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Roman Jakobson's poetic function of language: The historic theory of equivalence projections from the axis of selection into the axis of combination.

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Roman Jakobson's poetic function of language: The historic theory of equivalence projections from the axis of selection into the axis of combination.

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Content INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. 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Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ROMAN JAKOBSON'S POETIC FUNCTION 07 LANGUAGE; THE HISTORIC THEORY OF EQUIVALENCE PROJECTIONS FROM THE AXIS OF SELECTION INTO THE AXIS OF COMBINATION. by Michael Georg Herteis A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (German) December 1998 Copyright 1999 Michael Georg Herteis Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9930497 UMI Microform 9930497 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. U M I 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN C A L IFO R N IA THE G R AD U ATE S C H O O L UNtvSRSCTY P a RX LOS ANGELES. C A U F O K .N LA 9000 ? This dissertation, zoritten by - c ha e l _ Ge o r ................... under the direction of his. Dissertation Committee, end approved by a ll its members, has been presented to and accepted by Tne Graduate School in partial fu lfillm e n t of re quirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Date DISSERTATION* C O N M T T E H ■ 14 C C C * (Csiatrp cn a n Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER PAGE 2. GIVING A PRACTICAL MEANING TO THE GRAMMATICAL CONCEPTS 2.1 . CLASS MEMBERS AS AUTHORS OF GERMAN POEMS 2.2. A WORLD STRETCHED TAUTLY BETWEEN POLES 2.3. THE RELATIONSHIPS EXPRESSED 2.4. CONSTRUCTION OF SIGNS 2.5. PARALLELISMS AND SYMMETRIES 2.6. EQUIVALENCE IN DIFFERENCE 2.7. INVARIANCE AND CONTEXTUAL MEANING N) • 00 • METAPHOR-METONYMY-DISTINCTION SUMMARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 3. ANALYSES OF POETIC WORK BY KLEE, GOETHE AND BAUDELAIRE 3.1. LINGUISTIC CHARACTERIZATION OF AN OCTASTICH BY PAUL KLEE 3.2. DISCUSSING THE PROCESS OF RECEPTION WITH GOETHE'S POEM 'TO THE MOON' 3.3. SKETCHING ALTERNATING ELEMENTS 'ELLES' IN CHARLES BAUDELAIRE'S SONNET 'LES CHATS' 4. REVIEW OF CRITICISM IN RESPECT TO THE CRITERION OF POETRY 4.1. WAUGH ON REFERENCE 4.2. EAGLETON AND WINNER ON PERSPECTIVE 4.3. WAUGH AND UNMARKED COGNIVE CONTENT 4.4. TAYLOR ON PARADIGMATIC STRUCTURE 4.5. CULLER'S ARBITRARINESS 4.6. TAYLOR AND ARTIFICIAL ANALOGY 4.7. ATTRIDGE ON SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES 4.8. FOWLER'S PALPABILITY OF SIGNS 4.9. STANKIEWICZ ON COMMENSURATE FUNCTIONS 4.10. WINNER AND THE DECODER'S ASSOCIATIONS 4.11. BROWN'S TAUTOLOGY SUMMARY It r A- Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PAGE 73 6 76 84 93 1 00 101 103 1 05 106 107 108 I 09 110 111 II 2 11 3 114 CHAPTER PAGE 5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS 115 5.1. INVARIANCE AND RELATIONS 116 5.2. SHORTCOMING: FORMAL TERMS 117 5.3. NO METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING POETRY 121 5.4. FUNCTION OCCURS ELSEWHERE 122 5.5. DEFINITION FAILS 123 FOOTNOTES 124 GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 146 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ROMAN JAKOBSON 153 APPENDIX 162 T Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AC KN OWL EDGEMENTS I would like to write words of thankfulness for Professor Edwin Me Cann, now chair at the USC Department of Philosophy. He taught me about structure. X would like to express high esteem for Professor John Parshley Crossley, presently chair at the USC School of Religion. He listened to all my ideas. And, last but not least, I would like to make known recognition for Professor Gerhard Clausing, since many years chair of the USC German Department. He authorized my research to be done under his astonishing supervi s ion. These justifiably famous faculty members deserve respectful recognition accompanied by appreciation, astonishment and admiration, for making their constant and in de f a t i g a b l e effort to show me how to get my thesis into a form required by the University of Southern California ▼1 ' \i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT In the initial section of this investigation a theoretical frame for equivalence theory is provided. Factors participating in a speech event are associated with communicative functions. Roman Jakobson, who singled out the constituent 'MESSAGE' and attached an equivalence projection to it, was born in 1897 in Moscow and died in Boston, Massachusetts in 1982. His definition of the poetic function is applied to a very simple Jtudent poem in chapter two. The invariances explained with the help of German poems, are closely examined in an octastich by Paul Klee, in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's lyrical masterpiece 'To the moon' and in the sonnet 'Les chats' by Charles Baudelaire. Exploitation of invariants in verbal works of art is discussed in connection with a couple of axes, the axis of selection and the axis of combination. ▼11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION This study proves that we cannot consider poetry to be the same as a structure showing patterns of parallelism, equivalence or invariance. By means of investigating and putting into practice Roman Jakobson's theory, I have arrived at the conclusion that his definition itself would need to be considered as a verbal work of art. I have shed a light on the vertical invariance between alternative expressions as well as on the horizontal sameness, in order to conclude that these two axes will never establish the identity of literature. Take for example the following non-literary example: A girl used to refer to a certain person constantly as 'horrible Harry'. "Why 'horrible'?" asked Jakobson. "Because I hate him". "But why not 'dreadful', 'terrible', 'frightful', 'disgusting'?" - "I don't know why, but 'horrible' fits him better." The formulation of my model can be described in terms of the successive selection of text elements from a set of vertical equivalents [dreadful],[terrible], [frightful], [disgusting], [weird], [strange], ..., . 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. With the help of a thorough look into foundations and reviews of the poetic function, X have argued that the girl would be performing the definitive equivalent /hori/:/heri/- projection as an example of poetry or paranomasia. X have shown that Jakobson*s method of defining poetry in terms of equivalent expressions is likely to fail. In the same manner in which the epithet for a dislikable person 'horrible Harry* counts as an example for the poetic function at work, Jakobson's own statement would be covered by the projection principle /pr/:/pr/. My investigation demonstrates that Jakobson's poetic function attempts an act of exclusion. But his own language possesses the very qualities of an equivalence-operation he is referring to. The words 'project', 'principle' and 'promoted' which are used inside the definition, cannot protect the scientific discourse from falling under the /pr/:/pr/:/pr/ - class of poetry. 2 ,/j 7 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Jakobson's 'Closing statement', given at Indiana University in 1958 and published two years later in a volume edited by Thomas Sebeok under the -title >Style in Language< , turned out to be a most memorable document . This paper, which he entitled 'Linguistics and F oetics', can stand as an initiating step in the class discussion of poetic discourse. Jakobson defines poetics' - Poetics deals primarily with the question, >What makes a verbal message a work of art?< Because the main subject of poetics is the >differentia specifica< of verbal art in relation to other arts and in relation to other kinds of verbal behavior, poetics is entitled to the leading place in literary studies. - and proceeds to claim for it an unparalleled importance in the literary domain. The language of a poetic utterance, Jakobson asserts, is oriented, not toward the world it refers to, not toward the one who reads or hears it, but toward "the message as such". The language of >Fur Jim<, "almost has the form of a child's prayer" (Clausing 1971: 36). 3 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In his 1960 paper "Linguistics and Poetics" Jakobson extended the Buhlerian and early Prague models of communication, outlining his well known six-factor six function model. This model added two more functions to the earlier version, phatic and metalinguistic. It developed the notion of language factors to determine the function of an utterance. The notion of "function" is determined by the orientation upon one of the factors. It was not meant to be a function in a mathematical sense, something unsaturated, in need of completion, that would yield a value for an argument. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The poetic function - according to Roman Jakobson projects the principle of equivalence from the axis of selection into the axis of combination. (i) Jakobson (1960:358) and thus characterizes the poetic use of language. But the poetic function is by no means foreign to the referential use of language, rather, it is subordinated to the referential one. The referential function is spoken of as > ordinary language <. As with all statements by Jakobson the definitions of "p o e t i c" and " r e f e r e n t i a l ” have to be taken as relational. As opposed to and against five other functions in the referential function there is a dominance of focus upon the context; in the poetic function there is a dominance of focus upon the message. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.1. AS JAKOBSOK PUTS IT As Jakobson puts it, the poetic function projects the principle of equivalence from the axis of selection into the axis of combination. axis of selection /|\ principle of equivalence paradigm ext syntagm principle of contiguity axis of combination In a poetic use of language the principle of equivalence not only defines the range of expressions that might be selected but also the criteria of selection . Elements from a class of equivalents become an integrated portion of the text sequence. A partial set of text segments forms an equivalence class. Equivalence relations sustain among text elements of the same type and form a system of text relations which overlap with the contiguity relationships. 6 permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Elements from a class of equivalents become an integrated portion of the text sequence; a partial set of text segments now forms an equivalence class. Equivalence relations sustain among elements of the same type and form a system of relations in the text sequence which overlaps with the contiguity relationships. In the formulation of poetic texts the demands of the principle of horizontal equivalence cannot always be reconciled with the demands of the principle of contiguity. Where conflicts arise, they are eliminated either at the expense of poeticity or at the expense of grammaticality. The result is either a grammatically normal text with little aesthetic superstructure or else a text that breaks grammatical norms but is aesthetically extremely coherent. 7 permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. As Jakobson (1960: 358) convincingly shows, ovary element in a poem is equated in numerous ways with all the other elements of the poem, so that in poetry "not only the phonological sequence but in the same way any sequence of semantic units strives to build an equation". As a result every act of designation provokes a shift in the code and in the conceived reality. This involves the word in a set of phonological, grammatical and semantic relations with other words in its syntagm. The relations themselves are multiplied among each of the elements of the syntagm into a set of motivated permutations of equivalence relations. Words are made equivalent in poetry by sound similarity (rhyme, meter, stanzaic pattern), by semantic similarity and contiguity (variation, simile, metaphor, metonomy), and by various different combinations of these. The result of the projection of equivalence onto the axis of combination enables the reader to make a greater number of connections in poetic discourse than in discourse dominated by other language functions. i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. JAKOBSON' s model of 'the process of formulation is not thought to sxplain the language system. Rather, it is supposed to explain the use of language. However, the rules of grammar determine every formulation and thus form part of his model. Contiguity The subsuming of syntactic rules under the term 'contiguity' is a relic from the time when structural linguists made an attempt to trace grammar to the relative frequency of morphemes. But CHOMSKY showed in his "Syntactic Structures" (1957) that syntax cannot be reduced to the distribution of morphemes. The term "contiguity" literally means 'having a common borderline', 'is bordering upon', 'neighboring'. It has become somewhat anachronistic. But it has become entrenched as the opposite of equivalence. It may be retained to designate those internal text relations ensuring the concatenation of linguistic elements to produce grammatically correct sentences or even larger text units. 9 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. From Jakobson#s linguistic analysis of metonymy it follows that this figure implicitly depends on some relation of 'contiguity'f such as attribute, source, part, cause, or location ('crown' or 'palace' for 'king'; 'winter' for 'year'). Consequently, metonymy serves not to establish correspondences between distinct domains but to locate individuals among contiguous objects within a domain. Metonymies articulate a relational topography of which the protagonist himself is a part and through which he is defined. This leadc to a radically new conception of semantic figures. Classical rhetoric defined metaphor as based on the relation of similarity, and metonymy as based on 'material' relations. Jakobson interprets metaphor and metonymy in firmly grammatical terms as involving the two axes: of selection among members of linguistic equivalence classes - the axis of similarity and combination into syntactic units - the axis of contiguity. These axes can be equated with the paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations of Saussure. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.2. G3A MMATICAL ELEMENTS Grammatical elements form a closed system, much as the poem itself is a closed system. All languages have some obligatory categories and it is these necessities which provide the material for the grammar of poetry. Categories which may figure in a poem include all the parts of speech both mutable and immutable, numbers, genders, cases, grades, tenses, aspects, moods, voices, classes of abstract and concrete words, animates and inanimates, appellatives and proper names, affirmatives and negatives, finite and infinite verbal forms, definite and indefinite pronouns or articles, and diverse syntactic elements and constructions . [Jakobson (1968: 604)] The grammatical categories of German include past vs. non-past, passive vs. active in verbs, plural vs. singular in nouns. In German pronouns grammar distinguishes person vs. non-person, first vs. second, plural vs. singular; in German articles the grammatical categories show definite vs. indefinite. The marked category is given £irst. 11 permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Given that a poem is characterized by a focus upon the message and that grammatical categories are those which must be used if the message is to be acceptable, it is only natural that such categories become the focus of poetic structure. Grammatical elements are those which form a closed system, much as the poem itself is a closed system. They are formal and relational in nature. While lexical categories are optional, the message-sign must be built around and with grammatical categories. With respect to the signatum, there are certain elements of meaning which are always communicated in every message, no matter whether they are strictly needed or not. Le reseau des categories grammaticales determine toute la tournure d 1esprit de notre langage, et les traits caracteristiques de ce r€seau qui restent latents dans notre langage habituel deviennent dans la poesie infiniment plus expressifs et plus importants. Jakobson 4- Pomorska (1980: 120) permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Contextual variation and multiplicity of meanings have to do- with relational invariance. The common denominator of meaning is the general meaning, the basis for all meanings which a given sign may evidence in its various generalizations. It remains no matter what alterations of or influences on that item there may be as it is used in various contexts. In effect, relational invariance is equivalence in difference or equivalence under isomorphic transformations. Waugh (1976b: 68 ff) argues that the relational equivalence of meaning underlies the ability of the speaker to create new contextualization and it is available to the hearer to apprehend any contextualization. The general meaning belongs to the code. As signs signify in relation to each other, especially in the case of grammatical categories, the general meaning is relational. Signs do not signify in terms of their relation to extra-linguistic objects; they are defined and created by their relation to each other. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1. 3* DEFINITIONS FOR THE POETIC FUNCTION* [1] Focus on the message [2] Use of equivalence relations as constructive device of the sequence [3] Closure and relative autonomy [4] Delimination between sign and object [5] Multiplicity of meanings [6] Use of sound figures Paranomas ia [7] Immediacy characteristic of distinctive features [8] Use of grammatical parallelisms and figures [9] Constructional use of lexical figures and tropes [10] Thematic poetry 14 t Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A poem is to a certain degree decontextualized. [a] It is a system of systems which is more self-contained than referential discourse. [b] The poem provides its own universe of discourse. [c] The orientation of the poem upon itself as a message-sign has the effect of making more of a break between the poem and its context than in referential discourse. [c] Self-^orientation results in a relative self-sufficiency of the text. [d] The poem exhibits closure with respect to its beginning and its end. Such closure is a result of the focus upon the message and is the means whereby there is focus. [e] The use of equivalence relations and the resultant parallelisms and symmetries give a tight, interwoven structure of the poem. [f] Internal structure enhances the poem's self sufficiency. [g] The loosening of the relations based on contiguity seal the poem off from immediately proceeding and succeeding verbal contexts. This includes beginning and ending closure. 