Graphic and visual means of creating an individual author's style (based on the texts of Umberto Eco)

Abstract

In this article, the author considers such means of creating an individual author's style as graphons and phonetic-graphic means. The subject of the study is both deviations from the norm, graphically designed, and purely graphic techniques subordinated to the idea of creating a language game. Among the phenomena considered by the author are italics, typeface variation, author's punctuation, capitalization, strikethrough, underlining, bold, solid writing, as well as special lettering of some characters. The research is based on the material of Umberto Eco's novel "Baudolino" and "Diario minimo". As the analysis has shown, Eco resorts to special character designs to create irony, as well as to enhance the expressiveness of the artistic text. The novelty of this study lies, first of all, in the choice of material that had previously remained outside the limits of linguistic research, as well as beyond the attention of domestic linguists. The novel "Baudolino" has hitherto been the subject of research exclusively among literary critics, semiotics and medievalists, but has not been considered from a linguistic point of view. The same can be said about humorous experiments of Umberto Eco. The theoretical significance of the research lies in attracting the attention of researchers to such means of creating an individual author's style as graphic and visual, based on the material of Umberto Eco's creative heritage.