, in German - “derMann”, in French - “homme”, in Spanish - “hombre ” mean both a man and a person;

2) Addressing a woman using a masculine designation is often acceptable and even in some cases has a positive effect on her social status, while the opposite situation is considered offensive to a man, since the address will convey a disdainful attitude;

3) Manageress, lady doctor and a number of other words give rise to thoughts that data professions are purely male, those the most confirming the idea of androcentrism of European languages;

4) Names denoting the female gender as a general name are most often not used; this phenomenon is most often observed in the names of professions. If we take the singular singer and singer, then when a noun becomes plural, the form singers is used, regardless of the mixed composition of the participants.

The most common answer to this question might be formulated as follows: Masculinity consists of those behaviors and practices that exist in specific cultural locations that are typically associated with men, and thus culturally defined as non-feminine. Therefore, masculinity means positive characteristics in quality facilities identification of representatives of the male gender, and as negative in the sense that the qualities of masculinity are not applicable to the female gender. Masculinity and male behavior are not simply a product of genetic coding or biological predispositions [4].

All societies have cultural ideas about gender, but not all have the concept of “masculinity”. In modern usage of the term, it is assumed that human behavior depends on personality type. That is, the representative masculine type will lead myself otherwise: be peaceful rather than violent, making concessions rather than dominating, not interested in sexual conquests, and so on. This concept implies faith in individual difference and individual goal setting [1;2;3].

In this sense, it builds on the concept of individuality that developed in early modern Europe with the rise of colonial empires and the development of capitalist economic relations [7]. But the concept is also inherently relative. “Masculinity” exists only in contrast to “femininity.” A culture that does not consider women and men as bearers of polarized characters, in principle, has no concept of masculinity in the sense of modern European/American culture [7].

Sociology masculinity concerns critical studying men, his behavior, values and prospects. How such the sociology of masculinity is based on information and is reflected in the works on feminist theory. Since its emergence in the 1950s, the sociology of masculinity has gone through three phases, partly reflecting similar shifts in theoretical models feminist thinking. The first stage dealt with the problem of the male role, its representation in society and attitudes towards people from the point of view of dominant positions. This is what Joseph Plec called the “masculine” gender role [7]. The second stage continues in the early 1980s and studies of this period sought to emphasize not so much the cost of patriarchy for men, but the central role of male power in dominance. Using Tim's work as an example Carrigana and Ravina Connell, theory second waves introduced concept "hegemonic masculinity" as "political, plural, contested, but still a powerful concept" [7, p. 288]. The third wave in the sociology of masculinity arose under the influence feminist poststructuralism and postmodern theory [5]. Here the theory is reflected through dominant discursive practices and also shows how engagement with self-determination is associated with gendered power and resistance.

In recent years, sociologists have been interested in the position of men in society. This shift in gender linguistics, in particular explanation concepts “gender” and “sexuality” have led to a new emphasis on men and masculinity in the broad context of gender relations, social models of interaction between men and women. Sociologists are interested in understanding how a man identifies himself and what influence is socially prescribed for the male gender [7].

It is not surprising that at the moment there is active interest in the study of masculine qualities both from specially trained and qualified specialists and from ordinary people. A striking example illustrating this interest is a community called “American Men's Studies Association”, which located in USA. How it is seen from names, given Union puts before represents the initial task of studying masculinity in various fields of scientific and everyday knowledge.

The most prominent role in the study of masculinity is occupied by R. Connell. His approach was particularly influential in sociology because it integrated the concepts of patriarchy and masculinity into a general theory of gender relations. According to Connell, the concept of "masculinity" is the most important part of gender systems and maybe understood separately from this systems or from accompanying person her concept "femininity" [7]. Gender scientists such as Robert Brannon, Joseph Plec, Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette have over the years identified the most typical representatives of male socialization. Having analyzed the works of R. Connell, where the abstract concept of hegemonic masculinity is traced, one can find confirmation of the following types, which are reflected both socially and psychologically:

“Sturdy Oak” - this type characterizes a male representative as strong, resilient, capable of solving any given task;

1) “Give 'em Hell” - male representatives who are prone to rash and hasty decisions, accept any challenge and blow of fate;

2) “Big Wheel” is a man for whom social status and social status above Total, That's why feelings those around its people are given secondary importance;

3) “No Sissy Stuff” - this type differs from the above in that from an early age the child is raised in conditions without manifestations of tender and warm feelings, since compassion and mercy are the lot of the female half of humanity. If on the part of a boy at an early age there are signs of purely women's manifestations emotions, habits. That certainly after this will follow condemnation. Consequence given appeals may serve as alexithymia - the inability to combine the verbal and emotional components of brain activity, that is, during verbal interaction a person cannot describe in words what is happening in his soul.

One of the most important ways of representing a concept is its verbalization - the process of actualizing an expression through symbolic descriptions. Words, phraseological units, phrases, sentence patterns, and even text are considered as methods of verbalization if they reflect the meaning of the concept.