15 A Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Message construction is based on a complex interaction between two different interrelated and mutually implicating operations^ selection or substitution and combination or contexture, wherein selection from a repertory of codified signs generally precedes and is usually complemented by a succeeding combination. The signs (sign-matrices) selected from are usually, but not always, related to each other by a variety of similarity relations, including equivalence, similarity, dissimilarity, contrast, antonymy, synonymy, opposition, etc. The signs and sign-matrices combined are usually, but not always, related to one another by contiguity. While the choices (signs and sign-mat rices) in a selection set are bound by various types of equivalence relations, it is generally not the case in referential speech that the elements combined are related to each other by any strong equivalence relation. / / .. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In the case of p o e t i c f u n c t i o n i n g the reader is made to notice the language dependent, semiotic construction of the sequence. The addressee is thereby kept from paying attention only to the meaning of the message. A sequential structure of equivalences does affect the reader in this way.The fact that meaning-determined relations of the code are instantiated in the message produces a hesitation as to the meaningfulness of their role in the message. Jakobson is convinced that every speech act involves a message. Since message construction makes sure that meaning-determined elements in the code are instantiated, the poetic function affects the domain of alternativity (=selection) as well as the range of togetherness (=combination) . 17 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The boundary between selection and combination is relative. Equational predications as > Ein Jungeselle ist ein unverheirateter Mann < involve a projection of a substitution set from the lexical code into the context of the given language (1957e, 162) . Concatenated units may be seen as simultaneous/ e.g., the concatenation of phonemes to form words. Syntax is concerned with the axis of concatenation, semantics with the axis of substitution (1953c, 565) . But concatenation implies substitution. There is also a marked/unmarked relationship between selection and combination, where selection is the unmarked category. Selection deals with entities conjoined in the code. Combination deals with entities which are conjoined in the code and in the message simultaneously - i.e., the various combinations of phonemes making up words are combinations in both, the code and the message (1957e, 159) . Entities which are conjoined only in the message are phrases, clauses, sentences, discourses. 18 i 3 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1. . CCONSTITUTIVE PACTOBS Jakobson bases his account of the functions of language pn what he considers to be the six constitutive factors of any speech event. The addresser sends a message to the adressee. To be operative the message requires a context referred to, seizable by the addressee, and either verbal or capable of being verbalized; a code fully or at least partially common to the addresser and addressee; and, finally, a contact, a physical channel and psychological connection between the addresser and the addressee, enabling both of them to enter and stay in communication. CONTEXT ADDRESSER MESSAGE ADDRESSEE CONTACT CODE Jakobson claims that the function of an utterance depends on its orientation towards one or more of these six constitutive factors of the speech event. Orientation towards the message would mean that it has a poetic function. with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Each of the following six communicative factors may be subdivided and separated out in various ways: [1] SPEAKER - ENCODER - EMITTER - POET - AUTHOR - NARRATOR [2] DECODER - HEARER “ LISTENER - READER INTERPRETER [3] LANGUAGE - GRAMMAR - LINGUISTIC SYSTEM [4] DISCOURSE - TEXT - PAROLE [5] REFERENT - SIGNATUM - DENOTATUM - EXTENSION [6] PHYSICAL CHANNEL - PSYCHOLOGICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN SPEAKER AND ADDRESSEE Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was microfilmed as received. 21 This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.6. SIHIIARITr RELATIONS Similarity relations remain latent in case of the referential function; they may be overruled according*to Jakobson (1975/1980; 1968/1971} by the imputed contiguity relation between signans and signatum. In the case of the poetic function similarity relations may become patent and may overrule the imputed contiguity relations, with the emphasis upon equivalence and similarity relations on the level of signata, the immediate relation between signans and signatum leads to an evaluation of the similarity relation as evidencing a similarity in the signatum. The propensity to infer a connection in meaning from similarity in sound illustrates the poetic function of language. What in the referential use of language remains latent and subordinate can become patent and predominant in the poetic function. Immediate relations to meaning are apparent in such diverse factors of language as sound symbolism, synesthesia, sound symbolic ablaut, word affinity relations, glossalalia, anagrams, reduplication^etc. 22 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.7. DOMINANT FUNCTIONS Each of the following functions is assuming an orientation within the verbal message and corresponds to one of the factors: [a] EXPRESSIVE [b] APPELLATIVE [ C ] METALINGUISTIC - GLOSSING [d] AESTHETIC { POETIC) [e] COGNITIVE - DENOTATIVE - IDEATIONAL [f] PHATIC For Jakobson (1960: 353) the verbal structure of a message depends primarily on the predominant function. He christened the set towards factor [D] the parole, as the poetic function Cd] • in accord with his conviction that poetry is the use of language in which the dominant function is the orientation towards the message. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The signatum of any linguistic sign evidences a continual dichotomy between a Gesamtbedeutung, the relational invariant, and a Grundbedeutung, which is the basic contextual variant. While the potential for ambiguity resides in the relation of contextual variants to the invariant, generally contextual meanings are discernible from the surrounding linguistic context. In referential speech it is often the case that the particular variant meant is evident to speaker and hearer. Referential speech tends less to multiplicity of meaning and more to denotative precision. In the case of the poetic function the breaking of the tie between contextual variant and object referred to or idea to be expressed is interconnected with: [a] the multiplicity of meanings [b] the inherent ambiguity [c] the split reference [d] the multiplicity of the denotata. 24 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Jalcobso* held the view that both the aesthetic character of a text as a whole and the aesthetic function of its parts are determined by the text structure. A structure is a system of relations internal to the text. Relations between text elements may be superimposed upon grammatical relations. The formulation of a text can be described in terms of a simple model as the successive selection of text elements from a set of vertical classes of equivalents or paradigms. ft axis of selection principle of equivalence paradigm text syntagm principle of contiguity axis of combination ^ The possibilities of succession are limited by the rules of grammar which define in what order the selected elements may occur. This is called the principle of contiguity. 25 with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission 1.8. 0RDI1CARY USE OF LANGUAGE The internal text relations on the axis of combination are predominantly relations of contiguity. The rules of grammar define in which order the selected elements may occur. Selection is controlled by the purpose or intention of communication. If the main emphasis is not on the sign vehicle but rather on any of the other factors in a communication model, the selection will be oriented towards this end and result in only few horizontal equivalences in the text sequence. This explains the comparatively lower connectivity or density among text elements in ordinary discourse. The internal text relations on the axis of combination are predominantly relations of contiguity. In case equivalent elements are repeated in the text, this is not intentional and remains an aesthetic coincidence. The formulation of any text can be described in terms of a model that involves (a) the ' vertical ' equivalence between alternative expressions, one of which must fill a slot in the text, (b) the 'horizontal' equivalence between two different slots in the sequence of the text. 26 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.9. EQUIVALENCE UNDER ISOMORPHIC TRANSFORMATIONS The principle of invariance associates defining characteristics vith any item in any language. These defining characteristics adhere in the item itself only in so far as the item is related to other items of the system of which it is a part. Since the relations between linguistic items are primary and the items themselves secondary, the invariance of those items is primarily relational. Invariance can in fact, according to Jakobson (1973e), only be correctly understood in connection with the notion of relation. As Jakobson has often pointed out, equivalences are extremely important, but it must not be overlooked that there is only equivalence in difference. Relational invariance is >equivalence under isomorphic transformations-^ If ve take such constructions as "Er las in einem Buch" and "Er las den ganzen Tag" the two phrases "in einem Buch" and "den ganzen Tag" are equivalent in terms of modification of the verb. But there is a large difference in interpretation. 27 J - Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.10. SIGNIFIED EXTHALINGUISTIC ITEMS THEIR RELATION TO EXTRA-LINGUISTIC Contextual variation and multiplicity of meanings have to do with relational invariance. The common denominator of meaning is the general meaning, the basis for all meanings which a given sign may evidence in its various generalizations. It remains no matter what alterations of or influences on that item there may be as it is used in various contexts. In effect, relational invariance is equivalence in difference or equivalence under isomorphic transformations. Waugh (1976b: 68 ff) argues that the relational equivalence of meaning underlies the ability of the speaker to create new contextualization, and it is available to the hearer to apprehend any contextualization. The general meaning belongs to the code. As signs signify in relation to each other, especially in the case of grammatical categories, the general meaning is relational. Signs do not signify in terms of their relation to extra-linguistic objects; they are defined and created by their relation to each other. 23 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.11. REPETITION OF EQUIVALENTS Under the broad head of repetition a number of poetic devices may be grouped: rhyme, sound repetition, alliteration, assonance, meter and rhythm, parallelism, verbal repetition, grammatical repetition^etc. The semantic power must combine successfully with the linguistic repetition to be accounted aesthetically satisfying. Rhyme, sound-repetition, alliteration and assonance are different types of segmental phonetic r«oetitlnn that effects an immediate sound linkage and captures a kind of primitive attention. The linked sounds provide a macro-context in which sentential patterns become possible. Meter and rhythm are also phonetic typics of repetition, relying on segmented time and supramental phonetic representation. They link together sentences and clauses and set up a foregrounding pattern for the whole poem - a kind of contextual adhesive. Rhythm and meter also operate powerfully on the physiological apparatus and have a deep biological effect. Parallelism affects more directly the syntactic level. It operates intra- and inter-sententially. 29 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.12. EQUIVALENCE AS FUNCTION OF INVARIANCES Froa Jakobson's (1962b: 650) point of visw tho invariants are part of the linguistic system and not fictitious entities imposed on the data by the linguist. The relational invariance of an item is to be differentiated from the multitude of variation which that item exhibits as it is used in various contexts. Invariant qualities are "code given truths1 * (1962b:315); the creation of new contextual variants is the best data for the reality of grammatical and lexical invariants. Such new creations are very prevalent in poetic discourse. The poet makes use of new possibilities of contextual modifications of the general meaning associated with given items. The poetic use of language makes use of secondary, contextual meanings of the general invariant meaning. The invariant qualities have been given support by Bruner's neurophysiological research on perception: (Jakobson 1963a: 707) : the equivalence of stimulus events is a function of certain 1 invariances in relationship'. In our perceptual faculty 'we come to identify Constances, treating as equivalent objects that have been altered drastically in all respects save their defining attributes' 30 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.13. EQUIVALENCE OF CONTEXTUAL FIELDS In reading poetry the crucial question is not > what happened? <, there is no chain of events and no suspense based on the expectation of an outcome. Poetry - in its short lyric form - involves rather a system of equivalent pieces of information expressed in various symbolic forms, the most characteristic of which is rhyme. The salient feature of rhyme is that in order to perceive it, we must remember the first element of a pair. In Jakobson's approach, rhyme serves as a model for the process of perceiving a poem in general. The reader retains the beginning of a poem in his immediate field of perception as he reads its end. One cannot easily interrupt the process of reading a poem by setting it aside, to be continued later. The factor that prevents us from doing so is the force of simultaneity, which in poetry prevails over the force of successivity. In prose the force of simultaneity - of repetitive, equivalent elements — coexists. The equivalent elements are distributed differently, they encompass larger semantic units. Protagonosts and their contextual field are structured according to equivalence. 31 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Jakobson's analyses of poetic works demonstrate the interdependence of form and meaning. It is the most formal texts of lyric poetry that Jakobson has chosen to exemplify his structural principle. How far is such a model the result of limited possibilities up/down, right/left, plus/minus ... ? The principle of parallelism and symmetry also (5) pertains to areas beyond lyric poetryI Therefore this kind of analysis can be extended to narrative poetry and prose. All verbal art may break the canons of parallelism and symmetry in new ways; prose and poetry may intermingle in the most radical manner. .Jakobson himself gave the example of the Czech Romantic poet Karel Hynek Macha, whose diary describes his sexual exploits in vivid detail. Winner (1990:227) sees the interplay of the poetic principle with its own negation, if Jakobson claims that the relationship between lyric poetry and the diary does not merely parallel the relationship between Dichtung and Wahrheit. Both aspects, the formal aspect as well as the semantic, are equally valid. 32 i \ x Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.14. BELIEF IN REIATIONSHIFS - NOT THINGS Throughout his career Jakobson has insisted that parallelism is the essential principle to which all the basic devices in poetry can be reduced. A meticulous analysis of various correspondences from the phonological to the thematic level reveals how each subsequent level grows out of the preceding one. Parallelism represents the basic relational principl of poetic language. Jakobson's own creed in his theory of poetics comes close to the penetrating declaration of Braque's pictorial theory: > X do not believe in things, I believe only in their relationship <. 33 t \ 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1.15 • POETICALLY DOMINATED SELECTION The importance of regularity and symmetry in aesthetic structures as opposed to irregularity and asymmetry became a central focus in any investigation of aesthetic verbal texts. There have been numerous discussions and evaluations of the equivalence - principle. Does it apply only to poetry ? Or does it apply in the same manner to prose or even drama ? Is the aesthetic function always in opposition to the metalinguistic function ? Is the structural principle a sufficient tool to define the poetic function ? In referential texts parallelisms are considered to be accidential. According to the formal paradigm serving as inspiration for such a model, the addresser chooses a morpheme or word from a series of near - equivalents that comes closest to the meaning he wishes to convey. The addresser then proceeds on the syntactical level by arranging the morphemes or words in a sentence string according to the rules of the language employed. Poetically dominated selection is motivatewd by the goal of the syntagmatic combination of equivalents. 