The food code in "The Master and Margarita" by M. A. Bulgakov
https://doi.org/10.30515/0131-6141-2023-84-3-45-57
Abstract
The article considers wine, fish, meat, and the main dish names as components of the food code manifested in the novel "The Master and Margarita". The food code can be defined as a system of words-symbols due to its semiotic nature and dependence on the national cultural heritage. The research aims to correlate the symbolic meaning of food names in the Christian worldview with their interpretation suggested by the writer. The unit of study is the lexical-semantic group (LSG) with the common seme ‘food’. Each word in this LSG is the signifier "A" of the symbol. The signified is verbalised in the immediate context in the form of a word, phrase, or sentence and is marked with the letter "B". The result of the study is a system of double symbols. Their signifier varies substantially in the words belonging to different lexical-semantic groups. The signified of such double symbols remains unchanged and is represented by only four symbolic meanings: 1) ‘death or illness’; 2) ‘man and his soul’; 3) ‘vice’; 4) ‘victim’. In addition to double symbols, the symbolic meaning in the text is expressed by words with a vague meaning, phraseological units concealed in the text, climax homogeneous series, semantic sentence parallelism, biblical allusions to the repast theme. This elaborate symbolic system conveys the key point of Woland’s arrival in Moscow, i. e. punishing vice when "it will be given to each one according to his faith".
Keywords
food code,
symbol,
lexical-semantic group,
signifier,
signified,
symbolic meaning,
double symbol,
biblical allusion
Supporting agencies: I express my gratitude to A. V. Beketova
About the Author
I. V. Yakushevich
Moscow City University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Irina V. Yakushevich, Doctor of Sciences(Philology), Professor
References
1. Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae / Trans. by N. T. Golinkevich; M. L. Gasparov (ed.). Moscow: Science, 2003. 656 p. (In Russ.)
2. Gudkov D. B., Kovshova M. L. The body code of Russian culture: materials for the dictionary. Moscow: Gnosis, 2007. 287 p. (In Russ.)
3. Gura A. V. Animal symbolism in Slavic folk tradition. Moscow: Indrik, 1997. 912 p. (In Russ.)
4. Zhinkin N. I. About code transitions in inner speech. Voprosy jazykoznanija = Topics in the study of language. 1964;6:26–38. (In Russ.)
5. Karasik V. I. Concept as a unit of linguocultural code. Izvestiya Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta = Ivzestia of the Volgograd State Pedagogical University. 2009;10(44):4–11. (In Russ.)
6. Krasnykh V. V. The object code of culture in the Russian cultural space. Rusistika na poroge XXI veka: problemy i perspektivy: materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii (Moskva, 8–10 iyunya 2002 g.) = Russian Studies on the threshold of the XXI Century: Problems and prospects: Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference (Moscow, June 8–10, 2002) / Comp. by N. K. Onipenko. Moscow: Russian Language Institute of RAS. 2003. P. 146–148. (In Russ.)
7. Lotman Yu. M. Regarding the typology of culture. Uchenye zapiski Tartuskogo gos. un-ta. Vyp. 198. Trudy po znakovym sistemam. T. 3 = Scientific Notes of the Tartu State University. Issue 198. Works on semiotics. Vol. 3. Tartu, 1967. P. 30–38. (In Russ.)
8. Marcus Valerius Martialis. Epigrams. Moscow: Fiction, 1968. 487 p. (In Russ.)
9. Pimenova M. V. Cultural codes and problems of concept classification. Yazyk. Tekst. Diskurs: nauchnyi almanakh Stavropolskogo otdeleniya RALK. Vyp. 5 = Language. Text. Discourse: scientific almanac of Stavropol branch of RALC. Vol. 5. / G. N. Manayenko (ed.). Stavropol, 2007. P. 79–85. (In Russ.)
10. Pozdnyaeva T. Voland and Margarita. Saint Petersburg: Amfora, 2007. 446 p. (In Russ.)
11. Sadovnikov D. N. Riddles of the Russian people: a collection of riddles, questions, parables, and problems. Moscow: Modern Writer, 1995. 400 p. (In Russ.)
12. Tolstaya S. M. On the concept of cultural codes. Sbornik statei k 60-letiyu A. K. Bayburina. Seriya: Studia Ethnologica = Collection of articles for the 60th anniversary of A. K. Bayburin. Series: Studia Ethnologica. SaintPetersburg, 2007. P. 23– 31. (In Russ.)
13. Tolstoy N. I. From the "grammar" of Sla vic rituals. The typology of culture. Reciprocal influence of cultures. Uchenye zapiski Tartuskogo gos. un-ta. Vyp. 576. Trudy po znakovym sistemam. T. 15 = Scientific Notes of the Tartu State University. Issue 576. Works on semiotics. Vol. 15. Tartu, 1982. P. 57–71. (In Russ.)
14. Florensky P. A. Results. Esteticheskie tsennosti v sisteme kultury = Aesthetic values in the cultural system. Moscow: [s.n.], 1986. P. 122–132. (In Russ.)
15. Khalikova N. V. Formal and semantic structure of the artistic image "The Wind Blows" in I. Bunin’s fiction. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo oblastnogo universiteta. Seriya: Russkaya filologiya = Bulletin of Moscow Region State University. Series: Russian Philology. 2020;4:51–59. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18384/23107278202045159.
16. Yakushevich I. V. Lingvokognitive typology of symbols. Vestnik Rossiiskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Lingvistika = Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2012;4:5–13. (In Russ.)
17. Yakushevich I. V. Enantiosemy in the lexical semantic structure of the symbol. Vestnik Irkutskogo lingvisticheskogo universiteta = Bulletin of the Irkutsk Linguistic University. 2012;2(19):72–77. (In Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Yakushevich I.V. The food code in "The Master and Margarita" by M. A. Bulgakov. Russian language at school. 2023;84(3):45-57. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30515/0131-6141-2023-84-3-45-57
Views:
479
Email this article 