The concept of “masculinity” is inextricably linked with interaction men and women in the process of communication. Being an oppositional component in the fundamental pair “masculinity” - “femininity”, this concept equally reflects the cognitive consciousness of the people, as how the problem of gender relations became one of the key ones with the advent of society. Masculinity, like femininity, is a fictional construct, and myths about masculinity and femininity have always been portrayed in literature, art, and popular culture. Interestingly enough, the study of hegemonic masculinity in this Southern context appears to be an extremely diverse and controversial field, as it seems that critics have chosen to reflect on the Southern womanhood and how Southern women writers should become the dominant voice in 20th-century American literature.

The key word representing the concept of “masculinity” in the text of the novel is the lexeme man and its plural form men. This word first appears when describing the type of activity that the male population of the state of North Georgia was engaged in: provided a man was smart in the things that mattered.” [8, p. 32]. Subsequently, the same lexeme appears at description Gerald O'Hara, But wears quicker Not individualized, but generalized in nature.

In addition to the lexeme man/men, the concept of “masculinity” is very often correlated in the text of the novel with such lexical units as father, husband, lover thereby emphasizing the importance of fulfilling a social role, traditionally prescribed male semi. In the first lines we can see word father at primary mention main heroines. The author emphasizes the Irish roots of Scarlett's father (“Florid Irish father”). This lexeme does not correlate with anyone's image other than Gerald himself. From this we can conclude that the social role of a family man is assigned exclusively to one character - Gerald O'Hara. Unlike the role of the father, the role of the husband is intertwined with the fates of many of the male characters in the novel.

The linguistic unit boy is used by Mitchell not only to describe men of white origin, but also to create prototypes of representatives of slave enslavement in the novel. So, for example, this word appears for the first time when mentioning a black boy: “He [Pork] was followed closely by Jack, a black little boy of ten, hastily buttoning a white linen jacket.” [8, p. 178]. Based on the degree of use and stylistic coloring of this lexeme, we can conclude that the author mainly uses it, presenting to the reader representatives of the male line of a younger age. compared to the main characters of the novel's storyline.

The most complete explication of the concept under study occurs when help lexemes gentleman in separately consumed words used in various combinations. This token reflects the author's own special attitude to the image of masculinity, which firmly held its position in the Old South. Honor, loyalty and truth are the moral principles by which the old South lives, these are the guiding principles that the Yankees cannot understand. The same moral principles determined by whom must be Southern gentleman: person knightly manners and good upbringing; a person of good social standing; a man of wealth and reasonable leisure.

Aristocratic by nature, Victorian in manners, the Southern man was characterized by autonomy, self-discipline and integrity, combining himself all the elements of the old chivalric codes with a keen sense of personal and caste power. In the intensely patriarchal world of the South (which some critics have identified as a hypermasculine culture), the masculine ideal was an ideology, a powerful statement of the ruling class's claim to legitimacy and power: “It doesn't matter who you marry, as long as he thinks like you and is a gentleman and a Southerner and proud. ” [8, p. 169].

Great importance was paid not to true origin, but to political affiliation. Whether it's Gerald O'Hara, who is a landowner (“landed gentleman”), or Rhett Butler with his air of a rare gentleman (“gentleman of rare refinement and delicacy”) By opinion most Mitchell, gentleman could only that man who is fully committed to the ideals of the Old South can be called. The Civil War showed that Southern autonomy had failed. In an era that demanded careful displays of masculinity, Southern men could prove your masculinity those who in their opinion, was inferior to themselves socially, morally and politically.

From the point of view of lexicology and stylistics, the word gentlewoman is quite interesting when describing the speech behavior of the main character Scarlett O'Hara. Being direct representative masculine - femininity, developing in itself the qualities inherent in men due to changing conditions after the war, this image is contradictory. For a more complete understanding of the author's interpretation of this lexeme, we find the definition of the word “ gentlewoman” - a woman who belongs to a high social class; a woman who is well educated and has excellent manners [8; P. 356].

The word formed by contraction has a common root gentle. Addressing To Oxford dictionary we find definition words ”gentle” - calm and kind; doing things in a quiet and careful way [8; P. 356]. Combining the qualities of a true Southerner, brought up according to the rules of that society and receiving a decent education - “Between them, they taught her all that a gentlewoman should know but she learned only the outward signs of gentility. ” [8, p. 196], - the main character adapts to the conditions of the New South, thereby Mitchell invests new connotative meaning in the word gentlewoman, while the denotative meaning remains the same.

Words belonging to different parts of speech also help in actualizing the concept under consideration. Take, for example, the verb to force. By analyzing the contextual meanings of a given word, one can identify a common therefore - force. In communications with this concept "masculinity" is explicated not only with the help of this verb, but also with the help of the adjacent nouns strength, courage, power, which have a common connotative meaning. It is extremely unusual that the verb to force appears in speech main heroines and at description her actions: “She drew back her arm and slapped him across the mouth with all the force she had left. ” [8, p. 127]; “ `She intended to force the food down Ellen's throat should she see signs offlagging. ” [8, p. 181]; “She could not, could not force it to her lips. ” [8, p. 201]. The remaining lexemes are equally interconnected and represent images of other male characters. When describing the image of Rhett, the author uses the lexeme power at greater degrees: “The sense of his great physical power struck she like a blow. ” [8, p. 201]; “Yes, the ladies felt they could forgive and forget a great many things for such a brave man. ” [8, p. 196].