34 t Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. While the lexical categories are concrete and. material in nature, the grammatical categories are formal and relational. The grammatical categories form a highly patterned network, based to a high degree on the similarity relation of opposition. The grammatical categories have a more indirect connection with the extra-linguistic world than the lexical categories and depend for their inherent nature as well as for their interpretation in given messages on their relation with each other. It is not at all clear what referential difference the active vs. passive opposition could be said to conform to. These >linguistic fictions< of language are categories based not so much on any difference in reference but rather on the linguistic shape of s«ch differences. It is quite evident that grammatical concepts - or in Fortunatov's pointed nomenclature >formal meanings< - find their widest applications in poetry as the most formalized manifestations of language. [Jakobson: (1968: 599)] 35 I . ■ d - ] ‘ .i ‘ i» * ; • , Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. From the point of viev of the linguistic system certain sounds are considered to be identical. There is a certain equivalence holding between them which overrides perceivable differences. Other sounds are considered to be non-identical. What Jakobson (1959a: 262) coined >equivalence in difference< is the invariance associated with the various sounds throughout the linguistic system of which they are a part/^ Invariance in the domain of grammar and lexicon may have little to do with absolute affinities of the referents involved. The principle of invariance has to do with imputed similarities and differences from the point of view of the linguistic system. The referents involved may be linguistic fictions which are nevertheless extremely real to the users of a given language. Invariance in grammar and lexicon can create a whole mythology. Imputed similarities and differences are firmly rooted in the conceptual framework which they define. From the point of view of another linguistic system^ necessary and logical world-classifications may appear arbitrary and ad hoc. 36 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. There is no such thing as an "absolute" thing in itself, no x which can be completely detached from its modes of givenness. Because of this fact, meaning cannot be defined on objects in external reality, but must be defined rather on the set of signs in a given language, ultimately on linguistic form. Mo one can understand the word >cheese< unless he has an acquaintance with the meaning assigned to this word in the lexical code of English.[...} The meaning of the word >cheese< cannot be inferred from a non-linguistic acquaintance with Cheddar or with camembert without the assistance of the verbal code. [...] Mere pointing will not teach us whether c h e e s e is the name of the given specimen, or of any cheese, any milk product, any food, any refreshment, or perhaps any box irrespective of contents. Jakobson "On Linguistic Aspects of Translation" SW II, p. 260. The question of truth or existence can only be raised in relation to a context. >x exists< is an elliptical utterance requiring completion by an indication of which system of meaning it is operative in. x may exist within the framework of German mythology. 37 I Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SUMMARY Chapter One has introduced the theoretical frame for equivalence theory. The factors participating in a 3peech-event were associated with communicative functions. One of these constitutive elements, the factor MESSAGE was chosen and expanded with the help of a model for two different aspects of any linguistic action: the aspect of selection and the aspect of combination. This allowed a definition of tha poetic function which separates equivalence projections from ordinary use of language. Whereas the previous section was purely theoretical, a discussion of Deborah Hecht's poem 'Fur Jim' will provide examples for linguistic categories. 38 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER TWO 39 / :> • i - . . • Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2.1. CLASS MEMBERS AS AUTHORS. 0F GERMAN POEMS In order to make the study of the German language and of German literature more meaningful to students, Gerhard Clausing (1971: 37) encouraged innovation and creative expression in the lower division program at Berkeley. He asked his intermediate students to write poems in German and g&ve a week to complete the assignment. After he received the poems, he made the necessary corrections and discussed them with each student, offering individual instruction as an alternative to mere classroom teaching, to make sure that the original intent of the author was preserved. Together with the authors' names, selected poems were distributed in mimeographed form and then discussed in class. The discoveries made are exciting. Students pay much more attention to the instructor's corrections than usual since student-written poetry generates a great deal of interest. After members of the class presented various possible interpretations, the author of the poem, who was her(him)self a member of this class and present, often stated that her (his) intent was a completely different one. 40 with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Deborah Hecht: >Fur Jim< (1) Haus 1st gro/3 Haus 1st: rot Rot 1st gut Haus 1st mein. (3) Katze ist gro£ Katze ist nett Nett ist gut Katze ist mein. (2) (4) Hund ist klein Ich bin klein Hund ist schlecht Ich bin tief Schlecht ist nicht gut Tief ist gut Hund ist dein. Ich bin dein. (5) Du bist gro/3 Du bist mein Mein ist sehr gut Du bist feinl (Das Ende) i ! / , ; . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Deborah Hecht: "F&r Jim". (Translation) (1) (3) House is big Cat is big House is red Cat is nice Red is good Nice is good House is mine Cat is mine I am small <*> Dog is bad I am deep Bad is not good Deep is good Dog is yours I am yours (5) You are big You are mine Mine is very good You are fine! (The End). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2.2* A WORLD STRETCHED TAUTLY BETWEEN POLES An individual occurrence or experience is the most frequent point of departure for Clausing's selected student poems (1971: 37) : ... Here, however, the individual situation is expressed in such a mannered and affectedly formalized style as to clearly indicate the writer's attempt to make a generalized statement. The poem makes use of a number of adjectives and opposing elements, interlocked or cross-referenced in the various stanzas in, as it appears, a carefully constructed manner, e.g.: Adjectives gro/3 - first line, stanzas 1,3,5 klein - first line, stanzas 2,4 Possessive pronouns: mein - last line, stanzas 1,3 dein - last line, stanzas 2,4 These possessive pronouns or attributes also are used to give the cues for the following stanza - cf. mein — > ich, dein — > du at the end of stanzas 3 and 4. Katze/Hund are not connected, but mein /dein are in the last tvo stanzas. *3 with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission axis of selection: principle of invariance paradigm 1st gutfc ist gut 1 — I nett tief syntagm: axis of combination principle of contiguity rot/tief opposites: instead of each other nST\ l. ■ -J togetherness: with each other rot (ist gut) tief (ist gut) i 1 i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2.3* THE RELATIONSHIPS EXPBESSED What, in the referential use of language remains latent and subordinate can become patent and <7) predominant in the poetic function. Immediate relations to meaning are apparent in such, diverse factors of the attribute good as / R O T / N E T T / T I E F in: R O T I S T G U T N E T T I S T G U T T I E F I s T G U T H E I N I s T S E HR G U T In the referential use of I S T GUT, the predicate requires an argument like NETT. What remains latent is the implicit evaluation performed by the speaker/®^ Here ve have a world stretched tautly between poles, a world described by adjectives, which, of course, by definition express value judgments. Only a few such descriptive attributes are used here, however, so that the world or factor constellation as seen here is a very limited one. (Clausing 1971: 37) *5 i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The way in which the main elements / H a u s / / H u n d / / K a t z e / / I c h / / D u / of Deborah Hecht's poem >Fur Jim< are presented is general, unspecific and impersonal. This makes them appear to Clausing (1971: 37) almost as units to which various value judgments are assigned and reassigned. sehr gut in the last stanza is the attempt at synthesis in order to save the relationship, but the final words (Das Ende) cast some doubt on this possibility. Much more could be said about this poem; just consider the various possible interpretations of the word t i e f (intellectual, emotional, sexual), the fact that her house is red, and so forth. It is only through her that Jim becomes good in her eyes, a somewhat egotistical stance. 46 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2.4-.. CONSTHUCTION OF SIGNS Jakobson established that both prose and poetry, as the Fundamental Forms of verbal art, depend on two basic axes at work in every type of discourse: the axis of selection and the axis oF combination. Axis oF selection: A Haus Hund Katze Ich Du * > Axis oF combination Haus : ist : gro£. Hund : ist : schlecht. Katze : ist : nett. Ich : bin : klein. Du s bist : mein. *7 ; i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Message construction is based on a complex interaction between two different interrelated and mutually implicating operations of selection or substitution and combination or contexture, wherein selection from a repertory of codified signs generally precedes and is usually complemented by a succeeding combination. 19) Operation of Selection: Selection of I c H Repertory of codified signs: ICH DU ER SIE ES WIR I HR SIE Selection of B I N Repertory of codified signs: BIN BIST IST SIND SEID Selection of D E I N Repertory of codified signs: MEIN DEIN SEIN I HR UNSER EUER Constructed message: I C H B I N DEIN \ 48 \ / , * • * • . ' /// /, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The signs (sign-matrices) selected from are usually, but not always, related to each other by a variety of similarity relations, including equivalence, similarity, dissimilarity, contrast, antonymy, synonymy, opposition, etc. KLEIN R(elated to) NICHT SEHR GROSS BIN OEIN R GEHORE DIR The signs and sign-matrices combined are usually, but not always, related to one another by contiguity. While the choices (signs and sign-matrices) in a selection set are bound by various types of equivalence relations, it is generally not the case in referential speech that the elements combined are related to each other by any strong equivalence relation. I C H B I N NICHT SEHR GROSS. ICH G E H O R E DIR. is hardly describable in any strong way by equivalence. 49 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The boundary between selection and combination is relative. Equational predications as >S C H L E C H T I S T NI CH T GUT< involve a projection of a substitution set from the lexical code into the context of the given language (1957e, 162) . Concatenated units may be seen as simultaneous, e.g. the concatenation of phonemes to form words. Syntax is concerned with the axis of concatenation, semantics with the axis of substitution (1953c, 565) . But concatenation implies substitution. There is also a marked/unmarked relationship between selection and combination, where selection is the unmarked category. Selection deals with entities conjoined in the code. Combination deals with entities which are conjoined in the code and in the message simultaneously - i.e., the various combinations of phonemes making up words are combinations in both the code and the message (1957e, 159). Entities which are conjoined only in the message are phrases, clauses, sentences, discourses. 50 //■ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. There is also a marked/unmarked relationship between selection and combination, where selection is the unmarked category. Selection deals with entities conjoined in the code. Combination deals with entities which are conjoined in the code and in the message simultaneously. - i.e. the various combinations of words making up sentences are combinations in both the code and the message (I957e, 159). > Ich bin klein < > Ich bin dein < CODE COMBINATIONS Du bist klein Wir sind klein MESSAGE COMBINATION > Hund ist klein < ENTITIES CONJOINED IN THE CODE >Tief< >Hoch< >Nah< >Fern< ENTITIES CONJOINED IN THE MESSAGE >Schlecht< / >Gut< >Tief< / >Gut< 51 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. \ These two axes are related, respectively, to the principles of similarity and contiguity. H u n d is similar to X a t z e as both refer to pets, animals in the Haus. H u n d is contiguous with i s t k l e i n ist s c h l e c h t ist d e i n as the items form a grammatical German sentence, where they have a common subject/predicate borderline. 52 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Poetic worlds are unlike the possible worlds of logic. Neither their houses nor their houses' inhabitants are maximal or complete. All we know about the house is its s ize and colo r. We do not know where it is located. The owner of the house, we read, is small. We do not know about her age. Poetic worlds are small worlds and temporally restricted; they are temporal fragments or partial descriptions of limited worlds. Although we know that the house belongs to the "X" of the poetic scenario, we have no idea how long this has been the case. Although we know that the dog is little and the cat is big, we do not know whether the cat is smaller or bigger than the dog. It is possible to infer that there is something strange about the relationship expressed here. The writer wants to deny the other person (Jim) any possessions or relationships with other beings. The dog is the first disturbing factor, and indeed there is a corresponding break in the rhythm (nicht gut)? Clausing (1971: 37) 53 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The poem is to a certain degree decontextualized. It is a system of systems which is more self-contained than referential discourse. It is a 'systematic distribution of attributes G R O S S / K L E I N / GUT / S C H L E C H T / M E I N / DEIN / ... / containing the SYSTEMS 3rd PERSON IST [ATTRIBUTE] 1st PERSON BIN [ATTRIBUTE] 2nd PERSON BIST [ATTRIBUTE]. The poem provides its own generalized universe of discourse, stated in present tense: ...the individual situation is expressed in such a mannered and affectedly formalized style as to clearly indicate the writer's attempt to make a generalized statement. (Clausing 1971: 37) The description of the scenario is limited to a string of main elements, " u n i t s to which various value judgments are assigned and reassigned." (Clausing 1971:37) 5* permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2.5. PARALLELISMS AML SYMMETRIES The orientation of the poem upon itself as a message-sign has the effect of making more of a break between- the poem and its context than, for example, the following referential discourse: I C H WOHN E IN M E I N E M GROSSEN, R O T E N HAUS. ICH HABE EINE G R O S S E KATZE. M E I N F R E U N D HE IS ST JIM. ER HAT E I N E N K L E I N E N HUN This self-orientation results in a relative sel f-sufficiency. The poem exhibits closure with respect to its beginning and to its end. Such closure is a result of the focus upon the message and is the means whereby focus is achieved. The final words (DAS E N D E) therefore cast some doubt on a continuation of the expressed relationship. 55 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The juxtaposition of two elements immediately sets the principle of similarity to work. The elements are juxtaposed because they are similar or they become similar because they are juxtaposed. X c b b i n k l e i n X cb bin de in The elements k l e i n and d e i n are juxtaposed because they are similar in sound. The elements Ha u s and Katz e become similar because they are juxtaposed H a u s ist mein K a t z e 1st mein The essential point is the switch from the formal to the semantic level. Since a particular pair of words is similar in sound, a semantic affinity is automatically established. Both words are assigned to the same poetic and psychological field. 56 I . ' / / , ! ' • | Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Similarity, or equivalence, is responsible for the metaphoric pole in language D i e b e i d e n sind vie Hun d und K a t 2 e Contiguity pertains to the metonymic pole: E r h a t e i n Dach uber dem K o p f is based on the contiguity relation between Haus and ( h a t e i n ) Dach 57 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The use of equivalence relations and the resultant parallelisms and symmetries give a tight, interwoven structure of the poem HAUS IST HAU S IST HA US IST KA TZ E IST KATZE IST KA TZ E IST H U N D IST H U N D IST HUND IST ICH BIN ICH BIN ICH BIN DU BIST . . . DU BIST... • • • DU BIST... Such internal structure enhances the poem's sel f-suf f iciency. / ' ) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. As Jakobson has often pointed out, equivalences are extremely Important, but it must not be overlooked that there is only equivalence in difference. Relational invariance is >equivalence under isomorphic transformations*:. If we take such constructions as > D u bist g r o 0 < and > D u bist m ei n < the two expressions >g r o 0 < and > m e i n < are equivalent in terms of modification of the phrase > D u b i s t < . But there is a large difference in interpretation. The adjectival > g r o & < assigns a property to the subject > O u <. The possessive pronoun > m e i n < expresses a relation between the subject and the person uttering the sentence. In case of the final value assignment - > D u bist f e i n < imputed similarities and differences are firmly to be distinguished. 59 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2.6. EQUIVALENCE IN DIFFERENCE From the point of view of the linguistic system certain concepts are considered to be identical. There is at certain equivalence holding between > s c h l e c h t < and > n i c h t < > g u t < which overrides perceivable differences. S c h l e c h t ist n i cht gut What Jakobson (1959a: 262) coined equivalence in difference< is the invariance associated with the various concepts throughout the linguistic system of which they are a part. Invariance in the domain of grammar and lexicon may have little to do with absolute affinities of the referents involved. The principle.of invariance has to do with imputed similarities and differences from the point of view of the linguistic system. The referents involved may be linguistic fictions which are nevertheless extremely real to the users of a given language. N et t ist gut 60 *' a ; Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Where the equivalence is a relational equivalence based on sameness within a system - Equivalence in difference is the cardinal problem of language and the pivotal concern of linguists [Jakobson (1959a/1971: 64)] - the relation between >Ich< ,>bin< and >tief< is describable in a way by equivalence insofar as the words are containing the German [i:]-sound. In poetry, the projection of the principle of equivalence from the axis of selection into the axis of combination means quite simply that such sameness is used as the major means of constructing the whole sequence: I C H B I N TIEP The words >Haus<, >ist< and >gro/9< have the [s]-sound in commom. This sameness is used at the very beginning. HAUS IST GR OS S 61 of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission t Similarity relations remain latent in case of the referential function? they may be overruled according to Jakobson (1975/1980; 1968/1971} by the imputed contiguity relation between signans and signatum. In the case of the poetic function similarity relations may become patent and may overrule the imputed contiguity relations. With the emphasis upon equivalence and similarity relations on the level of signata, the immediate relation between signans and signatum leads to an evaluation of the similarity relation as evidencing a similarity in the signatum^ The propensity to infer a connection in meaning from similarity in sound illustrates the poetic function of language. In D U BIST MEIN DU BIST FEIN the sound similarity of M E IN and FEIN leads to an evaluation of the referent of M E I N (objects in possession of me) . 