Semantics and Modality of “Strange” (Based on Mystical-Fantastic Russian, English and Spanish Novels)

Daria Novikova,Yulia Ivanova,S Cindori,N.L Shamne,L.N Rebrina,E.Yu Malushko,O Larouk

doi:10.1051/shsconf/20185001119

Abstract

The aim of the study is to present semantic diversity of an adjective “strange” in Russian, English and Spanish literary texts. All context examples are taken from world-known mystical-fantastic novels (“Altist Danilov” by V. Orlov, “Falling Angel” by W. Hjortsberg, and “The Club Dumas” by A. Pérez-Reverte) in order to demonstrate individual author’s style in conveying religious concept such as demon and its attributes through different cultures. Using the method of comparative analysis and specific identification the authors describe three aspects of adjective definition – gnoseological, emotional-axiological and orthological. The paper confirms that attributive features of main characters in all literary texts can be depicted through one single adjective, its synonyms and its collocations. Moreover, description of demonic personages mostly depends on quality adjectives having selected by a creator of a literary text. The practical value of the study is that research findings can be used in future investigations on the modality and semantics of other adjectives belonging to the same semantic group.

Highlights

When studying the fantastic in its various incarnations, associated with deviations from the norm, with different kinds of weirdness, it is advisable to refer to the category of modality
The author’s attitude to reality, “postulated as the main sign of modality” [1], can refer to any utterance, especially to one that is included in the literary text
Shvedova explains that when differentiating the modality into two types, one should take into account the fact that the objective-modal meaning can express the “nature of the relationship reported to reality” [2], while “subjectively modal meaning, on the contrary, can be” expressed by the speaker’s attitude to the information reported [2], i.e. the latter is realized, for example, by word order, repetitions, introductory words and sentences

Summary

Introduction

When studying the fantastic in its various incarnations, associated with deviations from the norm, with different kinds of weirdness, it is advisable to refer to the category of modality. The author’s attitude to reality, “postulated as the main sign of modality” [1], can refer to any utterance, especially to one that is included in the literary text. Means of expression in literary writing are, as it is well known, various grammatical, syntactic, compositional, stylistic and other means and techniques in which modality is the category that determines the essence of the communicative process. Many researchers define modality as an expression of reality/unreality of utterance (see Barkhudarov, 1973; Zolotova, 1962; etc.), while highlighting its two aspects: objective-modal and subjective-modal. N.Yu. Shvedova explains that when differentiating the modality into two types, one should take into account the fact that the objective-modal meaning can express the “nature of the relationship reported to reality” [2], while “subjectively modal meaning, on the contrary, can be” expressed by the speaker’s attitude to the information reported [2], i.e. the latter is realized, for example, by word order, repetitions, introductory words and sentences. The word meaning is very important because the outer world presented in lexical meaning of a foreign word helps to get some knowledge, a bright image of a new object without direct acquaintance with it [3]

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Conclusion