The relationship between masculinity, identity and gender as components of social structure have changed significantly during the development of sociology masculinity. Early research, as a rule, relied heavily on gender role concepts for men. Based on this, representatives of the social construction of gender argue that the theory of gender roles was insufficient for studying male roles and fail to fully recognize differences between men and women.

The semantic features of metaphor old maid (відповідно old-maidish) є 1. spinster 3. (a woman past the common age for marrying [17] - жінка, яка вийшла з віку, що є звичним для одруження) and 2: a prim nervous person of either sex who frets over inconsequential details (педантична, нервова людина будь-якої статі, яка тривожиться через усілякі дрібниці). In the work it is used in phrases: old maid in britches, in pants: 1) Old maid in britches - стара діва в штанях; 2) that old maid in pants - стара діва в штанях; 3) old-maidish fussy way - метушлива старопанянська вдача; 4) old-maidish - шамотливий, як стара діва; 5) fussy and old-maidish - метушливий та педантичний, як стара діва.

gender masculinity masculinity semantic

Conclusion and perspectives of research

This research has analyzed the concept of masculinity and its linguistic representation in the literary text. Through a detailed examination of lexical units, phraseological units, and stylistic devices, the study has revealed the author's portrayal of masculinity in the context of the Old South. The key findings indicate that the concept of masculinity is intrinsically linked to the interaction between men and women in the communication process. The lexeme "man" and its plural form "men" are central to representing masculinity, often associated with social roles such as "father," "husband," and "lover." The lexeme "gentleman" reflects the author's attitude towards the ideal of masculinity upheld in the Old South, characterized by honor, loyalty, and adherence to chivalric codes. Moreover, the analysis has shown that certain lexical units, such as "to force," "strength," "courage," and "power," contribute to the explication of the masculinity concept by emphasizing qualities traditionally associated with men, such as physical prowess and dominance.

While this study has provided valuable insights into the linguistic representation of masculinity in a specific literary work, several avenues for future research can be explored:

Comparative analysis. Conducting a comparative analysis of the masculinity concept across different literary genres, time periods, and cultural contexts could shed light on the evolving perceptions and representations of masculinity in literature.

Interdisciplinary approaches. Incorporating perspectives from other disciplines, such as sociology, psychology, and cultural studies, could enhance the understanding of masculinity as a multifaceted concept and its implications for gender roles and societal norms.

Corpus-based studies. Employing corpus-based methods and analyzing large-scale textual data could provide quantitative insights into the linguistic patterns and frequencies associated with the representation of masculinity in various discourse types.

Intersectionality. Exploring the intersections of masculinity with other social categories, such as race, class, and sexuality, could offer a more nuanced understanding of how these intersecting identities shape the construction and perception of masculinity.

Diachronic studies. Investigating the diachronic changes in the linguistic representation of masculinity over time could reveal shifts in societal attitudes, values, and ideologies related to gender roles and expectations.

By pursuing these research directions, the researchers can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the concept of masculinity, its linguistic manifestations, and its implications for gender dynamics and social structures.

References

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2. Кочерган М.П. Зіставне мовознавство і проблема мовних картин світу. Мовознавство, 2004.

3. Чернишенко І.А. Фактори формування національних мовних картин світу. Вісник Житомирського держ. ун-ту ім. І. Франка, 2007.

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Література

1. Hnatenko P.I. Natsionalnyi kharakter. [National character]. Dnipropetrovs: Polihrafist, 1992. 420 s.

2. Kocherhan M.P. Zistavne movoznavstvo i problema movnykh kartyn svitu. [Contrastive linguistics and the problem of language picture of the world]. Movoznavstvo, 2004.

3. Chernyshenko I.A. Faktory formuvannia natsionalnykh movnykh kartyn svitu. [Factors of formation of the national language picture of the world]. Visnyk Zhytomyrskoho derzh. un-tu im. I. Franka, 2007.

4. Shymanovych H.M. Metafora yak kohnityvnyi mekhanizm nominatsii ta yii rol u movnii kartyni svitu. [Metaphor as a cognitive mechanism of nomination and its role in language picture of the world]. Kultura narodov Prychernomoria, 2007.

5. Lakoff G., Johnson M. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago, L. : The University of Chicago Press, 1980. 242 p.

6. Newmark P. Approaches to Translation. New-York: Prentice Hall, 1988.

7. Pulera D. Visible Differences. Why Race Will Matter to Americans in the Twenty-First Century. New York-London: Continuum, 2002. 408 p.

8. Mitchell M. Gone with the Wind. New York: Scribner, 2007. 960 p.

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