62 • / i - Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The loosening of the relations based on contiguity has many facets. Referential use of the German language requires a determiner in front of H A U S / H U N D / K A T Z M E I N HAUS IST GROSS DIE KA T ZE 1ST MEIN D E I N HU ND IST S C H L E C H T This mandatory contiguity principle allows for the semantic interpretation to select just Deborah Hecht's HAUS out of the set of possible houses that may be assigned to this word. Clausing ( in personal communication) did not object to this loosening of contiguity relations in order to reduce the weight of grammar and in favor of free poetic creativity Loosening of the relations based on contiguity also includes beginning and ending closure, which seal the poem off from preceding and succeeding contexts. 63 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 .7 . IUVARIANCE AJfD CONTEXTUAL MEAAING The principle of invariance associates defining characteristics with any item in any language. These defining characteristics adhere in the item itself only insofar as the item is related to other items of tne system of which it is a part.(i2) Since the relations between linguistic items are primary and the items themselves secondary, the Invariance of > i s t g u t < is primarily relational. i s t g u t ( rot } i s t g u t { nett } i s t g u t ( tief } Invariance can in fact, according to Jakobson (1973e) , only be correctly understood in connection with the notion of relation. The equivalences of (rot), (nett), {tief} are extremely important, but it must not be overlooked that there is only syntactic equivalence. 6 4 of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Invariance in grammar and lexicon can create a whole mythology. Imputed similarities and differences are firmly rooted in the conceptual framework-which they define. Hund ist dein Ich bin dein Hund ist klein Ich bin klein Hund ist schlecht — -> Ich bin schlecht From the point of view of this poetic linguistic system the final ---> world-classification, which is not contained in Deborah Hecht's poem >F ur Jim < , may not at all appear to be arbitrary or ad hoc. 65 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. H a u s ist gro£ H a u s ist rot Waugh (1976: 69) reminds the reader that the world of human experience is not equal to ontological reality. This >world< is essentially correlated with language. > H a u s < has its invariant defining characteristics only by virtue of the fact that it is related to other buildings, from the standpoint of the German language. > H a u s < is equivalent to other buildings in some respect and different from other buildings in other respects from a linguistic standpoint. Relational invariance is built on certain relational properties which items of human experience have in common from the point of view of the linguistic system, and which they possess only as they are related to other items of human experience. As a word like > H a u s < is used in various contexts, the principle of invariance associates certain defining characteristics with it which remain through all alterations of context:. 66 permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. RELATIONAL INVARIANT: GESAMTBEDEUTUNG Hund ist kl ein Ich bin klei n BASIC CONTEXTUAL VARIANT: GRUNDBEDEUTUNG I c h b i n dein The signatum of the linguistic sign I c h b i n tief evidences a continual dichotomy between a Gesamtbedeutung, the relational invariant, and a Grundbedeutung, which is the basic contextual variant. While the potential for ambiguity resides in the relation of contextual variants to the invariant, generally contextual meanings are discernible from the surrounding linguistic context: Tief ist gut ????> I c h b i n g u t 67 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The perlocutionary effect of exciting poetic faith is a faith which consists in entertaining as meaningful a set of statements - K A u S X S T G R o S S H A u s I S T R O T H .A u s I S T M E I N I C H B X N T X E F T I E F I S T G U T — that make claims counterfactual to conditions in the real world as we have it in our classroom. Such a poetic speech act is the kind of act that we associate with the seer, the kind of act attributed to someone inspired with unnatural powers, transporting himself or projecting himself into a world of his imagining. This is a world which only the poet can know, a world which he is free to make as different from our world as he pleases, one which would ordinarily be closed to us and we can discover only from the poet's account of it. 68 ill i i I Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2.8. METAPHOR - METONYMY DISTINCTION The poetic function is not confined to poetry. Although all poetry has a dominance of the poetic function, the function does not disappear in texts where o ther functions dominate. mene la ou la fonction poetique est soumise a d'autres fonctions, [•••] elle ne disparait jamais totalement [Jakobson (1978: 18)] The poetic function occurs, according to Jakobson (1960: 359) , elsewhere, not only in Xch bin klein Mein Herz ist rein Mein Freund Jim soli Recht glucklich sein where it plays next to congratulations a subsidiary though important role. In the subordinate function, it may assume a secondary but still important role. 69 of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Jacobson's critics mistake metaphor and metonymy for mere figures of speech, as opposed to pervading forces organizing language in operation. The metaphor-metonymy opposition is not an absolute one but rather a tendency. The German composite H a u s k a t z e may be correctly decoded if the tvo elements H a u s and K a t z e are placed contiguously in a prepositional relationship. E i n e Katze fur das Haus. E i n e Ka tz e im Hau s. Or the alternative combination Wild k a t z e may be used to point to a selectional relation of dissimilarity. The basic distinction between metaphor and metonymy is important for the process of decoding each verbal mode. 70 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A serious question of truth or existence can only be raised in relation to a context. Es gibt eine Katze< implies that there is an x such that x — a cat But >x exists< is an elliptical utterance requiring completion by an indication of w h i c h s y s t e m of m e a n i n g it is o p e r a t i v e in. x may exist as designatum of a word in a German poem x may exist within the framework of. German mythology, x may exist, within the framework of a fictitous story, x may exist within the framework of someone's imagination. 71 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SUMMARY Chapter Two has given a practical meaning to the grammatical concepts introduced theoretically in the first chapter. This was achieved with the help of a very simple poem, written by Deborah Hecht in the German language yet to be learned. 72 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER THREE In this portion I am introducing a poem which i t has a similar [EIN]/[EIN] invariance as 'Fur Jim*. Jakobson himself has given an interpretation of Paul Klee's valley where someone [German: EINER] is imagined to be looking upwards at times [German: EINMAL]. According to Klee's diary there are two mountains, [German: 'ZWEI BERGE'] on (both of) which it is bright as well as clear. Jakobson assumes in the following sketch, that it is bright on one and clear on the other. Such a mistake made by the founder of equivalence theory himself is not concerning the principle of equivalence in difference, but merely incorrect translation. The poem 'To the moon', interpreted by Posner and Linden shows the action of filling [German: 'fullest'] ascribed to the moonlight by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Parallelism between the action really performed by the moonlight and the event Goethe imagines to be going on, allows the same asymmetry which the German sound [w] allows when occurring in [W]inter as [w] and in [uber] as [b]. 73 t . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The interpretation of Paul Klee's poem shows a repetition of the linguistic unit 'BIN' inside the words 'EINer' and 'EINmal In this way Jakobson's theme is related to the application of his theory in Chapter Two of my thesis. In Deborah Hecht's work the linguistic unit 1EIN' occurs inside words like 'klBXN or 'mEIN9 or 'dEIN'. f i i - h, I Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Any discussion of the intrinsic, linguistic properties of poetic texts and the poetic function starts vith a general statement about focus on the message. It continues with- specifics as >grammar of poetry< and >lexical tropesc. It is shown that all the elements of the poetic set imply and implicate each other; none is privileged. As for any set of relations, i.e. structure, all the elements of the poetic function form a system in which one constituent implies the others. If any of the parts is missing, the whole system itself is intrinsically changed. All of the specific aspects of a poem, rather than being goals in themselves, are mutually related to each other and at the same time are interdependently linked with the whole. Since the whole poem is dominated by a focus on the message itself, the contribution of the parts is radically altered, as against the contribution of constituents to a message dominated by the referential function. The exchange of one element for the other alters more than the whole. It alters each of the parts in relation to the whole and in relation to each other. 75 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3.1* LINGUISTIC CHABACTEHIZATION OP AN OCTASTICH BX PAUL KLEE Jakobson's analyses of poetic work; bv Paul Klee (1970 b) demonstrate the interdependence of form and meaning. The formal and semantic interact, while in the earlier Formalist's view the semantic had to be forever subsidiary. nLa poesie met en relief les elements constructif* de tous les niveaux linguistiques, en commencant par le reseau des traits distinctifs et jusqu'a l'agencement du texte entier" (1973:487) The interesting aesthetic process is the semantization and exploitation of variants, not the variants themselves. The model may well be an inevitable result of limited possibilities, up/down, right/left, etc. 76 of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PAUL KLEE (1903) Zvei Berge gibt es auf denen es hell ist und klar, den Berg der Tiere und den Berg der Gotter. Dazwischen aber liegt das damnerige Tal der Menschen. Wenn einer einmal nach oben sieht, erfaBt ihn ahnend eine unstillbare Sehnsucht, ihn, der weifl, daB er nicht weiB nach ihnen die nicht vissen daB sie nicht vissen und nach ihnen, die vissen daB sie vissen. I Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PAUL KLEE'S OCTASTICH The painter's po.em of 1903 was written down without any vertical arrangement of verses. It displays nonetheless a clear-cut division into eight lines of two hemistichs. (1) There are two mountains on which it is bright and clear, (2) the mountain of beasts and the mountain of gods. (3) But in between there lies the dusky valley of men. (4) When once someone locks upwards, (5) an unquenchable longing seizes him forebodingly, (6) him who knows that he doesn't know (7) after them who don't know that they don't know (8) and after them who know that they know. 78 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission ein Mensch Jemand Wenn einer einmal When once someone 06,1 nach oben sieht, paradigm paradigm looks upwards, combination ,-i-cL (EIN)er together with (EXN)mal can stand as an initiating step in the linguistic characterization of poetic discourse. 79 i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission The notion of <equivalence>, like the notions of <set>, and <focus>, is oriented towards the interpreter. The<poetic function> may be regarded as invitation to treat as equivalent items in the sequence which would have simply been contiguous in non-poetic language. (1970: 20 f.) In their grammatical shape (3 and 6) occupy an obviously transitional position; each of them is basically akin to the contiguous outer couplet, but at the same time they share certain formal features with the two central lines. This central distich, the most dramatic part of the poem, is endowed with verbs of process ( 4 nach oben sieht, 5 ergreift) in contradiction to the verbs of state in (1-3) and to the verba sciendi in (6-8). The abstract noun 5 Sehnsucht differs from the six concrete substantives of the three preceding lines and from the total absence of nouns in the next three lines. The components of 'Sehnsucht' are related, one with the verb 'sehen', and the other, through folk etymology, with the verb 'suchen'. The entire line displays an ostensibly verbal leaning, and besides the transitive verb 'ergreift' with the direct object 'ihn it contains a gerund 'ahnend' and a deverbative adjective 'unstillbare'. Poetry is thus defined in terms of the additional patterning it introduces into language; the regular reccurrence of similar items in the sequence. / 80 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Jakobson's (1970: 20) analysis of the poem suggests that he did believe that intricate patterning was a distinctive and discoverable feature of poetry. The first three lines of the poem depict the permanent quasi-material status of its heroes; the outer, initial couplet (lines 1 and 2) is devoted to beasts and gods, while the third line deals with men. Correspondingly, the last three lines of the poem characterize the permanent mental status of its heroes, and the outer, final couplet (lines 7-8) contemplates the beasts and gods, whereas the third line from the end (6) is consecrated to men. bright clear mountain mountain negation of negation affirmation of affirmation dusk valley affirmation of negation With an interpretative machinery as powerful as this, further intricate patterns may be detected. 81 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was microfilmed as received. 82-83 This reproduction is the best copy available. UMI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3.2 DISCUSSING THE PROCESS OF RECEPTION WITH GOETHE'S POEM 'TO THE MOON' In the previous section, equivalence-theory was put into practice by the founder of this model himself. In the following treatment of Goethe's poem 'To the moon' Posner discusses Linden's inversion, which projects the principle of contiguity from the axis of combination into the axis of selection. 84 , V / , Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe An den Mond To the Moon Fullest wieder Busch und Thai Still mit Nebelglanz, Losest endlich auch einmal Meine Seele ganz; You fill again bush and valley Silently with misty glow. You also release at last My soul entirely; Breitest uber mein Gefild Lindernd deinen Blick, Wie des Freundes Auge mild Uber mein Geschick. You spread across my field Soothingly your gaze. As the friend's eye, mildly, Across my fate. Jeden Nachklang fiihlt mein Herz Froh- und truber Zeit, Wandle zwischen Freud' und Schxnerz In der Einsamkeit. Every echo is felt by my heart Of glad and somber time, I pass between joy and pain In my solitude. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. \ Wenn du in der Winternacht Wuthend uberschwillst Oder um die Fruhlingspracht Junger Knospen quillst. W 1A I .nternachtW m mawm • list,------ ’W W w When you in the winter night Furiously overswell, Or around the spring's splendor Of young buds spring up. Selig, wer sich vor der Welt Ohne HaB verschlieBt, Einen Freund am Busen halt Und mit dem genieBt, Blessed one who from the world Without hate shuts oneself in, Holds a friend to one's bosom And with him enjoys Was, von Menschen nicht gewuBt Oder nicht bedacht, Durch das Labyrinth der Brust Wandelt in der Nacht. That which, not known by humans, Or not thought of, Through the labyrinth in the breast Passes in the night. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The perception of a word understood in light of the theories of the Prague Structuralists is a self-generating process. This distinctive node of perception affects the way poetic language signifies. Poetic designation is not primarily determined by its relation to the reality signified but by the way in which it is placed in the contexture. The link between the designation and the surrounding contexture comes to force when Jakobson (1960: 370) writes: Similarity superimposed on contiguity imparts to poetry its thorough-going symbolic, multiplex, polysemantic essence which is beautifully suggested by Goethe's >A l le s V e r g a n g l i c h e ist nur ein G l e i c h n i s < (Anything transient is but likeness) . Said more technically, anything sequent is a simile. The notion of the poetic function involves two steps in the formation of a poem - selection and combination — turning the whole of the poem into a gigantic substitution set created by the ordering of the elements within it. 87 permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. When you in th« winter night Furiously oversvell, paradigm mradigm naradigm combining (w) in (W)internacht syntagmatically with (w) in (w)uthend and (w) in sch(w)illst results in: Wenn du in der winternacht Wuthend Cberschwillst 88 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Posner (1982: 178 f.) discusses the process of reception involving five stages: a. By their content, the lines of Goethe's poem make the moon stimulate a number of mental processes in the protagonist: 'reassurance, release of emotions, clearing of the soul, recognition of the strength of inner life'. b. By identification with the protagonist, the imaginative reader reexperiences these effects of the fictional moon when reading the poem. c. As the poetic function of the language directs the reader's attention towards the message, he associates these effects with the word 'moon' in the text of the poem. d. The associations in question are transferred from the word to its referent, the real moon, when the reader encounters it in real-life situations. e. Having experienced the real moon stimulating 'reassurance, release of emotions, clearing of the soul, recognition of the strength of inner life', the reader feels confirmed when reading Goethe's poem anew (feedback to (b) ) . Reception taking such a course is regarded by Posner as a process of secondary conditioning. The fictional moon in (a) and (b) , the word 'moon' in (c) and the real moon in (d) function as conditioned stimuli. with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. All the itdms are equivalent in being affected by the moon or the river, respectively. What Linden necessarily had to do in order to construct his paradigmatic formulation, was to select items from within a paradigm and combine their meanings to form the symbolic content. An ordinary writer does - so Posner (1982: 177) - the opposite; (s)he selects items from paradigms and combines their meanings to form a syntagm: According to Jakobson, a poet produces syntagras by taking a number of equivalent items from a paradigm and combining them to make a text; Linden, however, produces paradigms by taking a number of contiguous items from a syntagm and combining them to make a symbol. Whereas Jakobson promotes equivalence to the constitutive device of the syntagm, Linden promotes contiguity to the constitutive device of the paradigm in poetry: Symbol-oriented interpretation projects the principle of contiguity from the axis of combination into the axis of selection. 