Stylistic peculiarities in U. Le Guin’s fantasies

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Дніпровський національний університет імені Олеся Гончара

Стилістичні особливості у фантазіях У. Ле Гуїн

Stylistic peculiarities in U. Le Guin's fantasies

I.V. Shyshkina

Ця стаття зумовлена нинішньою зацікавленістю в оповіданнях Урсули Ле Гуїн, які зі стилістичної точки зору є недостатньо дослідженими. Робота висвітлює основні стилістичні особливості письменниці, представляє глибокий аналіз оповідання Ле Гуїн “Чарівник Земномор'я” на кожному рівні мови (крім морфологічного): фонографічному (антитеза, кульмінація, порівняння), лексичному (метафора, епітет, персоніфікація, гіпербола, оксюморон), синтаксичному (повторення, паралельна конструкція, риторичне питання, еліпсис, інверсія, полісиндетон, асиндетон). Описано функції, що виконуються всіма тими стилістичними прийомами, які використовуються в тексті. Необхідно зазначити, що оповідання “Чарівник Земномор'я” є надзвичайно багатим різноманітними, влучними, оригінальними стилістичними засобами, кожен з яких має певну роль, суттєву для всієї “тканини” твору. Наприкінці дослідження можна зробити висновок, що найбільш потужні емоційно-експресивні, логічні та психологічні ефекти мають ті частини тексту, в яких спостерігається синтез стилістичних прийомів різних рівнів мови. І чим більше таких прийомів, тим сильніше враження справляє книга на читача. Саме такі частини тексту роблять процес читання набагато цікавішим та неймовірно захопливим. Синтез великої кількості стилістичних прийомів знаходимо здебільшого у описаннях. Деколи ці засоби настільки зливаються, що досить складно визначити, який саме прийом використано в тому чи іншому реченні.

Ключові слова: рівень мови, літературний текст, стилістичний аналіз, стилістичний засіб, стилістичні прийоми, текст.

stylistic fantasy

Эта статья обусловлена нынешней заинтересованностью в произведениях Урсулы Ле Гуин, которые со стилистической точки зрения остаются недостаточно исследованными. Работа освещает основные стилистические особенности творчества писательницы, представляет глубокий анализ рассказа Ле Гуин “Волшебник Земноморья” на каждом языковом уровне (кроме морфологического): фонографическом (антитеза, кульминация, сравнение), лексическом (метафора, эпитет, персонификация, гипербола, оксюморон), синтаксическом (повтор, параллельная конструкция, риторический вопрос, эллипсис, инверсия, многосоюзие, бессоюзие). Описаны функции, выполняемые всеми теми стилистическими приемами, которые используются в тексте. Необходимо отметить, что рассказ “Волшебник Земноморья” является чрезвычайно богатым разнообразными, точными, оригинальными стилистическими средствами, каждое из которых имеет определенную роль, существенную для всей "ткани" произведения. В конце исследования можно сделать вывод, что наиболее мощные эмоциональноэкспрессивные, логические и психологические эффекты имеют те части текста, в которых наблюдается синтез стилистических приемов различных уровней языка. И чем больше таких приемов, тем более сильное впечатление производит книга на читателя. Именно такие части текста делают процесс чтения интересным и невероятно захватывающим. Синтез большого количества стилистических приемов находим преимущественно в описаниях. Иногда эти средства настолько сливаются, что достаточно сложно определить, какой именно прием использован в том или ином предложении.

Ключевые слова: уровень языка, литературный текст, стилистический анализ, стилистическое средство, стилистические приемы, текст.

The article is based on the current interest in Ursula Le Guin's stories as they are little observed from the stylistic point of view. This work clarifies the main stylistic peculiarities of the writer, presents a profound analysis of Le Guin's story “The Wizard of The Earthsea” on each level of the language (except morphological): phonographic (antithesis, climax, comparison), lexical (metaphor, epithet, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron), syntactical (repetition, parallel construction, rhetorical question, ellipse, inversion, polysyndeton, asyndeton). It is described the functions performed by all the stylistic devices used in the text. It can be stated that “The Wizard of The Earthsea” is very rich in various striking, original stylistic means, each of which has an essential role to the entire “tissue” of the text. At the end of the research it can be concluded that the most powerful emotional expression, logical and psychological effects are comprised in those parts of the text in which there is a synthesis of stylistic techniques of different levels of language. And the more such techniques the story has, the more it impresses the reader. These parts of the text make the reading process much more interesting and incredibly exciting. Synthesis of a great number of stylistic devices is found mainly in the descriptions. Sometimes these means are so merged, that it is quite difficult to determine which of them is used in one or another sentence.

