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Distinctive features of direct speech introduction in F. M. Dostoevsky’s and L. N. Tolstoy’s novels: a comparative analysis

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the semantics, pragmatics, stylistic specific features, as well as the frequency of linguistic means (verbs, nouns, and verb-noun combinations) introducing direct speech in the works by F. M. Dostoevsky and L. N. Tolstoy. The comparative research material included two novels, namely "Crime and Punishment" and "Anna Karenina". The identified features of the speech frame structure in the novels complement the characteristics of the authors’ writing style noted in classical and modern studies and deemed significant for the analysis and translation of these texts. Using quantitative interpretation tools in conjunction with the traditional linguo-stylistic examination of the material, we identified, described, and compared the full repertoire of means employed to introduce direct speech in the novels. Moreover, this analysis enabled us to characterise the role of such means in the formation of the characters’ images. The analysis is based on the functional semantic classification of words introducing direct speech. This classification includes not only a semantic basis (denotation of spoken speech, unspoken thought, illocution, gesture, and others), but also functional-pragmatic characteristics such as conveying the speaker’s attitude to the situation and/or the observer/listener’s attitude to the speaker. These characteristics participate in the text perspective formation. The analysis shows that the direct speech frame in "Crime and Punishment" is much more variable due to its multifunctionality. In F. M. Dostoevsky’s writings, words introducing speech simultaneously convey the characters’ emotional state. Also, such lexemes sometimes reveal an external evaluation of their speech manner. In "Anna Karenina", L. N. Tolstoy functionally separates the frame of direct speech and the denotation of the characters’ emotions, gestures, and facial expressions. That is why the pair of verbs skazat’/govorit’ (English to say/to tell/to speak) introduces more than half of the characters’ remarks. Their feelings are expressed in accompanying structure elements or in separate phrases placed between remarks with emotionally neutral frames. As a result, the role of speech-introducing means in the formation of the poetics and key images of the two classic Russian novels differs.
DOI: 10.30515/0131-6141-2025-86-2-52-62
Language: English
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4408488478
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Cites: 2
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Related to: 10