90 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. For Linden (1928: 359) .. . the moon symbolizes eternal powers and reassurance in them, release of emotions, clearing of the soul, recognition of the. strength of inner life. The river with its roaring symbolizes movement, and eternally flowing life touching the heart with pain and joy, taking away the dearest things and leaving only memories behind. Der Mond . . . ist Sinnbild ewiger Machte und der Beruhigung in ihnen, Sinnbild der Losung der Gefuhle, der Klarung der Seele und der Besinnung auf die Kraft der Innerlichkeit. Der FluB mit seinem Rauschen ist Symbol der Bewegung, des ewig rinnenden Lebens, das mit Schmerz und Freude erschutternd an das Herz greift und die kostlichsten Guter hinwegnimmt, um nur die Erinnerung an sie zuruckzulassen. Posner (1982: 176) renders the practice of such symbol-oriented interpretation in the following way: PARADIGM PARADIGM PARADIGM TEXT moon river SYNYAGM . . . . . > night 91 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Every equivalence relation divides the text under investigation for Posner (1982: 134 f) into two (14) classes of elements: ' A: the class of the text elements among which the relation in question holds. (it is a subclass of A7, the class of all - possible elements among which the relation in question holds), B: the class of elements which constitute the remaining part of the text sequence. Possible cases: (c) If A contains only one element that is coextensional with part of the text sequence, it follows that B is not empty. The text falls into at least two segments. A statement is made about a text segment by comparison with the segments (that belong to A') of other texts. (d) If A contains several elements and is coextensional with the whole text sequence, it follows that B is empty. The text falls into at least two segments. A statement is made about the text segments by comparison of the text segments with each other. (e) If A contains several elements and is coextensional with part of the text sequence, it follows that B is not empty.- The text falls into at least three segments. A statement is made about the text segments by comparison of these text segments with each other. 92 ' :l 1 i . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3.3. SKETCHING ALTERNATING ELEMENTS 'ELLES* IN CHARLES BAUDELAIRE'S SONNET 'LES CHATS' After this visit to the classical field of German literature, Baudelaire's poem out of the collection 'Les fleurs du mal' will demonstrate a simple repetition of the syllable 'elles1 at the axis of combination. Such an invariant 'elles1 superimposed upon contiguity relations is reminiscent of Deborah Hecht's invariable 'ein' contained as a particle in 'mein', 'dein', 'klein'. It is also related to the parallel construction involving the auxiliary ' . . . ist . . . ' . i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Together with the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss Jakobson presented an important example of text-analysis, the interpretation of the sonnet >Les chats< from Baudelaire's >Les fleurs du nxal<. The aesthetic character of the whole poem and the easthetic function of its parts are determined by the text-structure, a system of relations internal to the text.^^ In the last tercet, the suffixes of three words signifying something sparkling and brightly luminous also rhyme on the syllable ' * (c) elles", which has a bright sound: "etinc elles" - "pare elles"- "prun elles" There is an equivalence between text elements located vertically above each other- The suffix " (c) elles" which corresponds to a sound of a certain kind, appears in the poem only in words signifying a light, based on the synaesthetic relationship >bright light< = >bright sound<. The recurrence of an equally defined equivalence class {"etincelles"/"parcelles"/, ! prunelles" is defined by the characteristic (phonemic & semantic brightness}. 9^ permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Charles Baudelaire: Les chats [1] Les amoureux fervents et les savants austeres, [2] Aiment egalement, dans leur mure saison, [3] Les chats puissants et doux, orgueil de la naison, [4] Qui comae eux sont frileux et comme eux sedentaires. [5] Amis de la science et de la volupte, [6] Ils cherchent le silence et l'horreur des tenebres; [7] L'Erebe les eut pris pour ses coursiers funebres, [8] S*ils pouvaient au servage incliner leur fierte. [9] Ils prennent en songeant les nobles attitudes, [10] Des grands sphinx allonges au fond des solitudes, [11] Qui semblent s'endormir dans un reve sans fin; [12] Leurs reins feconds sont pleins d'etincelles magiques, [13] Et des parcelles d'or, ainsi qu'un sable fin, [14] Etoilent vaguement leurs prunelles mystiques. 95 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Charles Baudelaire: Cats [1] Fervent lovers and austere scholars [2] share the same love, in their riper years, [3] for powerful but gentle cats, the pride of the household, [4] who like them are sedentary and sensitive to draughts. [5] The friends of learning and sensuality, [6] cats ever seek silence and dreadful night; [7] Erebus would have employed them as messengers of gloom, [8] could they lower their pride to slavery. [9] They assume, when their minds wander, the majestic poses [10] of those colossal sphinxes who stretch their limbs in the realms of solitude, [11] and who appear to be sleeping in an eternal dream. [12] Magical sparks teem in their fertile loins, [13] and particles of gold, like delicate grains of sand, [14] vaguely fleck their mystic pupils with stars. 96 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Charles Baudelaire: Die Katzen [1] Die gluhenden Verliebten und die strengen Gelehrten [2] Lieben gleichermaBen in der Zeit ihrer Reife [3] Die machtigen und sanften Katzen, Stolz des Hauses, [4] Die wie sie frosteln und wie sie seBhaft sind. [5] Freunde des Wissens und der Lust, [6] Suchen sie das schweigen und den Schrecken der Finsternis; [7] Der Erebos hatte sie als seine Totenrosse genommen, [8] Wenn sie ihren stolz der Knechtschaft beugen konnten. [9] Sie nehmen sinnend die edlen Haltungen [10] Der groBen Sphinxe ein, die, ausgestreckt in der Tiefe der Einsamkeiten, [11] Einzuschlafen scheinen in einem Traum ohne Ende; [12] Ihre fruchtbaren Lenden sind voll magischer Funken, [13] Und Goldpartikeln, wie feiner Sand, [14] Besternen flinunernd ihre oystischen Pupillen. 97 with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The three sounds equivalently occurring in the french paradigm etincELLES parcELLES prunELLES are reminiscent of Deborah Hecht's three vowels [I] in an / [I] c h / / b [I] n / - paradigm. / t [I] e f / This leads us to the next chapter, and the question, whether repetition results in a piece of verbal art. In the following chapter secondary literature will be consulted. And this entails that the equivalence of the river on one side, and an amount of water Goethe believed to be 'furious' - on the other, has to give way to a simpler level of phonological sameness. 98 t , Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SUMMARY Chapter three has shown how the founder of the theory himself applies the concept of equivalence to an octastlche by Paul Klee. A projection from the axis of combination onto the axis of selection was then discussed with the poem 'To the moon* by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Finally, the linguistic equivalents [ELLES] were shown in the poem 'Les Chats' by Charles Baudelaire. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 99 CHAPTER FOUR 100 . . I Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4.1. WAUGH ON BEFEHENCE The poetic function is by no means foreign to the referential use of language. It is simply subordinated to the "overall referential thrust" [Waugh (1985:146)]. The poetic function is not to be equated with great poetry; it may also appear in "doggerel". All normal children go through a stage in their language acquisition process in which they invent or repeat rhymes and play with sounds. They play with the poetic function, both as the dominant function and as a subordinate function. Jump-rope rhymes, counting-out rhymes, street games of all sorts, pre-sleep soliloquies attest to the importance of the poetic function in language learning. JaJcobson [(1978: 19); (1979: 217-220)] points to the fact that adult speech evidences the poetic function in varying degrees of hierarchization and combination; it occurs as well as part of the child language learning process. 101 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The poetic function is not confined to poetry. Although all poetry has a dominance of the poetic function, the function does not disappear in texts where other functions dominate. meme la ou la fonction poetique est soumise a d'autres fonctions, (...) elle ne disparait jamais totalement [Jakobson (1978: 18)] The poetic function occurs, according to Jakobson (1960: 3 59) , elsewhere, for example in >applied verse< of various kinds where it plays a subsidiary though important role. In the referential function, it may assume a secondary but still important role. Such phrases as >through thick and thine, >horrible Harryc, >lucky Lucyc, >innocent bystandere, etc., owe their success as much to their poetic basis (alliteration, paronomasia, dactylic meter, etc.) as to their referential basis ("Harry really is horrible") . 102 \ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4.2. EAGLETON AND WINNER ON PERSPECTIVE Authors of modern structuralism have written extensively about the semiotics of literature. They are strongly text oriented but do not consider the pragmatics of the Prague school tradition as is attempted here. Terry Eagleton oversimplifies the relationship between the Prague Linguistic Circle and Saussurean linguistics. According to winner (1990:218) the Prague school is not a simple adaptation of Saussurean methods. Saussure was concerned with the rules of combining signs, related to what later scholars called the semiotic code. Saussure’s principal accent was on the structuration of the dyadic sign which represents an inseperable alloy of its planes of meaning and form. Eagleton erroneously calls the Prague school a transition between Russian Formalism and modern Structuralism. Eagleton ignores the broad advances from Formalism. According to Winner (1990:219) he does not understand that much of the logocentrism and text-orientation of modern, i.e.j French Structuralism really is a step backward from the broad perspective of Jakobson and the Prague school. 103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Jakobson's definition of the functions of language hinges upon sets of binary oppositions. The poetic function appears as the opposite of the metalinguistic function. In meta-language the sequence is used to build an equation, whereas in poetry the equation is used to build a sequence. The projection rule constructs the verbal message as a sequence of equivalents that either resemble each other - form synonyms - or remain in contrast and form antonyms. In addition to the equivalents of meaning the poetic message is built on phonetic parallelisms or on 'figures of sound', which modify and complement the 'figures of thought'. Stankiewicz (1984: 162 f.) reveals some of the limitations Jakobson's conception inherited from the formal method. Poetry involves the organization of texts, whereas the other functions of language are rooted in external contexts and rendered by distinctive linguistic forms. The use of predicate forms for the referential function is the use of a form that belongs to the linguistic code. The poetic function is not commensurate with the other functions. 10*f Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4.3. WAUGH AND UNMARKED COGNITIVE CONTENT Jakobson, were he to present his six functions in such a way as to privilege none of them, would face the problem of norm and deviation. The 'referential' function is to be thought of as the 'norm', the unmarked member of the complete set. ... ve must agree with Sapir that, on the whole, 'ideation reigns supreme in language . but this supremacy does not authorize linguistics to disregard the 'secondary factors' In the case of the referential function the social and psychological purpose of the particular kind of language is evident - it is serving to communicate a cognitive content. Waugh (1985: 144) summarizes: The referential function seems to be that function which is the unmarked one in the system of six. ... As evidence of the unmarked nature of the referential function, we may cite the fact that in many linguistic and philosophical studies of language, the referential function has been said to be the only function of language, or, if (some of) the other functions have been discerned, they have been declared to be 'deviant' or 'unusual' or needing special consideration. And even in our parlance about language, the referential function is spoken of as 4ordinary language'. 105 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TAYLOR Off PARADIGMATIC STRUCTURE It is important for Taylor (1981: 55) that we pay particular attention to Jakobson's notion of paradigmatic structure since it is this structure's organizing principle of equivalence which is 'projected into the axis of combination'. The equivalence-principle is projected into the syntagmatic sequence of the message to create the set toward the message. The structure that is superimposed on the message — the surcodage of the stylistic structure - is of the same type as the paradigmatic structure. The superimposed structure, like the structure of the paradigmatic axis, .is formulated on the base of equivalence, similarity and dissimilarity, synonymity and antonymity. Two linguistic features may be conventionally related by equivalence because they are both free variants in a particular context, because they mean the same, because they are semantic opposites. Such relations of equivalence which are, in the non-poetic message, in absentia, become in praesentia in the poetic message. Equivalence is superimposed to give lines a poetic function. 106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4.5. CULLER'S ARBITRARINESS Grammatical categories are a fixed set to be established within a theory of grammar. How the set of categories should be delimited depends upon the question what the 'correct' theory of grammar is. Culler (1975: 57) levels his criticism against Jakobson's theory on the basis of its excessive arbitrariness. But his categories are pseudocategories for others: One can produce distributional categories almost ad libitum. One might, for example, begin by studying the distribution of substantives and distinguish between those which were objects of verbs and those which were subjects. Going one step further, one might distinguish between those which were objects of singular verbs and those which were objects of plural verbs, and then one might subdivide each of these classes according to the tense of the.verbs. This process of progressive differentiation can produce an almost unlimited number of distributional classes, and thus if one wished to discover a pattern of symmetry in a text, one can always produce some class whose members will be appropriately arranged. Culler's 'categories' such as objects of plural verbs have no linguistically justifiable status for Kiparsky (1983: 24) and therefore should not play any role in poetic patterning. 107 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4.6. TAYLOR AND ARTIFICIAL ANALOGY The nature of the poetic function is perhaps best explained by analogy. When a movie is made in which the cameras, cameramen, director^ etc. are all visible on the screen, the effect is to prevent the audience from seeing the movie's story as a real slice of life which they are just fortunate enough to see on film. Instead the awareness is continuously forced on the audience that the movie is both fictional and artificial. The movie's constitution as a cinematic artefact is highlighted. Similarly, to Taylor (1980: 58) , in the case of poetic language the reader is made to notice the language dependent, semiotic construction of the sequence. The addressee is thereby kept from paying attention only to the meaning of the message. A sequential structure of equivalences may affect the reader in this way. The fact that meaning-determined relations of the code are instantiated in the message produces a hesitation as to the meaningfulness of their role in the message. 108 ! • . • ( i / • I Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ^.7. ATTHIDGE ON SPECIPIC DIFFERENCES Attridge (1988: 16 f.), asking the question of the differentia specifica of the language of literature, characterizes Jakobson as seeking clear definitions and distinctions. At the same time as offering a sharp focus, such criteria have to do justice to the evident lack of absoluteness in the relation between literary and nonliterary language. His solution, an extension of the proposals of Buhler and Mukarovsky, is the famous map of linguistic functions six in number, which characterise different kinds of linguistic event according to the different hierarchic relations of these functions. Poetry, in this scheme, is a use of language in which the poetic function dominates any of the others which might be present - the referential, the emotive the conative, the phatic, and the metalingual. ... One of the recurrent problems of norm-and-deviation arguments - that whatever feature you come up with as the distinguishing mark of poetry turns out to exist in nonpoetic texts as well - appears to be solved: of course the poetic function occurs outside poetry, but it is only in poetry that it predominates over the others. 