Keywords: language level, literary text, stylistic analysis, stylistic device, stylistic means, text.

Ursula Le Guin is a famous American author of children books and short stories in the genre of fantasy. She wrote mainly for kids. One of her most successful works is Earthsea trilogy, the first book of which is “The Wizard of the Earthsea”.

The trilogy of the Earthsea has been written extremely profoundly. There's a huge amount of philosophical, anthropological and linguistic knowledge that forms the base of the work.

U. Le Guin's works are convincing, detailed, and images are vivid, complete. But her stories are little observed from the stylistic point of view. Thus, the purpose of this research is to investigate the main purpose and principles of the linguo-stylistic analysis of the literary texts and to conduct a profound analysis of the Ursula Le Guin's story “The Wizard of the Earthsea”.

The law of life in Le Guin's fairy tales is not only fiction, but also the reflection of many folks' beliefs and metaphorical representation of Ursula's philosophical ideas. The writer's imaginary worlds are always powerful, detailed, inhabited by unusual characters. That is why her novels and stories are of a huge interest in the sphere of stylistics. They represent a great example for the linguo-stylistic analysis of the text.

In this respect it is important to bring to light the definition of the linguo-stylistic analysis, its object, purpose and principles.

The theory of the linguo-stylistic analysis was developed by a great number of famous linguists. Among them are V. V. Vinogradov, B. A. Larin, L. D. Shcherba, R. A. Budagov and others.

According to numerous sources, the linguo-stylistic analysis of the text is a detailed and thorough analysis of the role and functions of language units belonging to different language levels in their organization and expression of the idea of the text [6].

The interdisciplinary character of stylistics determines its object - a literary text.

The main purpose of stylistics is reconnecting the linguistic and literary units, therefore, in the process of the complex linguo-stylistic analysis it is necessary to study the whole system of the stylistic devices taking part in creating characters and images of the literary text [5, p. 77].

Thus, the main purpose of the linguo-stylistic analysis of the literary text lies in studying all the linguistic devices of different levels in the system of a definite text from the point of view of their accordance to the author's aim and manner of writing. Only the complete identification of such devices will bring the clear overall picture of the literary text.

Text is a complete system of closely connected and interacting elements of all the levels of the language structure. In the process of the complex linguo-stylistic analysis all the language levels, from the lowest to the highest, are subjected to the survey. Therefore, we have to observe phono-graphical, morphological, lexical, syntactical levels in succession [4, p. 7].

Moreover, reasoning from the structural and linguistic characteristics of each language unit it is necessary to pay attention to its speech properties arising in the literary text in the process of the realization of the author's creative idea. They all represent the result of the individual author's language. Being an integral part of the text, a certain language unit conforms to the rules of the developing the idea of the literary text and, thus, brings in a definite stylistic effect.

In the process of stylistic analysis of “The Wizard of the Earthsea” it becomes clear that Ursula Le Guin concentrates more on lexical and syntactical stylistic devices, not giving much preference to the phonological and morphological ones.

On the graphical level we find such stylistic device as capitalization. When the author or the characters of the “Wizard of the Earthsea” mention School of Roke, all the objects and phenomena that they name (which firstly seem unimportant to the reader) are written with the capital letters, as emphasizing the importance of each object at the School and the greatness of the Magic: Great House, Room of Shelves, Hearth Hall, Long Table, Back Door, Unseen, Long Dance, Lore-Book, Roke Bay, Chanters of Roke, Court of Seeming, True Speech, Illusion-Change, Isolate Tower, Hardic tongue, Old Speech, Further Runes, Great Spells, Book of Shaping and so on. As we can see, even such common phenomena as a long table or a back door in the mysterious world of the Earthsea play their indispensable role. This is explained by the fact that every name is one of the most important conceptual elements, it brings mythological essence, is identified with the truth. Each of the names has its meaning: Sparrowhawk - vulture, Jasper - gem, Ogion - silence, Serret - silver.

