Semantic parameters of the plot of a literary work

Abstract

The subject of research in this article is the plot organization of a literary work, considered from a hermeneutic perspective, namely as one of the aspects of actualizing the meaning of a literary work. In the work, based on the material of a number of works related to the epic kind of literature, the semantic parameters of the plot-event organization of the work are investigated. The article identifies and describes the differences between the vital ethical way of understanding the plot, associated with the value position of the characters, and the aesthetic way of understanding the plot, associated with the values of the author and recipient. In the latter case, the plot is understood as a dynamic aspect of the incarnation (embodiment) of artistic meaning. The scientific novelty of the article is determined by the fact that for the first time the plot-event organization of a literary work is considered in connection with a specific way of actualizing the artistic meaning, defined in this work as an incarnation. The incarnation of meaning in the article is understood as its "transformation" into the being (life) of the hero as a whole. If in the life context of comprehension, the sequence of events (the "plot" of life) is correlated by the character with the private and incomplete horizon of the semantic future, then in the aesthetic context of comprehension, the plot acts as an articulation of the integral meaning of the hero's being, as his "fate". As a result of the interpretation of the text of the Grimm brothers' fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel", as well as E. A. Poe's novella "The Mask of the Red Death", the author of the article shows that through plot articulation in the aesthetic semantic "dimension" of the work, heterogeneous moments of meaning are collected, linked into a consistent unity.