109 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ^.8. FOWLER'S PALPABILITY OF SIGNS Fowler (1991: 20 £.) has pointed out that by 'message' Jakobson means the form of the language of the text, phonological and graphological, syntactic and semantic, rather than the communicated content. A major feature of the formalist conception of 'literature' is its hypothesis of a special 'poetic languag.e', distinct from 'ordinary language'. Jakobson's theory amounts to an intense admiration for complexity and minuteness of structural patterning. The focus on textual form is achieved by a high level of structuration, parallelism, a concentration of rhetorical techniques thickening the texture of language, promoting the palpability of signs. . . . 'the world' is excluded: 'Literature' does not depict a pre-existing reality, but autonomously creates a world of its own ... The theory is expressed in ... a reflexive rather than transitive terminology: 'autotelic' 'self-reflexive', 'self-focusing'. 'self-referential'. In modern criticism the original etymology of the word 'poesis' is revived: the text is regarded as a made or crafted thing, a work of art, an 'artefact'; ... It is not surprising that several approaches to poetics stress the materiality of the literary text, the significance of the medium, generally recognized to be language. Such approaches may be called formalist'; 110 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4.9. KIPARSKY AND PARADIGMATIC CLASSES Of the many questions which Jakobson's work on poetics raises for further research Kiparsky (198 3 :25). mentions the problem of what might be called latent elements of structure. If one takes the position that the poetic principle organizes the linguistic material in the sense of text-constituents, then one runs the risk of excluding what may be significant formal features of a more abstract nature. Kiparsky (1983: 26) is concerned with the abstract patterns themselves which are induced by the recurrence of paradigmatic equivalence classes in the poetic text. Jakobson, according to Kiparsky, views a poem as having a kind of constituent structure, characterized relationally in terms of succession {aa bb>, alternation {ab ab), and enclosure (abba). Jakobson states the distribution of linguistic elements over relational structures by quantifying expressions which include [all x's], [no x's], [the only x] . Kiparsky's way to visualize these structures is in terms of binary branching hierarchical tree representations for words, not worlds. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4.10. WINNER AND THE DECODER'S ASSOCIATIONS The scholars at the University of Konstanz have formulated the -concept of the implied reader. Jakobson held (1959: 277 f.) that the processes of encoding and decoding are antithetical. We have to go farther than the Konstanz school and account for the effect on the text of reading by concrete individuals. The dominant function of a text as intended by the author need not correspond to the dominant function of a text in the decoder's interpretation. Every decoder may have his own associations ( not just those given by Winner (1990: 236) " bif-baf: German children's language for the sound of shooting; halu-hale: the sound made by the hunting horn in German folksongs; la-, the syllable used when singing without words) " when reading the following fragment of a poem by Christian Morgenstern. Kroklokwafzi ? Semememi ! Seiokronto - prafriplo Bifzi bafzi; hulalemi: quasti basti bo ... Lalu, lalu la I 112 , \ \ ' / v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. **.11. BHOWJT'S TAUTOLOGY The domain of poetry is language in its aesthetic function, polyfunctionality, relationship rather than substance, the binary opposition of the paradigmatic and the syntagmatic axes. These terms are treated as established analytic tools and the reason for the survival of such notions is very simple and was suggested by Jakobson himself: they are tautologies. Regarding the projection principle Edward Brown (1987: 2 54 f.) quotes Jakobson: The critics clearly did not understand the elementary fact that this thesis was nothing but an expanded tautology: it enters quite simply into the very definition of verse . Brown (1987: 233 f.) showed that many examples of artistic prose show a system of repeated units. Just as the tautologies of mathematics grow into an immense and complex system, Jakobson's basic tautology - the projection principle — is trivial. Any list projects the axis of similarity into the axis of combination. A list of Jakobson's demonstration itself partakes of his famous poetic function. 113 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SUMMARY Chapter four has shown that the poetic function is by no means confined to poetry. The function 'reference' associated in the first chapter of this investigation with a communicative factor 'context', is not free from repetition and parallelism. The poetic function is not excluded from the referential use of language. And the referential function itself is not foreign to the poetic discourse. In the relation between literary and non-literary language a lack of absoluteness was proven. Ill* Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER FIVE SHORTCOMINGS. CONCLUSIONS. IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY. 115 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5.1. INVARIANCE AND RELATIONS The principle of invariance associates defining characteristics with the item { H a u s } in the German language. These defining characteristics adhere in the item itself only in so far as the item is related to other items {Hutte}/ (Palast} / { H o h 1 e } of the system of which it is a part. Since the relations between linguistic items are primary and the items themselves secondary, the invariance of those items is primarily relational. Invariance can in fact, according to Jakobson (1973e) , only be correctly understood in connection with the notion of relation. As Jakobson has often pointed out, equivalences are extremely important, but it must not be overlooked that there is only equivalence in difference- Relational invariance is >equivalence under isomorphic transformations^ 116 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5.2. SHORTCOMING: FORMAL TERMS A shortcoming of the present approach is that it defines the 'poetic function' in formal terms, whereas the other functions are described in positive, semantic terms. The 'poetic function' is said to use equations to build a sequence; the other functions refer to the world, they emote or inform the listener. While the non-poetic functions of language tend to blend or intersect, the 'poetic function' constitutes a category apart, as long as we focus our interest on literary texts. The combination of the poetic and non-poetic functions that we encounter in sermons, slogans or advertisements does not convert such expressions into autonomous objects; they do not renounce their practical intent. Jakobson (1960: 357) has a non- holistic concept: The linguistic study of the poetic function must overstep the limits of poetry, and on the other hand, the linguistic scrutiny of poetry cannot limit itself to the-poetic function. The particularities of diverse poetic genres imply a differently ranked participation of the other verbal functions. 117 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The. poetic and aesthetic function is, in the art of words, the predominant and structurally determining factor. But this function is not, in Holenstein's (1976: 163 f.) words, "the sole and exclusive reserve of poetry". Jakobson discovered and extracted the most important principles of structural linguistics through the field of poetry: the autonomy of language, its structural character, the interdependence of the whole and the parts, the two axes of language, the diversity of linguistic functions, the role of apperception (Einstellung) . Characteristic of the poetic function is the set towards the message, the linguistic medium in all its aspects and facets. Language becomes conscious in its >self-valuation<. It promotes and cultivates the latent structures that pass unnoticed in the ordinary set towards the referent during ordinary discourse. In ordinary speech the principle of equivalence is primarily assigned to the paradigmatic axis. In poetic speech it is projected into the syntagmatic axis. 118 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Language is not a Markov-chain, where every link is determined exclusively by the immediately preceding links, according to statistical laws of probability. The subsequent parts of a discourse retrospectively affect the shape of the earlier parts. Poetry points to this general linguistic law. Relatively short texts enable us up to the end of a poem to retain the vivid impressions of its beginning, thus making us particularly sensitive and receptive to the whole poem, the totality of its effect. In poetic texts the other functions need not be absent. They merely play a subordinate role. In other linguistic genres, the poetic function is - thus Jakobson (1960 b: 357) - not absent, but only appears in a subordinate role (in political slogans, in advertising, in commemorative speeches, in child language). The linguistic study of the poetic function must overstep the limits of poetry, and, on the other hand, the linguistic scrutiny of poetry cannot limit itself to the poe tie function . 119 with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. What kind of illocutionary act must have the perlocutionary effect of exciting poetic faith ? This is a faith which consists in entertaining as meaningful a set of statements that may make claims counterfactual to conditions in the real world. A poetic speech act is the kind of act that we associate with the seer, the kind of act attributed to someone inspired with unnatural powers, transporting himself or projecting himself into a world of his imagining. This is a world which only the poet can know, a world which he is free to make as different from our world as he pleases, one which would ordinarily be closed to us and we can discover only from the poet's account of it. True poetic faith would consist in our perceiving, with the poet, his descriptions as literally true. For us, not having experienced the direct vision of some other reality, but still wanting to enter upon the conceptualization of an otherwordly reality, common reality has to be distorted. 120 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5.3. NO LINGUISTIC ANSWER Jakobson's single sentence made a strong and continuing impact. It shows how the language of poetry achieves its state of self-referentiality. It is supposed to be the empirical linguistic criterion of the poetic function. It is impressively technical in its vocabulary, assured in its rhetoric, and free of any interference from judgements and values. But it does not offer an objective and purely linguistic method of identifying what counts as poetry and what doesn't. It does not provide a key to the sealed chamber that had baffled literary thought for centuries as Attridge (1987: 17) writes. The projection principle has nothing to tell us about the difference between a good and a bad poem just as the identification of the emotive function says nothing about the success. It has no relations to the author's intention and excludes the reader from any role in the determination of what is or is not poetic language. [ See Attridge (1987: 17 f.)]. It is the message itself, which by virtue of its inherent properties - that is, in its adherence to the principle - proclaims itself as poetic. 121 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5.**-. FUNCTION OCCURS ELSEWHERE There is no act of verbal communication without a message. Although all poetry has a dominance of the poetic function, this function is not confined to poetry: meme la ou la fonction poetique est soumise a d’autres fonctions, ... elle ne disparait jamais totalement Jakobson (1978: 18) The poetic function occurs elsewhere. In the referential function, it may assume a secondary but still important role. The poetic function is by no means foreign to the referential use of language, but rather is subordinated to the referential one. The referential function is spoken of as > ordinary language <. As with all statements by Jalcobson, the definitions of "poetic” and "referential" have to be taken as relational. In relation to and as against 5 other functions: in the referential function there is a dominance of focus upon the context; in the poetic function there is a dominance of focus upon the message. with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5.5. DEFINITION FAILS Jakobson's own sentence possesses the very qualities of parallelism that it is referring to. it is a definition as well as an example of the poetic function. Commentators have often rewritten Jakobson's description of poetic language as though it referred to the act of composition. Terry Eagleton (1983: 99) states: What happens in poetry ... is that we pay attention to 'equivalences in the process of combining words together as well as in selecting them: we string together words which are semantically or rhythmically or phonetically or in some other way equivalent. Jakobson's analyses of poems are not simply demonstrations of the poetic function at work. The principle of equivalence allows poems to function differently from other kinds of language. In the hands of a poet the principle of equivalence is a resource which produces networks of association and contrast, interrelations of sound and sense. Jakobson's definition attempts an act of exclusion. It cannot protect his own discourse from those forces rendering it inconsistent with itself. 123 jl Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. o O T M O T 2 S 12^ i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (1) page 5 -THE TERM >FUNCTION< IN LINGUISTICS Lewandowski (1984:315) lists 10 possible ways in which the word >function< may be understood in a lingvkistic-poetic interpretation. In der Linguistik und in der linguistisch relevanten Literatur wird der Funktionsbegriff in sehr unterschiedlicher Weise verwendet; er wird gebraucht im Sinne von - Funktor/Pradikat (nach G. Frege: >Argument und Funktion<) - Dependenz-Relation in der Glossematik (die glossematischen F. der Interde^ndenz, Determination, Konstellation) - grammatischer Funktion als logisch- relationaler, semantisch-tiefenstruktureller Begriff in der gTG (Subjekt-von, Objekt-von usw.) - syntaktischer Rolle einer Satzkonstituente (Subjekt, Objekt usw.; s. auch — > Thema und Rhema, Thema und Kommentar) - Position, in der eine Form vorkommt. Bloomfield, Def. 32: 'The positions in which a form occurs are its functions. r) - (kommunikativer) Leistung einer Form (z.B. die verschiedenen Leistungen des Suffixes/Morphems >-er< im Dt., vgl. — > funktionale Grammatik) - Aufgabe, Sinn, Zweck einer sprachlichen Erscheinung Oder der Sprache im ganzen (vgl. — > Organonmodell) - eines relationalen Begriffs in der Semantik und der Semiotik (>Bedeutungsfunktion<, >Zeichenfunktion<) - Sprachverwendung in sehr allgemeinem Verstandnis - Fahigkeit eines dynamischen Systems, bestimmte Verhaltensweisen zu erzeugen oder als Abstraktionsklasse der moglichen Verhaltensweisen eines dynamischen Systems in der Kybernetik." 125- Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (2) page 6 EQUIVALENCE PROJECTIONS IN PROSE Geier (1986: 142 f.) discusses patterns of equivalence in Ingeborg Bachmann's <Malina>: Es scheint, als ob das Prinzip der Aquivalenz, das in der Alltagssprache gleichsam nur die paradigmatische Achse einzelner Elementklassen beherrscht, auf die syntagmatische Ebene des Textes projiziert worden ware, um hier Zusammenhange herstellen zu lassen, die mehr Struktur aufweisen als die 'Prosa des Lebens'. Sicherlich, was nicht vergessen werden darf, entstehen auch in der poesielosen Sprache neben den phonologisch— morphologisch-syntaktischen Geordnetheiten, die im Rahmen einer Grammatik abzubilden versucht werden, sporadisch bestimmte Geordnetheiten der Rede, die ein Mehr an kontextueller Struktur zeigen, als es fur die alltagliche Verstandigung wesentlich und notwendig ist. Wahrend solche Geordnetheiten jedoch weitgehend zufallig sind und kaum strukturelle Belastung tragen, sind sie fur den poetischen Text fundamental. 'Malina' zeigt, wie sie bis zur Grenze des Rauschs gesteigert werden konnen. Gegen die Sprachlosigkeit der ungeistigen Zeit wird der sprachliche Ausdruck in wiederholten Parallelismen, Ahnlichkeiten und Wiederholungen weitergebildet. Noch die letzten Satze des Romans, vor seinem Ende, schreiben sich fort im Muster der Aquivalenz: < Schritte, immerzu Malinas Schritte, leiser die Schritte, leiseste Schritte. Ein Stillstehen. Kein Alarm, keine Sirenen. Es kommt niemand zu Hilfe. Der Rettungsvagen nicht und nicht die Polizei. Es ist eine sehr alte, eine sehr starke Wand, aus der niemand fallen kann, die niemand aufbrechen kann, -aus der nie mehr etwas laut werden kann. Es war Mord. > 126 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (3) oage 21 FUNCTION WITHOUT CONCEPT V. Tima (1991: 188) not only sees a refutation of Hegel's assumption that poetry can be translated into conceptual discourse; Jakobson also seems to be giving a linguistically precise formulation of Kant's theorems: In seinem bekannten Aufsatz 'Linguistik und Poetik' (1960), in dem auch das poetische Aquivalenzprinzip erortert wird (...), konkretisiert Jakobson Mukarovskys Argumentation, indem er sechs Sprachfunktionen unterscheidet: die emotive, die vorwiegend auf den Sender selbst gerichtet ist; die konative, die sich an den Empfanger richtet, die metasprachliche, die den Kode thematisiert, die phatische, die sich auf den Kontakt oder das Kommunikationsmedium bezieht, die referentielle, die den Kontext zum Gegenstand hat, und schlieSlich die poetische Funktion, die zum Selbstzweck wird: 'Die Einstellung auf die Nachricht als solche, die Zentrierung auf die Nachricht um Hirer selbst willen, ist die poetische Funktion der Sprache." Hier werden Kants Theoreme 'ohne Begriff', 'ZweckmaBigkeit ohne Zweck' und 'interesseloses Wohlgefallen' im linguistischen Diskurs umformuliert und prazisiert. Die Sprache der Dichtung gefallt 'ohne Begriff', weil die phonetischen Einheiten der Ausdrucksebene eigenen Gesetzen gehorchen und zum wesentlichen Bestandteil dieser besonderen Sprache geworden sind. Diese ist als 'ZweckmaBigkeit ohne Zweck' aufzufassen, veil die poetische Funktion die anderen Funktionen zwar nicht verschwinden, aber zveitrangig werden laBt; die richtige Einstellung ist schlieSlich die eines 'interesselosen Wohlgefaliens'... 