Lingua-artistic technique of writing and its role in portraying an artist

Abstract

The theory of intermediality which first emerged within the frame of intertextuality theory has nowadays become a vast field of interdisciplinary research embracing studies in literature, linguistics, art and culture. In spite of the great amount of works discussing various aspects of this complex phenomenon, numerous questions related to the interpretation of its essence, the typology of intermedial interactions and their functions still remain the subject matter of discussions. An important factor determining the topicality of the intermediality issue is a great number of new textual practices which employ various forms of intermediality inviting for description and theoretical interpretation. All these factors account for the necessity of continuing the research of intermedial interactions. The article is devoted to the study of lingua-artistic technique of writing as one of the means of ontological intermediality. The lingua-artistic technique of writing is understood as the use of lingual means and devices activating visual images in the reader’s mind, due to which word and artistic image merge into one whole. The main objective of the article is to present the essence of the lingua-artistic technique of writing, to point out lingual means of its realization and to define their role in character drawing. The research is carried out from the cognitive-semiotic perspective, which is based on the assertion that art is synthetic in its very essence and the interpretation of all culture as Text presupposes the interaction of various semiotic codes participating in the expression of meaning. The empirical material of the study is represented by four novels written by I. Stone, J. Cary, J. Fowles and M. Porter about artists, real or fictional, representing different trends in art. The main methods of the study are the intermedial, inferential and comparative analyses. The research indicates that the lingua-artistic technique of writing is composed by the combination of lingual means and devices which include the nominations of colour and light, form, size, structure of objects, their location in space, composition, a wide use of similes, exfrasis, etc. All these means and their frequency are determined by the author’s cognitive style as well as by the artist’s specific manner of painting. The results of the study prove the considerable explanatory potential of the cognitive semiotic approach aimed at reconstructing the cognitive processes underlying various types of intermedial interactions.