S. Dovlatov’s Aphorisms: Structural and Semantic Features

Abstract

The research featured theoretical issues of aphorism as a linguistic phenomenon. The article introduces its main semantic and stylistic characteristics that distinguish it from other phenomena, e.g. proverbs, idioms, sayings, quotations, etc. Linguists define aphorism as a literary genre, a sphere of knowledge, and a linguistic phenomenon. The present study focused on the linguistic approach to aphorisms coined by S. Dovlatov. Aphorisms are certified, reproducible, separable, concise, and have concept words. The authors studied the keywords the aphorisms are based on, related graphic and expressive means, and the structure of contextual aphorisms. S. Dovlatov's aphorisms proved to be contextual, since he never published aphorisms as a separate book. In his Compromise and March of the Lonely, the authors distinguished aphorisms and aphoristic utterances, which differed in structure Aphorisms consisted of one to three sentences, while aphoristic utterances included up to five sentences. S. Dovlatov’aphorisms included the following semantic features. For instance, they could be divided into thematic groups, e.g. "journalism", "freedom", "lie vs. truth", "moral qualities", "attitude to life", etc., with corresponding keywords, e.g. "decent person", "scoundrel", "provocateur", "journalist", etc. Another distinctive semantic feature was the active use of different stylistic devices, e.g. gradation, epithet, metonymy, etc., which verbalized emotions. In addition, S. Dovlatov often used contextual synonyms and antonyms. Most aphorisms revealed their implicit semantics only if the reader shared common background knowledge with the author. The structural features included comparative constructions, verb-noun phrases, and elliptic constructions as a marker of implicit semantics and catalyst of the reader's experience. The use of aphorisms could be attributed to the features of Dovlatov's creative manner. However, their ironic tone become clear only if the reader shares the same cultural code with the author. Further studies may be based on a linguacultural approach to S. Dovlatov's aphorisms.