Figurative and stylistic features of judicial thinking in Leonid Andreev’s prose
https://doi.org/10.30515/0131-6141-2022-83-2-77-87
Abstract
The paper aims to describe the impact of judicial thinking on the style and imagery of L. Andreev’s prose. The research provides a theoretical interpretation of such central symbol-metaphors related to judicial issues as court, sentence, defence, and prosecution. The study draws parallels between the writer’s biography and the existential themes which L. Andreev reproduces in his writings by applying specialised terminology to metaphysical problems. To identify the above-mentioned parallels, traditional literary analysis is employed. It aims to generalise the writer’s aesthetic views on literature in the light of the judicial peculiarities of his thinking. Particular attention is directed to the influence of judicial stylistics on the poetics of L. Andreev’s writings. As a result, the application of linguostylistic analysis (aimed mainly at examining the lexical and syntactic structure of L. Andreev’s texts) enables the author of the paper to conclude that there is a sudden reorientation of the writer’s artistic strategy. L. Andreev replaced the rhetorical expressionist impact on the reader’s mind with the sharp, abrupt syntax of the story "The Seven Who Were Hanged". The form of judicial rhetoric manifestation also changed. The author substituted the deliberately monotonous stringing of "formulae-sentences" for the ornamental suggestion of the previously used techniques. The concise and compressed bare phrase became the method of conveying the author’s marked tendency that is indicative of the enormity of executions. The methods of statistical calculation and the linguostylistic analysis of excerpts from the short story "The Seven Who Were Hanged" were used to reinforce the derived conclusions. Additionally, theoretical material which helps to comprehend the specific features of courtroom prosecution speeches with regard to L. Andreev’s texts is analysed. The literary generalisations provided in the paper can be used in Russian language and literature lessons.
Keywords
court,
destiny,
sentence,
prosecuting speech,
syntax,
vocabulary,
expressionism,
suggestion,
world will
About the Author
A. V. Ledenev
Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov; MSU-FPI Joint University in Shenzhen
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Aleksandr V. Ledenev, Doctor of Sciences(Philology), Professor
Moscow
Shenzhen
References
1. Andreev L. N. Complete works: in 23 vol. Vol. 1. Moscow: Science, 2007. 805 p. (In Russ.)
2. Andreev L. N. Complete works: in 23 vol. Vol. 6: Works of art in 1908. Moscow: Science, 2013. 758 p. (In Russ.)
3. Andreev L. N. Complete works: in 23 vol. Vol.13: Articles 1895–1900. Moscow: Science, 2014. 788 p. (In Russ.)
4. Vinogradov V. V. On the theory of artistic speech. Moscow: The higher school, 1971. 240 p. (In Russ.)
5. Demidova S. A. The rebellious man: the existential concept of rebellion of Leonid Andreev and albert Camus. Gumanitarnye issledovaniya v Vostochnoi Sibiri i na Dalnem Vostoke = Humanities Research in the Russian Far East. 2018;43(1):118– 123. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24866/19972857/2018-1/118-123.
6. Keldysh V. A. O «Silver Age» of Russian Literature: General Patterns. Problems of prose. Moscow: IMLI RAN, 2010. 511 p. (In Russ.)
7. Kozmenko M. V. Arthur Schopenhauer in the early diaries and later works of Leonid Andreev: on the problem of the correlation of philosophical and artistic pictures of the universe. Izvestiya Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. = News of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2010;69(6):21–30. (In Russ.)
8. Literary heritage. Vol. 72: Gorky i Leonid Andreev: unpublished correspondence. Moscow: Science, 1965. 630 p. (In Russ.)
9. Merezhkovsky D. S. In a still water: articles and studies of different years. Moscow: Soviet writer, 1991. 489 p. (In Russ.)
10. Mikheicheva E. A. Leonid Andreev as a court reporter. «Skitskikh’s case». Uchenye zapiski Orlovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta = Scientific notes of Orel state university. 2016;71(2):144–147. (In Russ.)
11. Pleshkov A. A. By the paths of existentialism: Leonid Andreev as a philosophical writer. Voprosy filosofii = Philosophy issues. 2012;9:109–120. (In Russ.)
12. Titarenko S. D. Leonid Andreev’s creative works in the mirror of symbolic anthropology and philosophy of art. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Seriya: Yazyk i literature = Vestnik of Saint Petersburg university. Language and literature. 2018;15(1):136–146. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu09.2018.111.
13. Chulkov G. I. Years of wandering. Moscow: Yurright, 2018. 220 p. (In Russ.)
14. Shishkina L. I. Creativity of Leonid Andreev in the context of the culture of the 20th century. Saint-Petersburg: SZAGS, 2009. 219 p. (In Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Ledenev A.V. Figurative and stylistic features of judicial thinking in Leonid Andreev’s prose. Russian language at school. 2022;83(2):77-87. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30515/0131-6141-2022-83-2-77-87
Views:
456
Email this article 