127 / i1 //'.V. : Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (4) page 22 PROJECTION LAWS IN VARIOUS LANGUAGES V. Zima writes from a philosophical perspective about Jakobson (1991: 187 £.): Im Unterschied zu den New Critics versucht er .. . , das besondere Funktionieren der Dichtersprache sprachwissenschaftlich zu analysieren, und geht dabei von dem inzwischen bekannten Grundsatz aus, daB in der Dichtung das Aquivalenz-Prinzip dominiert, das paradigmatischen Charakter im Sinne von Saussure hat: 'Die poetische Funktion projiziert das Prinzip der Aquivalenz von der Achse der Selektion auf die Achse der Kombination. Aquivalenz wird zum konstitutiven Verfahren einer Sequenz erhoben. In der Dichtung wird eine Silbe mit jeder anderen Silbe der gleichen Folge aquivalent; Wortakzente werden Wortakzenten gleichgesetzt, ebenso das Fehlen eines Akzentes einem Fehlen; prosodische Langen mit prosodischen Langen, Kurzen mit Kurzen (...)' Mit anderen Worten, die syntagmatischen Kombinationen werden in der Lyrik durch die semantischen und phonetischen Selektionen auf paradigmatischer Ebene vorbestimmt: ... Es leuchtet ein, daB die Projektion von phonetisch aquivalenten Einheiten 'von der Achse der Selektion auf die Achse der Kombination' in jeder Sprache besonderen Gesetzen gehorcht, die die Besonderheit und die Autonomie der Dichtung ausmachen. Deshalb ist nicht nur die ubersetzung von Gedichten in andere Sprachen problematisch, sondern auch ihre ubertragung in begriffliche Rede, die Hegel fur moglich hielt. 123 • > f Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (5) page 32 TOWARDS PARALLEL REALITIES Jakobson (1965: 170 f.) quotes Wolfgang Steinitz with his investigation on parallelism. The following paragraph not only quantifies over all poetic forms but also indicates the classical level of investigations: Jakobson as well as Steinitz deal with (elements of) words. Der grammatische Parallelismus . . . gehort z.B. zum unabdingbaren Prinzip der altchinesischen Wortkunst, er liegt den chanaanischen und insbesondere dem altbiblischen Vers zugrunde. Aber auch in jenen Versifikationssystemen, in denen der grammatische Parallelismus nicht zu den obligatorischen Regeln zahlt, unterliegt seine kardinale Rolle im Aufbau und in der Komposition der Verse keinem Zweifel. Die programmatischen Thesen des Forschers bleiben fur alle poetischen Formen in Kraft: 'Die Untersuchung des Wortparallelismus wird n' ch verschiedenen Richtungen hin zu geschehen haben. Einmal handelt es sich um die i n h a l t l i c h e n Beziehungen der Wortpaare: nach welchen (psychologischen) Gesetzen findet die Parallelisierung statt. Sodann: welche f o r m a 1 e ubereinstimmung herrscht zwischen den parallelen Worten (bzw. Elementen). Sehr wichtig erscheint auch die Feststellung der g r a m m a t i s c h e n Kategorien, die parallelisiert werden' . Investigations in parallelism will have to look for units larger than words or elements of words, if the notion of 'truth' is concerned. Categories which can be true in the same reality are at least sentences. 129 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (6) page 36 EQUIVALENCE, RELATIVITY AND INVARIANCE An illuminating phonetic conception of the equivalence principle is to be found in Jakobson/Waugh (1986:52): Solange z.B. die drei Lauteinheiten des Giljakischen, das starke aspirierte (fc k] # das schvache [k] und der Reibelaut [xj als drei getrennte GroBen behandelt vurden, hatte man es mit zvei Relationen zu tun, einer zvischen VerschluB- und Reibelauten und der anderen zvischen zvei VerschluBlautarten. Wenn vir aber einsehen, daB in der anlautenden, starken Position das starke [k h] lediglich dem schvachen [k] gegenubersteht, und daB das nichtanlautende, in schvacher Stellung auftretende [k] nur dem Reibelaut [x] gegenubersteht, so mussen vir gezvungenermaBen die Aquivalenz der beiden Oppositionen zvischen stark und schvach anerkennen, eine Relation, die in der starken Position als schvaches Glied und in der schvachen Position als starkes Glied ein und derselben Opposition fungiert: hier treffen vir auf ein deutliches Beispiel von dem, vas irrtumlicherveise fur die imaginare 'Uberlappung zveier Phoneme' gehalten vurde (Bloch 1941). In einer konsequent Len Betrachtunsveise ist der subjektive, unklare Begriff der Gleichartigkeit bevuBt durch das zvingendere Prinzip der Aquivalenz ersetzt vorden, velches in der Wissenschaft untrennbar mit den Begriffen der Relativitat und der Invarianz verbunden ist. Uberdies kommt die Komplementaritat zvischen der Herausarbeitung der Invarianz und der Bestimmung der Variablen in dem Gil jakischen Beispiel klar zum Ausdruck: die Aspiration von [k h] und der kontinuierliche Charakter von [x] kennzeichnen die anlautende bzv. nichtanlautende Position. 130 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (7) page 45 A dominant interest in my approach to Deborah's text production lies in the relation of grammar and poetry. Jakobson noted that while grammar in a referential text has the function of organizing the experience of the participants in the speech act, in an utterance dominated by the aesthetic function, grammar turns on itself. Grammar itself becomes part of the participants'experience, which is organized. When language is shaped towards an aesthetic function, it inflates ambiguous meanings, as grammar lends itself to meanings beyond the coded logical cognitive realm (Jakobson 1959: 237f/ (193 0;1931;1952). 131 i -c Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (8) page 45 In referential speech it is often the case that the particular variant meant is evident to speaker and hearer. Referential speech tends less to multiplicity of meaning and more to denotative precision. Xn the case of the poetic function the breaking of the tie between contextual variant and object referred to or idea to be expressed is interconnected with: [a] the multiplicity of meanings [b] the inherent ambiguity Cc] the split reference [d] the multiplicity of the denotata. 132 * r . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (9) SOVJET SELECTION FORMULA page 48 Eismann (1991: 56) has given an account of Jakobson' influence in the Sovj et-Union: Das Jakobsonsche Funktionenmodell wird ausdrucklich ubernommen (vgl. z.B. Toporov 1974: 704f.)/ ebenso wie die Erweiterung der Einstellungshypothese um die ubertragung des Aquivalenzprinzips von der Achse der Selektion auf die Achse der Kombination (vgl. Toporovs Rezension von 'Linguistics and Poetic^' von 1962 und z.B. Toporov 1981: 194) . The famous >Kolmogorov-Formula< has played an important role since 1962 in all works of the Moskow or Tartu - structuralists. Determining poetic language (mostly in verse) the formula states (Eismann: [1991: 57 f.)]: daB die Informationskapazitat .H einer Sprache sich zusammensetzt aus hi, d.h. der Menge der verschiedenen Gedanken, die in einem Text bestimmter Lange dargelegt werden konnen, und aus h2, der Menge gleichwertiger Wiedergabemdglichkeiten ein und derselben Bedeutung, d.h., H = hi + h2. Linguistisch gesehen besteht daher die Arbeit eines Schriftstellers fur Ivanov (1985: 161) darin, 'aus der gesamten moglichen Zahl von Satzen (oder umfangreicheren Texten), die einen bestimmten Inhalt wiedergeben, einen einzigen Text auszuwahlen, der den asthetischen Kriterien genugt. ' 133 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (10) page 55 "VERWELTLICHUNG" OF EUROPEAN POETICS It is according to Eismann (1991: 70) a contention of Soviet linguists that scientific and poetic language share a semantic feature. Toporov hat 1974 mit anderen in einer seiner Untersuchungen uber O. Mandel'stam und A. Achmatova deutlich gemacht, daB 'die Struktur der Sprache der Poesie' der Akmeisten 'selbst die Philologie zu neuen Beschreibungsmethoden inspirierte' (Levin u.a. 1974: 52) und hiermit einmal mehr auf ein haufiges Thema bei ihm und Ivanov hingewiesen: die erstaunliche Koinzidenz oder mogliche gegenseitige Beeinflussung des modernen kunstlerischen Experiments und der jungeren wissenschaftlichen Beschreibungs- und Untersuchungsmethoden, wobei oft im kunstlerischen Experiment vieles von dem vorweggenommen wird, zu dem die Wissenschaft erst spater gelangt. Eismann (1991: 70) writes about the modern approach of poetic language towards the 'world': Neben dem Nachweis des Wirkens archaischer GesetzmaSigkeiten in der Organisation der poetischen Sprache hat Ivanov auch versucht, zeitgenossische Tendenzen dieser Sprache aufzuzeigen und z.B. am Material der Entwicklung des Nominalstils in der russischen Poesie des 20. Jahrhunderts und auffalliger Parallelen in der gesamten europaischen Poesie sogar die Frage nach der Einheit der Sprache der europaischen Poesie der neuesten Zeit aufgeworfen (Tvanov 1981). Die Tendenz zur 'Verweltlichung' der Dichtersprache, von der bereits Mandel'stam gesprochen hatte (vgl. Ivanov 1985: 286), ist sicher eine allgemeineuropaische Erscheinung. 13^ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (11) page 62 REFERENTIAL EQUIVALENCE Erhard Agricola (1979: 15 f.) considers the >IST—AQUIVALENT-MIT-Relation< to hold between expressions like-'Freizeit' and 'Wochenenden', 'Unterkunft' and 'Hotel'. Zum Nachweis der Basis der funktionalen und denotativen bzw. denotativ- referentiellen Aquivalenz von bsstimmten Textpaaren werden also die verschiedenen Typen von Paraphrasierungen auf den Ebenen zwischen Semen und Text auf ein einheitliches Prinzip ihrer Entfaltung aus einem bzw. ihrer Unterordnung unter einen gemeinsamen abstrakt-semantischen Kern, eine relevante Minimalstruktur, hin untersucht. Das Semem A und das Semera A' , beide in der Form von Lexemen oder Paralexemen und in der semantischen Relation von Synonymen oder von Hyperonym zu Hyponym zueinander stehend, konnen unter dem Aspekt ihres gemeinsamen invarianten Bezugspunktes, ihrer semischen Basis aus strukturbestimmenden, relevanten Merkmalen, innerhalb eines Textems oder eines Textes paraphrastische Funktionen ausuben. Beispiele: eine ra ts el haf te , geradezu g e h e i m n i s u m w i t t e r t e Frau; ein Hotel, das kaum den Namen Unterku nf t verdient; Sie verbringt ihre F r e i z e i t haufig im Klubhaus. Aile Woch en end en sind dem Batikzirkel gewidmet. Endlich setzte er die Un te rsc hr ift darunter. Doch sein N a m e n s z u g sah fluchtig und undeutlich aus. 135 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (11) page 6 2 [continued] If we take Agricola's (1972: 101) example "movie theatre" and "extended" may be combined with their 'equivalent substitutes. AXIS OF SELECTION X Kino X Filmtheater + ausbauen X Filmbuhne + erweitern X Lichtspiele + vergrfiBern rekonstruieren X Lichtspieltheater + X Lichtspielhaus + X + X X X X X X SYNTAGMATIC RELATIONS X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X xxxxxxx> AXIS OF COMBINATION Das Filmtheater ist erveitert worden. Man hat die Lichtspiele vergrbpert. Die Rekonstruktion der Filmbuhne vurde vollzogen. Das ausgebaute Lichtspielhaus ist vollendet. 136 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (12) page 64 Txtrzraann (1977: 115 f.) distinguishes implicit cases ofequivalence from explicit ones. Implicit equivalence can only be discoverd by means of analytic abstraction. The following is an elaborated version of his example for explicit equivalence . explicitly postulated "archisem" >Alle Formen menschlicher Existenz erscheinen als Theater, Rollenspiel, Uneigentlichkeit. < Der Kom6diant spielt { auf der Erde selbst ) { auf den Brettern } { in dem Boden } * * * * * * * * * > Alles ist auch nur Theater, mag der Komodiant auf der Erde selbst spielen oder zvei Schritte h&her auf den Brettern, oder zvei Schritte tiefer, in dem Boden, wo die Wurmer das Stichwort des abgegangenen K&nigs aufgreifen. > Die Nachtwachen des Bonaventura < 137 V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (12) page 64 [continued] Manfred Titzmann's (1977: 112) definition of equivalence: Zwei oder mehrere Tenne sollen aquivalent heipen, wenn der 'Text* ihre Gemeinsamkeiten betont und ihre Unterschiede aufhebt. Sie rtkhern sich dann dem Fall der Substituierbarkeit an, ohne unbedingt auch tatsachlich substituierbar sein zu m&ssen. It is the > T e x t < which determines equivalence by stressing similarities and ignoring differences. { etwas Geniales } { ein Gipfel ) { ein Abgrund } * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -> Ich bin doch neugierig, was er wieder ausgeheckt haben wird, um sich und seinem Herzog aus der Klemme zu helfen. Sicherlich etwas ungeheuer G e n i a l e s , einen Gipfel, einen Abgrund. C.F. Meyer: >Die Versuchung des Pescara<. 138 with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (13) page 65 Titzmanrf (1977:118) holds tight to a weak notion of semantic equivalence: die semantische Aquivalenz umfasst mehr Falle als die logische. Wir halten fest: Aquivalenz « a) zwischen lexikalischen Termen: Relation zweier (oder mehrerer) Terme derart, dass sie - mindestens einen gemeinsamen semantischen Term aufweisen, hinsichtlich dessen sie substi-kuc&rbar waren, — der gemeinsame semantische Term vom "Text" funktionalisiert wird, —die divergenten semantischen Terme vom "Text” neutralisiert werden. b) zwischen semantischen Termen: Relation zweier (oder mehrerer) Terme derart, dass sie - in der Logitf des "Teytes" - einander wechselseitig implizieren- 139 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (13) page 6 5 r «.QQntinued ] Titzmanft's relation of equivalence between sentences allows for example the english pair "fuck/communicate" (1977:119) Wir geben als - vielleicht etwas ungewohnliches - Beispiel solcher abgeschwKchten Aquivalenz auf der Basis hypo- bzw. hyperonymischer Relationen einen englischen Kurztext: X want to fuck him. I want to communicate. . . . Die Abfolge der beiden Aussagen mag zunachst als semantisch inkoh&rent erscheinen: urn eine Koh&renz zu finden, mussen wir eine beiden gemeinsame Klasse suchen. Nun kann zwar 1 1 to fuck1 * als (hyponymes) Glied der Klasse "to communicate" aufgefasst werden, das Umgekehrte durfte hingegen schwerlich moglich sein. Der hyperonymische Charakter des zweiten Terms gegenuber dem ersten wird im \ibrigen auch dadurch unterstrichen, dass dem Verb der ersten Aussage ein Objekt zugeordnet ist, dem der zweiten hingegen nicht: "he" erscheint als beliebig substituierbarer Partner eines allgemeinen Wunsches nach Kommunikation, von der die sexuelle Betatigung als Teilklasse aufgefasst wird. Hinsichtlich der einseitigen Implikation "to fuck" ----> "to communicate" bzw. der Inklusion "to fuck" "to communicate" sind also jedenfalls beide Tatigkeiten als einander aquivalent gesetzt. 11*0 with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (13) page 65 [still continued] Trtzmahn (1977:117) comes close to my logical conception of a semantic equivalence between expressions. Im Prinzip m&ssen semantische Relationen unterschieden werden. ... Xdentitat des Signifikats, d.h. kontext- unabh&ngige Substituierbarkeit stellt eine Teilmenge der l Aquivalenzrelationen dar: hinsichtlich des Signifikats identische Terme sind auch aqui valent, nicht aber umoekehrt. ^ Aquivalenz ist eine vAbschwa chung der Identitat, Identitat ein Grenzfall der Aquivalenz. Denn bei Identitat haben die Terme genau dieselben Mengen semantischer Merkmale. ..- v Monosemische Terme/Seme konnen aber insofern aquivalent sein, als die ihnen zugeschriebenen Anwendungsbereiche als extensionsgleich gesetzt sind, d.h. insofern, als sie durch wechselseitige Implikation ( a <— > b = a — > b und b — > a ) korreliert sind: wenn und nur wenn a gilt, dann und genau dann gilt auch b. ... Beide Terme sind nicht identisch bzw. synonym: substituierbar sind sie nur insofern,'als jeder den anderen impliziert und somit der eine automatisch gegeben ist, wenn der andere gegeben ist. Diese wechselseitige Implikation ist in der Logik auch unter dem Namen der "Aquivalenz" bekannt; es lage nahe, die semantische uberhaupt durch die logische Aquivalenz vzu definieren. Doch geht das z.B. nicht fur die Aquivalenz "Gipfel ===== Abgrund" in Ich bin doch neugierig, was er wieder ausgeheckt haben wird, um sich und seinem Herzog aus der Klemme zu helfen. Sicherlich etwas ungeheuer Geniales, einen Gipfel, einen Abgrund". (C.F.Meyer: Die Versuchung des Pescara) 1^1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (14) page 92 ASYMMETRICAL INCLUSION Holenstem (1976: 6) presents Jakobsons philosophy concerning the potential applicability of logic and mathematics. Intralinguistic integration is combined with interdisciplinary integration. Linguistics is not isolated from the natural sciences (biology, physiology, etc.) or from other formal sciences (logic, mathematics), nor is it absorbed by them. Distinctive and conceptual features can be investigated and stated in terms of groups. In terms of an equivalence relation the difference between belonging and inclusion is clear. According to Andrews (1990: 114) : Inclusion is always reflexive A C A - and transitive A C B, B C C imply A C C. Belonging is neither reflexive A C A is false - nor transitive A C B, B C C does not imply ACC. Neither inclusion nor belonging is symmetric. Both represent an asymmetrical relation between two qualitatively distinct entities. 1^2 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (14) page 92 [continuedI Formally, all equivalence relations are characterized by the properties of reflexivity, symmetry and transitivity- That is, for each of the relata x, y, z and for every equivalence relation R (a) xRx (b) if -xRY, then also yRx (c) if xRy and yRz, then also xRz. (a) assumes the equivalence of each of the relata with itself. This limiting case of the equivalence relation i always fulfilled in a trivial way . Equivalence relation that only have the identity of a relational element to itself as their criterion of equivalence are irrelevant because they hold for any given element and every kind of text. The usefulness of the concept of equivalence is seen in the many approximate synonyms which, according to the text-level being investigated, are currently in use: correspondence - matching - agreement - relation in an emphatic sense - shared possession - repetition - identity - sameness - similarity - synonymy - analogy.