Strukturale Interpretation einer sogenannten symptomatischen Schizophrenic

Abstract

A short text spoken by a patient with a supposed symptomatic schizophrenia in lupus erythematodes is analyzed by means of a structural interpretation. While the text appears schizophrenic, it is only the confusion and intermingling of five quite distinct textual levels which create this impression. These five levels are presented in three distinctive modes of narrative. Deviation and periphrase: while psychopathologically these breaks in the narrative are deviations from the main thread of argument, stylistically they are periphrasic statements, all having identical structures. They are all related emotionally as well as thematically to the central subject of the text. Their informational quality is impaired by their density and their interlocked form. Narrative: the text contains three meaningful and well-arranged stories. In one case a multilevel narrative structure is employed. Each story represents a response to the initial question. Metalanguage: on a metatextual level, the patient repeatedly makes reference to her linguistic peculiarities. These statements coincide with objective evaluation. Delusions and misidentification of individuals and situations used in classical psycho-pathological diagnosis can be given a different meaning (in the sense used by <i>Weinrich</i>) if interpretation has deepened the knowledge of the text. In this case, the similarity to schizophrenic texts is only superficial. A more detailed analysis illustrates the difference from schizophrenia on every level.