As to phonetic devices we can notice cases of alliteration (repetition of consonants) and assonance (repetition of vowels) in spells. They not only produce the effect of euphony and rhythm in spells, but also have symbolic meaning. E.g. “Nothhierthmalk man hiolkhanmerth man.” Vowels `o' and `a' always denote seriousness and importance. So in this case they underline the greatness of the magic [3]. The repetition of consonants `m', `n', `r', symbolizing seriousness, rigor, power, strength, helps to create an atmosphere of enchantment and to charm the reader.

The most frequently used by Ursula Le Guin among all the stylistic devices on the lexical level is a metaphor. This device has a special role. Being used not only in descriptions, but also in dialogues and monologues, it helps to represent the magic world more brightly, vividly and expressively [1, p. 142]. As the concept “magic” itself is a hyper reality in which all the characters exist. Thus, all the metaphors are fresh, original, genuine, unique: “powers will speak in human voice”, “be in warmth and merriment”, “first months at Roke went by fast, full of passions and wonders”, “darkness surrounded him, dread filled him”, “Ged's pride would not be slighted or condescended to”, “square, rimmed on three sides by the hoses”, “a jeer hidden in his words”, and many others [3].

There are some cases of personification. Though they are not so frequent, but they are still fresh and expressive, and bear logical emphasis in characterizing objects and people: “the language of the water”, “the whisper of water”, “man whose wits go wandering among the years and islands”, “inner face of the door” [3].

It is very interesting that Ursula Le Guin pays a great attention to such stylistic device as nonsense of non-sequence (joining two semantically different clauses into one sentence) [2, p. 50]. It is especially widely used in the first several chapters of the book when the reader step by step finds out what is Roke, gets acquainted with the School of Wizards and its characters. Usually this device is used for the humorous effect, however in this case it has the effect of mystery, it delays the solution of the riddle making the reader think and guess. In this story they are really numerous: “You cannot always find the Warder where he is, but sometimes you find him where he is not...”, “no matter how many sit at this table, there is always room”, “to light a candle is to cast a shadow”, “the wise don't need to ask, the fool asks in vain” [3]. It can be stated that this stylistic device a distinctive feature of both the story "Wizard of the Earthsea" and other Ursula Le Guin's works in a whole, as her `nonsense of non-sequence' is truly original and unique. In addition, compared to other methods such tropes are found in the literature not so often.

In the descriptions of phenomena, events, appearance and nature of the characters the writer uses a large number of epithets. Thus, we consider it is necessary to classify these stylistic means. According to the semantics all the epithets used by the author can be divided into two groups: 1) affective, that covey the emotional evaluation: “mighty grey blocks of stone”, “a peaceful heart”, “clear voice”, “terrible light” etc; 2) metaphorical epithets are formed on the basis of metaphor, metonymy or comparison. They are based on similarity or likeness between several objects and, therefore, they are even more unusual, fresh and expressive. In “Wizard of the Earthsea” we can point out those epithets which are based on metaphors: “moonlit waters”, “fathomless energy”, “shining head”, “a sure and open friendship”, “charmed waters”, “dark, enchanted ground”, “stammering tongue” and epithets which are built with the help of comparison: “golden apple”, “black blood”, “bread crumb arrows”, “netted star-lights” [3].

Also there are some cases of hyperbole that intensifies the quantitative and qualitative aspect of the objects or a phenomenon through exaggeration producing strong emotional effect: “he shoveled in his food with a will”, “he had endless delight in the wit and beauty of the crafts he taught”, “there's no end to that language” [3].

Oxymoron is also used sometimes to emphasize the contradictory qualities existing in one and the same phenomenon and, thus, emphasizes its logical meaning: “stiff grace”, “the folly of the wise”, “gentle mockery” [3].

On the syntactical level we find the biggest number of original stylistic devices. Ursula Le Guin uses different types of repetition. They reate a strong logical and emotional stress. Each ofthem has its own special function which is essential to the whole text. Anaphora not so much emphasizes the repeated unit but makes it foregrounded: “You have great power...,you used that power wrongly..you had no control..“You would me no man but a gebbeth... You must stay here, until you gain strength” [3]. Epiphora is used by Le Guin for a logical emphasis of a definite unit: “Even now it waits for you. Assuredly it waits for you” [3].