- The concept of opposition, antinomy, antonymy can be explained with the concept of equivalence as well. 1^3 •* / < ■ V ■ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Note (15) page 94 AqOrivalenzbeziehungen der verschiedenen Ebenen werden besonders in poetischen Texten in reichem Masse in die Selektion und Kombination einbezogen. Roman Jakobson hat dieses Modell der Stilbildung und poetischen Textkonstitution u.a. zusammen mit dem Ethnologen Claude Levi Strauss bei der strukturalistischen Analyse und Interpretation von Baudelaires Gedicht >Les chats< zugrundegelegt und aufgezeigt, in welch subtiler Weise solche ftquivalenzrelationen auf den unterschiedlichen Ebenen ermittelt und gedeutet werden konnen. Problematisch wird das Verfahren jedoch (so nach R. Posner 1969) bei Fragen der Synthese der ermittelten Xquivalenzrelationen und der Interpretation des Ganzen, wie sie ubrigens M. Riffaterre (1969) in einer Gegeninterpretation von vornherein zum Ausgangspunkt wahlt. cf. Sprache im Technischen Zeitalter 29/1969. Die Formulierung eines Textes laBt sich ... als sukzessive Selektion der Textelemente aus einer Reihe vertikaler Xquivalenzklassen (Paradigmen) beschreiben. Die Moglichkeiten der Sukzession h werden durch die Regeln der Grammatik eingeschrankt, die bestimmen, in welcher Anordnung (Kontiguit‘ at) die gewahlten Eleraente erscheinen dilrfen. Die Selektion wird jeweils durch den Kommunikations- zweck gesteuert . (Posner, 1969* 16? ) Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1^5 / Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Agricola, 1979 Attridge, 1987 Beckmann, 1990 Begemann, 1990 Clausing, 1971 Erhard Textstruktur, Textanalyse, Inf ormationskem. Leipzig: VEB Verlag Enzyklopadie. 1979. Oerek "Closing Statement. Linguistics and poetics in retrospect. In: Fabb, Nigel; Attridge Oerek (eds.): The linguistics of writing. New York: Methuen. 1987 Ulrich Text und Textwelten. Zur Problematik der Bedeutungskonstituierung zu Texten.Doctoral Diss. Bielefeld University. Hamburg: Helmut Buske. 1990. Petra Poetizitat und Bedeutungskonstitution. Ein Modell poetischer Textverarbeitung unter besonderer Berucksichtigung der Rolle der Lautaquivalenzen. Doctoral Diss. Bielefeld University. Hamburg: Helmut Buske. 1990. Gerhard "Adding a creative dimension: Writing and interpreting poetry in intermediate German courses." In: Die Unterrichtspraxis. Fall 1971. Vol. IV, No. 2. 1^6 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Eiermacher, K.; Grzybek, P. ? Witte, G. 1989 Faye, J .P.; Robel, L. (n.d.) Fowler, Roger 1991 Halle, M. (ed.) 1 983 Heydrich, W.; Neubauer, F.; PetSfi, J; Sozer, E. (ed.) 1989 Holenstein, Elmar 1974 Kolenstein, Elmar 1975 Hughes, G.E. Cressvell, Max J. 1968 Issues in Slavic Literary and Cultural Theory. Studien zur Literatur- und Kulturtheorie in Osteuropa. Bochum: Universit&tsverlag Brockmeyer. 1989. Le cercle de Prague. Change 3. Paris Seul. "Introduction". In: Coyle, Martin; Garside, Peter (eds.) Encyclopedia of Literature and Criticism. London: Routledge. 1991 Roman Jakobson: What he taught us. Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers. 1983. Analysis of Text and Discourse. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter. 1989. Roman Jakobson *m Approach to Language. Phenomenological Structuralism. Bloomington, London: Indiana University Press. 1974. Roman Jakobson's phanomenologischer Strukturalismus. Frankfurt: Suhrkanp. 1975. An Introduction to Modal Logic. London: Methuen. 1968. 14-7 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Keller, Otto Hafner, Heinz 1990 Arbeitsbuch zur Textanalyse. Munchen: Wilhelm Fink. 1990 Kiparsky, Paul 1 983 Kristeva, J. 1 974 Kusch, M; v Schroder, H. 1 989 Lambert, K. (ed.) 1 991 Lenzen, Wolfgang 1978 Levandovski, Theodor 1984 Nerrell, Floyd 1983 "The Grammar of Poetry". In: Halle, M. 1983, pp 20-29. Revolution de la langue poetigue. Paris: Seuil. 1974. Text, Interpretation, Argumentation. Hamburg: Helmut Buske. 1989. Philosophical Applications of Free Loqic. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1991. Recent Work in Epistemic Logic. Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Co. 1978. Linguistisches Worterbuch 1. Heidelberg: Quelle & Meyer. 1984. Pararealities. The Nature of our fictions and how we know them. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 1983. 1^8 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Mukarovsky, Jan 1 989 Kunst, Poetik, Semiotik. Edited by Kvetoslav Chatik. Augsburg: H. M&hlberger. 1989. Piotrowsky, R.G.; Leschin, M.; Lukjanenkov, K. 1 990 Introduction of Elements of Mathematic to Linguistics. Bochum: Universitatsverlag Brockmeyer.1990. Pomorska, Krystynatyna Chodakovska, Elzbieta McLean, Hugh Vine, Brent Language, Poetry, and Poetics. 1987 The Generation of the 1890s: Jakobson, Trubetzkoy, Majakovskij. Proceedings of the First Roman Jakobson Colloquium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. October 5-6, 1984. Mouton de Gruyter. Berlin, Hev York, Amsterdam. 1987. Pomorska, Krystyna Jakobsonian Poetics and Slavic 1992 Narrative. Durham, London: Duke University Press. 1992. 149 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1982er' R°land S ™ ° ”fi_?fscou£se_*nd Poetic Communication. Berlin, New York: Mouton. 1982. "Possible Courses of Events". In: Kusch, Martin; Schroder, Helmut (eds.): Text, Interpretation, Argumentation. Hamburg: Helmut Buske 1989. pp. 17-30. Saussure, Ferdinand de 198 5 Cours de linguistigue generals Edition critique preparee par Tullio de Mauro. Publie par Charles Bally et Albert Sechehaye. Paris: Edition Payot. 1985. Rantala, Veikko 1989 Selinker, Larry 1992 Rediscovering Interlanguage. London, New York: Longman. 1992. Steiner, Peter f t Wendy 1979 Taylor, Talbot J. 1980 "The Axes of Poetic Language". In: Odmark, John (ed.): Language, Literature f t Meaning I. Problems of Literary Theory. Amsterdam: John Benjamins B.V. 1979. pp. 33-70. Linguistic Theory and Structural Stylistics. Oxford, New York: Pergamon Press. 1980. Titzmann, Manfred Strukturale Textanalyse. 1977 Theorie und Praxis der Interpretation. Munchen: Fink. 1977. 150 J Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Waugh, 1976 a 1976 b 1977 1979 a 1979 b 1980 1982 1984 1985 Linda R. "The Semantics and Paradigaatics of Word Order." Language 52, 8-107. Roman Jakobson's Science of Language. Dordrecht: The Peter de Ridder Press. 1976. A Semantic Analysis of Word Order. Leiden. "On the Sound Shape of Language." Proceedings of the Deseret Language and Linguistic Society. (Annual Meeting) , Provo, Utah. "Some Remarks on the Nature of the Linguistic Sign.” In: The Sign and its Functions, ed. J. Pelc et al.' (Berjin- N.Y.: Mouton). "Form as a Cue to Semantic Structure”. (manuscript) . "Marked and Unmarked: a Choice between Unequals in Seaiotic Structure". Semiotica 38: 3-4, 299-318. "The Multifunctionality of the Speech Sound." In: F.B. Agard et al., eds.: Essays in Honor of C.F. Hockett. (Leiden). 288-302. "The Poetic Function and the Nature of Language.” In: Verbal Art, Verbal Sign, Verbal Time. ed. K. Pornorska et al. Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press.2 143-168. 151 with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Winko, Simone 1991 Winner, Thomas G. 1990 Woods, John 1974 Zima, Peter v. 1991 Wertungen und Werte in Texten. Axiologische Grundlagen und 1iteraturwissenscha ttliches Rekonstruktionsverfahren. Braunschweig, Wiesbaden: Vieweg. 1991. "Literary Studies and Semiotics" In: Koch, Walter A. (ed.): Semiotics in the Individual Sciences. Part I. Bochum: Brockmeyer 1990. pp. 214*253. The Logic of Fiction. The Hague, Paris: Mouton. 1974. Literarische Aesthetik. Methoden und Modelle der Literaturwissenschaft. Tubingen: Francke. 1991. 152 i i * V \ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ROMAN JAKOBSON 1928a 1928b 1928c 1931 1932a 1932b 1933-4 1936 1939a 1939b The concept of the sound lav and the teleological criterion - SWI, 1-2. Proposition au premier congres international de linguistes: Quelles sont les methodes les mieux appropriees a un expose complet et pratique de la phonologie d'une langage quelconque ? (countersigned by S. Karcevski and N. Trubetzkoy) - SWI, 3-6. Les problemes des etudes litteraires et linguistiques in Todorov, ed., Theorie de la litterature. 138-40 (with J. Tynianov) . Discussion -Reunion phonologique internationale tenue a Prague (18-21/XII 1930) - TCLP IV, 297. Zur Struktur des russischen Verbums — SWII, 3-15. Musicologie et linguistique - Questions de poetique, 113-26. Co je poesie? « Qu'est-ce que la poesie? Questions de poetique, 113-26. Beitrag zur allgemeinen Kasuslehre, Gesamtbedeutungen der russischen Kasus - SWII, 211-19. Observations sur le classement phonologiques des consonnes - SWI, 272-79. Signe zero - SWII, 211-10. 153 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1939c 1939d 1939e 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1948 1949a 1949b Nikolaj Sergeevic Trubetzkoy. (16 avril 1890-5 juin 1938) Essais de linguistique XI, 296-311. Un manuel de phonologie general* - SWI, 311-16. Zur Struktur des Phonems - SWI, 280-310. Das Nullzeichen - SWII, 220-22. Kindersprache, Aphasia und allgeaeine Lautgesetze — SWI, 328-401. Translation: Child Language, Aphasia and Phonological Universals. The Hague: Kouton (1968). Six lecons sur le son et le sens — Paris: Editions de Minuit — published 1976. Preface by Claude Levi-Strauss. Polish-Russian cooperation in the science of language - SWII, 451-55. Franz Boas' approach to language - SWII, 477-88. Russian conjugation - SWII, 119-29. Principes de phonologie historique - SWI, 202-20. Sur la theorie des affinites phonologiques entre les langues - SWI, 234-4S. 15* permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1949 C 1949 d 1949 e 1949 f 1949 g 1951 1952 1953 a 1953 b 1953 C 1955 1956 a 1956 b Les lois phonique du langage enfantin et leur place dans la phonologie generale.- SW II, 102-14. Notes on the French phonemic pattern - SW I, 426-434 (with John Lotz) The phonemic and grammatical aspects of language in their interrelations - SW II, 103-14. On the identification of phonemic entities. SW I, 418-25. Notes on general linguistics: Its present state and crucial problems. - N.Y.: Rockefeller Foundation, Mimeo. For the correct presentation of phonemic problems. — SW I, 435-42. Preliminaries to speech analysis. (the distinctive features and their correlates) - MIT Press (reprint 1961) (with Gunnar Fant and Morris Halle). Toward the logical description of languages in their phonemic aspect. - SW I, 449-63. Patterns in linguistics (contribution to debates with anthropologists') . - SW II, 223-28. Results of a joint conference of anthropologists and linguists. — SW II, 554-67. Aphasia as a linguistic topic. - SW II, 229-38. Fundamentals of language. — The Hague: Mouton - (revised edition 1971) - (with Morris Halle). Two aspects of language and two types of aphasic disturbances. - SW II, 239-59. 155 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1956 C 1956 d 1957 a 1957 b 1957 C 1957 d 1957 a 1958a 1958 b 1959 a 1959 C 1959 d Metalanguage as a linguistic problem. (Presidential address to the LSA)• Zn: The Scientific Study of Language: Fifty Years of the LSA, 1924-73, ed. by Anwar S. Dil. Abbottabad, Pakistan: Linguistic Research Group of Pakistan. - Zn press. Serge Karcevski. - SW ZX, 517-21. Shifters, verbal categories and the Russian verb. - SW IZ, 130-47. The relationship between genitive and plural in the declension of Russian nouns. SW ZZ, 148-53. Mufaxxama: The "emphatic** phonemes in Arabic. SW Z, 510-22. Notes on Gilyak. - SW ZZ, 72-97. The cardinal dichotomy of language. Zn: Language: An enquiry into its meaning and function. Ed. by R. Anschen. - Science of Culture Series - N.Y.: Harper. Typological studies and their contribution to historical comparative linguistics. - SW X, 523-32. Morfologiceskie nabljudenija nad slavjanskim skloneniem. (Sostav russkix padeznyx form). - SW ZZ, 154-83. (English summary 197-81) . On linguistic aspects of translation. - SW XX, 260-66. Linguistic glosses to Goldstein's "Wortbegriff". SW XI, 261-71. Boas* view of grammatical meaning. — SW ZZ, 489-96. 156 of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission 1959 • 1959 f 1960 a 1960 b 1960 C 1960 d 1961 a 1961 b 1962 a 1962 b 1962 C 1962 d Troia conferences donnees a Bucarest les 3 at 6 oct. 1958: Las problemes las plus actuals da 1'etude des sons du langage; Discussion sur la linguistique mathematique; Sur las aethodas d*analyse de la langue. - Ms. Introductory Mote - Description and Analysis of Contemporary Standard Russian Z. — The Hague: Mouton - 5-6 (with C.H. van Schooneveld) • Linguistics and Poetics. Zn: Style in Language. Ed. by T.A. Sebeok. - Cambridge: MIT Press. 350-77. Why "mama" and "papa" ?. _ SW 1,538-45. The gender pattern of Russian. SW II, 184-86. The Kazan school of Polish linguistics and its place in the international development of phonology. — SW II, 394-428. Introduction to the symposium on the structure of language and its mathematical aspects. - SW II, 568-69. Linguistics and communication theory. SW II, 570-79. On the Rumanian neuter. — SW II, 187-39. Retrospect. - SW I, 631-58. Parts and wholes in language. — SW II, 280-84. Anthony's contribution to linguistic theory. SW II, 285-88. 157 of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1962 S 1962 f 1963 a 1963 b 1963 C 1964 a 1964 b 1964 C 1964 d 1964 « 1965 a 1965 b 1966 a 1966 b The phonemic concept of distinctive features (with discussion)• — Proceedings of the 4th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. — The Hague: Mouton. 440-55. Zeichen und System der Sprache. SW II, 272-79. Implications of language universale for linguistics. - SW II, 580-92. Essais de linguistique generale I. (Les fondements du langage) • Paris: Editions de Minuit. Efforts towards a neans-ends model of language in intervar continental linguistics. SW II, 522-26. Toward a linguistic classification of aphasic impairments. - SW II, 522-26. Tenseness and laxness. — SW I, 550-55. Results of the Ninth International Congress of Linguists. - SW II, 593-604. Visual and auditory signs. - SW II, 334-37. Language in operation. -'Melanges Alexandre Koyre, I: 1'ayenture de 1*esprit. - Paris. - 269-81. An example of migratory terms and institutional models. - SW II, 527-38. Stroj ukrainskogo imperative. SW II, 190-97. Quest for the essence of language. — SW II, 307-33. Selected Writings IV. Slavic Epic Studies. The Hague: Mouton. (abbreviated "SW IV"). 158 of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1966 C 1966 d 1966 • 1966 £ 1966 9 1967 a 1967 b 1968 a 1968 b 1968 C 1969 1970 1971 a 1971 b Retrospect. - SW IV, 637-704. Henry Sweet's path toward phonemic*. SW II, 456-675. Grammatical parallelism and its Russian £acet. - Language XLII. 399-429. Linguistic types of aphasia. SW II, 307-33. Russian stem suffixes and verbal aspects. SW II, 198-202. On the relation between visual and auditory signs. - SW II, 338-44. Questionner Jakobson* — Jean Pierre Faye, Le recit hunique. Paris. 237-85. The role of phonic elements in speech perception. - SW I, 705-19. Poetry of grammar and grammar of poetry. Lingua 21, 597-609. Language in relation to other communication systems. SW II, 697-708. Extrapulmonic consonants: Ejectives, implosives, clicks. - SW I, 720-27. Subliminal verbal patterning in poetry. Studies in general and oriental linguistics presented to Shiro Hattori. Tokyo: TEC Co., Ltd. - 302-08. Selected Writings I, Phonological studies 2nd, expanded edition. The Hague: Mouton. (abbreviated SW I) - (first edition 1962) Selected Writings II, Word and Language. The Hague: Mouton. (abbreviated SW XX) • 159 Of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1972 a 1972 b 1973 a 1973 b 1975 1975/1980 1976 1978 "Verbal Communication." Scientific American 7. 7-80. "Louvain Lectures", edited by M. van Ballaer as: Aspects of the Theories of Roman Jakobson. (Memoir Katholieke Universitet te. Leuven). "Postscriptum"• Questions de poetique. Paris. 485-504. "Si nostre vie: observations sur la composition et structure de mots dans un sonnet de Joachim du Bellay." Questions de poetique (Paris). 319-355. SW IIIf 239-274. "Spatial Relationships in Slavic Adjectives." Zn: Scritti in onore di Giuliano Bonfante. (Brescia). "A Glance at the Development of Semiotics." In: The Framework of Lanquaqe. (Ann Arbor, Michigan)• 1-30. "Diskussion von Roman Jakobson mit Professoren und Studenten der Universitat Koln." Arbeitspapier Nr. 32 (Koln)• "On Poetic Intentions and Linguistic Devices in Poetry." In: Verbal Art, Verbal Sign, Verbal Time. ed. by Krystyna Pomorska and Stephen Rudy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 1985. 69-78. "Entretien" (avec R. et R. Georgin) Jakobson, Cahiers Cistre 5 (Lausanne), 11-27. 160 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1978/ 1980 1979 1980 a 1980 b 1981 "On the Linguistic Approach to the Problem of Consciousness and the Unconscious". Zn: The Framework of Language (Ann Arbors Michigan). 133-132. SW v m selected Writings Vs On Verse, Zts Masters and Explorers (including the "Retrospect"). (The Hague: Mouton). "A Postscript to the Discussion on Grammar of Poetry." Diacritics 10. -36. Brain and Language. (Columbus, Ohio). SW III - Selected Writings III: Grammar of Poetry and Poetry of Grammar (including the "Retrospect")• (The Hague: Mouton). Jakobson, R. 6 Levi-Strauss, Claude 1962/1973 ">Les Chats< de Charles Baudelaire". Questions de poetique (Paris)• 401-19. also in SW ZZZ. 417-446. Jakobson, R 6 Pomorska, Krystyna, 1980 Dialogues (Paris) Jakobson, R. 6 Waugh, Linda 1979 The Sound Shape of Language. (Bloomington, Indiana). l6l £ permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPENDIX In order to show how the projection principle is able to escape a domain of mere rhetoric, I have drawn the first invariant lady. The formation of this picture can be described in the same terms as a successive selection. Two different equivalence relations are involved: (1) The 'vertical' invariance between alternative items. (2) The 'horizontal' equivalence between consecutive items. My thesis argues to the effect, that neither the selectional sameness nor the combinational parallel can be used as a function defining lyrical works of art. 162 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (Q A -3 ) 1.0 If l.l Bob L‘0 I 23 2.2 2 . 0 1.8 1 .2 5 1 . 4 1 .6 150m IM/IGE. Inc 1653 East Main Street Rochester, NY 14609 USA Phone: 716/462-0300 Fax: 716/288-5989 O 1993. Applied Image. Inc.. All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Herteis, Michael Georg (author)

Core Title Roman Jakobson's poetic function of language: The historic theory of equivalence projections from the axis of selection into the axis of combination.

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag comparative literature,language, linguistics,Literature, Germanic,literature, romance,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c17-406217

Unique identifier UC11351039

Identifier 9930497.pdf (filename),usctheses-c17-406217 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 9930497.pdf

Dmrecord 406217

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Herteis, Michael Georg

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA