A AM

CENTRAL LIBRARY Lubomir Doleel

PROV. gX
FACT. 7/7 ■

STUDIES OF POETICS

THEORY OF FICTION

Foreword by T. PAVEL

Translation

Joaquin Martinez Lorente

University of Murcia

1999
 Yo
। INDEX
Dolezel, Lubomir | ' 569933
Studies in poetics and the theory of fiction / Lubomír Introduction: Lubomír Doleel's contribution to literary studies
Doleel ; foreword by T. Pavel; translation by Joaquin Martinez j contemporaries. By Thomas Pavel 9
Lorente Murcia: Publications Service, University 1999
278 p. .
ISBN 84-8371-063-3
I. Poetics. YO. University of Murcia.Service of
Publications. II Title
I. PROBLEMS OF POETICS

82-1.0 1. Oral literature and written literature. 19

2. Nomothetic and ideographic knowledge in poetics 31

3. Aliens and visitors in literary metalanguage 43

4. From motives to motives 51

1st Edition, 1999
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6. Fictional reference: mimesis and possible worlds 11L
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9. A semantics for the theme: the case of the double
159 1.
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Print: Publications Service. University of Murcia C/ Santo 10. A theme of motivation and action O.
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11. Innovation as a transformation of the world
187 w
12. The fictional world of Kafka .W
199
13. The fictional world of Dostoevsky's The Idiot 7

9936' .c 225
Scin ..
 ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF ARTICLES AND PUBLICATION DATA
14. The Worlds of Zamjatin 235
1. «Oral and Written Literature» (1984). The Peasant and the City in Eastern
15. The path of history and the detours of the good soldier 249 Europe. Eds. IP. Winner and TG Winner. Cambridge, MA, Schenkmann. 253-
256.

Literature 259 2. «Nomothetic and Ideographic Knowledge in Poetics» (1990). Literary

Studies (between) Science and Hermeneutics: Proceedings of the Congress of
the PCLA. Ed. Maria-Alzira Seixo. Lisbon, Portuguese Association of
Comparative Literature. 115-122.

3. "Aliens and Visitors in Literary Metalanguage" (1990). Proceedings of the

XUth Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association.
Iudicium Verlag, Munich, Vol 5. 265-71.

4. "From Motifemes to Motifs" (1972). Poetics 4: 55-90.

5. «Literary Text, Its World and Jts Style» (1985). Identity of the Literary
Text. Eds. MJ Valdes and 0. Miller. Toronto, U. Toronto P. 189-203.

6. «Fictional Reference: Mimesis and Possible Worlds» (1990). Toward a

Theory of Comparative Literature: Selected Papers Presented in the Division
of Theory of Literature at the Xlth International Comparative Literature
Congress. Ed. Mario Valdes. New York, Lang. 109-123.

7. "Truth and Authenticity in Narrative" (1980). Poetics Today 1: 7-25.

8. «Narrative Worlds» (1976). Sound, Sign and Meaning. Quinquagenary of

the Prague Linguistic Circle. Ed. L. Matejka. Ann Arbor, Michigan Slavic
Publications. 542-52.

9. "A Semantics for Thematics: The Case of the Double" (1995). Thematics;
New Approaches. Eds. C. Bremond, J. Landy and T. Pavel. Albany, State U.
New York P. 89-102.

10. «A Thematics of Motivation and Action» (1995). Thematics: New

Approaches. Eds. C. Bremond. YO. Landy and T. Pavel. Albany: State U.
New York P. 57-66.
7
11. “Innovation as World Transformation” (1991). Slavic Drama. The
Question of Innovation. Eds. TO. Donskow and R. Sokoloski. Ottawa, U. LUBOMÍR DOLEZELA'S
Ottawa P. 1-9. CONTRIBUTION TO CONTEMPORARY LITERARY
STUDIES
12. "Kafka's Fictional World" (1984). Canadian Review of Comparative
Literature/Revue Canadienne de littérature comparée 10: 61-83.
• Thomas Pavel
13. "The Fictional World of Dostojevskij's The Idiot" (1993). Russian
Literature 33: 239-48.
The intellectual and personal destiny of Lubomír Doleel
emblematically illustrates the political and philosophical conditions of our
14. «Zamyatin's Worlds» (1992). Poetics of the Text: Essays to Celebrate
time. Born in the young Czechoslovak Republic in 1922, Lubomír grew up at a
Twenty Years of the Neo-Formalist Circle. Ed. Joe Andrew. Amsterdam.
Rhodope. 91-103. time when the new Central European states were placing their hopes in the
values of the Enlightenment: democracy, science, truth and education. The
1930s saw a significant cultural and scientific flourishing in Prague, and the
15. "The Road of History and the Detours of the Good Soldier" (1984).
documents of the meetings of the Linguistic Circle (recently republished) are
Language and Literary Theory: In Honor of Ladislav Matejka. Eds. B. Stolz
revealing: Czech and Slovak specialists mingled freely with other emigrants
et al. Ann Arbor, Mich., Papers in Slavic Philology 5. 241-49.
from Russia and with German and Austrian philosophers: people like
Mukarovsky, Vodicka, Trubetzkoy, Roman Jakobson, Husserl and Carnap
could be met and heard there. Members were encouraged to harmonize
scientific and humanistic ideals, to explore the boundaries of disciplines, and to
modernize knowledge without resorting to fanatical ideologies. As we know,
history has not been kind to Central Europe: the growth of the most successful
liberal democracy in the area was thwarted by National Socialist Germany, by
the Second World War, and by the communist rise to power. The war delayed
Lubomír's university studies, and he earned his bachelor's degree in 1949 from
Charles University in Prague, one of the oldest and best universities in Europe.
He joined the Institute for the Czech Language of the Academy of Sciences, an
institution modeled on the Soviet Academy of Sciences, worked as an assistant
professor at the University, and later as an associate professor at the
Department of Czech Language. Like many other young humanists who were
not attracted by the dominant ideology, Lubomír took refuge in the application
of mathematical models to language and literature, eventually heading the
Department of Mathematical Linguistics. He published numerous articles on
stylistics, poetics, cybernetics, linguistics and philosophy of language. In 1960
the publisher
9

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His book On the Style of Modern Czech Prose, originally his doctoral thesis, modal logic. This theory, which I would venture to call Lubomír Dolezel's
was published at the Prague Academy, which brought him international fame. literary system, addresses not only a vast field of critical problems, such as the
In the years 1959-65 the struggle of intellectuals against dogmatic nature of fictionality, the typology of fictional universes, mimesis and
Marxism forced the latter into a defensive position, while literary structuralism thematics, but also demonstrates the hermeneutical productivity of its
gradually reorganized itself and strengthened its influence. In 1960 Roman application to great modern authors, especially Franz Kafka, Andrei Belyj and
Jakobson and Thomas Sebeok convened a congress on Poetics in Warsaw. The Karel Capek.
proceedings, published shortly afterwards under the title Poetics - Poetika - Finally, as one of the founders of contemporary theoretical poetics,
Poetyka, marked the revival of formalist literary criticism in Central Europe. Lubomír decided to elucidate the background of the discipline. His most recent
Lubomír was a significant participant, and contributed an influential article on volume, Western Poetics: Tradition and Progress (1990), is the first
the relationship between poetics and stylistics. comprehensive history of poetics from Aristotle to the present day.
In 1965, Lubomír, already a recognized authority on Slavic languages, Although Lubomír Dolezel's legendary energy makes us hope (and
mathematical linguistics, and structuralist poetics, received an invitation from demand) for more seminal work (especially a long-awaited synthesis of his
the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, to serve as a Visiting Professor for perspectives on fictional semantics), the achievements outlined are decisive,
three years. During his stay in Michigan he edited the series «Prague Studies in and it is perhaps already possible to identify the main factor of his influence on
Mathematical Linguistics» and co-edited the volume Statistics and Style. In contemporary literary studies. In the work of every great researcher one can
1968, the year of the Prague Spring and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, detect a controversial attitude, whether implicit or explicit, which forms the
Lubomír, like so many other Czech and Eastern European intellectuals, chose central message of his or her work. It is not easy to find such a widespread
exile. The University of Toronto offered him a position, and Canada a new polemical message in Lubomír's case, since his writings are characterized by
home. their clear, objective and calm nature. Added to this difficulty is another
His book Narrative Modes in Czech Literature (1973) and the articles circumstance: the trends in contemporary literary theory criticized by Lubomír
published between 1970 and 1974 show that Lubomír's research interests (speech acts, Russian formalism, sociological approaches to literature) are
shifted from stylistics and mathematical linguistics to narratology. At that quite close, in many ways, to his own project. And yet one allusion, appearing
time, the latter was in a phase of rapid development, and Lubomír Dolezel's in a brief commentary in a special issue of New Literary History (1975),
contribution was decisive. Initially, as a stylist, he was attracted to the clearly shows the depth of his antipathy towards impressionist literary
criticism, so great that he hardly ever bothers to refute it: Lubomír claims that
narratology of discourse. A memorable article, published in To Honor Roman
there is “no sense” in an impressionist criticism of Samuel Beckett in which its
Jakobson (1967), made him the first narratologist to propose a complete and
author describes Beckett’s “fulcrum” as “a vanishing point, an open,
systematic typology of point of view in fiction. At the same time, as a person
unregulated intersection, at which the ontological and epistemological domains
versed in the formal techniques of linguistic mathematics, he felt a kinship
constantly collide in search of their fulcrum” (1975, 467). Lubomír cites a
with works on textual theory, which led him to begin constructing a narrative
similar passage from a study by Geoffrey Hartman: "In Goethe's ballad the
semantics in the early 1970s. His three articles from 1976, «Narrative
voice is ghostly because it is overdefined: so staged, so voice-like, that it
Worlds», «Narrative Modalities», and «Narrative Semantics», laid the
requires no localization." These critical intuitions are artistic in nature: they
foundations for what has become known in the last decade as «Narrative
imitate the semantics of the object they describe (the
Worlds», «Narrative Modalities», and «Narrative Semantics».
would become a 'global' theory of literary meaning based on the results of the

-to .
literature), and, as Lubomír concludes, "do not go beyond the level of paraphrase or
parody" (1975, 467). Impressionist criticism does not even deserve a full-fledged
refutation: its decision to ignore and transcend Impressionism is the main thrust of
Lubomír's system. But this does not mean that it favours any explicitly theoretical
criticism: it is radically opposed to those idealist visions of literature that place it
"beyond language", in the realm of the inexpressible, in the same way that it is sai
opposed to reductionist materialism, which sees in language nothing more than a .
form that expresses emotional or ideological content (Doleel 1979c).
iean
Lubomír's preferences naturally lie towards those critical approaches that
os
combine attention to explicit theory with interest in the empirical manifestation of
literature in natural language. The precursors of this combination are the Russian
(OS
and Czech formalists, as well as their immediate predecessors, the tradition of .or,
German poetics, and, more distantly, the poetics of Aristotle.
For Doloel, Aristotle is a predecessor of modern science because, although turn
he was unable to reach the axiomatic-deductive level of modern knowledge, he at the
least made a lasting contribution to the description of the taxonomic level (Dolozel each ranz
1984). In Doloel's opinion, Aristotle's poetics deserves the qualification of knot is of
scientific, because his taxonomic project is legitimate: in particular, he develops an ie the )
abstract knowledge about literature, and a model "of the whole and the parts", with itric
whose theoretical importance has not been surpassed in any way. The model held to dual
strong for centuries, despite the ineptitude of neo-Aristotelian normative criticism, before the
and resurfaced in the 18th century in the work of German and Swiss critics who, i other, do
influenced by Leibniz's philosophy, developed the powerful notion of the imaginary that
world. It reappeared at the end of the 19th century in German "compositional tension so
analysis", a little-known trend that, as Lubomír shows, was an immediate be rten in
antecedent of Russian formalism (1973). The difference between the German and you is a
Russian formalists lies in the identification of the former with traditional rhetoric, recent the
while the latter, due to their relationship with the avant-garde movements of the bernant
20th century, were especially sensitive to formal innovation. Lubomír's preference appears in
is not, however, directed towards the extreme formalism of Klovskij and ecible, to
Ejkhenbaum: their vision of literature as the incessant production of novel formal the
mechanisms is oriented towards the explanation of modern prose and poetry, rather invisible r
than towards a comprehensive theory. therefore
of literature as verbal art. for the

The higher aspirations of Mukaovk's and Vodicka's poetics are more

similar to the research of Lubomír Dolozel. Instead of contrasting form with
content, the poetics of Czech researchers distinguishes between the material and
formal elements of the artistic product. In literature, material elements include
both purely linguistic mechanisms and thematic material. Form refers to the

13
 principles of organization, and affects the verbal level and the thematic load of semantics.
the work. Vodicka's ideas on the subject were a significant help in the In his articles on the history of Czech poetics, Lubomír noted that
elaboration of Lubomír's ideas. Formally, the theme is structured into motifs, Mukaovk had not given an adequate answer to the question of literary reference, as
thematic planes and worlds, and the literary meaning of a text emerges from the he had left unresolved the tension between the referential and aesthetic functions of
intersection of the reference to the "human scenario" that the text represents, and the literary text. In contrast, in Lubomír's system literary texts obey restrictions at
its formal principles of aesthetic organization (Dolozel 1982). different levels, local and global, the most important global restrictions being those
True to this tradition, Lubomír conceives Literary Theory as an empirical that govern the referential modality of the text. Modalities can be alethic (referring
discipline, based on a rigorous conceptual framework: it avoids purely intuitive to possibility and necessity), deontic (relating to permission and prohibition),
hermeneutic assertions, and aspires, on the contrary, to construct explanatory axiological (expressing value claims), and epistemic (regarding knowledge and
models that are sufficiently refined to explain the meaning of specific literary texts. belief). Global modal restrictions are projected into narrative worlds. Of course,
Stylistic analysis and the theory of narrative discourse, which are among his most such worlds lack authentic ontological value, since they are merely textual
important contributions to the study of prose fiction, help to shape a harmonious constructs. However, the notion of the world allows Lubomír to make brilliant
poetics, and its central element is an enormously original and powerful narrative generalizations.
 ((((((((‘
on the nature of fictional literature. Following Leibniz, a narrative world is
defined as a series of "composable" narrative agents (Doloel 1979a). Each text distinguishes between the introduction (or construction) of narrative worlds, and
contains a primary narrative world, a world of fictional facts. "Compossibility" their authentication. To introduce a narrative world, the text redistributes the real
is understood here as the relation of presence of fact within the limits of a given and the possible, as they are found in the natural world: in realist works this is
text. Thus, Emma Bovary is only composable with Charles Bovary in Flaubert's done on the basis of small details, and on a larger scale when the purpose is the
novel, and with the adventurous narrator in, and only in, Woody Allen's story. construction of supernatural worlds. Authentication is the textual function that
Narrative worlds can be extensional or intensional, according to the gives weight to the worlds introduced into the text. In classical third-person
semantic functions they project. In other words, they can be viewed as series of narratives, the worlds introduced by the narrator have maximum authority. The
objects or as series of meanings. The world of Robinson Crusoe, to use motives introduced by the narrative agents, however, enjoy lesser authority.
Lubomír's own example, can be visualized as a series of objects and properties Sometimes literary texts vigorously confront and contrast authentic and
(Crusoe, Friday, the island, etc.), or as a series of descriptions: the lonely inauthentic motifs (the giants versus the windmills in Don Quixote); at other
Englishman, the noble savage, etc. times the system includes several degrees of authenticity, from the most
Since every extensional world corresponds to a variety of intensional authoritative claim of the narrator to the least reliable motif introduced by
worlds, Lubomír's narrative semantics contains a diversity of interpretations at himself (as in Dostoevsky's Demons). Some literary works lack authentication
the intensional level, thus vindicating modern hermeneutic pluralism. He rejects, altogether, such as the Russian skaz worlds, in which the narrator has little or no
however, postmodern hermeneutic anarchy, since, as Lubomír warns, credibility.
interpretation requires paraphrasing the original text, and, he adds in the best - This battery of notions is applied to the elucidation of the narrative
empiricist vein, "it is possible to develop specific evaluation procedures that meaning of some modern texts, and notably those of Franz Kafka. Lubomír has
allow measuring the correspondence between the original text and the observed that fictional texts often juxtapose more than one imaginary world, and
paraphrase" ("The Literary Text, Its World and Its Style", 1985, chapter 5 of this has described three kinds of confluences of worlds: (1) In mythological worlds,
volume). An interpretation is only valid if an examination of the text, and in where the natural and supernatural domains are clearly separated but often
particular its semantic organization, supports its claims. In other words, influence each other, power and accessibility are asymmetrical (exercised from
supporting an interpretive judgment requires, in addition to an inspection of the the supernatural to the natural). (2) From the dual structure of mythological
material text, a detailed knowledge of the worlds projected by the text. Narrative worlds, hybrid worlds can be formed by suppressing the boundaries that separate
semantics thus becomes more than just a logical game and is an essential part of the normal world from the other. Strange phenomena happen as if they were
any serious literary research. normal in a world that seems to be the normal world, but is crossed by a strange
Particularly vigorous is the turn made by Lubomír, which consists in dimension. Some of Kafka's stories, such as The Metamorphosis, exploit this
linking narrative semantics with the rhetoric of fiction: possibility. If the two spheres of the mythological world become natural but the
dividing line is maintained, the resulting structure is a visible/invisible world.
Again, the best examples are offered by Kafka's works: in The Castle the
Pavel is referring to a story by Woody Allen entitled "Professor Kugelmass's
Experiment." It was originally published in The New Yorker and later included in his book Side invisible world of the ruling nobility is carefully segregated from the people. The
Effects (1975). of which there is a Spanish translation by Luis Guarner (Perfiles 1980, same structure appears in The Trial, which contrasts the efficient, rational,
Barcelona, Tusqueis). (N. (from T.) predictable world of the bank with the mysterious, random, dreamlike world of
the court. The invisible worlds of these two novels are infinite in their depths,
14 and therefore impossible to explore or even describe. They are inaccessible to
the . 15
inhabitants of the visible world, and yet they live with the obsessive desire to
see the invisible. Although equally asymmetrical, the power relationship
overwhelmingly favors the invisible sphere. The strength of the latter derives
from the fact that while the rebellion against it comes only from isolated
individuals, the invisible is organized as an institution. But, paradoxically, the
infinite institution becomes completely random, like nature itself, or like life in
Borges' story "The Lottery in Babylon." In Kafka's novels and in Lubomír's
analyses there is an implicit reflection on the power of modern totalitarian
states, whose countless instruments annihilate the isolated individual.
However, as Lubomír's reading of Kafka suggests, the infinite power and
depth of invisible bureaucracy ends up being a mark of its fragility: chance, a
sign of majesty at first, ultimately brings about degeneration, indifference, and
dissolution.
We are fortunate to have witnessed the end of the Kafkaesque world in
Czechoslovakia and the rest of Central Europe. The place that Lubomír had to
leave twenty-five years ago has now rejoined the normal world. It is wonderful
that he found a new home in Canada, and a warm and sensitive environment,
where he has been able to develop his powerful literary system. At the
crossroads of continents and disciplines, Lubomír stands as a symbol of
contemporary intellectual life: eager to understand the visible and the
invisible, to achieve the impossible, and to establish himself firmly on the
ground of rationality and freedom.

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 1

ORAL LITERATURE AND WRITTEN LITERATURE

The history of verbal art offers us numerous examples of two-way

exchange of themes, mechanisms and forms between oral and written
literature. There are periods in the development of written literature when both
aesthetic ideals and specific literary works conform to the oral "model":
Romanticism, and especially the so-called "national Romanticism" of the
Slavic countries, is a well-known example of this trend. On the other hand,
although without uncritically accepting the notion of the "sunkenes Kulturgut"
(decline of cultural heritage), we cannot deny that oral literature received
many stimuli from written literature: the phenomenon of "folklorization"
(zlidovéni), studied in depth by the Czech researcher B. Václaveck is the most
conspicuous example of influence in this regard. '
It is difficult to determine the historical development of the
coexistence between written and oral literature, due to the scarcity of material
available on the history of the latter before the 19th century. But even in those
cases where samples are obtained, the historical process can only be
understood when the similarities and differences between oral and written
literature are detailed in a systematic theory, since theory is a necessary
prerequisite for all historical research.
In theoretical thinking about oral and written literature, two solutions
have been proposed, opposite and mutually exclusive, which we will call
monist and dualist theory:
1. The monistic theory conceives oral and written literature as two varieties
of a universal verbal culture: it does not deny the existence of some
differences, but they are considered to be of second order. Both forms of
literature share certain essential features, generally characteristic of verbal art.
This monistic theory has been especially accepted in Slavic countries, and not
only among literary scholars, but also among folklorists and researchers of
popular literature.2

"The most comprehensive analysis of monistic theory is found in the work of J. Sokolov
(especially Sokolov 1941).

19
2. The dualist theory maintains that oral and written literature are two substantially However, the process of continuous transmission, although a necessary condition
distinct modes of verbal art: the Romantics were the first to propose this conception, and for the preservation of oral texts, does not provide any explanation for the genesis of oral
it has been expressed more recently in the following way. explicit and convincing form verbal art. Oral transmission only generates verbal art when it is accompanied by the
by P. Bogatyrev and R. Jakobson (1929, 1931), Within the dualistic theory, the theory of creative act. It is this complex act that has been given the name oral composition. In
orality reached a great development and a sufficient level of authority thanks to the work Lord's well-known model, performing (i.e., transmitting) and creating are components of
of M. Parry and A. Lord, 3 whose aim is to systematically describe the specific features of a single act of the singer, of the same act: "singer, performer, composer and poet are
oral literature. In this study I would like to reconsider some basic ideas of the theory of different aspects, but at the same time. "Singing, performing, and composing are all
orality. facets of the same act" (Lord 1960, 13).
The features of orality proposed so far can be divided into two classes: a) It should be noted that Lord's model of oral composition has not been universally
pragmatic features are related to the production (composition), transmission and accepted. Thus, for example, Ruth Finnegan (1974), after examining reports of oral
reception of oral texts, b) structural (intrinsic) features are the specific formal, semantic composition from various cultures, concluded that Lord's model is too restrictive: in
and thematic properties of oral texts. The theory highlights the close link between both some African cultures, and also in Eskimo oral poetry, evidence was found of oral
classes of traits. Pragmatic features (especially the mode of oral composition) are those composition unrelated to performance. "There are certain known cases in which the
that explain the structural features: "the practice of oral narrative poetry requires a certain emphasis falls on the composition within the performance" (1974. 146). It is shown that
form; the mode of composition and transmission of epic songs leaves an unmistakable Lord's model may be inadequate to explain oral composition in a particular culture
mark on the song" (Lord 1960, 141). And, conversely, the presence of certain structural (South Slavic epic singers). However, oral composition generally seems to exhibit a
features constitutes reliable proof of orality, of the oral origin of a text. variety of modes, some of which faithfully imitate the process of composition, as we
In this study I will not deal with all the possible pragmatic features of orality, know from written literature.
but rather I will concentrate on those features that are directly related to oral composition. Even accepting that Lord's model represents the most typical form of oral
It would be foolish to deny the existence of certain differences between oral and
composition, we are still faced with another fundamental problem in relation to oral
written texts. It is obvious that both literatures must preserve those pragmatic differences
composition: what relationship is manifested between tradition and innovation in the act
that are specific to their respective media, that is, oral and written language. These
of oral composition? Or to put it another way, what relationship is there between supra-
differences are particularly noticeable in the modes of transmission and preservation of
individual norms (imposed by tradition) and the individual creativity of the oral poet?
texts: oral texts are preserved (apart from maintenance by technical means) only if
In order to adopt a correct perspective on the problem, we must briefly reflect on
continuous transmission based on identical repetitions is guaranteed. If the chain of
how the relationship between supraindividual norms and individual creativity has been
continuous transmission is broken, oral texts disappear. This kind of preservation of oral
interpreted in the structural theory of (written) literature. This theory rejected the idea of
texts is well known from cultural history (sacred texts, such as the Vedic hymns, moral
an isolated poetic genius producing in a vacuum. On the contrary, he highlighted the
and legal norms, etc.).
existence of literary norms at the heart of every creative act. One of the famous "Theses"
of J. Tinianov and R. Jakobson (1928) states that in the literature "the individual
' We cite the work of M. Parry by A. Parry ed, (1971). Lord's (1960) is the most widespread treatment of the
theory. manifestation cannot be considered without reference to the complex

20 • 21
"existing standards" (p. 80). This thesis was developed by Jan Mukaovk, who repeatedly
stressed that creativity can only be explained in connection with literary norms. «A
work of art always disturbs (sometimes slightly, sometimes considerably) an
aesthetic norm valid at a certain moment in the artistic development. But even in this is what happened in . Bohemia in the 17th and 18th centuries (see Svcjkovsky 1984),
extreme cases, these too must adhere to the norm" (Mukarovky 1936, 35, italics and in medieval China (where oral storytelling developed the prototype of the classical
added). Looking at literary history, Mukarovky observed that "there are periods in Chinese novel). In any case, it would be absurd to emphasize the orality of oral literature
the history of art when adherence to norms clearly predominates over violation of so much that it would deny its history.CIV
Regardless of how much importance we give to the pragmatic aspects of the
them," and he held up the poetry of French Classicism as an example of art that
theory of orality, it is obvious that the theory will stand or fail because of the specificity
believes that the "correct application of a norm is sufficient to create artistic value"
of the structural features. Only the presence of such features can provide proof of the
(p. 27).
orality of texts whose form of composition is unknown to us (such as Homer's poems).
If there are norms of written literature and if there are periods of literary history that
■ It is known that there are two structural features that are considered specific to oral
respect them in a strict sense, the argument of the "traditionalism" of oral literature
texts: formula and theme. "Oral epic," according to Lord, "consists of the construction of
loses much of its significance, because if in oral literature adherence to the norms
metrical verses and half-verses by means of formulas and formulaic expressions, and of
predominates over violation of them, Of these, there is no difference in
the construction of songs by the use of themes" (1960, 4).
principle between it and the texts produced in the normative periods of written Let us begin with a brief treatment of the concept of theme in oral literature.
literature. Originally, the theme is defined by Lord as "the repeated incidents and descriptive
However, even this analogy does not seem entirely valid. Scholars have noted passages of the song" (1960, 4), or as "the group of ideas normally used in telling a story
considerable fluctuations in performers' attitudes toward tradition. In discussing the (p. 68), By clarifying the concept. Lord points out that the identity of the words
interpretation of a "gifted oral singer" (Avdo Metedovió), Lord noted that "it would
be fantastic to suppose that a gifted poet, who has thought in poetic form all his life,
did not sufficiently master that form to be able not only to adapt his thought to it, but
also to break it at will" (1960, 131). A.M Aschatova, who studied another oral
tradition, that of the "bylinas" (.byliny, medieval epic poems recited by the people
through the skazitell) of northern Russia, came to distinguish three kinds of singers:
those who maintain the tradition (almost literally), those who accept a fixed
framework (obsii: ostov) but develop their own versions, and finally those
who improvise, composing a new song each time they perform it (Aschatova
1930, 70-89).
These considerations and facts lead us to conclude that, in principle, there is
no difference between oral and written composition as far as the opposition
of norms and creativity are concerned. The composition of both texts is
characterized by the tension between norms and creativity. In both forms we
observe fluctuations between a more
normative and another more creative one. Although oral literature
"disapproves" of very deviant versions, the singer enjoys sufficient freedom
to develop new versions that modify the inherited tradition.
The "traditionality" of oral literature should therefore be interpreted
as a result of the greater temporal stability of oral norms. I think that there is
no satisfactory answer to this problem; we simply do not have enough data to
trace the history of oral literature. Even if the answer to the question were
affirmative, the temporal stability of norms can
hardly be accepted as a specific feature of oral 23
literature. Let us not forget that before the modern
age the standards of written literature also remained
stable over long periods of time. Radical and rapid
changes in literary norms are a very recent
phenomenon. Moreover, there were periods in the
history of verbal art when written literature "froze"
for a long time in certain traditional forms, while
oral literature developed new forms (which were
later accepted in written literature). It seems that )
CIV See, for example, Skaftymov's (1924) history of the Russian "bylina." »
is not necessary for a theme: "The theme, even if verbal, is not a fixed series of
words, but a grouping of ideas" (p. 69, compare with Lord 1951). Without (((((((
offering a systematic analysis, Lord lists themes from oral narratives such as
counseling, return, rescue, marriage, or taking a city. treatment of oral subjects. In his last contribution in this area, Lord (1974) suggested
With this formulation, the oral theme theory is susceptible to an obvious precisely a modification of the concept of theme, consisting of the distinction between
criticism: it is not difficult to find the same themes in written narrative. What is subject and theme: "subject" will be certain narrative elements such as "a catalogue, or a
more important is the fact that we cannot think of any theoretical reason why message, or equipping or gathering an army", and they can be found "both in oral and
certain themes should be specific to oral narrative. written literature". "But if we understand by theme a narrative element repeated together
The theory of oral themes could be interpreted as referring to a with its verbal expression... then it is an element of traditional narrative style of a
stereotyped and highly schematized thematic structure. But the previous objection genuinely oral character." In other words, the theme becomes a formula of a higher order,
can be applied again: highly schematized and stereotyped thematic structures are a formula that transcends the limits of a verse (Lord 1974, 206). Of course, if the theme
characteristic of many well-known written narratives. Adam Parry found it not is nothing more than an extended formula, then it can be explained by the formula
difficult to "find examples of 'composition by theme' in the nineteenth-century theory: as Stankiewicz already commented, there is no reason to restrict the concept of
English novel, and even more so in the modern detective story" ("Introduction" to formula to the components of a single verse, since there are formulas "that extend over
Parry 1971, note 1). Structuralist research has compiled numerous examples of several verses" (Stankiewicz 1973, 426).
highly schematized thematic structures in popular genres of written narrative, The preceding paragraph brings us closer to the most important structural feature
such as Umberto Eco (1966), who has characterized the thematic stereotype of Ian of oral texts: the formula. For several decades the formula and the formulaic language
Fleming's James Bond novels as "mechanical narrative": not only the repertoire of have been the subject of abundant studies (articles, monographs and doctoral theses): in
themes, but also their combinations, are fixed and repeated throughout the corpus, 1974 the University of Michigan organized a specific conference on the formula, the
with minimal differences between specific texts. contributions of which have been published (Stolz and Shannon eds. 1976), so it is
Structuralist research on thematic stereotypes is a 'special application of redundant to emphasize this concept again. However, it must be stated conclusively that
modern narrative theory, initiated by the pioneering work of V. Propp (1928) This the theoretical status of the concept is unsatisfactory, despite the desire for precision
theory does not treat narrative themes («functions», «motivemes») as inventories of reflected in M. Parry and his followers. I think the reason for this
isolated units, but rather as ordered systems. Particular themes are organized into
paradigms (for example, into oppositions of the type: lack - remedy for the lack), and
their linear organization follows a rigorous narrative "logic", so it follows that
narrative themes can be described by explicit rules of a "narrative grammar".
It is known that the first system of narrative grammar, that of Propp,
derived from the study of oral narratives (Russian folk tales). However, intensive
research over the past two decades has yielded a surprising result: all narratives,
and not just the "primitive" stories of oral literature, display a systematic
structure.
theme. The thematic structure underlying all narratives follows universal rules of
"narrativity," with no essential distinction being made between the thematic
structures of oral and written narrative. For example, it is possible to study the
structure of Bocaccio's stories according to a universal narrative grammar (Todorov
1969), or to establish the basic structure of Hemingway's short story "The Assassins"
using the repertoire of themes discovered for the Russian tale (Dolozel 1972. Chap. 4
of this volume). It is true that certain types of narrative text or certain genres will
favor certain themes and combinations of themes, although in the end they can all be
derived from the same universal narrative grammar.
Although Lord referred to Propp's theory, he did not take it into account in his

====
-
(((((“"" situation is found in the lack of explicit connection of the concept of formula with assigning to both the attribute of orality: while the concrete formula is proper to oral
modern theories of poetic language. . poetry (and oral literature in general), the abstract formula is not. To demonstrate this
Parry's main contribution to the study of the formula was to relate formulaic opinion we must make a brief review of some properties of rhythmically organized
repetitions (well known in Homeric scholarship) to the meter of Homer's verse. language.
According to Parry, the characteristic features of the language of epic bards originate in According to Parry, the organization of the verse of oral and written poetry are
"the constant pressure exerted by their desire for a language adapted to the needs of substantially different. Parry assumed that only in oral poetry is the metrical pattern
hexametric versification" (Parry 1971, 5). Parry's famous definition is based on the three affected by the syntactical model of verse, both in ancient and modern poetry he could
properties of the formula: a) repeated expressions, b) identical metric pattern ("the same find only "insignificant traces of influence of the versified form in poetic language."
metric conditions"), and c) semantic equivalence of the repeated expressions ("one This general postulate explains why Parry interprets the abstract formula as a specific
essential idea"), . feature of oral texts, and yet it is a postulate contrary to modern verse theory.
In further examination of the impact of metre on Homeric language, Parry found Modern structuralist theory of verse has replaced traditional superficial ideas
that it extends beyond semantically equivalent expressions. It also generates syntactically about poetic rhythm with a global analysis of the rhythmic organization of speech.
equivalent repeated constructions, for example, the well-known pattern consisting of a Among the traditional ideas that structural theories called into question is the concept
noun plus one or two epithets (Parry 1971, 14). Parry coined the term formula-type for of rhythm as a mere organization of phonic units. Structural research has conclusively
syntactically equivalent repeated constructions that are organized by identical metrical demonstrated that phonetic organization (meter) is correlated with all levels of verse
patterns, concluding that "the formula and the formula-type are part of the technique language. According to Tinianov (1924), rhythm is "the constructive principle of
which Homer used to express his ideas in his poems."5 verse" and encompasses both the phonetic level of the verse structure and the
Parry's theory on the formulaic character of Homer's language is based on two syntactic and lexical levels. EITHER. Brik specifically investigated the correlations
concepts that, although related to each other, may require different theoretical between metre and the syntactic organisation of verse (1927), which are manifested in
interpretations. It is noteworthy that after Parry the study of Homer's language followed rhythmic-syntactic figures (ritniikosinta-siceskije figury): the figures are obtained by
two different directions: the investigation of formulaic expressions and their possible imposing metrical restrictions on the syntactic structures of "ordinary" language (p.
variations (Hainsworth 1968), and the study of standard formulas and their possible 62).
syntactic patterns (Russo 1963). Brik. He studied in detail the rhythmic-semantic figures of the popular meter
In this analysis we will call the original concept of a formula (semantically of Russian classical poetry, the iambic tetrameter. A typical verse in this meter (which
equivalent repeated expressions) a concrete formula and reserve the term abstract makes up 70% of the material Brik works with) consists of three stressed words (or
formula to designate Parry's formula type. My purpose is to show that it is wrong to mix lexical units). "These three words represent, on the one hand, the rhythmic complex of
both concepts and the verse, and, on the other hand, its syntactic complex" (p. 63). If we represent these
words in terms of their syntactic categories (A-adjective, N-noun, V-verb), we obtain a
' See Parry 1971, 14. There is a third definition of formula in the works of the Parry-Lord school: small number of possible triadic combinations, which are the typical figures of Russian
formulas are phrases that "follow the basic patterns of rhythm and syntax and have at least one word in the iambic pentameter: Here are some of Brik's figures:
same position in the verse in common with other verses or hemistichs" (Lord 1960. 47). It is clear that this
concept is a variant of the more abstract formula-type, but with an additional restriction: identity of at
least one word in a position.

26
 (((((((
A] + A2 + N N+ A|
(c(
+ A2 N+A+N2 etc. "The truly gifted writer is no more limited in his handling of his subject than
Shakespeare felt in having to write in iambic pentameter" (p. 23). Kiparsky
expressed the same conclusion more explicitly: "The tendency toward
The rhythmic-syntactic figures represent typical configurations localization actually occurs in most varieties of metrical verse... the true
(schemes) of the verse: "it is not difficult to replace one epithet with another, extent of localization in English verse is a matter of very recent study, and it is
or one name with another that has the same function. This substitution does not impossible to determine what its extent will be when English metre is
reach the semantic level, but rather the rhythmic one. The poet thinks in examined as carefully as classicists usually treat their material" (1976, 89, 90).
schemes (p. 67). In the poetry of the epigones, the schemes produce verses All of the above leads to the tentative conclusion that Parry's abstract
almost automatically. «Nowadays, with our considerable experience of formula - in Russo's interpretation - and Brik's rhythmic-syntactic figure are equivalent
poetry ... it is possible that poets may be able to speak in iambic verse with the concepts. Both phenomena originate from the same restrictions, those that the regular
same ease with which any self-taught person who had learned set phrases from rhythmic pattern imposes on the syntactic structure of the verse. These restrictions are
a pocket textbook would speak French.» These words may be familiar to universal and cannot be interpreted as specific features of oral verse. I call my
scholars of oral poetry: in fact, the use of formulaic language was initially conclusion tentative because it leaves open the possibility that classicists may prove
motivated by the need to facilitate the composition of oral verse. However, the that the rhythmic-syntactic pattern of Homer's verse differs essentially from that
relationship between Brik's ideas and the theory of the oral formula is deeper: described by Brik. However, the weight de-prueba falls for the
Brik's rhythmic-syntactic figures describe the impact of the - meter on the
moment on the side of those who defend the orality of the oral formula.
syntactic model of the verse. The same phenomenon was observed in Homeric
Our interpretation of the abstract formula also sheds light on the
verse, receiving the name of localization (O'Neill, Porter). Localization is the
theoretical status of the concrete formula: the latter can now be interpreted as
correlation between metric positions and the types of words (and their
a manifestation of the abstract rhythmic-syntactic pattern. This pattern results
combinations) that appear in the line. It was Russo (1963) who related the
from the replacement of abstract terms (word classes) in the figure by
phenomenon of localization with the concept of the abstract formula:
semantically equivalent expressions (words or groups of words). This
according to his interpretation, abstract formulas are "localized phrases whose go
=P equivalent substitution is carried out more or less automatically, and therefore
similarity only reaches the use of identical metric lexical types with the same '
the orality of the specific formula is not questioned in this interpretation. 6
grammatical and syntactic pattern" (p. 237). In Russo's notation the correlation
is explicit: abstract formulas have, for example, the following structures: Our examination of the theme and the formula reveals that the
structures of these supposedly characteristic features of orality are marked by
restrictions that are also observed in written texts: the thematic structure is
governed by rules of a universal "narrative grammar," and the structure of the
formulas by syntactic patterns that are proper and necessary to rhythmically
organized language. Concrete formulas (including "themes" conceived as
NVVNVV formulas of order)
“J --- II I II I II 6
Finally, another aspect of the concrete formula, pointed out by Kiparsky (1976), must
be addressed: its connection with the coined phrases of common language. Concrete
Russo still maintains the conviction (at least in the article we quote) formulas (both those of prose and those of meter) then appear as phraseological systems
that Homer's language is formulaic. However, by explicitly establishing the characteristic of particular genres of oral literature in certain cultures.
rhythmic-syntactic correlation, what is achieved is precisely to undermine the
orality of the abstract formula. At least he points in that direction when he 29
concludes his study by stating: "the oral poet

=s*edAesg-
upper) should be understood as manifestations at the texture level of underlying characterized by its efforts to rigorously differentiate between the sciences of
universal rhythmic-syntactic structures. We have to conclude that only in their nature and those of man. These efforts eventually led to a hermeneutics of
texture (but not in their structure) do oral texts differ from written ones. Geisleswissenschaften whose principles were formulated in opposition to those
Differences in texture between texts are often called stylistic differences. of the epistemology of natural science. Contrasts apply, according to Siegfried
Therefore it seems that oral and written literature are two styles of one verbal J. Schmidt, to all aspects of cognitive activity: to the area of research, to its
culture. This conclusion can also be related to our earlier discussion of the condition and to its own methods and objectives (1975, 4-6).
pragmatic aspects of oral and written literature: let us remember that we do not In this study I will focus on one of the contrasts postulated regarding
deny the existence of pragmatic differences resulting from the opposition between the area of research: the difference between nomothetic and ideographic
written and spoken forms of expression. These pragmatic differences lead to the sciences. According to the postulate, natural sciences, due to the repetitiveness
formation of oral and written language styles. Oral and written literature appear, and regularity of natural phenomena, aspire to the formulation of universal
then, as specific "substyles" within the general categories of oral and written style. laws. Individual observations and experiments are interesting insofar as they
Every human culture has the need to produce texts of verbal art. If there is confirm or refute hypotheses about universal laws. In contrast,
no written language available, verbal art will be produced orally, and thus can Geisteswissenschafien deals with unique and individual phenomena (historical
survive for centuries. When writing appears, oral art can continue to be created to events, human personalities and actions, works of art and literature, etc.) and is
satisfy the aesthetic needs of certain social strata. It is important to consider oral concerned with understanding the unique meaning, significance and value of
and written literature as complementary, and not as exclusive cultural values: both these phenomena.
serve the same function (that is, aesthetics), create the same structures and The terms "nomothetic" and "ideographic" were coined by Wilhelm
produce the same satisfaction in their creators and their audience. Windelband in his "Strassburger Rektoratsrede" of 1894. 7 It is surprising to
2 discover that this epistemological opposition was proposed by a philosopher
whose metaphysics was clearly Neoplatonic: he believed that "there is another,
NOMOTHETIC AND IDEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE
higher world, mysteriously situated beyond the world of sense" (1921, 40). From
INPOETIC
a man who characterized philosophy as the human longing to rise "above the
confines of the empirical and the unsatisfactory into the wide space of infinite and
true reality"
The postpositivist paradigm of the philosophy of science is

7
The intervention was later republished (Windelband 1907) under the title "Geschichte
und Natrwissenschaft".

31

1
 (.((((((, (1921, 40) one can expect the proposal of a universalist epistemology. It was probably
the incompatibility between his epistemology and his metaphysics that prevented Windelband
from appealing to any metaphysical support.
"A whole specific language with all its specific formal regularity is only a
single passing phenomenon in the linguistic life of humanity" (1907, 365).
Literary art is a critical testing ground for the validity of the
4 nomothetic-ideographic opposition. Hermeneutics has claimed its ownership
for literature precisely because of the uniqueness, the historically unrepeatable
for his formulation of the opposition between the nomothetic and the ideographic. 8
character of literary phenomena. In contrast, it has been pointed out that
ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF ARTICLES AND PUBLICATION poetics is a nomothetic study of literary categories and universal regularities.
DATA...............................................................................................3 However, if we look at the history of poetics, a more complex situation is
revealed to us.
LUBOMÍR DOLEZELA'S CONTRIBUTION TO Of course, Aristotle conceived poetics in his founding treatise as a
CONTEMPORARY LITERARY STUDIES...................................4 nomothetic science. Aristotle did not exclude from poetics the general
((((((((‘..................................................................................................8 postulates of scientific cognition, formulated in his philosophy of science. The
Aristotelian differentiation of specialized sciences does not question the
ORAL LITERATURE AND WRITTEN LITERATURE..............12 validity of these general principles. It is particularly significant in the context
of this discussion that the goal of scientific research for Aristotle is, according
(((((((...................................................................................................17 to Windelband, a reformulation of Platonic universalism: the sciences aspire to
(((((((...................................................................................................20 reveal "the essential attributes of the genre with which they deal" (Meta 6, 1,
1025b). This objective is what pushes scientific cognition beyond the scope of
( c (.............................................................................................................20 perception: "perception is of the particular, while scientific knowledge
2......................................................................................................21 supposes the recognition of the appropriate universal" (Apst 1, 31, 87b). In
Aristotle's philosophy there is no place for a science of particular entities or
NOMOTHETIC AND IDEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE contingent properties: "There can be no scientific treatment" of "the
INPOETIC......................................................................................21 accidental." "No science - practical, productive or theoretical - deals with it"
(Meta 6, 2, 1026b; Cf. Joja 1971, 99-100: Granger 1976, 346-47). The
((( ( ( ( ( " " ".......................................................................................31 inductive method is the bridge between contingent particulars and universal
ALIENS AND VISITORS IN LITERARY METALANGUAGE. 32 essences: induction, which "exhibits the universal as implicit in the clearly
known particular" (Apst 1, 171a), penetrates into the universal essence by
((((((((.................................................................................................45 means of a systematic and exhaustive analysis of a continuously expanding
series of particular phenomena (see also APst2, 13, 97b).
((((((‘((................................................................................................50 Having disavowed the scientific study of the particular, Aristotle was
hga......................................................................................................52 able to accept different degrees of precision, depending on the nature of the
area of inquiry: "Our discussion will be adequate if it is as clear as the subject
((((((((((...............................................................................................61 matter allows, for such precision is not to be sought in all discussions; ... it is
( C ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ,(.......................................................................................67 proper for cultivated men to seek for each class of things the

THE LITERARY TEXT, ITS WORLD AND ITS STYLE...........68

Y (((((((((................................................................................................69
o (-((((((.................................................................................................77
?
1
1
 ' C(.(l( ( ( (..........................................................................................84
FICTIONAL REFERENCE: MIMESIS AND POSSIBLE
WORLDS........................................................................................84
( ( ( ( C ( ( ' ( ( ( (...............................................................................85
(((((.((((...................................................................................................87
( ( ( ( (' ( ( ( ( my.........................................................................................88
( ( ( ( ((, ( ( (........................................................................................90
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( (.......................................................................................92
TRUTH AND AUTHENTICITY IN NARRATIVE......................92
((((((((...............................................................................................100
( ( ( ( c C ( ( ( (......................................................................................100
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( Yo.................................................................................105
(((((Cl'......................................................................................................108
( ( ( C ( ( ( ((,(.......................................................................................111
NARRATIVE WORLDS.............................................................114
( ( ( ('C( ( “............................................................................................115
((((((((Cla.................................................................................................124
„x......................................................................................................128
((((.((((((...................................................................................................132
A THEME OF MOTIVATION AND ACTION..........................135
INNOVATION AS WORLD TRANSFORMATION.................143
( ((( ( .( ( c ( (............................................................................................146
(,( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( c ' Yo........................................................................147
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF KAFKA....................................153
(((((-((((("..........................................................................................157
( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (.(....................................................................................162
( ( ( CC ( C ( ( (....................................................................................166
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF DOSTOYEVSKY'S THE IDIOT
......................................................................................................170
THE WORLDS OF ZAMJATIN..................................................176
((((((((,(.............................................................................................179
c ( ( ( < ((( " " "........................................................................................180
(((((-.........................................................................................................184
 THE ROAD OF HISTORY AND THE DETOURS OF THE
GOOD SOLDIER.........................................................................184
( ( ( ( ( c ( (,( ((.........................................................................................187
( ( ( ( ( C ( ( " 1 '....................................................................................188
LITERATURE..............................................................................191
1........................................................................................................191
Yo.............................................................................................................191
( ((((((( ( (.........................................................................................195
( ( ( ( ( < ( ( ( ( ( YO........................................................................197

"the particular in the historically determined formation (Gestalt)". In traditional terms, he

explains, we can speak of a contrast between the disciplines of natural science and history
(1907, 364).
We will call the claim that there is an epistemological contrast between nomothetic
and ideographic disciplines the "strong" version of the Windelbandian opposition. However,
Windelband's Rektoratsrede is not only memorable for its epistemological innovation, but also
for its logical ambiguity: alongside the "strong" version, a "weak" version of the opposition
has been suggested, whereby, although it is insisted that the nomothetic-ideographic contrast
is "methodological", it is 1.
relegated by Windelband to the "treatment" (Behandlung), rather than to the "contents"
(Inhalt) of knowledge: "the same things can be the object of both nomothetic and ideographic
survey. This is related to the fact that the opposition between the unchangeable
(Immergleichen) and the unique (Einmaligeri) is in a certain sense relative. This relativization
is used by Windelband to introduce historicity into the field of ,
natural science. However, the opposite is implied: the scope of the .
historical particulars are governed by universal laws. In this 1
In this regard, Windelband's statement about language is particularly enlightening: "A
language is governed in all its particular applications (Av.wendungen) by formal laws that
remain the same in all alternations of expression. On the other hand,

Windelband points to Socrates as the first philosopher who formulated the problem of the
relationship between the universal and the particular. Later, he claims, ancient metaphysics was
divided into two visions of reality: according to Plato, reality resides in unchangeable generic
concepts; according to Aristotle, it consists of particularities that are ideologically dented. For
Windelband the concept of natural law is a modern substitute for the "Platonic idea" (1907, 364).

'2
 political science and reflects its awareness of the "fluctuation" in this field, where the
factor of instability and contingency is truly great.
It is not possible to find any explicit statement in the Poetics that indicates how
Aristotle intended to treat the high "fluctuation" that characterizes poetic art. On the
contrary, in strict application of its . assumptions about the philosophy of science, Aristotle
disregards the variable and contingent properties of individual works, and directs poetics
to the discovery of the "essential attributes" of poetry. The "hero" of his nomothetic
4
poetics is the generic category, and the core of what has come down to us from the Poetics
is, as we know, a theory of the genre of tragedy. Aristotle's famous definition of tragedy is
explicitly designed as "the definition of its essential nature."
Although nomothetic poetics does not deal with the analysis of specific poetic
works, it does use them as examples of universal categories. "Aristotle," Abrams claims,
"only refers to particular works in order to exemplify or clarify . . . general statements"
(1972, 21).' Indeed, exemplification replaces induction as the epistemic tool of Aristotelian
poetics, bridging the gap between the variety of particular literary works and the abstract
model of a literary category.10 Exemplification is entirely controlled by the model. It is not
the historical or systematic relationships between literary works that determine the order of
their presentation, but the development of the model. A notable manifestation of this fact is
the exemplification of the constituents of the argument: in chapter 11 (1452a, b) Aristotle
offers examples of peripeteia (Oedipus the King and Unceus) and recognition (Oedipus the
Tyrant and Iphigenia in Tauris). However, the exemplification of the third constituent of
the argument, suffering (pathos), is delayed until chapter 14, where this category is
discussed at some length (with examples from Oedipus the Tyrant, the Wounded Odyssey,
and Antigone, among others). '
By concentrating on the "essential attributes" of poetic art, Aristotelian poetics
creates a gap between theoretical categories and concrete literary phenomena, which it
attempted to bridge with examples. The other way of filling the gap, the analysis and
interpretation of specific works, is beyond its scope. Aristotelian poetics was caught in a
paradox of its own making: in trying to grasp the "essence" of poetic art, it ignored its
most essential feature, which is the unique, unrepeatable nature of literary works.
Nomothetic poetics, often imposed as a normative code, dominated Western
literary thought for centuries. Only at the end of the 18th century did the core of poetics
expand noticeably: the morphological poetics of the Romantics is not only a theory of
universal categories, but also an attempt to describe the individualization of poetic works.
9
The closest thing to a description of a specific tragedy is its synopsis. From that moment on, poetics as a science of literature will seek to combine and integrate
the study of universal poetic categories with the analysis and interpretation of poetic works
10
In a brief passage in his logical writings, Aristotle characterizes exemplification as in their uniqueness. _ _______________—
“a kind of induction” (APost 1, 1, 71a). Following this indication, we can say that The appearance of the morphological poetics of the Romantic period manifests an
exemplification is an incomplete induction, an induction based on a small, non-representative
sample of data. important epistemological change, frequently described by historians of ideas (for
example, Deutsch 1951): the substitution of a mechanical model for an organic model. The
34
unifying force of the organic model is symbolically represented in the personality of
Goethe, whose creative activities included natural science, poetry, poetics, and aesthetics.

"the precision that their nature permits" (EN 1, 3, 1094b). This quote refers specifically to
Goethe's essential morphological concept, metamorphosis, designates a generative force
that links universals and particulars, transforming invariants into variables, permanent
structures into transient manifestations. Thanks to this operational link, Goethe's two-level
morphology is a very consistent attempt to perceive living nature both in its abundant
variety and in its structural unity. Goethe believed that the true essence of living nature
was discovered in this transformative force. Metamorphosis separates, divides, and
transforms "the whole into families, families into classes, classes into species, and these
again into other varieties, down to the individual" (1820, 250).
Without denying Goethe's major contribution to the rise of the new organic thought, we
can look for a systematic exposition of morphological poetics in the works of Wilhelm von
Humboldt, specifically in his German monograph on Goethe's epic poem Herrmann und
Dorothea (written in 1798 and published in 1799), and 35
in his French essay on the new German thought (presented in 1799 to Madame The concepts of means and end are merged, since both are applied by ( equal to
de Staél). In his German work, Humboldt formulated the theoretical every component; the parts make up a whole and all the details
foundations of his poetics in conjunction with a detailed analysis of a particular "they are perfectly related in the assembly" (1799b, 28). "Unity" is no longer a
poem. In the French essay the results of his analysis are suppressed! poem by speculative postulate and, returning to the zigzag method, Humboldt specifies
Goethe and focuses almost exclusively on the explanation of Humboldt's it as a "network of relations" in Goethe's poem: in general terms, Hermann
theoretical thought. makes descriptions of Dorothea and they are, therefore, determined by her
Humboldt's adaptation of morphological thinking is stimulated by his character. In turn, this character is based on related characters, and they on
conviction that every poetic creation of true genius "always appears in a pure others, and finally on the whole structure, so that "a simple description is
and differentiated individuality" but at the same time is embodied "in a pure related to the whole, and is determined by the whole" (1799a, 170). By moving
and definite form" (1799a, 125). The dual aspect of the poetic work, its specific from the theoretical concept to the actual literary work and back again,
individuality and its generic form, requires a poetics that combines - in Humboldt achieves a rudimentary but inspiring vision of poetic structure as a
Humboldt's terminology - the aesthetic and technical branches. Technical network of interrelated constituents integrated into a unified whole.
poetics, that is, nomothetics, is a study of generic norms and categories. The advancement of morphological poetics was based on the
Aesthetic poetics - or ideographic research - aims to describe poetic works in discovery of the relationships that unite the constituents of poetic structure. Humboldt, again
their individuality. Humboldt observed that a comprehensive two-dimensional stimulated by concrete observations, stipulated three of these relationships:
poetics had rarely been attempted before, and he gave a clear explanation for complementarity, hierarchy and contrast. Goethe's protagonists are complementary because
this situation: "The lack of connection between the 'two' [branches of poetics] "they always and exclusively appear in relation to others, in one character we always see the
must be blamed on a certain aesthetic partiality. "Mechanical, rule-oriented other simultaneously" (1799a, 127). The complementarity of the characters is combined with
mentalities almost always disregard the originality and power of primitive the hierarchy: Hermann is the main figure of the i poem because Dorotea, as already
content, while ardent and disorderly [mentalities] always try to superimpose the mentioned, is presented in great
necessary respect for technique" (1799a, 248). If carried out separately, neither part through the descriptions he makes of her. The structural relationship of
the poetics of generic categories nor that of pure individuation can grasp the contrast is conceptualized in relation to Humboldtian observation I' of a tiny detail in
complexity of poetic art. Poetic individuality cannot be separated from its Goethe's imaginary world. In his first
repeatable, generic forms, and vice versa. To accomplish both tasks of poetics, Dorotea is seen in the background of a formidable wagon, an enormous ox and
Humboldt practices a cognitive strategy that I propose to call the 'zigzag a busy parade of refugees. Dorothea's calm, collected manner makes a great
method': the poet proceeds by continually moving from universal categories to impression on Hermann precisely because of this contrast.
concrete descriptions, and starting over again. The zigzag method, which has We have observed the fertility of the zigzag method for understanding
become a typical and essential part of the cognitive praxis of poetics, has been the basic relationships of poetic structure. His most impressive achievement in
successful in describing specific poetic works in theoretical terms, thus Humboldtian poetics is the formulation of the concept . of regularity
bridging the gap between the theory of literature and the analysis of the literary (Gesetzmiissigkeit). "Regularity" has enormous theoretical importance because
text. it encompasses both particular and universal poetic structures. Regularities are
The Humboldtian zigzag method can be illustrated with a number of discovered when a text or class of text is compared with another text or class of
examples. One of them refers to a crucial concept of the organic model, which text. In this matter, Humboldt's morphology points towards comparative
is the concept of "unity." As a universal category, "unity" is defined in the poetics.
French essay: "In closely related and mutually conditioned unity... each object । Humboldt's comparative method showed the regularities
depends on another. 36 Yo 37
 specific to two classics of the epic genre, Homer and Ariosto: a) Homer's
narrative style is distant and immediate. «The object always remains in the
foreground, while the singer disappears. In Ariosto's work "the people who act
are no less present; at the same time we do not lose sight of the poet, who also
3 remains on the stage." b) The sequence of events in Homer's narrative is
continuous, while Ariosto's narrative is characterized by discontinuity and
contrast. «In Homer one event originates in another, all the elements support
each other, one arises spontaneously from another... Ariosto freely interrupts
himself, jumps from one story to another... and, in principle, orders his works
by internal laws of association or by the contrast of emotions evoked in his
listener" (1799a, 179). Generalizing this opposition, Humboldt almost
perceives global regularities as organizing principles of the poetic structure that
operates at all its levels and on all its constituents. "This difference [between
Homer and Ariosto] is not only observable in the composition of the whole, but
we find it in any particular description, even in any stanza" (1799a, 180). Even
their metrical forms, Homer's hexameter and Ariosto's rhymed verse, are ■
subsumed in their opposing organizing principles (1799a, 188). ,
We have stated that until the Romantic period the Aristotelian approach
to individual works is dominant and almost exclusive in poetics: works of art
were used as examples of universal (generic) categories of nomothetic poetics.
In Humboldt's treatise, an ideographic poetics is postulated and practiced: his
Y design of ideographic poetics achieved further results in later developments:
o the individuality of poetic works is grasped with the help of a complex
structural model consisting of several levels and diverse relationships, and

-Yo
which is governed by individualizing global regularities. Since Humboldt,
poetic individuality does not escape the understanding of theoretical concepts.
•
One of the most important, and also one of the most forgotten
dimensions in the history of poetics, is the fact that the first tendency of 20th
century structuralism - the Prague school - sought a two-pronged poetics, that
is, universal categories and the analysis of particular works. The first
representative example of this poetics, Mukaovk's monograph on Macha's
poem "May" (1928), already showed a synthesis of the nomothetic and
ideographic methods: there 38
Mukafovky developed theoretical categories to apply in his analysis of a
specific poetic text, such as the masterpiece of Czech Romantic poetry, and all
this in a way quite similar to the spirit of Humboldt. However, Mukafovky's
systematic development of the model undoubtedly goes beyond what Humboldt

39
had achieved: his model of poetic structure consists of three integrated levels or
strata: phonetic, semantic and thematic. However, his model is not a formalism
that exhausts itself: it is designed to reveal the uniqueness of Mácha's poem at
all its structural levels, in its rich and varied sound patterns, its diverse semantic
mechanisms and its complex thematic organization. In his later works
Mukafovky theoretically proposed and analytically applied the crucial concept
of semantic gesture. The “semantic gesture,” reminiscent of Humboldt’s
Gesetzmassigkeit, was an attempt to explain the structural uniqueness of a
literary work by relating it to the creative subject: the subject (poet, writer) is
responsible for the uniqueness of the literary work by composing it according
to “a constructive principle which applies to all segments of the work, even the
smallest ones, and which produces a unified, unifying systematization of all the
constituents” (1933, 3, 239). With the concept of the semantic gesture,
Mukafovky’s synthesis of the nomothetic and ideographic methods is achieved:
the individuality, the non-repeatability of the literary work is due to a unique
subject, an individual who, however, does not create at random, but according
to characteristic structural regularities.
The synthesis of ideographic and nomothetic poetics was perfected by
Felix Vodika, of the second generation of the Prague school. In his important
The Beginnings of Czech Artistic Prose (1948) Vodicka adopted the zigzag
method, applying it in a manner reminiscent of Wilhelm von Humboldt:
analytical segments dealing with particular texts are interspersed with
theoretical reflections on themes suggested by the analysis. 11 Thus, for
example, Vodicka reformulates the traditional system of narrative theme
(which includes action, character, and space) by defining all these constituents
in terms of elementary narrative units, such as motifs. Then he sets out to
demonstrate how in the

Barthes's S/Z (1970) is a more recent (and more famous) example of this type of
composition.
 ((( ( ( ( ( " " "
In Chateaubriand's Atala (a pre-Romantic work whose translation was decisive for
the development of modern Czech artistic prose) certain motifs belonging to the combine to make strict distinctions between the sciences untenable.
context of the place (such as nature, human habitats, social and cultural customs, Contemporary science is not a set of ordered fields, but of disordered problems.
etc.) become multifunctional, taking part in the structuring of the characters or the Theories, conceptual systems, methods of analysis and means of observation
action. In a similar spirit Vodika develops a systematic narratology on both the are developed through research into problems rather than into territories.
thematic and discursive levels, and proceeds to analyse in its terms the history of In this situation the strong version of the Windelbandian opposition
the rise of modern Czech prose fiction. loses justification, while the weak version of it gains new possibilities of life.
In his well-known poetological investigations, Jakobson proposed the The problem of universals and particulars becomes a topic that concerns
theoretical problem of grammatical categories of poetry and analyzed many specific several traditional disciplines. Every contemporary scientific discipline has its
poems with the intention of revealing their characteristic grammatical patterns. For nomothetic and ideographic research projects, although the weight of these
example, in investigating the use of personal pronouns in poetic texts, Jakobson projects in one discipline or another varies considerably.
demonstrated the individuality of such different works as Pushkin's love poetry, the Let me support this statement with the discipline of psychology, crucial
Hussites' battle song (in "Poetry of Grammar and Grammar of Poetry"), and to our reflections because it is located on the border between the natural and
Brecht's political poem (in "Der Grammatische Bau des Gedichts von B. human sciences. When modern "personalistic" psychology began, it addressed
Brecht-'Wir-sind sie"); his meticulous analysis revealed that even each of Pushkin's the uniqueness of human personality through approaches, methods, and results
poems "is unique and unrepeatable in its artistic selection and use of grammatical from "general" nomothetic psychology. But Gordon W. Allport, one of the
material" (1987, 136). In a commentary on this subject, Krystyna Pomorska pioneers of personality psychology, recognized that "life processes are only
characterized Jakobson's method as an instrument that "allows both to generalize actualized in unified, complex, individual wholes" (1937, 3), and postulated the
and to individualize the phenomena under investigation" (1983, 230). Without development of idiographic research in psychology. He expressly recalled
invoking Windelband, Pomorska placed the greatest poet of the twentieth century Windelband's opposition between the nomothetic and the ideographic, but
within the framework of her weak conception of the opposition between nomothetic rejected a schism in psychology, that is, the creation of two separate
and ideographic cognition. disciplines. Thus, Allport in fact accepted what I called the weak version of the
The differentiation between nomothetic and ideographic cognition was Windelbandian opposition, and interpreted it as the differentiation of two
formulated as a critique of the positivist conception of science. However, he adopted the complementary and overlapping methods or approaches: "A complete study of
positivist principle of the classification of sciences, the territorial division: a science is defined the individual will embrace both approaches." "The recommendation to study
by the field (or object) of its research. Sharing the principle of territoriality, hermeneutics was 'personal character' without the aid of general and experimental psychology is
unable to radically transcend the positivist philosophy of science. His philosophy was bad advice" (1937, 22).12 In a similar spirit, a contemporary psychologist
annihilated from within science itself, by the multiple and powerful challenges that comments:
contemporary research strategies pose to the principle of territoriality. Interdisciplinary
research, "hyphenated" sciences (such as psycholinguistics or biochemistry), higher-order
macrosciences (semiotics, cybernetics, ecological science) - all these trends are

12 In response to a critic who doubted the scientific status of idiographic research,

Allport stressed the need to develop "new concepts and methods" to deal with the
"phenomenon of individual patterning." But he insisted that under a "customary" definition of
science, understood as "that form of knowledge which elevates our knowledge, our
prediction, and our control over phenomena above the level attained by common sense
alone," "ideographic knowledge is fully capable of occupying a place of honor" (1946, 134,
135).

41
that research into the motivation of human actions requires a synthesis of assumption that the student of literature is only a reader, and as such talks about
both approaches: "It is not necessary to choose between ideographic and literature in normal (or colloquial) language, as readers do when discussing a book in a
nomothetic procedures, because it is always possible to combine the two coffee shop. More dominant is the second variant of this attitude, which recalls the
in a design in which multiple measurements are made on multiple subjects aesthetic idealism of Romanticism: it is only possible to apprehend poetry through
on multiple occasions" (Epstein 1983, 92-93). poetry, and therefore the "linguistic game" of the critic is identical to that of the poet,
The return of the idea of possible worlds to an epistemologically whose medium is not scientific metalanguage but poetic language. b) The attitude of
prominent position has added a new dimension to ideographic research. benign neglect supports the idea that problems of terminology and conceptualization
The currently existing world appears as one among an infinite number of are of little relevance to the discursive practice of literary theory and criticism. It is
possible universes. Its structure is determined by specific values of certain argued that literary study as a humanistic discipline is content with a low level of
basic physical constants: any slight variation in these values would create epistemological demand. Literary metalanguage is not cultivated simply because
a different universe. Not surprisingly, contemporary cosmology, precise, "technical" terminology is not needed. It is unnecessary and even
conceived as "the description of our universe as a single dynamic entity," counterproductive to aspire to rigorous methods of conceptualization (such as
has emphasized its ideographic character: "Scientific cosmology is the formalization, model construction, etc.) because these methods, although indispensable
study of a single object and a single event" (Rces 1989, 399). In a possible in modern science and logic, are superfluous and ineffective in the humanistic
worlds perspective, the order of our universe is as unique as the structure disciplines, c) The attitude of philosophical skepticism declares that language in
of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Berlioz's Harold in Italy, or Picasso's Guemica. general, and literary metalanguage in particular, is incapable of connecting with
The opinions of Allport, Epstein and Rees are by no means eccentric, "reality", of having any reference. It does not matter whether we use precise language
since similar judgments can be heard in other natural, human and social or expressions of ordinary language, since we are trapped in purely textual games. We
sciences. When the contrast between nomothetic and ideographic can produce infinite texts
disciplines became obsolete, the synthesis between nomothetic and
43
ideographic research became universal. The study of literature, the poetics
that has cultivated this synthesis for almost two centuries, is not an island
removed from contemporary cognitive activity: it has the right to claim its
status as a leading science.
3

ALIENS AND VISITORS IN LITERARY METALANGUAGE

The attitudes of
literary scholars toward their
language (or metalanguage)
are as varied as their beliefs
about the nature and goals of
their own discipline. At
present, negative attitudes
predominate, manifested in
three main variants: a) the
attitude of hostility that abhors
precise conceptualization and
rejects literary metalanguage
under the accusation of being
incomprehensible and
reprehensible "jargon." At best
(the argument goes) this
jargon discourages potential
readers and at worst
destroys the poetry of
literature. This attitude
is often related to the
epistemological
secondary to a literary text, but it is illusory to think that we can construct a original, defined.
metalanguage with a logical and semantic status such that it could provide a Time permits me to examine only, and even then briefly, the cases of two of
theory of its object language, that is, of literature. these aliens in literary metalanguage: one of them, the concept of mimesis, is a former
These and similar negative attitudes have led to a lamentable state of resident. The other, the concept of speech act, is a newcomer. I consider that the
literary metalanguage. However, they do not have a monopoly on literary concept of mimesis comes from philosophy (although it could have a pre-Socratic
studies, and many representatives of modern poetics and literary theory have prehistory outside of philosophy), while the concept of speech act has come to us from
advocated a positive attitude towards conceptualization. In line with findings linguistics and the philosophy of language.
from the research tradition such as Aristotle's definitions of literary categories,
or Coleridge's method of "disynonymy" (Doloel 1990), these literary scholars 1
have warned that only explicit and precise conceptualization can get us out of
the metalinguistic quagmire. In recent decades, this belief has been reinforced 1. MIMESIS
by the influence of analytical philosophy and logical semantics, two fields in
which language care is a primary task. The concept of mimesis has dominated Western aesthetic thought for more
It is not surprising that the problems of theoretical conceptualization of than two thousand years. Over this long period it has been the subject of many new
literature. are composed of "borrowed" terms, the visitors and aliens who enter interpretations and has consequently become multi-purpose and diffuse (cf. Srbom
or are invited into our metalanguage from other fields or disciplines. These 1966; Tatarkiewicz 1980; Spariosu ed. 1984; Doloel 1990). Efforts to explain the
terms have been with us since the birth of Western poetics and aesthetics, but difference between the Platonic conception (mimesis as a component of reality) and the
the pace of borrowing has accelerated markedly in modern times. The specific Aristotelian conception (mimesis as a creative representation of reality) have been in
difficulties of this lending process must be linked to two epistemological vain. In our time Paul Ricoeur has made explicit the semantic difference between the
phenomena: two by distinguishing between "mimesis I" and "mimesis II." However, it has
(1) The original discipline imposes stricter epistemological collaborated in perpetuating the confusion by introducing the term "mimesis III",
requirements on conceptualization than those of literary study. Visitors and which designates "the intersection of the world of the text and the world of the reader
aliens, coming from a more strictly organized terrain, find themselves in the or receiver" (1984, 71). Although no one would deny the need to account for this
land of freedom, and they behave freely: they become undisciplined and intersection in literary theory, it would be preferable to suggest a new term rather than
quickly lose their main semantic virtue, precision. expand the range of meanings of the overburdened "mimesis."
(2) All concepts in modern disciplines constitute more or less Ricoeur's struggle with the concept of mimesis demonstrates the dilemma
complex conceptual systems, whose meaning and application are determined inherent in semantic differentiation, which is the most normal strategy of precise
by their place in the system and by their correlations with other constituents. conceptualization. On the one hand, the procedure increases the precision of the term
When transferred to literary theory the alien is separated from its original by dividing its broad extension and indefinite intention into several specific extensions
system and its co-constituents. Lacking an anchor in the act of incorporation and intentions; on the other hand, the differentiated meanings make the semantic
into the system, the concept begins to drift, easily accepting new applications structure of the term more complex, thus increasing the risk of confusion and imprecise
again and again, thereby destroying its meaning. use. Ricoeur is able to take this risk because his attitude towards precise
44
conceptualization is clearly positive. This fact can be seen if we take a look at the fate
of the concept of "mimesis" in two contemporary critical works, those of Nuttall
(1983) and Prendergast (1986). It is my opinion that they are dominated by

45

1
 negative attitudes regarding the precise conceptualization of literary it, and that the theorist finally loses hope: the idea of mimesis has an "intrinsically
metalanguage. ambiguous and unstable character" (1986, 213, 214). This despair is quite common, but
it comes from a cause that is also quite common: what is attributed to the concept itself
Nuttall's book shows the dangers of pre-theoretical and pre-analytical is nothing more than a necessary consequence of the critic's lack of conceptual
epistemology, for predictable failures of naive conceptualization abound: the analysis.
author ventures to talk about mimesis and mimetic art without analyzing the
concept or attempting a definition, and without justification or explanation he 2. SPEECH ACTS CONCEPTS
identifies realism and mimesis (1983, 87-88, for example), increasing the
confusion with his extension of realism to the point of including impressionism ■ — The history of speech act concepts is much shorter than that of mimesis, but its
("exaggerated visual realism," 1983, 79, 88). His mimetic interpretation of lively theoretical activity in the field (for a recent review see Porter, 1986) means that
Shakespeare's historical tragedies suffers from the same vagueness and lack of it offers no less variety of material for conceptual analysis. When I talk about the
care. Thus, for example, Nuttall interprets the Shakespearean Brutus as a theory of speech acts, I am not only thinking of Austin's formulations, but also of other
"conscious Stoic," but this typological assignment is confusing for two theoretical derivations in text pragmatics (of discourse) such as Wittgenstein's
reasons: a) the image of the Stoic is constructed at such a level of abstraction language games or Grice's conversational maxims. This combination is especially
that we can find Stoics in any period of human history; b) the interpretation is justified from the vantage point of literary theory: the concepts of textual pragmatics
weakened by the concession that "every true Roman Stoic has non-Stoic have also been incorporated into literary metalanguage, reinforcing the previous ones
elements within him" (1983, 105). With limits such as those mentioned, it is and complementing them.
easy to demonstrate that Brutus was stoic. These conceptual machinations It should not come as a surprise that the transfer of speech act concepts into
would be relatively innocuous were it not for the fact that mimetic literary metalanguage shows a struggle similar to that indicated above with respect to
interpretation is used argumentatively for a rather robust thesis: "Shakespeare mimesis. We very often find adoptions that greatly distort the original concepts. Pratt's
distinguished not only the Romans from the English, but even the Romans of much-cited book (1977) reveals a very common type of semantic distortion. The author
the earlier periods from those of the later periods" (1983, 102). In fact, the is very familiar with Grice's theory of conversation, but extends his concepts beyond
claimed historical authenticity of Shakespeare is a product of the critic's their original scope. In Grice's formulation, the concepts and maxims of the theory
dubious conceptualization. apply to "face-to-face" verbal interaction, which presupposes a situation in which the
At first glance, Prendergast's book contrasts greatly with Nuttall's from
speaker and the listener share the same parameters of time and space and have direct
an epistemological point of view: instead of a pre-theoretical pastoral, what we access (although
find is the frenzy of contemporary French critical theory. However, when we
47
analyse the results we find that they are very similar: at the end of the work.
The concept of mimesis remains as imprecise, undefined and polysemic as at
the beginning. Prendergast's use perpetuates the traditional fluctuation between
the broad sense ("a general strategy for negotiating and living in the world"
1986, 24) and its narrow application (realistic method, "adequate," "reality-
like" representation 1986, 32, 34). This progression from imprecision to even
greater imprecision does not seem to worry the contemporary critic. On the
contrary, he seems inclined to justify it philosophically by rejecting the very
possibility of a rigorous conceptualization, insisting that "a certain canonical
vocabulary, real or potentially 46 .

“available” is an illusion. Consequently, the critic should not bother to tell us

what mimesis is, what it means in his language. What we are offered, instead,
are lengthy reflections on major problems related to this obscure entity: its
"existence," its possibility, its modes, effects, etc. However, since the concept
was not fixed at the beginning, the formulations and solutions to these major
problems allow for considerable "float." Since the argument proceeds without

..Y
o

"pg--geg
1,

having distinguished between the meanings of mimesis, contradictions

multiply, and it is not surprising that it becomes impossible to "maneuver" with
 necessarily limited) to the world of the other. Leaving this restriction aside, their various semantic transformations. Instead, I will succumb to the temptation to
Pratt presents Grice's maxims as "general rules governing all verbal make a brief comment on a fundamental epistemological gap in contemporary literary
discourse" (1977, 125), thereby facilitating their application in the field of theory. I will be excused because after all this excursion is related to the general
literary communication. This terrain, however, shows contradictory features problem of conceptualization and to the particular topic of the theory of speech acts: I
with those of "face-to-face" verbal interaction: the author and the reader do was inspired by this reflection in the Glyph magazine by the debate between Derrida
not share the same parameters of time and space and do not have direct and Searle regarding Austin (Derrida 1977a, 1877b; Searle 1977).
access to the other's world. In semantic terms, it can be said that the Both antagonists perceive that their disagreement is not a conflict between two
borrowed term is used with an extension that does not correspond to, and different philosophical traditions. Derrida points to the underlying source of the
even contradicts, its original intention. This "extensional transgression," the disagreement, which consists of opposing modes of conceptualization based on
common fate of aliens in literary metalanguage, is responsible for the different logical systems. The "traditional" formation and conceptualization of the
advocacy of originally precise concepts. theory is based on standard logic which - even in its modern formalization - maintains
Extensional transgression and other semantic changes affect many the Aristotelian axioms, especially the law of the excluded middle. It is within the
applications of textual pragmatics to literary theory. However, examples of standard logical framework that the concepts of mimesis and speech act theory were
rigorous handling of the borrowed conceptual framework are no less developed, and it is from this point of view that I have offered a critique of some of
frequent, and I would now mention Elam's work on Shakespeare's comedies their applications in literary metalanguage. In contrast, Derrida has struggled tooth and
(1984). The literary theorist's exemplary treatment of the conceptual system nail with the self-imposed task of a conceptualization and theory formation that would
of textual pragmatics is characterized by two strategies of use: (1) when the nullify the force of the law of contradiction and make it possible to synthesize
concept is well defined in its original area, its rigorous meaning is preserved oppositions and reconcile dialectical tensions. In the process, Derrida has sharply
in the literary metalanguage. This is, for example, the case of Austin's questioned the logical foundations of traditional theory and concept formation, but has
differentiation between illocutionary and perlocutionary acts. Elam cites failed to offer an equally effective operational alternative. This task has been attempted
Austin's definitions without falsifying them (1984, 6-7) and uses the
through the strategy of a radical conceptual innovation, typified by the popular
concepts below to demonstrate how in dramatic theory they can produce "a
Derridean neologisms, such as "différance" or "restance." We have learned to interpret
shift in analytical focus" from physical action to verbal interaction. Through
these self-contradictory terminological hybrids with the help of ordinary language and
his description of the encounter between Isabella and Angelo (in Measure
etymology. However, we have not been told how to operate with them, that is, what are
for Measure) in terms of illocution and perlocution, Elam's compelling
the rules of the new logic that is supposed to control them.
demonstration indicates that the dialogic communication between them as a
"chain of speech events ... generates the main plot of [the comedy as a
whole]" (1984, 8). (2) When a term is in some way indefinite or
metaphorical in its original area, Elam does not complicate its indefiniteness
with new metaphorizations, but rather refines the concept in its theoretical-
literary application. The Wittgensteinian language-game receives this
treatment: proceeding from the philosopher's schematic suggestions on the
multiplicity of language-games, Elam proposes a taxonomy, inspired by
salient aspects of dramatic discourse, which includes theatrical, world-
building, semantic, and figural games. This theoretical advance increases
the precision and operational potential of the "language game." We can say
that Elam not only borrows the concept, but domesticates it. This is a
48 '

to
#

recent example of a long tradition of literary theory - using the richness, variety
and complexity of literature as a fertile testing ground for linguistic, semiotic
and philosophical concepts. In this test, the conceptual exchange between
literary theory and the various neighboring fields becomes reciprocal. Literary
metalanguage is shown not only as the means of a specialized discipline, but as
an indispensable phase of humanistic and philosophical conceptualization.
I should conclude this discussion of conceptual visitors and aliens in
literary metalanguage by indicating how we can proceed to a deeper study of
their semantic and formal relationships and their syllogistic chains. Many

"deviant" logics are possible, but deconstruction has not enunciated the
principles of its non-Aristotelian logic. Not surprisingly, deconstructionist
critics have replaced conceptualization and theory formation with primarily
verbal maneuvers. Ultimately, the confrontation between Searle and Derrida,
the confrontation between analytical philosophy and deconstruction, is not a
conflict between traditional logic and new logic, but between traditional logic
and new rhetoric, ■
4

FROM MOTIVES TO MOTIVES

Modern poetics has been developing under various names: formalism,

New Criticism, structuralism, semiotics. Ignoring the differences regarding
their "philosophy of literature," all these tendencies are characterized by a
common aspiration, the search for the specificity of literature. Literature is
conceived as a specific form of human creative activity, which differs both
functionally and structurally from other forms of human creativity. Human
poetics insists on this specificity with unbending stubbornness, which is but an
understandable response to the persistent "imperialism" of transcendent (i.e.,
extra-literary) interpretations of literary works. _
While the object of this theory can be said to be the specificity of
literature, "iterariness,"13 what characterizes the methodology of modern
poetics is the desire for precision. Jan Mukarovky is quoted as saying “it is not
at all necessary for contemporary literary research to be called structuralist, but
it is necessary for it to develop at the level of contemporary scientific thought”
(Matthauser 1968, 8).
In the current state of scientific thought, poetics faces two interrelated
tasks: (1) the task of developing well-defined and verifiable DISCOVERY
PROCEDURES to analyze and classify literary texts and their units; (2) the
task of constructing and verifying (with analysis and experimentation)
FORMAL MODELS of literary structures and their particular aspects.
Until recently, precise poetics has tested its discovery procedures and
its formal models primarily in the space of lyric poetry: one of the most
advanced branches of poetics is the theory of verse. In the last decade or two it
has been lent

13
On the concept of "literariness" as formulated in the Russian formalist school, see V.
Erlich (1965, 172 et seq.).

51

1
more attention to the structural study of narrative (epic) literature. 14 Following
(((((((((((
Yo
the pioneering work of some literary researchers (Klovskij, Tomaevskij,
Propp, Bakhtin) the theory of narrative structures has progressed substantially
with the researchers of the French structural school (Lévi-Strauss, Barthes,
Bremond, Grcimas, Todorov, Genette and others).
In this article I will attempt to formulate a synthetic summary of the
current state of the theory of narrative structure. Rather than a detailed post-realist literary practice, has returned to the study of history. This tendency is
description of particular problems, I will concentrate on the connections especially noticeable in the Russian formalist school, where the theory of argument
between existing fragments of the theory. 15 Clearly this research raises more construction (sjuetosloenije) was formulated. 16
problems than it can solve, and many monographic studies will be needed Russian researchers showed a strong preference for diverse . I narrative genres
ia
before a theory of narrative structure can be formulated that will satisfy the characterized by the dominance of the story block: adventure and picaresque novels,
requirements of "modern scientific thought." "popular" fiction (detective stories), folklore narrative (wonder tale). Repetitive story
I start from the idea that a complete model of narrative structure will elements and story patterns were discovered in all of these genres, and this
consist of four "blocks": the story block, the character block, the setting block, repetitiveness made it possible to formulate the first "rules" of story structure, which
and the interpretation block (Cf. Dolnzcl 1971b). These blocks have been are the basis of all future "grammars of narrative."
studied since the very birth of fiction criticism. Until recently, however, fiction The work of Vladimir Propp (1928) is so popular today that there is no need to
criticism has been primarily concerned with the study of characters. The present this system here. Let us only mention that Propp devised an abstract "code"
concentration on them comes from the fact that the criticism of traditional that accounted for the story structure of about a hundred Russian folk tales (volsebnaja
fiction has been an epigone of realism. In realist fiction the block of characters skazka) from the classic collection of Afanasjev (1855-64). In his
dominates the other blocks of the structure, and in "realist" criticism it is the 1
corpus, Propp was to deal with a conventional story structure:
study of the characters and their "psychology" that takes a central position. All the stories in his corpus were variants of the same pattern.17
Other blocks of narrative structure are studied primarily in their function of Propp discovered that only 31 elements of action, functions, are necessary to
character formation. construct a model of the Russian fairy tale story. Most FUNCTIONS occur in several
The modern theory of fiction, however, according to the VARIANTS. Thus, for example, the function "villainy" ("the villain causes harm to a
'member of a family'") appears, according to Propp, in 23 variants, beginning with
"kidnapping or abduction" and ending with "declaration of war." In a particular
wonderful text these variants may be expressed for a variety of MOTIVES. For
example, the function variant “kidnapping or abduction” is expressed with motifs such
as “a dragon kidnaps the king's daughter,” “a witch kidnaps a child,” “the elder brother

15
The structural theory of drama has been developed simultaneously. See especially
the work of Solomon Marcus (1970, 1971).

This purpose is also manifested by the selection of terminology for my system [in the
English version of this study]. I do not hesitate [in this English version] to adopt terms from
various authors and, in addition, to use two foreign terms for the English context: the French
\,

—
kidnaps the younger brother's girlfriend.”

16
Propp did not discuss the relationships between functions and

The connections in the construction theory seem quite obvious to me. ■ plot with the
enhancement of history in post-revolutionary Russian fiction, especially in the Scrapion brothers'
actant (for lack of a suitable English equivalent) and the Latin fable (since in the original group.
English "fable" seems fixed in its specific literary meaning). These terminological
experiments can be forgiven in a relatively recent branch of literary theory. [In the Spanish 17
Two contemporary Soviet researchers (Olkovsky and Eglov 1967, 6) pointed out this aspect
version the following are adopted: of Propp's system by pointing out that Propp perceived the entire genre of the fairy tale "as a fairy
terms "actant" and "fable". tale," in a similar way to how Klovskij viewed Conan Doyle's novels "as a detective novel."

. ■ 53

-—=---L________________.--------------------------------—-----------------, 450* 5*-*,7* ’ ‘ : 7 - "

reasons. From his point of view, only functions are "invariant" (ustojeivije elementy published the same year as Mukafovky's monograph).
skazki) and, therefore, only functions can be described by a structural model.
Regarding the functions, the motives are variable, and therefore are beyond the limits Mukafovky's scheme was not limited to the structure of the story.
of structural analysis. On the other hand, Propp was not aware of the fact that the However, Roland Barthes concentrated entirely on the structure of the story,
variable elements of the fairy tale, irrelevant in terms of its model, are essential from proposing a three-level scheme for its analysis: it begins with the level of
an aesthetic point of view. He explicitly stated that "the variables of the fairy tale," functions (in Propp's sense of the term), continues with the level of actions
such as the attributes of the characters, "give the fairy tale its lustre, charm, and 3
1
(which correspond to Mukafovky's motives) and arrives at the level of
beauty" (Propp 1928, 79).
narration, that is, the verbal manifestation of the story (in Mukaovk's model
Some contemporary folklorists still restrict the structure of the story to the
sequence of performances. Thus, for example, Alan Dundes, who adopts Pike's term subdivided into the levels of sound and meaning).
MOTIVEMA for Propp's functions, argues that in structural research on the fairy tale Barthes's original scheme (see 1.4 for an outline of his transformation)
"the patterns of the motivemes are more the subject of study than the patterns of the seems to me to be the most comprehensive summary of the strata of story
motifs" (Dundes 1964, 59). This concept of story structure is certainly influenced by structure. I would like to modify the scheme by introducing different
the specific character of folklore texts.18 terminology:
In opposition to Dundes' narrow concept of structure, I would like to argue (1) the level of MOTIVEMA,
that a structural theory of the text must account for ALL levels of text organization. (2)- -the level of the STRUCTURE OF THE MOTIVE (3) the level of the
STRATIFICATIONAL models therefore appear to be the most promising basis for a TEXTURE OF THE MOTIF.19
complete textual theory. ■ This terminology will facilitate understanding of the status and relationships
Regarding narrative texts, two stratification schemes were suggested: that of of the particular levels.
Jan Mukafovky, which characterizes the approach of the Prague school, and that of The first part of this article will be devoted to a discussion of this
Roland Barthes, which summarizes the results of contemporary French structuralism. scheme. In the second part I will try to apply the theoretical framework in an
In his masterpiece of structural literary analysis, a monograph on the greatest example of analysis of the structure of the story of two different narrative
work of Czech Romanticism, Karel Hynek Macha's narrative poem "Máj" [May], texts.
Mukafovky addresses three levels of analysis; sound, meaning and theme (motifs)
YO. DISCUSSION OF THE SCHEME.
(Mukafovky 1928), and does not incorporate the level of functions into his scheme
(Propp's book was
1. Basic terms and symbols. i|
Yo
"This view, however, is by no means monopolistic in the contemporary study of folklore. So.
Meletinskij argues that "the next step" in the structural study of narrative "should be a return to the I will first present the elements of the particular levels as a series of primitive
study of motives." "The motive is a cardinal unit of analysis" (Meletinskij 1969, 162).
symbols and formulas, formed by these symbols.
(A) MOTIVEMA (M) is a proposition that predicates an act (Act) of an actant
(Ant): M = Ant + Act. The motiveme system is defined by: (a) a series of expressions
that interpret the Act; (b) a series of expressions that interpret the Ant; (e) a motiveme
function that assigns

" It will be used here e! the term MOTIF as an abbreviation for MOTIF STRUCTURE, and the
term TEXTURE as an abbreviation for MOTIF TEXTURE.

55

■ ' YO
and. _.-g4. —,. ...a-- -- — 3 - -*g-, < aeum*f-Hf-aaMg -------83
, .5 "3-n**838 • ,,

■ ■ • . .r-- L
 ( ( ((( ( ( ( ( ( (
the particular expressions of the Act to the particular expressions of the Ant. . And there is the verbal predicate that designates an action. An expansion Va é Va +
Series (a) and (b) are called MOTTVEMA VOCABULARY. The system of N is admissible, so that we obtain Nei + Va + Nc2. Furthermore, both Nc and Va can
motivemes is therefore a series of propositions defined by the function of the be expanded by modifiers. Concerning some features of the motif structure, some
motiveme on the vocabulary of the motiveme. restrictions must be imposed on the expansion rules, but these restrictions cannot be
The function of the motiveme specifies the range of acts performed by specified here. Semantically, the chains of motifs are expressed in terms of the
particular actants: it is a formal expression of Propp's assumption that each BASIC NARRATIVE VOCABULARY. This vocabulary consists of two lists of
actant (ispol'nitel) is characterized by its sphere of activity {krug dejstvija) standardized expressions: (a) character names, (b) terms for classes of actions.
(Propp 1928, 72). The function of the motiveme is a formal property specific to Motive chains, like motiveme chains, are of a metalinguistic nature. To
the level of motivemes. The elements of the two remaining levels cannot be distinguish them from the narrative sentences of the target language (and from the
related by a logical function.
chains of motivemes), I will use the auxiliary symbol )(•
The expressions in the vocabulary of the motiveme may belong to a
special symbolic language, or they may be obtained from the vocabulary of a Examples of chains of motives include: )he killed the dragon; )Yanko
natural language. In any case, these expressions, as well as the propositions rescued Swaffer's grandson from death; )The judge sentenced Meursault to death.
formed with them, will have a metalinguistic character. To distinguish them (C) The MOTIF TEXTURE is a narrative sentence (i.e. a sentence of the
from object language expressions and sentences (of the narrative text), an narrative text) that can be rewritten (by specific formal rewriting procedures), in the
auxiliary symbol » (( will be used. nuclear structure N, + Va ( + Nc ). Syntactically, any constituent structure of the
If expressed in a natural language, the motiveme proposition takes the texture may be admissible by the grammar of the given language, and it may further
form of a sentence, called a MOTIFEME STRING. The constituent structure of be expected that in exceptional cases the texture of the motif will have the form of a
the motiveme chain is Nant + Vact, where Nant is a nominal subject that semi-grammatical or ungrammatical sentence. Semantically, texture is expressed in
expresses Ant, and Vact a verbal action that expresses Act. An expansion Vac the unrestricted vocabulary of the language, and ad hoc lexical innovations in
é Vact + N^ is admissible, which results from the constituent structure Nant + texture can also be expected to appear.
Vac + Vanc2, where the first nominal expression represents the subject, and Texture, in distinction from chains of motifs and motivemes, belongs to
the second the object of the verb of Act. Thus, the grammar of motivemes object language. The texture phrases will not have any auxiliary symbols. Examples
defines two types of chains: one-actant and two-actant chains. Modifiers are of pattern textures:
not allowed in the structure of the motiveme chain.
Here are some examples of chains of motivemes: (a) chains of one Ivan Tsarevich cut off one of the dragon's heads, then the second, then the third,
actant: ))The hero returned; And the hero passed the test((; chain of two and all six [Ivan-tsarevich_ otsék zmíju gólovu, drugú, trét'ju i vse est] (Afanasjev)
actants: )The hero defeated the villain((. And suddenly, one fine morning in spring, he rescued from an untimely death a
(B) REASON (m) is a proposition that predicates an action (a) of a grandchild of old Swaffer (Conrad). .
character (c): m = c + a. A motive function cannot be defined that assigns The president told me in an unusual way that my head would be cut off in a public
particular actions to particular characters. This means that a character can square in the name of the French people. [Le president m'a dit
perform any action and, conversely, an action can be assigned to any character.
Motifs will be expressed in natural language sentences, called MOTIF
STRINGS. Syntactically, the chain of motifs will be a core phrase [«kernel»]
with the nuclear constituent structure Ne + Va, where Nc is the nominal subject
that designates a character
56
 Propp's structural theory of history focused on the study of acts ("functions," Dundes:
"motivemes"), and the repertoire of actants was derived from the act system.
in a strange form that j'aurais the tete tranchée sur a place publish au nom du It has been customary to express acts by deverbative names (Russian: bor'ba,
peuple franjáis] (Camus) 2 pobeda, vozvraícenije, etc.; English: pursuit, rescue, return, etc.; French: méjait, aide,
accomplissement de la tache, etc.). This form of expression has the advantages of
(D) RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PARTICULAR LEVELS: We will call * abbreviation and at the same time, however, it can blur distinctions that, in my opinion, are
the motiveme/motive relationship SPECIFICATION. We will say that a essential to the structure of the story. Thus, for example, in Propp's system we find the
4
motiveme is specified by a motive (sequence of motives) or that a motive "lack" function that in many stories represents the initial moment of the development of
(sequence of motives) specifies a motiveme. The motif/texture relationship the story. Propp was not consistent in his interpretation of "lack," since on the one hand he
will be called VERB ALLOY. It will be said that a motif is verbalized by a treats it like other functions, comparing it with "villainy" ("rapture"): in the first case the
texture, and that a texture verbalizes a motif. Diagram 1 represents the *$ lack "is given," and in the second, it results from a certain action (Propp 1928, 36). On the
relationships between the particular levels of the stratificational model: other hand, he designates "lack" as a "situation," thus denying its "functional" character
*
(Propp 1928, 69 et seq.). It is obvious that "lack" is not an act or an actant, but a state of an
actant that results from preceding acts (expressed or not expressed in the text of the story).
| SCHEME 1 This distinction can be made explicit in our system: "lack does not satisfy the proposition
of the motiveme and cannot be expressed by a motiveme chain. (The chain ))The hero
r . Motivema lacks something(( predicates a property (Propp) rather than an action of the actant).
The distinction between acts and states of actants reveals, in my opinion, a very
Yo specification------------- important aspect of the structure of the story, which, however, we cannot discuss in detail
F v here. I will only point out a distinction between the dynamic and static aspects of history.
17 reason From a dynamic perspective, history appears as a chain of transitions from state 1 to state
1 2, ... to state n; these transitions are accomplished by acts of actants, that is, by motivemes.
In the static aspect, the structure of the story appears as a sequence of states 1, 2, ... n of
s% __________________________________ the actants, and * we will call these states SITUATIONS. Thus, motifs and settings are
Yo and elements of two different aspects of story structure.
| texture • At any stage in the development of the story a situation i can be reconstructed: it is
implicit in the sequence of the situation i that precedes the situation i. At some stages in
Both relationships are characterized by a lack of correspondence: there is no "one-to-one" history, a situation can be explicitly stated using a chain of the type Ant + Prop. A chain of
association between the elements of the two J series. related. This basic property of the situationmes is especially common at the beginning of a story, for the simple reason that
relationship will be called NOT no preceding situationme can be expressed.
Yo CONFORMITY. It is a logical consequence of the fact that the
motivemes are INVARIANTS with respect to the VARIABLE textures. On 59

the other hand, the motifs are INVARIANT with respect to the VARIABLE textures.
Non-conformity in the motif/motif relationship will be investigated in L.2 and 1.3, and that
of the motif/texture relationship will be dealt with in 1.4.
and •
:8 2. Motivema

" As defined in 1.1 (A), the motiveme consists of two terms

1 basics, actant and act, related by the motiveme function. From
i s8
 ((((((((
A situation of the type ())The hero lacks an article(0)2° summarizes the initial state of fixed position in the sequence. 22 The linearity and determinism of Propp's syntax was
imbalance that generates the sequence of situational motivemes oriented towards the rejected by Claude Bremond (1964, 1966), who contributed substantially to the
transformation of this imbalance. However, the incorporation of a situme into the development and generalization of Propp's model to address more complicated patterns of
sequence of motifmes does not eliminate the formal distinction between two distinct motiveme syntax. Bremond distinguished two kinds of associations between motivemes:
elements of the story structure. deterministic and probabilistic. Only deterministic associations prescribe the order of
The second basic term of the motiveme structure, the Ant, was treated by motivemes in the sequence: "It is impossible to arrive without leaving, it is impossible to
Propp in an ad hoc manner when he fixed his repertoire of seven actants of the Russian arrive BEFORE leaving." In contrast, probabilistic associations allow for "deletions or
fairy tale by an ad hoc assignment of agents to particular "spheres of activities." The permutations" of motivemes. Thus Bremond arrives at a multidimensional syntax that
study of actants as a system was initiated by Greimas (1966a, 1966b, 1970), who represents the structure of a story on more than one sequential level. In relation to this
suggested that the actant system be described by a corresponding syntactic model, that general model, it becomes clear that Propp's model is of a deterministic and linear nature,
is, in terms of the syntactic relations of the verb. This led to the following binary and is only a special case of the sequential organization of story structure.
system: subject object - giver receiver {destinateur destinataire) - assistant opponent Bremond accepts that the determinism of the "natural logic" of events is reflected
(adjuvant opposant). This arrangement of actants in binary pairings represents a in deterministic associations of motivemes. Ivanov and Toporov give an account of a
substantial advance. However, Greimas' system is too limited, both in terms of the different aspect of determinism, the determinism imposed by immanent constraints, which
repertoire of actants and the possible binary groupings. One of the basic binary are characteristic of a certain type of history. I accept that this determinism operates in the
oppositions of actants, that of the hero( and the opponent((())villain(()), is not generated probabilistic associations of Bremond's model. If two motivemes are linked by a
by Greimas' model. The ))roe(( ("subject") stands here in opposition to the )person probabilistic association, then the appearance of M, at position T determines only the
sought(( ("object") and the )opponent(( is contrasted with the )helper((.21 At this stage transitional probability distribution of motivemes M ... Mn at position T+1. In other words,
in the development of the theory I prefer not to impose a priori restrictions on the Bremond's general model presupposed a series of alternative motivemes in the T + 1
repertoire of actants and their relations, and to treat the actants as an open system. position. Ivanov-Toporov immanent determinism reduces this set of alternatives to one,
In theory, it is assumed that each story can be rewritten, in its dynamic aspect, and this reduction is implied by the fact that each type of history selects a particular "path"
as a sequence of motifs. Therefore, establishing patterns in the sequence of motifs (the among the possible alternatives. This determinism
syntax of motifs) is a necessary part of the theory. In Propp's model the syntax of
motivemes was very simple: each motiveme had a 22 "The sequence of functions is always identical": this is one of the basic theses of Propp's work
(1928, 25). CV

20 Auxiliary symbols (»«) will be used to designate a chain of locations.

21 T. Todorov (1969, 77 ff.) interpreted the typical story structure of the Decameron as an
exchange of values between two actants, the »giver« (destinateur) and the »receiver« (destinataire).
However, we may wonder whether it often happens (as is the case in the Decameron) that the "legal"
holder of value behaves as a "giver"?

60

CV «Instead of representing the structure of the narrative in the form of a single-line chain of terms that
follow one another in a constant order, we imagine it as the juxtaposition of a number of sequences that
overlap, interlock, and intersect, as if they were muscle fibers or strands of a rope» (Bremond 1964, 18).
■-

61

)
Typological is expressed by Ivanov and Toporov in the form of "axioms", such as those of reasons why history is presented in individual narrative texts.
formulated for the type of story structure embodied in the Russian fairy tale: "If and only if Let us emphasize that the independence of the two sequences (fable and plot),
the hero passes the test required by the giver, will the hero receive the magic agent"; "If which was the center of Tomaevskij's distinction, remains unchanged in the new
and only if the victim violates the prohibition, will the villain cause harm to the victim" interpretation (see 1.3). The identity of the sequence of the fable and the plot which Propp
etc. (Ivanov-Toporov 1963, 115). . unconsciously discovered in the structure of the Russian fairy tale (and which probably
Thus, the sequence of motifs representing a particular story structure reflects two accounts for his lack of interest in the essential distinction of the Russian school) is only a
orders of sequence determinism: (a) The determinism of the general order that is imposed special and primitive case of the whole range of possible relations between the two levels.
on the sequence by factors external to the story (Bremond's "natural logic" of events), (b) Bremond's rejection of Propp's linear determinism deprives the theory of the
The determinism of typological order, a feature immanent to the type of story, which possibility of determining the system of motivemes by a .
produces the selection of a particular continuation of the story among the series of possible simple distributional analysis. Now the distinction between fable and argument 1
continuations. But even after this selective operation some motivemes remain "free" and It denies us the possibility of determining the system of motivemes by assigning a
can be placed in any position in the sequence: this property is characteristic of so-called sequence of motivemes to the corresponding sequences of motives. The basic tautology of
"connectors", such as "the hero's dispatch" (Ivanov-Toporov 1963, 117). the motiveme theory is thus clearly seen: the motiveme can be defined and identified only
As already indicated, Bremond's motiveme syntax represented a major advance with respect to a certain system of the fable in which it functions as a distinctive element.
over Propp's purely "distributional" model, but I wish to propose a further improvement of !
motiveme syntax by incorporating the classical distinction between FABLE and
ARGUMENT (sju_et) into the theory. invariant; on the other hand, however, the fable is defined as a 1
1
In the original interpretation of the Russian school, both fable and plot were ordered sequence of motivemes.
defined as two different ways of ordering the sequence of MOTIVES. The fable is a This classic vicious circle of the theory of invariant semiotic units is resolved only
sequence of motifs "in their natural chronological and causal order," while the plot is a ad hoc by Propp's inductive method. The inductive method only seems useful in the case
sequence of the same motifs, "but in that order in which information about them is given in of conventional fables. If the same fable materializes in a series of narrative texts, then it is
a literary work" (Tomaevskij 1925, 137). It can be seen that the natural chronological and relatively easy to determine the repetitive and invariant elements by reducing the variety in
causal order is a property that links Tomasevskij's fable with Bremond's deterministic the corpus.
associations of motivemes. Regarding this similarity, I would like to suggest a In the case of literary texts this situation seems rather exceptional. We can hardly
reinterpretation of the dichotomy of fable and plot: THE FABLE IS THE SEQUENTIAL expect a writer to repeat the same fable in a series of texts (although some similarities
ORDER OF MOTIVEMES, AND THE ARGUMENT IS THE SEQUENTIAL ORDER between fables can be expected, typifying the writer's preferences). In any case, "the only
OF MOTIVES. The order of the motifs in the fable is given by the syntax of the motif; the theoretically satisfactory solution to our vicious circle is the method of constructing
order of the motifs in the plot is given by the text. In this interpretation the fable becomes a (generating) fables, as Bremond suggests. The constructive method is general, since it
condensing term that denotes the invariant sequential structure of a story, regardless of the generates not only standard fables, but also non-standard ones, and not only fables
variety of sequences. materialized empirically (in narrative texts), but in possible systems of fables ("les
possibles narratives"). The theoretical importance of the constructive method consists in
6? the fact that in the process of generating the fable the sequence of invariant units, or
motivemes, necessary for the generated fable is determined. A repertoire of constructed
fable systems will represent the
. 63
 best and most satisfactory basis for the motiveme theory.
Yo Bremond's constructive method generates fables in terms of acts ("functions"). A
variant of this procedure could be suggested, which would still generate the actant system.
We can build systems of one, two, ... n actants, combining different actants in the system.
Regarding the fact that the number of actants is, as a rule, lower than the number of acts,
the procedure may be simpler at this stage. Only in the second stage will the corresponding
acts be assigned to the particular actants and the construction of a fable system will be
completed.
It seems to me that this variant of the constructive procedure can be especially
useful when we analyze individual narrative texts (rather than a class of texts that verbalize
a standard fable). The analysis will begin by constructing an underlying hypothetical
actant system (see section II of this essay). Empirically, the hypothesis can be based on a
4 relatively well-defined and limited series of main characters in the story (protagonists).
Although some essential complications can be discovered in the relationship between
actants and characters (see 1.3), the condensed concept of character seems a better starting
point for the constructive process than the individual (albeit repetitive) concept of action.
It should be emphasized that, in my opinion, constructive procedures do not
4 invalidate the usefulness of inductive approaches. Especially at this initial stage of the
development of the theory, both methods must be combined to arrive at a TYPOLOGY OF
FABLE SYSTEMS, which is the objective and basis of a mature theory of narrative
structures.

As indicated in 1.1(D), the level of motif structure has a relative status: with
respect to invariant motifs the motifs are variable, and with respect to variable textures the
motifs are invariant. However, the relationships of the level of motives with other levels of
the stratificational model are not homogeneous: a motive SPECIFIES a motiveme by
replacing a character with the actant and an action with the act. A motif is VERBALIZED
3. Structure of the motif. in a texture, by acquiring the words of a specific target language.
We assume that at the level of motive structure, each story 64
can be rewritten as a sequence of motif chains. Thus, we obtain two distinct metalinguistic
representations of the story structure: the motiveme chain sequence and the motive chain
sequence. As I indicated in 1.1(D), there is no correspondence between the two
representations. First of all, we must point out the fact that only some chains of motives
can be interpreted in terms of chains of motivemes, while others cannot find an
interpretation in motivemes. In other words, we must distinguish two subsets of motifs: the
"FABLE" motifs, which are necessary (relevant) for the specification of the fable, and the
"NON-FABLE" motifs, which are redundant (irrelevant). In fable motifs acts and actants
are specified by particular characters and actions; non-fable motifs are supplements,
"added" only at the level of motif structure.
Thus, the realization of the story at the level of structure can be conceived as
consisting of two procedures: (1) the specification of the fable by the sequence of the fable
motifs; (2) the incorporation of the specified fable into a context of ACTION, -expressed
by the non-fable motifs.CVI The specified fable together with its action context represent
the structure of the story at the level of motif. In this way the story block is integrated into
the broader, non-action context of the other narrative blocks.
It should be noted that the relevance or irrelevance of a motive has nothing to do
with its semantics. We cannot say that semantically banal motives (that is, motives that
designate banal actions such as "arriving", "leaving", "phoning", "sleeping", etc.) are eo
ipso non-fable motives; any banal motive can assume a function for the fable. On the other
hand, semantically transcendent motifs (such as "he dies") are not automatically relevant
to the structure of the story.
After the elimination of non-fable motives, our problem is

CVI The importance of the motiveme theory for the character block theory is clear. The motifs of the
fable not only define the structural core of the story, but also the structural core of the character. Only in the
fable motifs does the character "behave" as an actant; the non-fable motifs draw the non-actantial context of
the character. The differentiation of the actantial core and the non-actantial periphery will have the same
weight for the theory of characters as the distinction of the fable and its context of action has for the theory
of history.

65
25
A MOTIVEME/FABLE ratio can be specified for each narrative text. This "ratio" could be
interpreted as an index of the story structure that expresses the degree of conciseness.
 ((((((‘((
It is reduced to the relationship between the fable motif and the motiveme, but even in fables in original and innovative forms.
this specification the relationship is characterized by non-conformity, of which two Unfortunately, the complications of the relationship between the motiveme and
aspects appear on the "paradigmatic" axis: the fable motif are not exhausted with this "paradigmatic" non-conformity, since new
(1) A motiveme chain can be specified by a sequence of 1, 2, ... n fable complications arise when we move on to the treatment of the SYNTAX OF MOTIVES
motive chains. Although one-to-one specification is possible, in most cases a motiveme and its essential difference from the syntax of the motivemes. We described the syntax
is specified by more than one fable motif. This aspect of nonconformity allows for a of motivemes in 1.2 in terms of deterministic and probabilistic associations, and there
flexible "stylization" of a motiveme: a motiveme can be specified in more or less detail, only some motivemes were characterized as "free".
by expanding or condensing the corresponding sequence of motifs.CVII The syntax of motifs should be based on the idea that motifs are elements with
(2) The same motiveme can be specified by various fable motifs or sequences absolutely free combinatorics. The motives are freed from the "natural logic" of
of these, and in this case we speak of SYNONYMY of motivemes. Conversely, the same chronology and causality. The reason he returned can easily precede the reason he left,
fable motif or sequence can be used to specify different motivemes, and in this case we and the reason he died can precede the reason he was born. The motif syntax supports
speak of POLYSEMY of motifs. Apparently, the motiveme/motive relationship reveals a all possible inversions, embeddings, loops, etc. .
property that is supposed to characterize all semiotic systems: the property of "asymmetric Motif-free combinatorics presents a virtually infinite set of alternative "paths"
dualism" (Karcevskij 1929). This property was already noted by Propp, and in fact for story development at the motive level. Thus, the syntax of motifs is the main field of
it was the discovery of the polysemy of motifs that led him to the formulation of the stylistic operations. Of course, there are narrative styles in which the sequence of motifs
concept of "function". Propp also pointed out the phenomenon of HOMONYMY OF follows the sequence of motivemes, that is, it preserves the "natural" chronology and
MOTIVEMES: homonyms are those motifs that are specified by identical fable motifs or
causality of the fable. On the other hand, some narrative styles exploit the free
sequences, but differ in their "morphological meaning", that is, in their function as
combinatorics of ad extremum motifs - motifs that are extremely distant in terms of
distinctive elements of the fable.26
time, space or causality are constantly confronted and contrasted in adjacent positions.
The facts discussed in the preceding paragraphs exclude the possibility of
'It is precisely the free combinatorics of motifs that requires a strict distinction
defining any logical function that would assign univocal series of fable motives to
between the argument - the sequence of motifs derived from the text - and the fable - the
series of motivemes. For each text, this assignment must be carried out with a non-
formal, ad hoc, substitution procedure. In other words, the specification of a fable by sequence of motifmes (see 1.2). This distinction can now be described in terms of
alternative motifs or sequences is not governed by rigid formal rules. It is precisely this positional transformations whose input is the sequence of motifs following the sequence
lack of "prescription" that makes it possible to materialize "old" of motifmes, and whose output is the sequence of motifs as it is presented in a given
narrative text.7 The transformations are completely controlled by the author of the text:
in this sense the plot is a "purely artificial construction" (Tomasevskij).
The difference between the sequence of entry and exit motifs expresses the
distance between the fable and the plot. Only in the case of the

27
I address the consequences of the transpositions for the structures of! narrative time in a study
entitled “A Scheme of Narrative Time.”

67

66CVII Bremond (1964, 25 et seq.) criticized Propp's distributional criterion applied to the solution
of the homonymy of motivemes. This criticism, however, does not eliminate the existence of the
homonym itself.
distance «zero» the sequence of motives follows the sequence of motivemes,
h Brenzett is low and flat]
as has been said. First-order discrepancies arise when a sequence of
motivemes is inverted in the specifying sequence of motives (when, for
g It is evident that only in sentence (1) can the nucleus N, + Va be
example, the hero(( returns from the battlefield first and only then do we learn discovered. In (2) it is not Va that is assigned to Nc, but a different predicate (a
about his victory over the villain(()). There are more complicated, second- property). In (3), we find a Va, but it is not assigned to Ne. And finally, in (4),
order discrepancies when a motiveme is specified by a discontinuous sequence neither Nc nor Va can be identified?8
of fable motifs: the motifs, which specify the same motiveme, are distributed It can be expected that in this preliminary step many sentences of the
throughout the text, so the motiveme is specified in discontinuous fragments narrative text will be eliminated from further processing. The remaining
that must be reconstructed from those fragments. sentences will be subject to a special rewriting procedure to determine the
Thus the relationship between motivemes and fable motives is form of the underlying motive chain. This means that the rewriting procedure
characterized by both "paradigmatic" and "syntagmatic" nonconformity. This must be arranged in such a way that it leads from the narrative sentence to the
nonconformity represents one of the main problems of the structural theory of chain of motive. Due to certain essential similarities between our rewriting
history. On the other hand, it is precisely this non-conformity that generates procedure and the "classical" system of transformational grammar, the input
the variety of argument structures that the history of literature attests to. of the procedure can be designated as SURFACE STRUCTURE OF THE
MOTIVE, and the output as DEEP STRUCTURE OF THE MOTIVE.
Without going into technical details I would like to preliminarily
outline the character of the rewriting procedure I am suggesting. It seems clear
that two components will be needed: (1) The SYNTACTIC component, which
4. Texture of the will shift the surface structure of the narrative sentence to the deep structure of
motif. the chain of motives, to the kernels. It will be a NUCLEIZATION
In a particular text the story is verbalized by a subset of narrative (KERNELIZATION) process that operates in the opposite direction to that of
phrases called motif textures. In every narrative text the textures of the motif the "classical" transformational grammar. 30 As a result, the syntactic
are combined, and often intertwined, with narrative phrases that verbalize variability of textures of
other blocks of the narrative structure (e.g., characters, setting). Thus, the first
step in motif texture analysis (and indeed the first step of any "classical"
analysis of a story derived from a text) is to eliminate narrative sentences that 28
I should emphasize that the term "motive" is used in this article in its restricted
do not obviously verbalize story motifs. Consider, for example, the following sense, equivalent to "dynamic" (action) motive. If we were to also call the descriptive
narrative sentences taken from the short story "Amy Foster" by Joseph Contad: elements of the narrative structure motives, a slight modification of our terminology would
be needed. For a discussion of the relationship between "action" and "description," see
Genette 1966.
25
The distinction between surface and deep structure appears to be the most profound
(1) (Amy Foster) ran out with the boy in her arms. [(Amy Foster) ran out with contribution of modern grammar to text theory. Therefore, all grammatical systems that for
the child in her arms] . some reason nullify this distinction are less relevant to text theory.
(2) Kennedy is a country doctor. [Kennedy is a country doctor]
(3) The white sails of a boat...floated above the foliage of the trees. [The white
30 The nucleation procedure was suggested by ZS Harris (1959) for the purpose of
sails of a coaster... floated clear of the foliage of the trees]
automatic information retrieval. Structural analysis of motifs and information retrieval are
(4) The field behind Brenzett is low and Hano. [The country at the back of operations with a common general objective: to discover content invariants underlying the
variety of verbal expressions.