In addition, the writer uses parallel constructions - a type of repetitions, in which the structure of successive sentences (or parts of these sentences) is duplicated. But more often the author uses this device in combination with lexical repetitions, that leads to a very strong emotional, expressive, rhythmic effect: "Whether or not they believed such stories and whether or not they liked Ged..."; "The more he learned, the less he would have to fear... "; “The more you try to prove yourself my equal, the more you show yourself for what you are" [3].

One more interesting peculiarity of the “Wizard of the Earthsea” is that a large number of cases with polysyndeton (repetition of conjunctions) characterizes the text. This device bears a strong rhythmic impact, strengthens the idea of the equal logical importance of all the components. The cases of polysyndeton are really numerous in this text: “For four weeks of that hot summer he lay blind, and deaf, and mute.”, “Townsfolk and Masters and students and farmers all together.”, “. they were all laughing at his flights and flaps and bumps”, “.after those two long nights of dance and moonlight and music and magery.” [3]. Also, in the text we meet the use of the opposite stylistic device - asyndeton, an intentional omission of conjunctions. In the text of the story asyndeton helps create an effect of stress, emotional speech: "On the wind over the grey waves they doubled, snapped, swooped, lunged, till smoke railed about them...", "... in this rich, seemly, orderly, strange Court he felt himself to be a goatherd born and bred" [3].

Inversion - a stylistic device in which the direct word order is changed - is also widely used in this story emphasizing a definite phenomenon: “Few and short as were the streets of Twil.”, “Of these events Ged new nothing” etc. [3].

One more stylistic device widely used by the author is detachment i.e. singling out a secondary member of the sentence with the help of punctuation [2, p. 83]. As a result, secondary members own stress being detached from the rest of the sentence: “With him was his lady, slender and young, bright as a new copper, her black hair crowned with opals”, “Jasper was no longer a boy but a young man, tall and comely, with his cloak elapsed at the neck with silver.” [3].

Also, there are a lot of lexico-syntactical stylistic devices in the text of the “Wizard of the Earthsea”, and they are of a vital importance as they bear strong emotional and logical effect.

Firstly, it is necessary to pay attention to the similes in the text. This stylistic device is one of the most fresh, original and unusual of all others. Being bright and vivid, they capture the reader's imagination at once [1, p. 168]. The writer compares phenomena that seem totally incomparable, and that produces strong emotional effect: “.and the seeds shaken loose went up on the wind like sparks of fire in the sun”, “on every twig of every branch a golden apple shone, each a sun.”, “a bird flew among the branches suddenly, all white with a tail like a fall of snow.” [3].

Antithesis - a semantic opposition emphasized by its realization in similar structures - produces strong effect of contrast and, as a result, strong emotional effect: “...that spell affects the balance of light and dark, life and death, good and evil..[3].

Another important stylistic device used in the story is a climax, in which the next word or clause is logically more important and more explicit: “.now I'm sorry to part with him. And sorrier to part with you, Sparrowhawk” [3].

So we can see that the linguo-stylistic analysis of the literary text is a difficult and complicated process, and there is a great number of its methods and approaches to it. However, it is still one of the most important ways of studying literary texts, and Ursula Le Guin's works represent a useful source for such analysis.

References

1. Galperin I. R. Stylistics / Second edition, revised / I. R. Galperin. - М.: Высшая школа, 1977.

2. Kukharenko V. A. A book of practice in stylistics / V A. Kukharenko. - Вінниця: Нова книга, 2003.

3. Ursula Le Gum. The Wizard of the Earthsea [Электронный ресурс]. - Режим доступа: 3g.en8848.com.cn/fiction/Fiction/ Fantasy/43355_4.html

5. Волкова М. Ю. Особливості лінгвостилістичного аналізу художніх творів / М. Ю. Волкова // Вісник СевНТУ - Вип. 102: Філологія: зб. наук. праць, 2010.

6. Ибрагимова Х. С. Основные аспекты лингвостилистического анализа художественных произведений / Х. С. Ибрагимова, О. Б. Сабирова // Филолог и пед. науки. - Самарканд: Изд- во СГУ, 1976.

7. Лингвостилистический анализ

художественного текста [Электронный ресурс]. - Режим доступа: Ы1р:Л^1^^. academic.ru/73.

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