Linguistic Portraiture in Oleksandr Dovzhenkoʼs Story “enchanted Desna”
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The article examines the linguistic characteristics of the characters in Oleksandr Dovzhenkoʼs “Enchanted Desna” based on their authorial interpretations and direct speech, found in monologues or dialogues. The linguistic portraits of the characters created by the author are marked by a set of specific and unique linguistic features that distinguish them from one another and collectively contrast with the linguistic portrait of the author himself. These features concern the syntactic organization of the characters’ speech, their lexical composition, and grammatical structure. The authorʼs language serves as a background for the verbal and artistic characteristics of the storyʼs characters. From the perspective of narration and storytelling style, it reflects the language of an educated and intelligent individual, capable of shifting from heartfelt-lyrical and humorous tones to solemn-pathetic, figurative, and deeply metaphorical styles. The authorʼs lexicon, with rare exceptions, is rich and literary normative, characterized by complex syntactic constructions. The linguistic portrait of the main character, Sashko – the author in his childhood – is based on childhood reminiscences expressed in linguistic forms that captivate with their childlike spontaneity, sincerity, and heartfelt tone. The grammatical structure, lexical composition, and artistic means of this character’s language are entirely determined by his childlike worldview and perception of life, which are quite original and extraordinary. Overall, Sashkoʼs linguistic portrait is dominated by everyday-ethnographic elements combined with childlike-romantic and humorous aspects, which are natural and well-motivated as they reflect the living conditions in which the character grew up and in which the foundations of his artistic worldview and talent were formed. The linguistic portraits of other characters in the story are also based on everyday-ethnographic and humorous linguistic elements, but each has its own specificity. For example, the linguistic portrait of the grandmother prominently features her frequent use of curses, which becomes its main marker. In sharp contrast, the linguistic characterization of Sashkoʼs mother lacks curses or even coarse vocabulary. Instead, diminutive and affectionate lexicon reveals the image of a kind-hearted, world-loving person radiating goodness and warmth. The speech of Sashkoʼs father, who “loved jokes and precise, sharp words”, also stands out with its features. His speech contains, more often than others, lexical units of the East Polissian dialect. No less vivid is the linguistic portrait of Grandfather Semen, who loved “a good conversation and fine words”. The speech of the great-grandfather is similar to that of the grandfather but is characterized by the frequent use of the coordinating conjunction and, whether repeated or not, in its syntactic structure. Dovzhenkoʼs linguistic portraiture in Enchanted Desna, reflecting the specificity and peculiarities of each characterʼs language, ensures the vividness and individualization of artistic images through linguistic means.
Source: Culture of the Word
Authors: Vasyl GRESHCHUK, Valentyna GRESHCHUK
Institution: Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4407644048