“Fast legs shackled, white hands tied”: The Interaction of Surface and Deep Semantics in Lyrical Songs (Somatic Formulae)

Abstract

This article considers the principles of interaction between the deep and surface semantics of folklore texts with reference to East Slavic lyrical songs. The authors analyse folk formulas with somatisms. The research methods are based on the concept of the folklore text as a product of folklore discourse, defining its poly-code character and belonging to the folklore and genre system of a national tradition. The presence of deep (symbolic) semantics in folklore texts is a subject that is actively discussed by researchers of folklore. The article aims to determine the role of surface semantics in folklore formulas with somatisms in the realisation of the deep semantics of East Slavic lyrical songs. The surface semantics of a folklore formula are determined by the nature of the cultural understanding of the nominated object (in this case, parts of the human body). The common character of the somatic code of Eastern Slavic folklore is determined by the unity of anatomy and physiology of all human beings and the unity of the culture of Eastern Slavs, which affects the character of the surface and deep semantics of formulas with somatisms. The most important role in the formation of the surface meanings of such formulas is played by the everyday understanding of the physiological functions of human body parts, everyday knowledge about the features of their external configuration and place on the body, and the experience of using them in social settings. The study demonstrates that the surface semantics of a folklore formula have functional significance, making it possible for underlying semantics conditioned by tradition to show. The types of surface semantics realised in East Slavic folk lyrical songs reflect the preservation of the actual somatic meaning of formulas under consideration or its transformation (their representation as a subject, object, and vessel). The genre-related expression of negative and positive emotions is done through the presentation of normative or non-normative conditions of the human organ: its non-normative movements or their restriction, non-normative place, damage, incompleteness or being filled with inappropriate content.