"TJ T- •5562
-
motifs will be reduced to a limited number of cores, which represent the
syntactic structures of motif chains. (2) The SEMANTIC component, which
will seek to reduce the series of referentially equivalent motif texture
different ways of speaking of the characters (indirect speech, represented
expressions to "class" expressions in the motif chain. In other words, in the
speech, etc.) or in different modes of narrative (objective, subjective,
process of semantic reduction, the texture expressions will be rewritten in rhetorical, etc.).CVIII It is obvious that the form of presentation does not affect
terms of BASIC NARRATIVE VOCABULARY.31 The basic narrative the invariant structure of the motifs, but is a matter of verbalization, that is, of
vocabulary will consist of a list of standardized designations (character the texture of the motifs. On the basis of the invariant structure of motives, all
"names") and a list of non-equivalent action verbs. The semantic reduction of forms of character speech and all narrative modes can be characterized as
modifiers in the texture of the motif is of secondary importance. verbal phenomena and studied by means of transformational analysis and • 33
Since the decision on the standardized designation of characters is trivial (in contrast! vo.
most cases the narrative text itself offers this summary designation), the task (2) It has been repeatedly emphasized that the same motif structure
of constructing the basic narrative vocabulary will be practically equivalent to can be verbalized by different equivalent textures. The choice of a particular
establishing a list of non-equivalent action verbs; modern verb semantics that texture among the series of equivalent alternatives is not random: obviously,
seeks the description of the semantic system of the verb (see for example, - each literary trend or each individual writer is characterized by idiosyncratic
Apresjan 1967) -will contribute substantially to the solution of this task. We preferences.CIX CX Similarly, alternative motif textures can be used in a
now come to a more specific characterization of the chain of motives (cf. 1.3). narrative text to create certain motif patterns (see II.1 (2)). All of these
A motive chain can be defined as a syntactic core interpreted in terms of the phenomena, normally subsumed under the heading of narrative style, can be
basic narrative vocabulary. The repertoire of syntactic nuclei will be defined revealed explicitly by studying the relationship between motif structure and
by the nucleation procedure, and the list of units of the basic narrative motif texture. We can say that syntactic transformations and semantic
vocabulary by the semantic reduction procedure. Thus we may expect that the substitutions of the motive chain define the field of stylistic creativity.
relationship between motif structures and motif textures, unlike that between Different narrative styles can be described as different "paths" leading from the
motifs and motifmes, can be described by a well-defined formal rewriting deep structure of the motif to the surface structure of the motif. CXI
procedure. The procedure will map equivalent texture series of motifs to
invariant motif structures.
I will now point out some particular features of the texture of the motif that
will need special attention in the rewriting procedure:
(1) Various MODES OF PRESENTATION OF THE MOTIVE have
been described in the theory of narrative structures. A motif can be presented
either in a character's speech or in the narrative (in the narrator's speech).
More specifically, a motive can be presented in

As a procedure for structural analysis of history, semantic reduction was explicitly mentioned by van Dijk.

CVIII For a classification of narrative modes see the introduction to Dolozel 1974.
CIX Thus, for example, Mukarotkz pointed out that romantic poets liked to express
certain human acts in such a way that they make the human organ the grammatical subject of
the sentence. In the romantic stylization, the motif The prisoner looked out from the small
window would possibly receive the texture: The prisoner's eye looked out from the small
window (Mukaovkz 1948, III, 162 et seq.).
CX Regarding the syntactic component, such an approach was developed by R.
Ohmann; his stylistics is based on the concept of "transformational alternatives" that are
equivalent with respect to "cognitive content" (Ohmann 1964; see also Hayes 1966).

■ 71
CXI31 R. Barthes also established these phenomena at the verbal level of the narrative
structure (at the level of "discourse"} (Barthes 1966).
 These and similar phenomena point to an essential interpreted as models of repetitive human behavior. CXII At the level of the motives the
property of the texture of the motif: only in the limited series of motives of the fable is transformed into a diversity of specifications. At the
texture, only in its verbal materialization, is the same time, the free combinatorics of motifs emerges as the first and most important
motif transformed from a purely content element LITERARY quality of the story: the infinite possibilities of constructing arguments lead us
into an aesthetic element, that is, an element of a to essential deformations of the underlying "natural" ordering of motifs. Finally, at the level
system governed by the principle of style. A theory of texture most of the specific qualities of narrative texts as artistic artifacts can be
of narrative structures that eliminates the study of described: the "literariness" of the narrative text is concentrated at this level.
texture eliminates the possibility of discovering the It is assumed that the motiveme model can essentially be formalized, that is, established as a
aesthetic qualities of narrative texts. sequence of well-defined formal procedures that lead from one level to another. To avoid
the difficulties of the motif/motiveme relationship, it was suggested that these procedures
should be carried out in two opposite directions: (1) The systems of the fable will be
5. The motiveme model and the proairetic model. fai
th
constructed by generating the sequences of motivemes necessary to transform an "input"
The stratificational model I have just situme into an "output" situme. (2) The textures of motifs, selected from the
outlined could be defined as a MOTIVEMA
MODEL. because it assumes that the deep
structure of the story is represented by an ordered ( ((( ( (' ( " " sentences from the narrative texts will be rewritten in chains of motifs by
sequence of motifs, that is, by the fable. At the
level of the fable, the general properties of ■ the procedures of syntactic nucleation and semantic reduction. The only ad hoc procedure
"narrativity" can be studied, and perhaps also the in the model will then be the assignment of chains of motifs to chains of motivemes (or
sources of narrativity in the structures of human substitution of motivemes for motifs) (see diagram 2).
behavior. The repetitive systems of the fable can be

SCHEME 2 JP
generation
Fahuls • Motivations

_ replacement . iv
reasons

rewrite___________
______________________________________—----------------se/ecc/ów-----------------------------
1
Narrative text ” textures

The stratificational model of the motiveme is designed to account for narrative

structures in these two essential aspects, that of repetitive invariants and that of singular
manifestations. As we move from the level of texture to that of motifs via the level of
motif structure, we proceed in the direction of reduction of variety: as we move in the
opposite direction we observe the generation of variability and singular manifestations.
Needless to say, the motiveme model is only one of many possible approaches
to the study of narrative structures. An alternative model that should be compared with
the model of! motivema is the one developed by Roland Barthes, which can be called,
72
using the term of Barthes and Aristotle, the proairetic model. Let us look at the history of

CXII That is, ARTISTIC models. The theory of history is here related to the central problem of
contemporary literary theory (cf. Lotman 1964).
Barthes' model.
As already noted in the introduction, Barthes incorporated the level of
"functions" (in the sense of Propp and Bremond) into his original stratificational scheme
(Barthes 1966). At the same time, however, the distinction between cardinal (noyaux)
and catalytic functions indicated that Barthes was interested in a different aspect of the
structure of

73
(( ( ( (( ( ( ( A s, ■ p the story. His later works (1970, 1971) reveal that he seeks to discover ((((‘(."
sequences of SEMANTICALLY relevant motifs that represent the essence of the story.
Barthes' procedure can be summarized in two phases: (1) eliminating semantically
irrelevant catalysts; (2) subsuming the sequences of cardinal motifs in class terms (such as SCHEME 3
"journey," "seduction," "threat," etc. See appendix 2 in Barthes 1970).
Cardinal sequences are, of course, repetitive: the semantic core of each story can be Fable - _
TO
described by a certain combination of these cardinal sequences. Considering the steps
relevance ' - - functional semantic relevance -
leading to its formulation, we can designate the semantic center of the story as the epitome Textures ' • cardinal motifs
(or synopsis) of the story (see also Chatman 1968, and Dolozel 1971a).
It should be emphasized that cardinal sequences of motives are essentially distinct verba.\.i'ization
from "functions" and motivemes. The cardinal sequences are not tested in relation to the
system of the fable, but rather for their relevance to the epitome of the story.
The motiveme and proairetic models have two levels in common: the motif texture vTextures
level and the motif structure level. The motiveme model projects the structures of the motif
onto the level of — invariants of the fable, while the proairetic model stays at the level of
the motifs and looks for semantic invariants in the sequence of motifs. Diagram 3 II. TEXTS.
summarizes the similarity and difference between the two models, and at the same time
indicates a possible relationship between them, . To demonstrate at least some aspects of the stratificational model in its
sequences of cardinal motifs and motivemes. The formulation of this relationship could, in application to the study of narrative texts, I have selected two texts: the Russian fairy
my opinion, substantially advance the structural study of narrative, and would bring tale "Chitraja nauka" (Afanasjev 1955-64, No. 140a)37 and the short story “The Killers”
together the two most important contemporary models of story structure. by Ernest Hemingway. The material is necessarily limited by the size of our essay, but
there is no chance in the selection of the two texts. On the one hand, they represent
opposite poles of narrative creativity: the first text is a folk tale with a supposedly very
stereotypical structure. The second text belongs to "high literature", written by a
prominent modern prose writer with a well-known idiosyncratic style. On the other
hand, there are certain homomorphisms or at least similarities in the structure of the
two texts, which allow for a significant comparison. Anticipating the results of our
research, we can say that similarities can be observed in two respects: (1) In both texts
an "elementary" fable is manifested, specifically, the fable Meeting of Antagonists.
This homomorphism enables certain comparative and contrastive observations at the
level of motivemes. (2) Both texts demonstrate a play of motif repetition, and thus we
have a good opportunity to observe the textural variety of structurally identical motifs.

37 There is an English translation of “Chitraja nauka” (under the title “Magic”! in Guteran
1945.

' 75
 + Let us begin the investigation of the fable of “Chitraja nauka” by suggesting its
This will prove the universality of the motiveme model in both crucial
system of actants, a system of five actants is proposed: )hero((,
aspects: in its capacity to reveal homomorphism or structural similarity and in
»villain((, ))helper((, ))donor(( and Ysender((. This 'hypothesis' is based on the observation
its capacity to make relevant contributions to the study of structural
to of the repertoire of main characters (protagonists) in the story. However, there is only one
differences. Not only two different texts, but two opposite types of narrative
creativity will be the subject of the text. ,34 correspondence - "one to one" in the case of the Yhero((, which is specified by a single
character (designated by the standardized name )son(). In the case of all the other actants,
1. Chitraja nauka. the relationship between the two levels is more complicated.
Let us first consider the specification of the actant ))helper((. We could say that
This wonderful tale on the well-known theme of the sorcerer's there are two characters who help the hero: his father and the sorcerer's daughter. However,
apprentice (Aame No. 325) belongs to Propp's corpus, although he did not the sorcerer's daughter enters the story purely accidentally, and her help lacks motivation
explicitly describe this fable structure in the appendix to his book (where only and continuation, so I will classify her as a non-actantial character.
50 of the 100 tales are listed).
. In addition to specifying the actant (helper), the character of the (father) functions as
(sender). Considering the succession of the two functions, we can say that this character is
transformed from "sender" to "helper", and the "sorcerer" undergoes a similar
transformation, from "donor" to "villain". If we think that the sender took the hero out of his
home and that the helper brought him back, we can represent the transformation of the
father in binary terms. Similarly, the transformation of the )sorcer( from )donor( into )villain(
'V. has a binary character. The two parallel transformations are
actors ¡,
$ jhroe ( »donor ( »villain(( i »sender( »helper( '

#
represented in diagram 4, and are the first traces of a conspicuous binary organization of the
fable that will also emerge when we investigate the system of acts. .

SCHEME 4

)father(: )sender(( ( - ) • »helper( ( + )

)sorcerer(: »donor(( ( + ) • "villain( ( - )

The polysemy of the characters makes it possible to specify five actors with only three
characters. The relationship between the two levels is summarized in diagram 5, which
corresponds to the tahla used by Greimas with a similar object (Greimas 1970, 254). We can
assume that in the future actant systems could be described not only by paradigmatic relations
but also by the transformations that occur within them. of the system:
------ -
76
SCHEME 5
characters )sorcerer(
/father(

I will now propose the fable of “Chitraja nauka” by assigning the relevant acts to the
particular actants. The fable opens with a situation followed by a sequence of motifs:
0>The hero lacks a good.«) The sender sends the hero from his house to the donor. The
donor transfers a magical agent to the hero. The donor sets a difficult task. The helper
solves the difficult task. The helper brings the hero home. The hero solves his deficiency.
The hero

38
The opposition between the two acts (i.e. »solving the difficult task«) is the main reason for maintaining the
distinction between the »donor« and the »helper« in our fable.
CCllllCC
performs a ban on the assistant. The assistant violates the ban. The villain deals damage to
the hero. The villain chases the hero. The hero is saved.
The hero punishes the villain// » (XLack(0)

In the motiveme sequence there is a deviation from Propp's original system. Instead SCHEME 6
of the motiveme “The hero returns home,” the motiveme “The helper brings the hero home”
is suggested.39 It seems to me that the hero’s return (which depends on the “helper’s” help) Yo
is structurally distinct from the hero returns home (without “help,” since the two motivemes Sending of the hero V

reflect two different systems of actants. Similarly, it is necessary to distinguish two Acquisition of the magic agent
complementary motivemes: )The sender sends the hero out of his house/ and The hero V
'
leaves home/ (without ))sender(0. The examples indicate the importance of a systematic
Difficult task ((
study of actants: different actant systems. generate different systems of the fable.
The acts of our fable can be grouped into binary pairs of • complementary members Task solution

(antonyms). At the same time, the pairs are arranged in the embedding pattern (the
Return of the . ■
"enclave" of Bremond, 1964, 22) ___
v hero at home 4--------------------------------------- -
which transforms paradigmatic binarity into syntagmatic symmetry. The overall
system of acts of "Chitraja nauka" is represented in Diagram 6 (for the sake of Elimination of deficiency((
V
simplicity, the acts are designated by traditional nominal expressions). The binary /Prohibition(
pairs of acts appear in the vertical columns and the arrows follow the syntax of the T
"Rape((
fable. It is evident that both paradigmatic binarism and syntagmatic symmetry are
T
materialized with surprising perfection: two minor deviations from the pattern are „Villainy(( .
easily understandable. V
' Persecution

v
Sahation((
Villain's Punishment 4- ---------——

The scheme also clearly reveals another basic feature of the fable, its division into
parts. The first part is framed by the situation ())Lack(() and its complementary motivation
Elimination of the lack/. The acts )Prohibition(( and YViolation(( can be interpreted as a
kind of prologue to the second part. (It is interesting that these "functions" were listed by
3 At the level of motives, the son helps the father to solve the difficult task by providing the Propp together with the initial situation as belonging to the "preparatory section" of the
necessary information. This limitation of the role of the »helper» reflects the fact that at the structure of the Russian tale - Propp 1928, Appendix TV.) The second part itself
character level. >parent( and child act as a team.
79

78

TO
 This tale therefore begins with villainy and ends, in the spirit of global
binarism and symmetry, with its complement, the villain's punishment. ((((((((((
Let me suggest that these two parts of the fable of "Chitraja nauka" A theory of the text that admits implicit interpretations will always run the risk
represent in fact two autonomous and complete ELEMENTARY FABLES: the of opening the door to unlimited subjectivism. Strict restrictions must therefore be imposed
first fable could be designated as the satisfaction of a need, and the second as on this precarious procedure. In our specific case, the following 1 restrictions must be
the meeting of the antagonists. The first elementary fable does not imply the considered: (a) The motiveme that is interpreted as implicitly specified must be accepted as
second, and their combination in the complex fable of "Chitraja nauka" is a constituent of the constructed fable, (b) An explicit specification of the motiveme cannot
purely random. be given in the text. (c) The reason that is said to be explicitly specified should not be
It is impossible to elaborate here the concept of elementary fable. 40 considered for another function.
However, it is possible to point out that this concept would be the one sought ■ All remaining functions of the metamorphosis motif are explicit specifications. In
for the basis of the model of motivemes. Elementary fables are, perhaps, the three cases of occurrence the reason is part of a sequence of reasons that can be designated
nuclear narrative systems, the "possible narratives" in terms of which the as Yo
fundamental typology of story structures could be established. )traffic( (trade), and as part of the sequence participates in the specification !
The fable of the story "Chitraja nauka" was outlined in a relatively of motivemas Elimination of lack((, »prohibition(, ))violation(( jy )villainy((. Finally, the
systematic way. A systematic analysis of the level of motifs is impossible here, motifs "persecution" and "punishment" are specified almost exclusively by the repeated
as it would substantially exceed the limits of an article, but I would like to motif of "metamorphosis," accumulated in the dramatic competition between magicians.
concentrate on a recurring motif, namely the motif of metamorphosis (or •
transfiguration). In the sequence of its repetitions the motif shows an —The study of functions revealed the polysemy of the recurring motif of
interesting variability in function, structure and texture. The action of metamorphosis: the investigation of its structure can lead to the discovery of another
transfiguration is assigned to two characters in the story: the “son” and the important aspect of variability within repetition. The basic structure of the motif can be
“sorcerer.” We will focus solely on the metamorphoses of the )son(.
expressed by the following chain: )The son changes from the figure of a man to the figure
The first occurrence of the motive presents us with an interesting and
of an animal or thing(. Designating the constant figure of a man as state x and the variable
difficult problem in motiveme theory. The son appears in his house in the form
figure of a non-man as state y, we can represent the basic structure of the motif as Xy; x)(.
of a bird, turns into a man and later into a bird again. The motiveme to which
!
this sequence of motives should be assigned is ))The hero acquires the magical
The text of the story suggests, however, that the structure of the motif has some
agent. This example indicates that in addition to EXPLICIT specifications we
variability. The following variants (or "degrees") can be distinguished:
must take into account the IMPLICIT specifications of the motivemes. Instead
of explicitly stating that the son learned the art of metamorphosis from the (aa) full degree: (aa) regular:) c(y¡ x) ( (bb) inverse) x(xy¡) (
sorcerer, the story prefers to specify the motive indirectly, by demonstrating
Cb) weakened degree:) c (ix) <41
the acquired magical skill.
(c) truncated degree: )c (jy¡) (.
41
40
I believe that with the notion of "movement" {chod) Propp came up with the concept That is, only one stage (or "direction") of metamorphosis is explicitly expressed in the text.
of "elementary fable" (Propp 1928, 82 et seq.).
81
#4 80

Yo
 (((((((((.‘ ((((((((((
-
It is interesting to note that in its first occurrence the motif is presented in full ' 569633 ... , ,
INVERSE degree. By appearing in the animal (bird) form and changing into the human of the group. It is evident that the three motifs of the beginning of fable II already
have a prelude in )traffic1( and )traffic 2( (that is, within fable I and in the transition).
form, the )son( demonstrates the acquired magical ability 2 in a surprising way.
With respect to these motives, it can be said that traffic 1( represents a )frustrated
Thus we can say that the inverted structure of the motif intensifies its implicit
hope(: given the sequence prohibition - violation we expect )villainy((. However,
functioning as a motiveme. In the second instance, the motive appears in full regular villainy cannot happen for two structural reasons: (a) the "correct" villain is not
degree. This is followed by a weakened degree, followed by a sequence of truncated involved in the traffic; (b) the fable I must first be brought to its conclusion by the
forms. The truncated forms enhance the drama of the competition between magicians: elimination-of-lack motive. In )traffic 2( the »)villain(( emerges, but there is
there is no time, so to speak, for the "son" to return to human form. Diagram 7 no ))rape« and,
represents the sequence of the repeated motif in its variants, and a division into three therefore, there is no »villainy((. Only in )traffic 3( the expected sequence of
cycles is clearly observed in it. Cycle I is separated from cycle II, while cycles II and III the motif is specified.
form a composite whole. The cycles are fixed by a purely formal criterion, by the degree
of the structure of the motif. At the same time, however, they reflect the underlying It is now clear that the entire group of "traffics" is an elaborate mechanism of
sequence of the . motivation. motifs that serves to link the two elementary fables and to "camouflage" their
random combination. Because of its analogy with the well-known mechanism of the
SCHEME 7 structure of the verse, we can call this ENJAMBALGATION OF MOTIF.-----
--------
SCHEME 8

Traffic 1 Traffic 2 Traffic 3

y:: bird, y3: dog, y3: horse, y4: fish, ys: ring, y6: grain, y»: hawk. Prohibition Prohibition Prohibition

V AND AND
The functional reasons for the shape of cycles I and II have already been
Rape Rape Rape
discussed. Let us now briefly look at the structure of cycle II and its link to cycle III. ’
• V . and AND
In cycle H the motif is a constituent of the sequence )traffic(, which is repeated No villainy No villainy No villainy
(= Elimination of deficiency)
three times. The first example in the sequence specifies the final motiveme of the first
elementary fable; the third example already belongs to the specification of the second » FABLE ti
elementary fable, with the second example functioning as a transition.
However, if we investigate the grouping of "traffics" in more detail we will see The structural variability of the metamorphosis motif is
FABLE I
that the transition from fable 1 to fable II is much more sophisticated. Diagram 8 offers a multiplied at the textural level. Before proceeding with a
summary of this variability, I will mention that the motif of metamorphosis is, as a
detailed interpretation of motif 82. rule, paired with the motif "the son strikes the earth": this motif expresses the
necessary condition for the metamorphosis to occur. The paired motifs are verbalized
by a two-sentence texture as a formula. In both sentences, verb games are used
referentially.
83

CENTRAE LIBRARY
UMAM.
equivalents to express the Va of the motives. Verb modifiers are used as a I suggest that the fable of “The Assassins” can be expressed with the
secondary means of variation. By designating the verbs in the first sentence as following sequence of motifs:
a; (corresponding to the basic narrative verb hit) and the verbs in the second ))The villain arrives. The hero does not arrive. The villain does not cause harm
sentence as b; (basic verb: become), the following list of textures can be fixed to the hero. The villain leaves. The assistant does not help. The hero does not
in the text (the texture is considered to exist in degree zero, a, or bo, if the basic fight. The hero is not saved. The assistant leaves.( • •
narrative verb is not verbalized): The most striking feature of this fable is the fact that the acts are
a¡: hit predominantly NEGATIVE. Motivemes with negative acts must be
(1) aj xlopnulsja or zavalinku distinguished from the antonymous motivemes observed in complementary
b¡: become(
(2) a xlopnulsja or zavalinku pairs (see 11.1). While in the latter case we have to deal with the relation of
bo voiel v izbu dobrym molodcem
(3) a2 udarislja ozem contrariety
bj sdelalsja ptickoju
(4) ao - O)arrival(( - ))departure((, ))viilam'a(( - ))punishment(, )persecution( - )salvatio
b2 oborotilsja sobackoju n((, in the former case the relation can be described as one of simple negation
(5) a2 udarislsja ozem b2 oborotilas dobrym molodcem b ()villainy( - ))non-villainy((, )help(( - non-help(( etc.).42
(6) a xlopnulsja or syruju zemlju sdelalsja ptickoju
(7) a2 udarislsja ozem In the fable of "The Assassins" even the positive motives are inverted.
bj sdelalsja losad'ju The fable does not begin with the hero leaving ((to the place of the expected
(8) ao - b2 oborotilsja jersom meeting, but with the))villain arriving ((at the place. Consequently, Yirse's act,
(9) aj udaril_ b3 perekinulsja zolotym koícom bo which is assigned to both the villain and the helper, means the abandonment of
(10) to rassypalos melkimi zernami their respective missions. The villain does not attempt to search for the hero in
The modifiers are thus b4 obe mules jastrebom his unprotected hiding place. When the hero does not appear at the meeting
obtained): following ten verb pairs (along with their place the villain withdraws. The ))helper leaves((, and not only from the
meeting place, but he abandons his function in the fable (see below). The
(1) abo (2) aibj (3)a2b; (4)agb2 (5) (6)ab
behavior of the actors does not adapt to mimetic probability, but to the
(7) a2b2 (8) agb3 (9) a2 b0 (10) acb4.
structural norms of a purely "negative" fable.
Only one double, a2b2, appears twice, in (3) and (7); (2) and (6) differ The "negative" fable does not produce any change in the relationships
at least by the modifier. It seems to me that the consistent textural variability of between the main actors, the "hero" and the "villain," and the meeting of the
a repetitive motif, together with its structural and functional variability, reveals antagonists is postponed. Thus, the fable has an open ending, but it also has an
the very nature of the storyteller's art: he creates variability from the underlying open beginning, and this beginning is somewhere in the past (in the prehistory
repetitive invariant. of the fable), where the motivation for the antagonism must be sought.
Contradictory "prehistoric" motivations may
2. The murderers. 4
In Propp's system some negative "functions" appeared, such as magnanimous
forgiveness, which is classified as "negative punishment" (Nocg) (Propp 1928,59). '
The fable of Hemingway's short story is typologically identical to the
secondary elementary fable of "Chitraja nauka," the meeting of the antagonists. 85
The repertoire of actors would also be considered identical to that of the
Russian fairy tale: Hero(, ))villain((, 84
Helper(( and ))sender((. However, the role of the "sender" is minimized (see
note 32), and will not be taken into account in the structure of the fable.
 ( ( ( ( ( ( ('(.(g ■ 2
((((((((((
derive from some hints in the text.CXIII CXIV One thing is certain: the hero is tired.
The open endings of the fable clearly indicate that this particular "encounter" SCHEME 9
being narrated is only one episode in a long "chase." The chain of »chase((, without a
definite beginning, is potentially infinite. So there is no rush for the aggressive villain, and Scene 1 Scene II Scene 111
no escape for the tired hero. Wick( 0 • ^helper (( >-0
Before leaving the level of motivemes, I would like to make two additional
comments on the system of actants and its relationship to the repertoire of characters:
(1) It is trivial to claim that the "villain" actor is specified by two characters. The I have dealt elsewhere with the structure and texture of the motifs in
most interesting thing is the fact that the actantial synonymy of Allah and Macká appears "The Assassins" (Doloel 1971a). Here I would like to point out only some
at the textural level as an identity. The two characters are indistinguishable in their aspects of the levels of motives directly related to the structure of the motiveme.
behavior and speech. \ As an episode of "persecution", the fable does not begin with a
(2) Regarding the actant (helper), we can observe an interesting functional
situation, but with a motive, the legacy of the villain. Beginning a fable without
transformation that, in my opinion, has a general importance for the theory of the
any initial situation is certainly a common narrative device, and Hemingway's
motiveme. The actor is specified by the character of )Nická. However, in the first scene of idiosyncratic treatment is manifest in the texture of two specifying motifs: The
the story. short, )Nická is not a character in the fable. Only at the end of the scene does he door of the dining room opened and two men entered. The underlying chains of
decide to adopt the role of Helper. After this unsuccessful mission (in scene II), Nick motives have the following form: )A1 and Mack, opened the door to Henry's
abandons his role in possible encounters. dining room, )A1 and Mack entered(. While in the second motive the texture is
Thus, Nická is an example of a character who assumes the role of an actant only obtained from a semantic substitution of the term Nc exclusively, the first motive
during a portion of the story, while this role is ' also undergoes a syntactic transformation that produces a passive construction
nullified elsewhere in history. In the context of "The Assassins" a% | without an agent.
We can talk about a whole group of characters who do not belong to the fable
Two effects are produced simultaneously by this texture: (1) The
(George(, )Nick(, JcookQ) who can be designated as observers on the basis of their
villain's entrance has an inherent gradual drama ("someone" opened the door -
relationship with the fable. Of this group, only Nick undergoes functional transformation,
"two men" entered). The final stage of the climactic entry materializes later,
as represented in diagram 9.44. when the names of the specifying characters are revealed (in passing in the
conversation). (2) The "point of view" of the first complete scene of "The
Assassins" is introduced at this very beginning: the action of the scene is seen
from the point of view of the "observers" rather than the actors. This "point of
view" is then consistently retained and reinforced throughout the entire scene,
not only

We could say that he acts as a »sender( of the )assistant( when addressing )Nick(: «You'd
better go see Ole Anderson». However, George's sending is quite informal ("Don't go if you
don't want to"), and is therefore not interpreted as a component of the fable.

87

Assassins" is given three incongruous motivations. The ETHICAL motivation is offered by the
villain himself ("doing a favor for a friend"). The narrator, through his description of the two
characters who specify the "villain", offers a PSYCHOLOGICAL motivation. The
PRAGMATIC motivation (obtaining a reward) is implicitly suggested in the text.
CXIII Using Bremond's distinction and terminology, we can say that the villain's aggression in "The CXIV A similar transformation could be suggested for the character of George. 86
 (( ...
The most important contribution to our understanding of Hemingway's
manipulation of motif can be made by analyzing the second scene of "The Killers." This is ( C ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ,(
where the specification of # most of the negative motivemas in the story is concentrated. It "story" separated from its "morphology" (Propp 1928, 102).
is important to note that the negative character of the motivemes is reflected in the The Prague School developed a more comprehensive structural theory of
structure and texture of the specifying motifs. These motives are characterized by literature, which would bridge the gap between "structure" and "style" (see for example
predicates expressed by negative or static verbs. This is especially true for Ole Anderson's Mukaovk 1936). A work of literary art is conceived as a dynamic system of oppositions:
motifs that are assigned to specify the motivemes: The hero does not fight(( and )The hero invariants - variables, enhanced constituents - automatized, dominant components -
is not saved((. Three repetitive leitmotifs dominate the second scene: Ole Anderson did subordinate; In the spirit of the "dialectic" of the Prague school, I have tried to argue
nothing(, )Ole Anderson lay in bed, and )Ole Anderson looked at the wall(. At the same that the structural theory of narrative cannot be reduced to the study of invariants. The
time these repetitive motifs are, with a few exceptions, carefully distinguished in their dichotomy of structure and style should be replaced by the dichotomy of stereotype and
texture by at least a slight difference in the words used: Ole Anderson said nothing - (Ole variability. There is no level in narrative structure that can be described as a "closed
Anderson) said nothing. He didn't look at Nick - He didn't look at Nick. Of particular note system," protected from variation and innovation, and on the other hand, there is no
is Ole Anderson's final sequence of motives, which is given through Nick's perception as structural level free from stereotype and repetition. There is no fixed and universal
he leaves, which encapsulates these leitmotifs once again: ...he saw Ole Anderson with - "grammar" of narrative,''3 and, at the same time, there is no unlimited freedom for the
all his clothes on, lying in bed, facing the wall. This is the last information about the tired author's idiosyncrasy. Every narrative act is at the same time a follower, creator and
hero, and it condenses his passivity in the face of the aggressive villain. . destroyer of norms. .
In the last paragraph we have observed the same "variation with repetition" that we
already discovered in the motifs of the Russian fairy tale. Of course this is only the most
conspicuous feature of the two narrative texts. In general, we can say that our example
analyses have shown that the story structure of each narrative text is determined by two
opposing principles: the principle of stereotype and repetition (the "narrative norm") and
the principle of variation and innovation (the "narrative art"). The principles can be seen
operating in both a folk tale and a literary short story.
In highlighting the dialectic of the two principles I believe I am following Propp's
example. In the final part of his Morfologija skazki, Propp attempted to demarcate the
domain of stereotypical narrative norms from that of the "freedom of the narrator." When
describing the field of this freedom, he stressed the "selection of verbal means"
(corresponding to our texture of the motive)? However, Propp suggested trying "the style
of 88"

45 Under the influence of a trend in contemporary linguistics that maintains the search for linguistic
universals ad absurdum, it is believed that a universal grammar operates behind all semiotic systems:
«Not only all languages, but also all signifying systems obey the same grammar» (Todorov 1969. 15).
Fortunately, this universal grammar is a figure of speech rather than a theoretical basis for Todorov's
excellent research on narrative structures.

■ 89
 (((((((((( (

THE LITERARY TEXT, ITS WORLD AND ITS STYLE

The identity of the literary text is a semantic-pragmatic problem. If we

consider the text in its form of expression, the question of identity does not
arise as a textual problem, because as a graphemic, morphological, syntactical
and contextual structure, the text is finished, fixed, and unchangeable after the
final touch of the author's hand. Textual criticism, which deals with dubious,
controversial, or uncertain versions of literary works, is a discipline with a

91 'i
purely practical aim: to establish the definitive, authoritative form of the
text.CXV
In its semantic and pragmatic aspects, the text appears as a signifying
system, as a "pregnant" semiotic object that must be processed by its
recipients. There is no way to recover the meaning of the text other than the
process of interpretation. The paradox of interpretation arises from the fact that
in the very process of recovery, the meaning of the text is pluralized and
consequently the identity of the text is undermined. A text, which is formally
unique, can be read, interpreted, "concretized" in many different meanings.
While the literary text fully controls its form of expression, it does not seem to
control its meaning, or at least it does not seem to control it with sufficient
authority.

CXV There is an identity problem! text that is located at the level of the material form and
that arises in connection with the possible "reproductions" of the texts
literary. In this respect, literature is situated between the visual arts (original-copy) and (<
the performing arts (score-execution). Margolis (1980, 51-76) addresses the problem in |j
terms of the exemplary-type relationship, using "identity" and "individuation" as equivalent names for
this aspect. Although there is similarity between the .
Yo
interpretation and performance, the "individuation" under different reproductions must ,
clearly distinguished from "identity" under different interpretations.
 (((((((((
EPISTEMOLOGY OF LITERARY SEMANTICS
2, Literary semantics is an empirical theory. It is clear today that
speculative theorizing about interpretation has reached a dead end: speculative
In this study we will approach the interpretation of literary texts from the
arguments in favor of particular conceptions of interpretation are now as repetitive
position of general textual theory. CXVI CXVII This epistemological position can be
and predictable as the best-known chess openings. Empirical theory and study are the
summarized in the following hypotheses:4”
only means of renewing literary semantics and literary research in general.
1, Reading, the primary mode of textual processing, leads to many different
interpretations of the same text, or at least to many possible variations on a central An empirical theory of meaning in literature will be one that defines a system
meaning. The characterization of the reader's interpretation as a fusion of the world of of concepts - a general model of meaning - that can be used to formulate semantic
the text and the world of the reader (Valdés 1980, 99) effectively explains this fact. In interpretations of particular literary texts. The foundations of the empirical theory of
the operation of reading, the meaning of the literary text is recovered by an unlimited interpretation have been attacked by Fish (1980). Fish is in fact repeating an old
number of individual readers in many different cultural, social and historical contexts. argument against any empirical theory of literary texts, centering on the idea that
While the plurality of readers' interpretations is recognized as a necessary fact for there is no interpretive procedure (i.e., no theory) that is "independently specifiable";
literary communication, we must ask ourselves whether interpretation in reading is the "the construction of the grammar and that of the poem [in other words, the
only way to recover the meaning of the text. Ultimately, the problem of interpretation interpretation of the poem] occur at the same time" (Fish 1980, 263). Fish seems to
is crucially linked to the fundamental . Epistemological question of literary studies: Is be thinking of ad hoc grammars, built and tested on a very thin empirical basis. Most
reading, a practical activity based on skills and experiences, the only access to literary theories of textual semantics are developed at a general level, often tied explicitly to
texts, or can it be justified that the analyst (critic, theorist) has privileged access to very abstract models of logical or linguistic semantics. Whether the basis of textual
literary texts thanks to his theoretical and methodological apparatus? The answer given models is empirical or theoretical, it is undeniable that textual interpretations (all
by textual theory and literary semantics is quite decisive: a strict distinction must be textual descriptions) are expressed in terms of a model. The purpose of models as
made between the theoretical activity of the analyst-interpreter and the practical instruments of empirical study is to provide a metalanguage for descriptions. What
activity of the interpreting reader: while the former is a source of knowledge about must be highlighted, however, is the fact that the encounter between an abstract
literary texts, the latter does not offer theoretical knowledge. On the contrary, practical model and a concrete text is not a mechanical "application", its reiteration and
activity must be explained by a theory of reading. reaffirmation. Rather, this confrontation is a complex epistemic procedure that leads
not only to the identification of the constituents of the text in terms of the model, but
also (and mainly) to the discovery of their specific relations, patterns, functions and
modifications within the specific totality of the text. No

of course, to avoid reading; however, their way of reading offers specific characteristics derived
from their final cognitive objective. It is desirable to introduce different terms for practical and
theoretical procedures of interpretation. This differentiation, which is beyond the scope of the present
study, would be the first step towards a general terminological revision, attacking the annoying
polysemy of the term "interpretation" (for a brief analysis of its uses, see Juhl 1980. 3-10).

■ 93

CXVI Hermeneutics, the traditional discipline of interpretation, at least in its empirical branch, has come very close to textual theory in Ricoeur's project: "Hermeneutics is the theory of the operations of understanding
in their relation to the interpretation of texts." Its basic task is "the elaboration of the categories of the text" (Ricoeur 1981, 43).
CXVII I will not address two assumptions of literary semantics that are indispensable in any general discussion but not essential to the topic at hand: (a) the postulate of treating meaning in literature as an aesthetic
phenomenon (b) the need to differentiate the levels of meaning, primary ("literal") and secondary ("transposed").
45
To avoid misunderstandings we must mention that the analyst cannot, for 92
 ((((((((((((

texts are mere mirrors in which the man of the end of the second
It goes without saying that in its encounter with the texts the validity and
effectiveness of the model is put to the test. However, the main result of the . millennium discovers its own boring face again and again. In this situation, literary
confrontation is a description or interpretation of the concrete text, which theory has a clear choice: either to justify and reinforce the consumerist attitude towards
provides knowledge about the text that is not contained in the model itself, that literature, or to challenge it by opening its mind to the multitude and variety of literary
is, knowledge not derived (in the logical sense) from the model. This is why (to texts.
use examples discussed by Fish) a model of case grammar or action theory can
inform about specific features of agency in a Keats poem or a Golding novel. 50 TWO PILLARS OF THE IDENTITY OF THE TEXT
•
■ 3 The ultimate goal of literary semantics is the discovery Literary semantics offers two basic arguments in favor of the individual identity
of the meaning of the text in their individual identity. A literary text is identical of the literary text. (1) A literary text has an individual identity because it constructs its
to itself because of its difference from all other literary (and non-literary) texts. own circumscribed, restricted fictional world. (2) A literary text has an individual
The identity of the text is analogous to the personal identity, since both are identity because it displays its own idiosyncratic literary style. A circumscribed fictional
constituted by a series of specific, permanent and recognizable features that world and an idiosyncratic literary style seem ‘
differentiate each individual from the rest. It should be noted, however, that ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF ARTICLES AND PUBLICATION DATA............3
"individuality" does not mean "singularity" ("uniqueness") (Wellek-Warren
1948, 7), and therefore the focus on individual identity does not prevent literary LUBOMÍR DOLEZELA'S CONTRIBUTION TO CONTEMPORARY
semantics from seeking to study the similarities and features (invariants) shared LITERARY STUDIES..........................................................................................4
by literary texts.
In its insistence on the individual identity of literary texts, literary ((((((((‘.......................................................................................................................8
semantics transcends the function of pure theory and assumes a significant
cultural role. Today's consumer society is characterized by its egocentric
ORAL LITERATURE AND WRITTEN LITERATURE..................................12
appropriation of nature, history, foreign cultures and other human values. When (((((((........................................................................................................................17
a reader transforms the enormous variety of texts into his own interpretation, he
performs an operation of consumption. This consumption operation constrains (((((((........................................................................................................................20
him to a non-textual, lackluster, monotonous world, which, being its own
( c (..................................................................................................................................20
closed world, does not provide him with any semantic, aesthetic or ethical
challenge. In this world, the 2...........................................................................................................................21
NOMOTHETIC AND IDEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE INPOETIC..............21
((( ( ( ( ( " " "............................................................................................................31
ALIENS AND VISITORS IN LITERARY METALANGUAGE......................32
((((((((......................................................................................................................45
((((((‘((.....................................................................................................................50
hga...........................................................................................................................52
((((((((((....................................................................................................................61
( C ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ,(............................................................................................................67
THE LITERARY TEXT, ITS WORLD AND ITS STYLE................................68
(((((((((.....................................................................................................................69
(-((((((......................................................................................................................77
' C(.(l( ( ( (...............................................................................................................84
 FICTIONAL REFERENCE: MIMESIS AND POSSIBLE WORLDS...............84
( ( ( ( C ( ( ' ( ( ( (....................................................................................................85
(((((.((((........................................................................................................................87
( ( ( ( (' ( ( ( ( my.............................................................................................................88
( ( ( ( ((, ( ( (.............................................................................................................90
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( (............................................................................................................92
TRUTH AND AUTHENTICITY IN NARRATIVE..........................................92
((((((((....................................................................................................................100
( ( ( ( c C ( ( ( (...........................................................................................................100
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( Yo......................................................................................................105
(((((Cl'...........................................................................................................................108
( ( ( C ( ( ( ((,(............................................................................................................111
NARRATIVE WORLDS..................................................................................114
( ( ( ('C( ( “................................................................................................................115
((((((((Cla......................................................................................................................124
„x...........................................................................................................................128
((((.((((((........................................................................................................................132
A THEME OF MOTIVATION AND ACTION...............................................135
INNOVATION AS WORLD TRANSFORMATION......................................143
( ((( ( .( ( c ( (.................................................................................................................146
(,( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( c ' Yo.............................................................................................147
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF KAFKA.........................................................153
(((((-((((("...............................................................................................................157
( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (.(.........................................................................................................162
( ( ( CC ( C ( ( (.........................................................................................................166
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF DOSTOYEVSKY'S THE IDIOT.................170
THE WORLDS OF ZAMJATIN.......................................................................176
((((((((,(..................................................................................................................179
c ( ( ( < ((( " " ".............................................................................................................180
(((((-..............................................................................................................................184
THE ROAD OF HISTORY AND THE DETOURS OF THE GOOD SOLDIER
 ...........................................................................................................................184
( ( ( ( ( c ( (,( ((..............................................................................................................187
( ( ( ( ( C ( ( " 1 '.........................................................................................................188
LITERATURE...................................................................................................191
1.............................................................................................................................191
Yo.................................................................................................................................191
( ((((((( ( (..............................................................................................................195
( ( ( ( ( < ( ( ( ( ( YO.............................................................................................197

writers, especially those whose styles are particularly idiosyncratic. 5' The fictional world
and style of the text seem to offer a great deal of resistance to modifications,
transformations and distortions. For our purposes, however, the main value of these two
concepts is the possibility of establishing some correlation between the fictional world
and the literary style. Consequently, the problem of the identity of the text

and
Literary can be placed and discussed within the framework of a semantic theory j
empirical unified as the one previously postulated (p. 39). A fundamental aspect of my
argument is the outlining of some specific suggestions for the development of such a
theoretical framework, although these suggestions will necessarily be relatively brief and
biased.
50
In his alternative epistemology of “affective experience... there can be substantial
stylistics” Fish proposes a shift in the object of agreement on issues of structure and meaning"
attention “from the spatial context of the page and its (Fairley 1979, 349).
observable regularities to the temporal context of a
mind and its experiences” (Fish 1980, 91). It should
be noted that this is an invitation to a purely mystical
journey, unless
31
This situation justifies Booth's
suspicion that "most readers read , "almost
always identically the majority of the majority of the
works" (Booth 1976,
412). This suspicion seems supported
by preliminary empirical investigations
of readers' interpretations, which
indicate that the range of individual
variety is restricted: "reading and
responding to poems is not an entirely
idiosyncratic and subjective

- 94 95
Y
 Through the text, or by means of distinguished from the sentences in the original
FICTIONAL WORLD
the text, a fictional world is constructed to text that constitute the world: while the former
which we refer or talk about in the same way allow for the assessment of truth, the latter do not.
as we do about the real world. Although I Regarding the sentences in the original text, the
would like to avoid immersing myself in statements about fictional worlds represent a
inconclusive ontological controversies, I paraphrase.J" Thus, for example, the statement
must express my belief that a theory of "Emma Bovary committed suicide" is
fictional literature will only be possible if a a paraphrase of a segment of Flaubert's text that
fundamental distinction is made between the executes the construction of said event. Flaubert is
semiotic worlds constructed by texts (and by the author of the text
other semiotic systems) and the real world • original, and an interpreter is the author of the
existing independently of any text. paraphrase. There is no point in asking whether
The empirical test of the formation Flaubert was right, whether he was telling the truth
of the fictional world is the possibility of or lying: through his text he constructed a world
evaluating the truth of the statements that that did not exist before. It is therefore possible,
describe said world. This procedure has been and even necessary, to ask whether the interpreter's
well explored in semiotic and logical paraphrase is true or false, that is, whether the
theories of fictionality. Thus, for example, world that the interpreter reconstructs corresponds
Woods speaks of the susceptibility of betting to the world that the text has constructed.
on claims about fictional worlds: we would
win a bet on the claim “Sherlock Holmes ,
lived on Baker Street,” whereas we would
A specific consideration of the evaluation
lose if we bet that “Sherlock Holmes lived
of the truth of the paraphrase offers us a first
on Baker Street” (Woods 1974, 13).
general thesis on interpretation: Interpretation
a
requires paraphrasing the original text; it is
la
possible to develop specific evaluation procedures
la
that allow measuring the correspondence between
the original text and the paraphrase.
a
2. If we claim that it is possible to
Statements with a positive truth value
assign truth values to statements about the fictional
describe the constituents, form, extension,
world, we have to provide a criterion for evaluating
etc. of the fictional world corresponding to a
truth. Obviously, there is only one criterion
fictional text. The truth assessment
available, which is recourse to the text itself. If we
procedure makes it possible to decide what
want to know what is true or false about the real
exists or not in a fictional world.
The evaluation of the truth of world we must inspect that world. If we want to
statements about fictional worlds is a know what is true or false about a fictional world,
we must inspect the text that has constructed that
"9 procedure of semantic textual interpretation.
It is a model of an interpretive procedure, world?3 Specifically, we must discover which
-n and its study leads to the formulation of sentences in the text have been authenticated, that
96 theses of general importance for the theory is, possess the performative force of constructing
of interpretation. Let me summarize four of facts of the fictional world. Authentication is the
these theses: origin and explanation of fictional existence. It is a
9g 1. Truth values can be assigned to purely textual procedure, a component of the
statements about a fictional world only when semantic structure of the text, and represents the
the world is already available, that is, when most powerful semantic restriction imposed by the
the text has constructed it. Statements about text on the world. Through the authentication
fictional worlds must be strictly
procedure, the text shapes and dominates its
world.CXVIII CXIX CXX CXXI
The discovery of authentication as
the basis of truth assessment leads us to our
second thesis on interpretation: Inspection of
the text, and especially of its semantic
structure, is the necessary criterion for the
validity of interpretation.

CXVIII To make the distinction between the

sentences of the original text and the paraphrastic
statements more explicit, Pavel calls the latter
sentences "substitution" (tersad) - 1976.
CXIX It has been rightly observed that
“absolute certainty” about fictional facts “is never
fully achieved in nonfictional narrative,” as Ryan
does.
CXXS For a detailed discussion of
authentication theory, see Doloiel 1980a.
CXXI It cannot be denied that there is an author
behind each text, but it is doubtful or tautological to
affirm that the author's intentions provide the
criterion of validity of the text.
97
 j( (((((.(((( g
3. Although we indicate that the form of the fictional world is determined by the
(-((((((
set of authenticated sentences of the literary text, it is not Some of the possible statements about fictional worlds can be decided, while others
,2 This means that explicit sentences are the only ones that participate in world construction. The will necessarily be impossible to decide. We can answer the question whether Emma
fictional world is built not only Bovary died by suicide or a natural death, while we cannot decide whether she had a
14 through the explicit (manifest) components of the text, but also (and sometimes significantly) birthmark on her left shoulder, and in fact it is meaningless. CXXII CXXIII CXXIV CXXV The
through its semantic constituents huge truth-value gaps that are easily discovered in any description of fictional worlds
Yo- implicit. A literary text is the totality of manifest meanings j lead to the conclusion that fictional worlds are by necessity incomplete. Being
(i.e. explicitly expressed) and derived (implicit). Correspondingly, the fictional world is a incomplete could be the essential property that differentiates fictional worlds from the
structure that incorporates both real world (Heintz 1979,94). 7
--3 areas, those constructed explicitly and those constructed by implication. If incompleteness is a necessary property of fictional worlds, gaps are essential
In some particular cases the opposition between both spheres becomes the dominant components of their individual structure: the fictional world is circumscribed by both its
feature of the structure of the world. Such is the case in Kafka's novels, in which the empty spaces and its populated areas. The task of literary semantics is to locate empty
implicit domains of the court (in The Trial) and the castle (in The Castle) function as black domains and determine their function in the overall structure of the fictional world? 8
holes, inaccessible, mysterious, but very powerful. . Literary interpretation that postulates "filling in" the gaps is a reductive procedure, since
3 The contemporary semantics of the text has enriched our it transforms them. various incomplete fictional worlds into a uniform structure of the
Yo complete world (Carnapian).59
understanding of implicit meaning, especially in theories of The need for fictional worlds to be incomplete leads us to our final thesis on
. 19 presuppositions (for a summary see Lyons 1977, II, 592-606), the-------------------------------------. interpretation: Semantic interpretation procedures should reveal the specific locations
"understood" (Ducrot 1972), pragmatic implicature (Grice 1975), etc. Modern text and functions of gaps in the overall structure of fictional worlds, rather than reducing
semantics has put an end to arbitrary inquiries into the implicit meaning of literary texts by the variety of incomplete world structures into a uniform structure of a complete
postulating: world.
■9 (a) that each meaning is facilitated by specific signals given in the
manifest text (indirect mentions, allusions, ellipses, etc.); (b) that the inference of the
implicit meaning from the explicit is governed by a series of specifiable procedures. Since
the inference of implicit meaning is linked to explicit meaning, the text maintains control
over its world, even as it allows specific domains of worlds to be constructed by
implication.
This reflection leads us to the third thesis on interpretation: The meaning of the
text is the totality of explicit and implicit components: the implicit meaning is not assumed, but is
derived from inferential procedures controlled from the meaning of the explicit textual components.
4 4. Even if we allow the implicit components of the text
participate in the construction of the fictional world, we will discover that only

4 interpretation. The author does not communicate as a physical person, but rather as a builder.
d of a fictional world and as an idiosyncratic source of a literary style.

d0
1 ■ ■. CXXII I am modifying an example given in a study of this problem (Heintz 1979).
3 CXXIII Fictional worlds share this quality of being incomplete with dream worlds (Parsons 1980,
209).
CXXIV For a brief demonstration of this type of analysis, see tfotoml 1980b.
CXXV' If Iser's empty spaces (including missing links) are understood as 'the implicit' that must
be 'brought to light' (Iser 1978, 169), then they will be understood by what is pointed out in our third
thesis, since filling by implication does not destroy the incompleteness of the fictional world. We must
emphasize, however, that the domains constructed by implication are of a different semantic character
from those constructed by explicit text.
#
99
 I stated at the beginning that the identity of the literary text is DIAGRAM 10. Two-valued intensional function
problematic because of the possible plurality of readers' interpretations. The
investigation of a specific interpretive procedure, that is, of evaluating the truth
of statements about fictional worlds, has led to the outline of a theory of
interpretation that preserves the individual identity of the literary text. CXXVI It
should be emphasized that this theory is not suggested in order to put an end to
conflicts between interpretations: it is not a recipe for single, definite, exclusively
"correct" interpretations.CXXVII Its main aspiration is that of any epistemological
reflection, such as formulating a series of explicit assumptions, so that rational
criticism of the theory is possible. I have no doubt that the conflict of + proper name
interpretations cannot be resolved by weighing particular interpretations, but by x given description
examining the underlying interpretive principles.CXXVIII

LITERARY STYLE
6 Texture is used here in a technical sense that designates the explicit words of the original
It is difficult to rigorously establish the concept of style in general, and text together with their implicit component.
literary style in particular. However, it has been a useful concept in literary and
64
other studies, since it expresses the intuition of a certain specificity or I will not discuss the fact that there are stylistically heterogeneous texts. In this case,
individuality that is organized, regulated and consistent. I would be tempted to global regularities only operate in differentiated segments of the text.
define literary style in terms that at first glance are almost contradictory: Literary 65 The theoretical basis of the concept of "intensional function" is explained in Doloel 1979.
style is a series of global regularities of texture CXXIX that jointly determine the
idiosyncrasy of the literary text. According to this definition, style does not ■ 101
appear as a random collection of local and isolated features, but as a fundamental
organizing force that operates in the text.
The global regularity of texture (which must be distinguished from a
local pattern) operates throughout the text and can therefore be described in any
sufficiently representative text sample.CXXX The regularity of the global semantic
texture can be expressed in terms of the intensional function, which is the
combination of elements of the fictional world with expressions (mechanisms) of
the texture. In other words, the intensional function acts from fictional worlds
towards textures. As such, the concept provides a common basis for our theory of
textual identity: it links the fictional world of a text with the characteristic
features of its literary style.CXXXI •

CXXVI In fact, we can observe how the specific problem of the evaluation of truth merges
with the general problem of the interpretation of theses 3 and 4.
CXXVII Even if we had a generally accepted theory of interpretation, concrete interpretations
would be impossible in the most interesting cases, those of polysemic or ambiguous texts. While
the process of disambiguation of certain texts is possible, there are texts (or perhaps entire genres)
that cannot be disambiguated into exclusive or alternative meanings, at most into several coexisting
complementary meanings (see Eco, 1980).
CXXVIII Those who practice interpretation not as a cognitive task but as a poetic one, as an
extension of the constructive power of literature, will consider the
CXXIXformulation of an explicit theory of interpretation: the poetic text is interpreted by writing
another poetic text. There is no doubt that poetic interpretation could offer interesting insights into
the meaning of literary texts, but we must remember that such insights are obtained purely
accidentally. The purpose of a theory of interpretation is to avoid c) chance in discovery.
CXXX¡00 radical break with the usual approaches to names in Kafka's works. Proper names are studied in
CXXXI The study of the naming system (in terms of intensional function) represents a isolation, and under the hypothesis that

-
Let me first demonstrate, for the sake of clarity, the operation of the simplest
intensional function, the two-valued one (see diagram 1). The fictional world is
represented by the series of individuals (agents), which are extensionally
distinguished from each other (for example, by lowercase letters of the alphabet), Unfortunately, the process has suffered a fate similar to that of many works of
but are not named by expressions of natural language. The naming process is modern literature, being subjected almost exclusively to an ideological mode of
assumed to consist of assigning to each individual in the fictional world either a interpretation (cf. Politzer 1965). Interpreters have merely discovered (or
rediscovered) their own systems of thought in the text, and the study of the stylistic
proper name (such as Odysseus), or a given description (such as the king of
regularities of the text is in direct opposition to these self-serving modes of
Ithaca, or the hero of the Homeric poem "The Odyssey"). 65CXXXII If the assignment
interpretation.
of two kinds of names is done regularly and consistently throughout the text, we SCHEME 11. Categories of denomination in Process 1.
can say that an intensional function of naming with two values operates in the
text. Such is the case of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe: proper names are assigned to — Abbreviation: K
three individuals in that world - Robinson, Xuri and Friday - while other agents
are named only with specific descriptions: my father, the Portuguese captain, the Proper name <. . Last name: Block
English captain's widow, Friday's father, etc.
Natural language offers more than two alternative ways of naming individuals, , -- - Given name: Leni
Name
or, to put it more clearly, several stylistically different subcategories can be
distinguished within the basic categories of proper names and determinate
descriptions. Thus, for example, a sufficiently significant stylistic effect is Specific description Fixed: The exhausting
produced if we call someone by their surname or by their given name. Since the
repertoire of alternative naming categories has more than two possibilities, it can
be expected that intensional naming functions with more values operate in literary The first thing that emerges from the texture of The Trial is the fact that the
texts. assignment of various categories of names to the different agents is carried out with
In order to demonstrate how a literary text reveals its individual identity in a surprising consistency and exclusivity: a clear intentional function of designation
complex intentional function, I will now examine the regularities of naming in operates in Kafka's text.CXXXIV The intensional function makes its selection from a
Kafka's The Trial. This novel, like all of Kafka's work, has been shown to be a series of alternative categories of names, specified in scheme 2. I will focus on
real challenge to interpretation since its posthumousCXXXIII publication.' three fundamental aspects of the literary style of the text, which are generated by
the intentional function of the denomination:
66
The intensional difference (i.e. the difference in sense) between proper names and definite 1. The hierarchy and relationships of agents in the “private group”. It is
descriptions has been demonstrated by Linsky: “two co-referential singular terms cannot be evident that the protagonist of the novel is individualized in front of the rest of the
identical in sense if one is a rigid designator [in the case of proper names], and the other [the
definite description] is not” (Linsky 1977, 68). agents by his exclusive proper name, with a

There are useful reviews of Kafka criticism in Beicken 1974 and Binden 1979.

102

="*p-
CXXXIIThey represent cryptograms that must be deciphered. The names of Kafka himself and of CXXXIIIRajec's study (1977) clearly demonstrates how arbitrary and sterile this "method" is.
important people in his life are supposedly "hidden" in these cryptograms. He CXXXIV103
 abbreviation: Josef K., K., or Mr. K. With this non-standard "surname" Kafka
follows a venerable literary tradition. Critics have attempted to find an
interpretation of his name in isolation. Although we could follow this vein -
suggesting, for example, that the abbreviation makes the protagonist a purely 2. The space of institutions. Two social institutions are built in The Trial:
literary (fictional) figure - the function of the name as it is revealed in the whole the bank and the court. Despite their fundamental semantic oppositions - the
naming system is much more significant. Through his unique name, the protagonist courthouse is an invisible world with a haphazard, irrational functioning, while the
forms a class of one member, differentiated and isolated from all other individuals bank is a visible world with a very rational and efficient functioning - both
in the fictional world, institutions are related at the textural level: their agents are consistently and
At the same time, the intensional function of naming leads to the formation uniquely designated by fixed (permanent) descriptions. The Director (the director),
of a class of agents that are named by standard proper names. On a closer look, this the Deputy Director (the deputy director), the Servant (the servant), and so on with
class can be interpreted as the protagonist's private group: its members enter into the other members of the bank's hierarchy. B1 The set of representatives of the
clearly specified relationships with the hero in the latter's solitary quest and conflict. courthouse, also designated by definite descriptions, is much larger: der Aufseher
A set of male characters, named consistently and exclusively by a single surname - (the supervisor), der Untersuchungerichter (the investigating judge), der
Huid, Tittorelli, Block - act as K's "helpers" or "accusers". In this way, they become Gerichtsdiener (the court assistant), der Prügler (the whipper), der Richter (the
involved in the hero's attempt to penetrate the inaccessible world of the Court. At judge), der dritte Richter (the third judge), der Gefdngnisskaplan (the prison
the same time, Block, a standard surname for an advocate, only supports the fact chaplain), etc. The designation der Angeklagte (the accused), which can function as
that the abbreviation for K. It is a sign of his exceptional nature among the group of a definite description, is related to this mode of naming: it is used with several
accused. minor characters, but in the case of Josef K. and Block also serves as a secondary
An interesting division can be observed in the group of female characters name for main characters.
that belong to the hero's private group. K's darlings. They do not have surnames, From a semantic point of view, the negative and positive aspects of
but only first names: Elsa, Leni. In contrast, the inaccessible woman is consistently designation by means of stable definite descriptions are significant: on the negative
referred to by a polite form of the surname: Fraillein Bürstner (Mrs. Bürstner). It is side, bank and court agents are denied a standard way of naming themselves, a
interesting to note that at the moment of greatest intimacy (at the end of chapter 1), proper name, but it is positive that the stable definite description designates the
Josef K. He wants to call Fraulein Bürstner by her first name, but realizes that she agent's function or position within the hierarchy of his or her organization. Agents
doesn't know it. This absence of a first name is no less significant for the semantic are presented as institutional roles rather than as private individuals: their individual
interpretation of the novel than the polite surname by which the remote femme
identity has been absorbed by their institutional function.
fatale is consistently and exclusively known.70
As can be seen, the intentional function of designation contributes
6
The name of K's lovers. has a "realistic" motivation, as Jaffe (1967, 94) observed: K. They
substantially to the structuring of the fictional world of The Trial. In particular, it
are aimed at lower-class women. reinforces the division of the world between two spheres, the private and the public
70 (institutional). In the private sphere, agents are designated with conventional proper
This lack of a first name illustrates well the incompleteness of fictional worlds, an aspect
affirmed in thesis 4. Fraillein Bürstner inhabits a world in which individuals might lack first names. names, typical of human individuals. The fact that the protagonist has only one
There is no basis for inference and therefore 104 1 unconventional name (an abbreviation) expresses the uniqueness of this character.
5• In the public sphere, agents, designated by their positions and responsibilities in the
$
institutional hierarchy, are shown as functions

Therefore, its proper name cannot be derived from anything (i.e., it cannot be filled in).

to . 105
 lacking genuine individuality. At the same time, the association of the bank
agents with those of the court occurs thanks to the way of naming them, thus
undoing the profound semantic contrast between both institutions: they now appear
as two opposite modes of an activity, of the same activity, the alienated
P institutionalized social activity of the. private individuals and imposed on them.
L
Two minor details confirm this description of the semantic divisions and
associations generated by the intensional function of designation: among the bank
g
employees, three insignificant workers receive first names: Rabendsteiner, Kullich,
Kaminer. In court, José K.'s guardians. They are also known by their given names,
Franz and Willem. This mode of designation corresponds to the relationship that
these characters assume with respect to the protagonist: they are drawn into the
- hero's private group, following him not only in his "functions," but in his "human"
Y interest. The case of the protagonist himself is more significant in this regard. As a
• private citizen he is addressed as Joseph K., while in his institutional roles he is
Yo given fixed descriptions: he is Herr Prokurist (the assessor) in the bank system, and
der Angeklagte (the accused) in the court hierarchy. Thus, this group formed by a
single member represented by the protagonist is an intersection of the three spheres
of the fictional world of The Trial, that is, the private sphere and the two
institutional spheres. The central position of Josef K„ alias Herr Prokurist, alias der
Angeklagte in the structure of the fictional world and in the history of The Trial is
confirmed by the style of the text.
3. The suspected executors. It is surprising to discover that the two
gentlemen who appear in the last chapter of The Trial of the Killing of José K. They
are not named according to the intensional function that governs the assignment of
names in this text. If the court has its judges, magistrates, whippersnappers,
warders, and prison chaplains, one would expect it to have its executioners
properly assigned and appointed. However, the names of the two lords in chapter 10
belong to the uncertain mode of unstable descriptions. In the narrator's text they are
designated as zwei Herren (two gentlemen), die Herren (the gentlemen), and seine
Begleiter (his companions); in K.'s inner monologue they appear as alte
untergeordnele Schauspieler (old minor actors), vielleicht ... I will have (perhaps...
tenors). (K. He even asks one of them what. theater act.)
This absence of the designation mode 106 could be explained ,
usual is exceptional, if it is clearly established in the text that the gentlemen are
representatives of the court. However, unlike the guardians in Chapter I, these
gentlemen do not claim to be acting on a commission (Auftrag), they only make
a silent gesture, in. answer to a rather vague question from K.. The association
of these agents with the court is not expressed either explicitly or through the
semantic indicator of the designation. Therefore, the text forces us to
acknowledge that the identity of K's killers is uncertain. Should we
< ' suppose that they are not at all related to the court? Could we interpret the
"execution" of ¡í. as an event not "ordered" by the court? An affirmative answer
to this question would lead us to a new path in the semantic interpretation of
The Trial: if the execution of K. cannot be related to the process, with the court
it is an event
■ unmotivated, occasional, deriving from another unknown source. A twist like this
in the story line would indicate that Kafka did not write The Trial, and not just the
last chapter, as a parody of himself, more specifically as a parody of the rules that
govern his fictional world. We know that the decisions and acts of the court are
purely random and arbitrary: consequently any random and arbitrary event will be
interpreted as coming from the authority of the court, as long as its origins are not
specified. This has been the interpretation of the final events of K.'s tragedy, and it
has not been questioned. Our investigation of the modes of designation in the
texture of the novel suggests that this interpretation is far from obvious. We are
faced with a textual fact that forces us to consider a new interpretive hypothesis: in
Kafka's fictional world there exists a non-institutionalized chance, of a higher,
absolute level, represented by agents "on their own." A systematic stylistic analysis
of the text reveals its potential: it challenges the usual interpretations offered by
readers and critics.
This study posits that a circumscribed fictional world and an idiosyncratic style
represent the best guarantees of individual identity of the literary text. In the course
of our discussion it has become clear that the two pillars of the text's identity are not
randomly selected features. Rather, they are theoretically related by the concept of
the intensional function, a function that projects the fictional world into a specific
texture. Furthermore, it is clear that the problem of the individual identity of the
literary text must be faced in close association with the problem of semantic
interpretation, due to the fact that the 107
The identity of the literary text is threatened by the plurality of possible
interpretations by readers. The development of the concept of fictional world
has led to the formulation of four general theses on interpretation. Research
into the literary style of a specific text (Kafka's The Trial) has demonstrated
the validity of our second and most important thesis on interpretation: text
analysis is the only reliable way to access verifiable semantic interpretations.
By analyzing Kafka's text in relation to the regularities of designation, we
have discovered certain basic patterns of its semantic organization, justifying a
specific interpretation. Furthermore, a strange deviation from regularity has
forced us to reconsider the standard interpretation, and to propose a new
interpretive hypothesis.
The essential method of literary semantics consists of meticulous
attention to the text, without discarding details as insignificant, as was often
done in classical hermeneutics. The authority of the text cannot be replaced by
the ghostly intentions of the authors or by the ghostly readings of the readers
or the "interpretive communities." The literary text will reveal its secrets to
those who wish to listen to it with concentrated attention and dedicated
modesty.
' C(.(l( ( ( (

. 6

FICTIONAL REFERENCE: MIMESIS AND POSSIBLE WORLDS.

/ In a teachers' room ("Combination Room") at Corpus

, •' Christi College, Cambridge, hangs the official portrait of the school's 'director'. 71 After
each official dinner, the director leads his guests into the staff room and takes a seat at
the head of a long table. It just so happens that his portrait is located right above his
head. Thanks to this arrangement, guests can observe a juxtaposition of an artistic
representation with its object. They are offered the opportunity to reflect on mimesis,
on principles and ways in which art imitates/represents reality. I have used this
opportunity to weave a theory of mimesis summarized in three theses: 72
.. - 1 The object represented is primary, and the representation
secondary. The portrait derives from its prototype. If there were no director
there would be no portrait of the director. However, the reverse of this
conditional is not true; the director could exist without being represented. A
director without a portrait would be rather strange in Cambridge, but this
circumstance would not deprive the director of his existence. An idealist view
in the philosophy of representation claims that objects derive from their
representations, or

7 Although it IS essentially irrelevant to the argument, it is worth clarifying some details

about the peculiar organisation of the university institutions of Oxford and Cambridge: what
I have called the "director" (in English "Master") is a semi-honorary figure, normally chosen
from among renowned former students of the centre, who holds the official representation of
each of the numerous "colleges" that make up these two universities. The name
"Combination Room" for one of the staff rooms is also peculiar, but in this case only in
Cambridge, as the usual name is "(Senior) Common Room" (N. of T.).

'Throughout its long history the concept of mimesis has undergone numerous semantic
reinterpretations: for a lucid presentation of this development, see Spariosu ed., 1984.
Ricoeur has offered an analysis of the concept taken in its broadest sense of "mimetic
activity" (Ricoeur 1983. 76-129. See Chapter 5 of this volume),

11 1
 ((((C(('((((
completely ignored the requirement of similarity the painting would not be
are built by them.73 This statement seems completely counterintuitive to me.
. accepted as a portrait of the director and, in extreme cases, would lose its character as a
To create a Dorian Gray, an individual whose existence depends on his
mimetic representation.
representation, the modes of the natural world must be violated. In the realist
The teachers' lounge theory formulates the general aspects of the mimetic
ontology stated by our first thesis on mimesis, the director sitting in the chair is
relationship between objects and their artistic representations. The essential point of the
a real man, and his representation in the portrait is fictional. In this frame of
theory can be expressed in the form of a function, which we will call the 'mimetic
reference the difference between the object and its mimetic representation
function'. a particular iictional Pr represents a
corresponds to the opposition between reality and fiction. We must emphasize,
i particular real PR. The function is perfectly applied in those >
however, that the opposition only applies to the director and the figure of the
” situations in which PF and PR are co-present, and can be extended to
painting. The painting itself is a real object hanging over the head of a real
those cases in which PF and PR, although not juxtaposed, can nevertheless be
director, and both the work of art and the object depicted are real-world
confronted. As long as it is possible to assign a particular real object to the fictional
entities.74 ■
representation, mimesis will be the appropriate semantics of fictionality. The proof of
2, There is a one-to-one correspondence between the object and its
the mimetic theory is the existence of real objects of representation. If there are works of
representation. Both are particular entities in the philosophical sense,
art for the
individualized, identifiable, unique (Strawson 1959). There is no other
; that no real particular prototypes are found, the mimetic theory will be
Principal of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge anywhere in the world, and
Yo falsified, and we can now understand that the mimetic theory and the authority
presumably in the entire universe. There is no other portrait of the director
Yo the success of this quest depends on mimetic criticism.
identical to the portrait that presides over the table in the teachers' lounge.
Yo I will now quote information about three discoveries.-------------------------------
Certainly, many portraits of the director could be painted, but they would be
recent:
different objects, different particular objects.75
a) British historian Geoffrey Ashe published a book entitled
3, There is a necessary similarity between the object and its mimetic
The Discovery of King Arthur (1984), in which he claims to have identified the
representation. The painting will be accepted as a portrait of the director if we
historical prototype of the legendary king in a 5th-century "high king" of the Britons
can recognize his features in the fictional figure. The relationship of mimetic
named Riothamus.
similarity must be conceived in a sufficiently broad way, so that differences in
styles, techniques, genres, etc. are allowed. However, if
YO
b) In Robin Hood. A historical investigation (1985) the
3
1 legal historian John G. Bellamy continues long-standing efforts to
The most elegant, but also the most rigid formulation of this view is the one proposed
apprehend the famous outlaw, and confirms a 19th-century hypothesis that the prototype
by Goodman: “We can have words without a world, but not worlds without words or other
symbols” (Goodman 1978, 6). This "constructivism", based on the fusion of "world" with of Robin Hood was a valet to Edward II named Robin Hode. Historical prototypes of
"model of the world" (or "version of the world"), has to accept the . implausible consequence many other characters in the legend are also identified. ¡
that the distinction between reality and fiction is a mere convention (cf. Schmidt 1984, 263 et c) In January 1985, Albert Boime, professor of art history
seq.). The logical argument against this " semiotic idealism" is convincingly expressed by Savan at UCLA, presented a study at the annual meeting of the Society
(1983).
: American Astronomical Observatory was the one that defended that the night sky of the
Martínez-Bonati's phenomenology of fictionality radically questions the reality of > Van Gogh's famous painting "Starry Night" corresponds to facts
fictional texts (Martínez-Bonati 1981,79, 84, 158). It is not clear how this view would justify astronomical hours on June 19, 1889), when the painting was made (at four in the
the reality of the painting in the staff room. morning, local time, to be precise). The striking swirl in the painting is identified by
The possibility of reproducing paintings and other artistic representations, which has Professor Boime as a comet. This is the only liberty Van Gogh took with his object of
exasperated some philosophers, is irrelevant to the individualization of the portrait. Yo representation, since there was no comet in the sky of Provence during
that night. Professor Boime discovered that the whirlpool derives from:
Yo 113
44
(((((.((((
drawings of kites published in an 1881 issue of Harper's Weekly, a magazine Van typical headmaster of a Cambridge college, or a successful British educator in the period
Gogh read regularly during that period. Van Gogh's whirlpool is therefore explained of late capitalism, or a self-confident socialite hiding his existential fear, etc. The
as a second-degree mimetic representation, an imitation of a painting of a comet. headmaster . will disappear from your portrait.
We could continue reporting discoveries like these, but the examples already Not surprisingly, many critics and theorists are dissatisfied with this semantics.
given should suffice for our purpose, and they satisfy the mimetic function: a fictional What we love, admire, or enjoy in artistic representations are specific fictional persons in
(legendary) character is confronted with a real (historical) individual, and a particular specific spatial and temporal situations, bound by peculiar relations, involved in unique
painted scene with a particular state of nature. The examples, if they are historical frustrations, aspirations, and struggles.79 Without denying the importance of universalist
facts, must be accepted as evidence in favor of the mimetic theory, or more precisely semantics for certain objects of general and comparative literary studies, we must affirm
this is the kind of historical facts that mimetic criticism must provide. 76 The true test
of the mimetic theory is found in those cases where we do not know the prototype of a
fictional entity, or, more importantly, we do not even know where to look for it.
Where are the real individuals represented by Hamlet, Julien Sorel, Raskolnikov? It is
obviously absurd to claim that Raskolnikov is a representation of a real young man
who lived in St. Petersburg in the mid-19th century. No historical search, no matter
how meticulous, could discover such an individual.
The impossibility of identifying a real particular behind any fictional
representation has forced mimetic criticism into an interpretive turn: Actional
particulars are said to represent real universals - psychological types, social groups,
historical conditions, ideological positions, etc. With this, the mimetic function is
radically altered: a fictional particular PF represents a real universal Ur. This
interpretive shift is characteristic of the most important betrayal of mimetic criticism
from Aristotle to Auerbach. I will offer three examples of this kind of interpretation
from Auerbach's book Mimesis. The Representation of Reality in Western Literature
(original in German, 1946; English translation 1957): ' «we
we are confronted with the boredom of the guests of the Mole in Stendhal's work Red
and Black] with a political and ideological phenomenon of the period of the.
Restoration» (401; 456). "The novel [Madame Bovary] is the representation of an entire
human existence without result" (438; 488). "There are passages in it [Zola's novel
Germinal] that ... express with exemplary clarity and simplicity the situation and
awakening of the fourth state" (455; 512) (all italics added).
If fictional particulars are taken as representations of real universals, mimetic theory
becomes a "language without particulars" (Strawson), a universalist semantics. Note that * Since the same person performs both the categorization of reality and the confrontation
of fictional entities, we should not be surprised by the high percentage of i success of universalist
the Auerbachian critic performs a double operation: first he transcribes reality into
interpretations.
abstract categories in terms of an ideological, sociological, psychoanalytic, etc.
conceptual system, and secondly he confronts its fictional particulars with the categories -and According to Martínez-Bonati, "a world of individuals" is "the fundamental sphere!"
postulated in the transcription. of the narrative». "That the symbolic meaning or general truth of what is represented may sometimes
transcend this scope should not obscure this basic phenomenon... Yo Cervantes' Don Quixote is not
For this critic, fictions are representations of a categorized reality.CXXXV CXXXVI By being basically a type or a symbol, but an individual.
reduced to universals, fictional particulars are suppressed from fictional semantics. An (Martinez-Bonati, op. cit, 24).
Auerbachian critic I would interpret the staffroom portrait as representing, for example, a
114

Y
o

of fictionality.
CXXXVI Auerbach's text is particularly suitable for our purpose. Avoiding any theoretical
CXXXV I will not introduce the question of whether the discovery of a real prototype helps or reflection from Tormo (see the "Epilogue"), Auerbach engages in a spontaneous practice of mimetic
hurts our appreciation of a work of art. Our interest is in mimesis as a semantic (not aesthetic) theory criticism.
 ( ( ( ( (' ( ( ( ( my • possible, but this restriction is logical rather than ontological: possible worlds
possible worlds as an interpretant of an established theoretical model of logical modalities must be free of internal contradictions. Worlds that contain or imply contradictions
(see especially Kripke 1963). The whole logical system has been successively reinterpreted are impossible, they cannot be thought, they are "empty." A special assessment will
on the assumption that "our actual world is surrounded by an infinity of other possible have to be made of the validity of Leibniz's restriction regarding fictional worlds in
worlds" (Bradley and Swartz 1979, 2). During the 1970s the first attempts were made to view of the fact that modern literature and art have created fictional worlds that
formulate a modern possible worlds semantics of fictionality (van Dijk 1974/75; Pavel seem impossible in Leibniz's sense. In our context this difficult theoretical task
1975/76; Eco 1979; cannot be addressed, but even if
Doloel 1979).82 At the 65th Nobel Symposium on "Possible Worlds in the Arts and If we restrict the series of fictional worlds to Leibniz's universe, we can claim to
Sciences" (held at the Swedish Academy in August 1986 and published. Alien (1989) have obtained a much broader theoretical basis than the framework of the
literary scholars joined for the first time philosophers, natural scientists, linguists, and art mimesis of a single world.83
theorists in an interdisciplinary exchange of the achievements, perspectives, and problems 2. The series of fictional worlds has maximum variety. The
of the possible worlds framework. The semantics of possible worlds fictionality is diversification of fictional worlds is a consequence of the multitude of "laws" or
obviously associated with a vital and advanced theory of general semantics. It should be "orders" characteristic of possible worlds. Natural laws are just a special case,
highlighted, without . However, the most pertinent problems of literary fictions cannot be valid in the real world and its "physically possible" cognates (see Bradley and
resolved by any general semantics. Literary fictions have specific characteristics because Swartz op. cit., 6). In Leibniz's universe "worlds can differ from the real world not
they function as cultural artifacts incorporated into literary texts. A comprehensive theory only in number and quantity [of their constituents], but in quality. Other worlds
of literary fiction will therefore emerge from a fusion of possible-worlds semantics with might have other laws of motion... "Any causal law (though not Causality itself)
textual theory (see Dolozel 1980a, 1985). might have been different" (Russell, op. cit., 68). The specific world order
The present study does not aim at an exhaustive discussion of a functions as a precaution against what is admissible: only entities with such a
comprehensive semantics of fictionality, but rather seeks to demonstrate, possibility, those that comply with its general order, are admitted into the world.
explicitly or implicitly, that possible worlds semantics not only transcends the In this way, the series of all possibles is divided into "many different
restrictions of the mimetic model, but also substantially enriches our combinations of compossibles" (Leibniz 3: 572-576; Loemker 2: 1075 ff.). We
understanding and appreciation of literary fictions. I will therefore focus on can now define a fictional world as a series of particular, composable fictionalities
pointing out those aspects of fictional worlds that are most prominent from the characterized by their own "order," a specific macrostructural organization.
perspective of possible worlds. Structure and specificity are complementary factors in the individualization of the
1. The series of fictional worlds is unlimited. Since “the possible world. The fictional universe is not restricted in the overall design of its bodies.
is larger than the actual” (Russell 1937, 66), fictional worlds are not restricted While fictional worlds structurally analogous to the one in question are not
to representations of the real world (reality). Certainly Leibniz imposed a excluded,
restriction on the worlds
”In fact, we could object that the framework of possible worlds is so broad that its
"I refer to a semantics of possible worlds of «modern» literary fictions because a «classical» version was
usefulness for the study of literature is limited. We must bear in mind, however, that only some
suggested as early as the 18th century (ef. Abrams 1953, 278 et seq.; Doloel 1990). However, during the
formal semantic concepts require recourse to "all possible worlds." For most semantic problems
dominance of the one-world model this pioneering attempt was completely forgotten.
we can restrict ourselves to a set of relevant possible worlds (cf. Hintikka 1975, 83 et seq.). The
unrestricted universe of fictional worlds can be studied by focusing on a select set of worlds or
118 on a world and its relevant alternates.

119
choice of “minimizing or maximizing” the “inevitable incompleteness of fictional world.CXXXVII
worlds”: he has suggested that cultures and periods with a “stable worldview” will tend 5. Fictional worlds are accessible from the real world. The semantics of possible
to minimize incompleteness, while “periods of transition and conflict” will tend to worlds is a legitimation of the sovereignty of fictional worlds over the real world,
maximize it (Pavel 1983, 51 ff.). Ryan (1984) offers a triadic typology of fictional although at the same time the accessibility of fictional worlds from the real world is
worlds on this same basis: his proposal is especially stimulating in showing how types recognized.
can be generated by a gradual emptying of the domains of the "model" of the entire 'This access requires crossing the border between worlds, a transit from the space of
real entities to that of non-actualized possibilities. . According to this condition,
physical access is impossible: from the real world one reaches fictional worlds only
through semiotic channels, by means of information processing.
In the genetic stage of the fictional world, in its construction by the author, information
coming from and about the real world participates in the formative process with the
appropriation of models of the real world, with the incorporation of the author's
personal experience, with the insertion of "raw" facts or culturally formed "realemes"
(Even-Zohar 1980), etc. In these modes of information processing, the "material" of the
real world participates in the structuring of fictional worlds. Literary researchers have
exhaustively studied the participation of reality in the genesis of fictions. Possible
worlds semantics must emphasize that real "material" undergoes a substantial
transformation at the border of the world, as it becomes "fictionalized," that is, all real
entities become fictional possibilities, with all the necessary ontological, logical,
semantic, and stylistic consequences. We have already noted this conversion in the
specific case of fictional characters: people from the real world (historical) enter the
fictional world only in the form of possible alternates.

122

"pmy

CXXXVII Ryan's most complete world, that of realistic fiction, has been a challenge and an
enigma.
 ( ( ( ( ((, ( ( (
At the reception stage, the fictional world is reconstructed by real readers
during the processing of information from the fictional text. The reader
reconstructs the fictional world by elucidating the explicit and implicit meaning of
the text. Depending on your way of reading, you will extrapolate the gapsCXXXVIII
either by filling them in or integrating them into the structure of the world. Finally,
depending on the purpose of his reading, the reader either appropriates the fictional
world by dissolving it into his own experiential world, or expands his experiential
world by maintaining the fictional world as a possible alternative experience.
The need for semiotic mediation in accessing fictional worlds explains why
fictional semantics must resist all attempts to "de-center," "alienate," or circumvent
the literary text. A theory of reading that eliminates the literary text destroys the
main bridge between real readers and the universe of fiction. The reader of such a
theory, isolated in a narcissistic self-processing, is condemned to the most
primitive mode of real existence, existence without possible imaginary
alternatives.
Conclusion: Philosophers of science have taught us that a new theory must
not only transcend its predecessor, but must also provide a better explanation of the
original space of the old theory. We should therefore indicate how the semantics of the
fictionality of possible worlds would resolve the portrait of the teachers' room, not
denying that the director and his representation are linked by a relationship of
similarity. At the same time, however, he will recognize that the director and his
portrait are individuals from different worlds. The relationship of similarity requires an
identification across worlds: the figure in the painting is a possible alternative to the
real director. Inhabiting different worlds, the real and potential directors have totally
different stories. The real director has his life as a real human being, with his biological
history. The figure of the portrait is thrown into the destiny of a semiotic object, and
carries a history of reception. Although the director and his fictional counterpart will
often meet in the staff room, their different paths will take them further and further
away from each other. At the same time, however, the exemption from the fictional
representation of biological time will guarantee the permanence of the real man.

87
The terms "elucidation" and "extrapolation" are from Wolterstorff (op. cit., 125).

123

CXXXVIIIfor fictional semantics. We are now beginning to realize that its complete being as reality is
nothing more than an illusion, "designed precisely to camouflage the gaps" (Diillenbach 1984. 201).
Realistic fictional worlds do not differ in kind from other fictional worlds, but rather in degree of
semantic saturation.
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( (

TRUTH AND AUTHENTICITY IN NARRATIVE

ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF ARTICLES AND

PUBLICATION DATA..............................................................3
LUBOMÍR DOLEZELA'S CONTRIBUTION TO
CONTEMPORARY LITERARY STUDIES.............................4
((((((((‘............................................................................................8
ORAL LITERATURE AND WRITTEN LITERATURE........12
(((((((.............................................................................................17
(((((((.............................................................................................20
( c (.......................................................................................................20
2.................................................................................................21
NOMOTHETIC AND IDEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE
INPOETIC................................................................................21
((( ( ( ( ( " " ".................................................................................31
ALIENS AND VISITORS IN LITERARY
METALANGUAGE.................................................................32
((((((((............................................................................................45
((((((‘((..........................................................................................50
hga.................................................................................................52
((((((((((.........................................................................................61
( C ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ,(.................................................................................67
THE LITERARY TEXT, ITS WORLD AND ITS STYLE.....68
(((((((((..........................................................................................69
 (-((((((............................................................................................77
' C(.(l( ( ( (....................................................................................84
FICTIONAL REFERENCE: MIMESIS AND POSSIBLE
WORLDS..................................................................................84
( ( ( ( C ( ( ' ( ( ( (.........................................................................85
(((((.((((.............................................................................................87
( ( ( ( (' ( ( ( ( my...................................................................................88
( ( ( ( ((, ( ( (..................................................................................90
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( (.................................................................................92
TRUTH AND AUTHENTICITY IN NARRATIVE................92
((((((((..........................................................................................100
( ( ( ( c C ( ( ( (................................................................................100
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( Yo...........................................................................105
(((((Cl'................................................................................................108
( ( ( C ( ( ( ((,(.................................................................................111
NARRATIVE WORLDS........................................................114
( ( ( ('C( ( “......................................................................................115
((((((((Cla...........................................................................................124
„x.................................................................................................128
((((.((((((.............................................................................................132
A THEME OF MOTIVATION AND ACTION.....................135
INNOVATION AS WORLD TRANSFORMATION............143
( ((( ( .( ( c ( (......................................................................................146
(,( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( c ' Yo..................................................................147
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF KAFKA..............................153
(((((-((((("....................................................................................157
( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (.(..............................................................................162
( ( ( CC ( C ( ( (...............................................................................166
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF DOSTOYEVSKY'S THE
IDIOT......................................................................................170
THE WORLDS OF ZAMJATIN............................................176
((((((((,(.......................................................................................179
c ( ( ( < ((( " " "...................................................................................180
(((((-....................................................................................................184
THE ROAD OF HISTORY AND THE DETOURS OF THE
GOOD SOLDIER...................................................................184
( ( ( ( ( c ( (,( ((....................................................................................187
( ( ( ( ( C ( ( " 1 '..............................................................................188
LITERATURE........................................................................191
1..................................................................................................191
Yo.......................................................................................................191
( ((((((( ( (....................................................................................195
( ( ( ( ( < ( ( ( ( ( YO...................................................................197

The first meetings of philosophers, logicians and literary theorists on formal semantics
and literature are recent (VS 1978. No. 19/20;
Poetics 8, No, 1/2, April 1979). These collections of articles clearly reveal the
state of the exchange, its theoretical stimuli and its possible dangers:
. 1. Philosophical semantics (logic) dominates the dialogue. For this
ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF ARTICLES AND
PUBLICATION DATA..............................................................3
LUBOMÍR DOLEZELA'S CONTRIBUTION TO
CONTEMPORARY LITERARY STUDIES.............................4
((((((((‘............................................................................................8
ORAL LITERATURE AND WRITTEN LITERATURE........12
(((((((.............................................................................................17
(((((((.............................................................................................20
( c (.......................................................................................................20
2.................................................................................................21
NOMOTHETIC AND IDEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE
INPOETIC................................................................................21
((( ( ( ( ( " " ".................................................................................31
ALIENS AND VISITORS IN LITERARY
METALANGUAGE.................................................................32
((((((((............................................................................................45
((((((‘((..........................................................................................50
hga.................................................................................................52
((((((((((.........................................................................................61
( C ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ,(.................................................................................67
 THE LITERARY TEXT, ITS WORLD AND ITS STYLE.....68
(((((((((..........................................................................................69
(-((((((............................................................................................77
' C(.(l( ( ( (....................................................................................84
FICTIONAL REFERENCE: MIMESIS AND POSSIBLE
WORLDS..................................................................................84
( ( ( ( C ( ( ' ( ( ( (.........................................................................85
(((((.((((.............................................................................................87
( ( ( ( (' ( ( ( ( my...................................................................................88
( ( ( ( ((, ( ( (..................................................................................90
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( (.................................................................................92
TRUTH AND AUTHENTICITY IN NARRATIVE................92
((((((((..........................................................................................100
( ( ( ( c C ( ( ( (................................................................................100
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( Yo...........................................................................105
(((((Cl'................................................................................................108
( ( ( C ( ( ( ((,(.................................................................................111
NARRATIVE WORLDS........................................................114
( ( ( ('C( ( “......................................................................................115
((((((((Cla...........................................................................................124
„x.................................................................................................128
((((.((((((.............................................................................................132
A THEME OF MOTIVATION AND ACTION.....................135
INNOVATION AS WORLD TRANSFORMATION............143
( ((( ( .( ( c ( (......................................................................................146
(,( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( c ' Yo..................................................................147
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF KAFKA..............................153
(((((-((((("....................................................................................157
( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (.(..............................................................................162
( ( ( CC ( C ( ( (...............................................................................166
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF DOSTOYEVSKY'S THE
IDIOT......................................................................................170
THE WORLDS OF ZAMJATIN............................................176
 ((((((((,(.......................................................................................179
c ( ( ( < ((( " " "...................................................................................180
(((((-....................................................................................................184
THE ROAD OF HISTORY AND THE DETOURS OF THE
GOOD SOLDIER...................................................................184
( ( ( ( ( c ( (,( ((....................................................................................187
( ( ( ( ( C ( ( " 1 '..............................................................................188
LITERATURE........................................................................191
1..................................................................................................191
Yo.......................................................................................................191
( ((((((( ( (....................................................................................195
( ( ( ( ( < ( ( ( ( ( YO...................................................................197

Aware of this theoretical weakness, literary scholars have been inclined to accept
formulations and possible solutions that philosophers or logicians offer on the problem of
fictionality and truth in literature.

Yo

38 For a collection of classical views, see Kaysct 1959.

125
 2. There is a fundamental and unresolved difference between literary sequential categories (Austin 1961, 99).
semantics and logical (or philosophical) semantics: logical semantics is a ■ It seems to me that after hearing these opinions, it is difficult to find a place for the
formal science and as such offers formally satisfactory systems for the concept of truth in literary theory. However, philosophers and literary scholars have
semantic interpretation of logical expressions. However, literary semantics is always been aware of the fact that in a certain sense we make truth-value assignments to
an empirical theory and as such it has to develop theoretical systems (or fictional sentences. Woods's "reasonableness of the bet" is a refined formulation of this
metalanguages) that can be transformed into analytical and descriptive procedures. fact: A speaker who claims that Sherlock Holmes lived on Baker Street wins a bet against
As an operational theory, literary semantics should offer representations of the a speaker who claims that Sherlock Holmes lived on Berczy Street (Woods 1974, 13).
semantic structures of individual literary texts and classes of texts. This
3. The exchange between literary semantics and logic has been a one-way
communication. Philosophers and logicians show no interest in the recent traditions 90
In fact this interpretation contradicts Frcge's original position. Frege insists that "the truth value of a
and advances of literary study. This is especially true of modern semiotic and sentence ... is either true or false, there are no other truth values" (Frege 1892. 123).
structural conceptions of literature, which are in principle preferable to the typical 51
Mukaovkz uses the term in a broad sense, equivalent to the German term "Dichtung," which means all literature of the
atomistic, pre-structural and pre-semiotic approach of philosophy of language and imagination.
logical semantics. It is particularly surprising to observe that despite the development
127
of the philosophical foundations of semiotics, the conception of language and
literature as complex systems of signs is considered alien to logical semantics. In my
opinion, the problems of literary semantics (and indeed of general semantics) cannot
be properly formulated, much less resolved, if the specific ontological and
phenomenological status of signs and systems of signs is not taken into account. The
inability to distinguish between the system and its particular uses, the ignorance of
the systematic relations between form (expression) and meaning, the general
blindness regarding the structural organization of sign systems and "messages," the
concentration on isolated words or at most sentences, rather than on the structure of
discourseCXXXIX... these are some of the most common and persistent defects of many
philosophical and logical contributions. We can affirm that philosophical semantics
(logic) has not reached the structural-semiotic stage characteristic of modern thought
in literary theory. If literary theory were to abandon its position under the pressure of
formal semantics, this would only be to its own detriment.
Bearing these preliminary ideas in mind, I would like to offer a few reflections on the
possible formulation of the concept of fictionality and that of truth in literature within
the framework of structural and semiotic literary theory. It can easily be seen that the
two concepts - fictionality and truth - have not had the same fate in recent theoretical
discussions: while it has not been doubted that fictionality represents a fundamental
category of literary theory (cf. for example, Wellek and Warren 1956, 14 ff.), the
concept of truth in literature has been received with much skepticism. There are two
most popular varieties of this skepticism: 1. The Fregean position assumes that
literary sentences are "neither true nor false." Today this position is formulated in
such a way that a three-valued logic (with the values "true", "false" and "neither true
nor false") is postulated for literary sentences.CXL 2. The structuralist position finds no
use for the concept of truth in literary theory. Mukaovk has expressed this position
with great frankness: "the question of truth has no meaning
in poetry" (Mukafoi'ky 1948, 82). 1 In principle, the
structuralist position agrees with Fröchge's original
formulation and, especially, with Austin's philosophy of
language. Austin claims that there are categories or classes
of sentences that cannot be said to be true or false;
assigning a truth value to such sentences is meaningless
because they are not "descriptive" and therefore do not
represent statements. Formulas in a calculation,
performative expressions, value judgments, definitions, as
well as "the parts of a work of fiction" are examples of such

CXXXIX «It seems that many logicians have not yet discovered the notion of discourse» CXL(Ihwe and Rieses 1979, 83).
 worlds semantics by Pavel (1976), Chateaux (1976), Heintz (1979) and others.
According to Chateaux, the sentence "Emma Bovary finit par se suiciden" ("Emma
Bovary ended up committing suicide") must be characterized as true in the world of
Emma Bovary, while the sentence "Charles Bovary est unijambiste" ("Charles Bovary
has one leg") must be designated as false in that world. Pavel's point is important that
the assessment applies exclusively to so-called "ersatz" or replacement sentences, i.e.
statements that are paraphrases of the original literary sentences. The truth value of
ersatz sentences must be decided in relation to their "source," in other words, with

mbm-as
reference to the original literary text.
Thus we can provide a definition of truth and specify the truth criteria for
ersatz sentences as follows: an ersatz sentence is true if it expresses (describes) a state
of affairs that exists in the fictional world of the text, and is false if such a state of
affairs does not exist in the fictional world of the text. It can be seen that by offering
this statement we have admitted the possibility of evaluating statements about literary
texts and their worlds. However, we have not provided any definition of two more
fundamental concepts on which the truth value of ersatz sentences is based: a) the
concept of fictional existence;
' b) the problem of truth value of the sentences in the textual source. These two problems
are intimately connected in the theoretical relationship that I am going to outline.
■ In my opinion, the problem of fictional existence must be formulated within the
framework of the semantics of possible worlds coordinated with a "realistic" ontology.
This version of possible worlds semantics has been called "realism" ("actualism"
(Adams 1974). Realism assumes that there is an empirically observable world, called
the real world, while possible alternatives to the real world are constructs of the human
mind. With respect to statements about the real world, the classical concept of truth (the
concept of correspondence theory) is applicable. A statement like snow is white is: _
-----------------J - 1 - c* . - -
existing in the real world. If we move from the real world to its possible alternatives,
the concept of existence becomes fundamentally different. This fact has been strongly
emphasized by Russell: "To say that unicorns exist in heraldry, in literature, or in the
imagination is a pitiful and mean evasion. What exists in heraldry is not an animal,
made of flesh and blood, that moves and breathes on its own initiative: what exists is a
painting or a description in words. Similarly, to claim that Hamlet, for example, exists
in
. his own world, specifically the worlds of Shakespeare's imagination, as certainly as it
decide true or false by observation of the state of affairs existed in the real world of, say, Napoleon is to say something that is deliberately
confusing, or confusing to a point that is hardly credible" (Russell 1919, 169). Although we
'■ For a recent discussion of the correspondence theory, including Tarski's agree with Russell that the problem of the existence of imaginary objects or states of things
evaluation of its relationship to the 'O'Connor "semantics" of truth, see must be formulated differently from the problem of existence in the real world, we cannot
theory 1975,
accept his radical conclusion: "There is only one world, the 'real' world" (1919, 169).
Possible worlds, alternatives to the real world, and often contradictory to it (counterfactual
128
worlds) are constantly being constructed by human thought, imagination, and other verbal
or semiotic activities. The active force of semiosis lies precisely in its capacity to construct
possible worlds related in many different ways to the real world. One of the basic tasks of
semiotic systems theory is to account for the processes that "make possible individuals,
possible states of affairs, possible events, in short, possible worlds, exist. Since possible
semiotic worlds result from world-building processes, the semantic structure of these
worlds (including the criteria of existence) is determined solely by these processes. There is
no other way to decide what exists and what does not exist in a semiotic world other than
by looking at how the world has been constructed. Since various semiotic systems construct
their worlds through various construction procedures, the criteria of existence in semiotic
The possibility of evaluating fictional sentences was reformulated in terms of possible
worlds will be particular to that system. Thus, for example, the criteria of "existing in a
painting," in a possible world constructed by specific procedures for paintings, are different
from the criteria of "existing in a novel," that is, in a possible world constructed by specific
novelistic processes.93

93 Does the postulation of specific criteria of existence for each system mean that
129
(((((((( ((((cC((((

i*bsshefhs2
In view of what has been said, it is evident that the problem of fictional
personalized narrative agents (characters). It has been shown elsewhere (Dolozel 1973)
existence, that is, of existence in a fictional world, requires the specification of the
that the texture of this pattern is characterized by a set of distinctive binary features. Like
procedures that are applied in the construction of fictional worlds, in various
the mechanisms of motive introduction, the two kinds of narrative speech acts also appear
semiotic systems. By focusing on the world-building procedures that operate in the
in a binary opposition: the speech act of the anonymous narrator of the Er-form possesses
specific semiotic system called "narrative text," we aim to offer an approach that
the authority of authentication, while the speech acts of the narrative agents lack this
will be useful for the discussion of fictional existence in other semiotic systems,
and for the problem of fictionality in general. authority. Authentication is a special illocutionary force analogous to the force of
We assume that narrative (fictional) worlds are built with sets of elementary performative speech acts described by Austin (Austin 1962). The analogy is based on the
narrative units.CXLI In any narrative text a set of motives is introduced (or expressed), fact that performative illocutionary force is possessed only by acts of
which we can designate M. However, the Mt game is not presented (or expressed) in a speech delivered by speakers who have the necessary authority. In other words,
uniform way, because the text is the result of the coordinated operation of different performative authority is a necessary condition of happiness 1! performative speech act. To take one
speech acts. From a structural point of view, it is a mistake to relate the narrative speech of Austin's examples, a ship can only be named by "the person properly authorized to
act and the resulting narrative texture to a uniform "source" (or speaker), such as the name it" (1962, 14). In the domain of narrative speech acts the "speaker" properly
author.CXLII While the author is, of course, the "real" source of the narrative text, the authorized to authenticate motives is the anonymous narrator of the Er-form. Note that
texture, its formal, semantic and illocutionary features, are determined by the "fictional" in both cases the authority of the "source" is given by convention: in the case of
sources. performative speech acts it is by social conventions, and by gender conventions in the
case of narrative speech acts.
THE BINARY MODEL The basic rule of authentication in the binary narrative model can be
formulated as follows: the motives introduced into the speech act of the anonymous
We can first consider the simplest model of narrative text, where the texture narrator of Er-form are themselves authentic, while those introduced into the speech
results from the operation of two kinds of speech acts, the speech act of the narrator of acts of the narrative agents are inauthentic. Narrative speech acts operate as a filter that
the Er-form^^ and the speech acts of divides all introduced motives between authentic and inauthentic. Formally, the
authentication procedure can be represented as a two-valued function that maps the
the very concept of semiotic existence is not unitary? Not necessarily. The situation is quite similar to elements of M (the set of all motifs introduced in the narrative text) into two
that which characterizes the concept of truth. "That there are many methods of verification [i.e., many
'complementary' subsets, Ma (the set of authentic motifs) and Ma (the set of
criteria of truth (Dolozel)] does not entail that there are many concepts of truth" (O'Connor 1975, 19).
{ inauthentic motifs). !
The concept of authentication function is a necessary, and perhaps central,
concept in the theory of fictional existence in narrative worlds. What exists in a
narrative world is determined by the

German name chosen by Dolozel: as seems obvious, Er-form, or "(he-form), is the third-person
narration: Ich-form. "I-form" is the first person (N. of T.).

■ 131

CXLI A definition and classification of motifs as elementary semantic units of narrative is given in
Dolozel 1976 and in another forthcoming paper entitled "Semantics of Narrative Motifs" (in
Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Linguists). See also Genot 1977.
CXLII The pre-structural concept of the narrative speech act underlies Woods's "that-says
semantics" of fictional sentences (see Woods 1974, especially 35. 133). %6 Continuing the practice of the English original of this study, we maintain here the 130
((((((((( authentication function. Authentic motifs and only these motifs represent because you see there, friend Sancho Panza, where thirty or so more outrageous
narrative facts, which are the elementary constituents of narrative worlds. The term giants are discovered, with whom I intend to do battle (...)
"fact" is very appropriate here if we take it as Warnock proposes, as designating a - What giants? - said Sancho Panza.
- Those you see there - replied his master - with long arms, some of
"quasi-linguistic" entity. According to Warnock, "there is no way to identify a fact
which are almost two leagues long.
• except as what some true statement asserts, or as what some person asserts when
- Look, your grace - replied Sancho - those that appear there are not
making a true statement" (Warnock 1963, 13). If the concept of fact is interpreted giants, but windmills, and what appear to be arms in them are the sails, which,
as a "quasi-linguistic" entity, we have at our disposal a useful term for the turned by the wind, make the millstone go.
elementary constituents of semiotic worlds. We speak of objects, things, states of
affairs, as constituents of the real world, but we must speak of "quasi-linguistic" Clearly the text confronts us with the question: what exists in the narrative world of Don
Quixote, windmills or giants? and our answer is the same as Martínez-Bonati's: the
facts as constituents of semiotic worlds, since semiotic worlds are constructed by
windmills. The reason for our decision is identical to his: we know that there are
specific signifying acts.
windmills in the field because the narrator says so (Martínez-Bonati 1973, 186).7
Narrative worlds, as a special category of semiotic worlds, are series (or However, Martínez-Bonati formulates his answer in terms of mimetic narrative
collections) of narrative facts. To affirm a narrative fact means to authenticate the semantics and therefore assigns truth values to the narrator's statements. In contrast, my
corresponding motive. A motif is authenticated if a "source" with authentication authority approach is based on the idea that no truth values can be assigned to the narrator's
is introduced into the speech act of the anonymous narrator of the Er-form. This is done in statements, since they do not refer to a world, but rather construct a world. This is the
such a way that the sentence expressing the corresponding motive occurs in the context of fundamental difference between a semantics of mimetic narrative fiction and one of
the narrator's statement, in that part of the narrative text that is interpreted as originating possible worlds. The consequences of this fundamental difference are no less
from the authoritative source. As part of the narrator's statement, the sentence expressing important, but we will not pursue this topic further here. We must simply note that in
the authentic motive is subject to formal, stylistic, semantic, etc. constraints that determine the language of our theory the fictional existence of the mills is explained by the fact
the texture of the narrator's statement. Thus we come to the conclusion that authentic motifs that the expression of the corresponding motive is found in the context of the narrator's
have specific textural features that identify them and make it possible to distinguish them discourse. The expression is within the narrator's authority to authenticate. If the reason
from non-authentic motifs. Ultimately, narrative facts, and consequently narrative worlds, had been expressed only in the
are determined by the forms of their expression, by the texture of authentic motifs. This
determination is of fundamental importance for narrative semantics and we will return to it
97 Using the concept of the narrator in his “that-he-says semantics.” Martínez Bonati avoids the
in the conclusion of this study. weakness of Wood's formulation.
It is time to demonstrate how the authentication function operates in a narrative
text that represents the binary model. It is not difficult to find examples of this type of
narrative. I will borrow an example recently used for a similar purpose (Martínez-Bonati
1973) for two reasons: the example is very instructive because it explicitly raises the
question of fictional existence and it also gives me the opportunity to highlight the
similarities and differences between my position and that of Martínez-Bonati. The example
is a passage from Don Quixote, which is called

the well-known scene of the encounter with the windmills:

At this point they discovered thirty or forty windmills in that field; and
as soon as Don Quixote saw them he said to his squire:
- Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we could have hoped for,
132 133
speaks of Don Quixote and/or Sancho Panza, its value of authenticity would change: in
that case the motive would be inauthentic and the existence of the windmills would not
be established as a fictional fact.
Let us pause for a moment on the example and its discussion by Martínez-
Bonati, since it takes us a step further in the development of the idea of narrative
worlds. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza express divergent ideas about the objects in the
countryside, and so we must naturally ask who is right and who is wrong. The answer is
obvious: Sancho is right and Don Quixote is wrong. In justifying this response,
Martínez-Bonati formulates a general rule: "the statements of novel characters that coincide
with those of the narrator are necessarily true, while those that deviate from them are
necessarily false" (1975, 186). I agree with Martínez-Bonati that truth values can be
assigned to the statements or phrases of narrative agents. However, possible worlds
semantics gives us an opportunity to formulate more precisely the criteria for assigning
truth values to these sentences: the basis of evaluation is not agreement with the narrator's
statements, but correspondence with the narrative facts. A sentence or statement by a
narrative agent is true if it agrees with the narrative facts, and is false if it contradicts the
narrative facts. This formulation makes it possible to use the concept of truth from
correspondence theory to assess the narrative agents' statements, while Martínez-Bonati's
interpretation presupposes, in my opinion, the concept of truth from coherence theory.
This discussion leads us to the conclusion that we need two evaluation procedures
for narrative sentences: a) narrative sentences are evaluated in terms of authenticity values.
The assignment of authenticity value determines the function of the sentence in the
construction of the narrative world: only sentences to which "authentic" value is assigned
are considered to express narrative facts, that is, to participate in the formation of the
narrative world. All sentences in the narrative text are subject to authenticity assessment. It
should be noted, however, that at this level of assessment narrative sentences are beyond
truth values, b) Narrative sentences are evaluated in terms of truth values. The assignment
of truth value depends on its agreement or disagreement with narrative facts (facts of the
narrative world). All the sentences of the narrative agents are necessarily subject to the
second 134
evaluation process.98
In my view, a narrative semantics that distinguishes two forms of valuation will
have clear advantages over other theories of fictional "truth." Firstly, it will be enriched by
the concept of authentication, which explains the procedures of world construction, and
thus will offer a criterion of fictional existence, making explicit the fact of the autonomy of
semiotic actional worlds in relation to the real world. Secondly, it will not require the
abandonment or modification of the classical correspondence theory's concept of truth. If
we can defend the concept of a narrative world as a series (or collection) of fictional facts,
then we will be able to use the classical concept of truth in defining the second form of
evaluation. It should be noted that the concept of truth and the criteria of truth in fictional 135
narratives are subordinated to the concept of authentication. Fictional truth is strictly "truth
of/in" the constructed narrative world and its criterion is agreement or disagreement with
authenticated narrative facts.99
At the beginning of this study I formulated a basic requirement for a theory of
narrative semantics: the theory should be operational in the sense that its concepts help us
to discover the semantic structuring of narrative texts or classes of texts. I would like to
briefly demonstrate this potential of the concepts of authentication and narrative world by
is, by the game of narrative facts established through authentic narrative motifs. Inauthentic
setting out the principles of semantic macrostructuring of narrative texts controlled by the
motive sets shape the belief worlds of individual narrative agents. By the second form of
binary model.
assessment, the worlds of
The center of the semantic macrostructure is provided by the narrative world, that
 ■ %8 There is a thorny issue that would require a full discussion: Once the narrative world is at least
partially constructed, are not the narrator's sentences also subject to truth assessment? Not necessarily if
logical consistency becomes a necessary prerequisite for the narrator's authentication authority.
Contradictions in narrative facts are explained as errors of the author. The example of the narrative
technique that tolerates, or even requires, contradictions falls outside the binary model and will be studied
later.

"This concept and criterion of truth applies to ersatz or replacement sentences: in the end, their truth
values depend on the authenticity value of the corresponding "original" sentences in the narrative text.
 ( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( Yo ( ( ( ( (((((((
belief is put into relation with the narrative world, this relationship oscillating between authenticity.101 I wish to explore the degrees of authenticity and the consequent features
total conformity and total contradiction. Following a representation according to set theory, of narrative semantics, for two non-binary narrative structures, the subjectivized Er-form
the relationships between the narrative world and the belief worlds will be expressed by the and the Ich-fonn.
intersections of the a) Subjectivized Er-form. It can be loosely characterized as a narrative mode that
4 set of authentic motives and sets of inauthentic motives, with the intersection occurring in cases of develops the formal features of Er-form narrative, but the semantic features of the
inauthentic motives that are true of/in the narrative world. If this intersection is empty, we characters' speech (for a
can speak of a satellite belief world, a belief world in total contradiction with the narrative - - P." . , 'll
world. 100 (for a more detailed discussion, see Dolozcl 1973.) Due to their semantics, the
Yo
NON-BINARY MODELS • Sentences from the subjectivized Er-form introduce narrative motifs L
matched with attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, etc. of the narrative agents. At the same
So far we have followed the problem of authentication and truth in the simplest time, by being incorporated through their formal features into the discourse of the Er-
narrative model, the binary model, characterized by a clear and unambiguous opposition form narrator, the sentences receive a certain degree of authenticity that is granted to
between the discourse of the narrator and that of the characters. A function of • was them by the narrator's authority of authenticity. • As a result, it can be said that these
postulated in it | sentences present narrative facts relating to a specific agent. The worlds formed by these
i two-value authentication as a representation of the world formation procedure applied within it. facts are not the absolutely authentic worlds of the anonymous narrator of the Er-form,
model._ Without. However, we know empirically that there are many narrative texts that do not follow since they are permeated by the attitudes of the agents; nor are they the belief worlds of
the binary model. If we want to explain the procedures of h formation of the world in non-binary the agents, since they are authenticated by the discourse of the Er-form. They represent a
structures we must prepare ourselves transitional zone between the absolutely authentic world of facts
for a fundamental modification of authentication theory, consisting of replacing the two- . narratives and the absolutely inauthentic belief worlds of the agents.
valued authentication function by a graded function. It will be recognized that the formal G. Flaubert was a master of the subjectivized Er-form102 and I will use the
change of the authentication function entails substantial changes in the entire system of example of Madame Bovary to show the semantic macrostructuring of a narrative text
narrative semantics. where this kind of authentication function operates. He
The two-value authentication function can assign only two opposing authenticity
Yo The center of the narrative macrostructure of Madame Bovary is
values. The graded authentication function is defined as a function that assigns different degrees of
represented by a narrative world formed by motifs introduced and absolutely
authenticity to narrative motifs. Theoretically we could talk about a function j continuous, but it
authenticated by the anonymous narrator of Er-form. The phrase "When they left Tostes
would be very difficult to operationalize a continuous function in
in March, Madame Bovary was pregnant"
, narrative semantics, so we will rather think about the function of
■ ("Quand on partit de Tostes. au mois de mars, Mme Bovary était enceinte», 1 ■ 90)
Graded authentication as that characterized by discrete intervals located between extreme
expresses an absolutely authentic motif, a narrative fact in the
values of authenticity and non-authenticity. meaning of the binary model. However, if we read, for example, the portrait • of Charles
Bovary (part I, chap. VH) we clearly perceive features of the ■
_________________________YO?
In a more abstract model of authentication we could present the graded authentication function
as a framework in which the two-valued authentication function • would represent a special case.
02
। Mieke Bal contemplates the same technique when she talks about "double focusing" in
Madame Bovary (Bal 1977. 95 et seq.).

"These satellite worlds are usually motivated as delusions, hallucinations or lies. ’

Y
o
 Emma's subjective semantics:
((((((((((
Charles' conversation was as flat as a sidewalk, with everyone's ideas
walking across it in ordinary clothes, provoking neither laughter nor dreams... narrative agent (the discourse of an agent who narrates). If we were to use the
He couldn't swim, or fence, or shoot, and on one occasion he couldn't even binary model we would have to conclude that the narrator of the Ich-form has no
explain to Emma a term about horsemanship that she had found in a novel. authentication authority. However, we are aware that the narrator of the Ich-form
19.5 (La conversation de Charles était plate commc un trotloir de rue, el les idees has a privileged position within the series of characters who act. This privileged
de tout le monde y défilaient, dans leur costume ordinaire, sans exciter d'émotion, de position is given by the fact that in the absence of the anonymous narrator of the
rire ou de reverie... H ne savait ni nager, ni faire des armes, ni tirer le pistolet, et il ne Er-form, the narrator of the Ich-form assumes the role of constructor of the
put, un jour, lui expliquer un terme d'équitation, qu'elle avait rencontre dans un narrative world. However, the authentication theory should assign a lower level of
roman. 59) authentication authority to the Ich-fonn narrator relative to the absolute authority of
the Er-form narrator. The world constructed by the narrator of Ich-form is
This is Charles to Emma, Charles, to use a common metaphor, seen through Emma's relatively authentic. It is not the world of absolute narrative facts, or, to use our
eyes. At the same time, however, this Charles possesses a certain degree of tentative term, an authentic world of belief of the narrator Ich.
authenticity from being described in phrases embedded in the Er-form discourse. The We have noted that in the absence of any absolute authenticating authority
degree of authenticity of this series of motives can best be judged in comparison with the construction of the narrative world must be entrusted to the relative authority of
the absolutely inauthentic motives introduced into an agent's speech (Rodolpbe): I
the narrator Ich. But this is only a negative justification of the authenticating
have lost so many things! Always alone! If only I had had a goal in my life, I would
authority of this type of narrator. Positive justifications can be discovered if we
have fallen in love, found someone, used all my energy, overcome everything,
surpassed everything! look at the mechanisms of data.-------------------------------------------------------------
(Hey! I lacked so many things! Always alone! Ah! sij'avais eu un but dans la vie, si Ich-form narrative designed to establish and maintain the narrator's authority. We
j'eusse rencontre une affection, si j'avais trouvé quelqu'un... Oh! as I opened my can say, albeit somewhat metaphorically, that the narrator of the Ich-form must
energy I was capable, I surged all, I brisé all! 171). earn the authority of authentication, while the narrator of the Er-form has it by
convention.
This is clearly Rodolphe's world of belief, it has no authenticity and agreement or The basis of the narrator “Ich’s” authentication authority is his privileged
disagreement with the narrative facts would have to be judged separately. knowledge. There are two essential kinds of mechanisms for establishing and
b) Ich-form. Several classes in Ich-form's narrative mode present authentication maintaining this quality of the narrator: a) mechanisms that limit the scope of the
problems that, in my opinion, should be handled using the concept of a graduated narrator's knowledge; b) mechanisms that identify the sources of his knowledge.
authentication function. At first glance this speech seems form! and semantically The limits of the narrator "Ich"'s knowledge can be defined as follows.
equivalent to the speech of a 138 • negative mode, by an explicit renunciation to introduce motives that are $ beyond the
scope of their knowledge. An example from Adolphe de Constant will show this
mechanism:

I never knew how this relationship came about. The first time I saw
Ellénore, she had already been around for a while and was, so to speak,
recognized.
(Jai toujours ignored comment s'était formed a liaison qui, ¡orsque jai vu
pour la premiere fois Ellénore, était, des longtemps, établie et pour ainsi
dirc consacrée. 23)

. 139

59. Cordur
oy
 A fundamental quality of the semantics of the Ich-form that Adolphe

(((((Cl' represents is the necessarily incompleteness of its narrative world. 103 Since the
world is constructed on the basis of limited knowledge, it necessarily reveals
important gaps. In some cases, the narrator attempts to fill in these gaps by means
The statement refers to the beginnings of the relationship between of hypotheses, a category of motifs that is explicitly designated as inauthentic, 4
Ellénore and the Count, an event that, due to its temporal position, is beyond the but in most cases these gaps are left unfilled. The extension of the gaps is an
scope of the narrator's experience. Of course the narrator could remain silent important macrostructural feature of these narrative worlds, since it determines
about this event, as he does about many others that he does not know about, but their more or less fragmentary character.
by explicitly expressing his ignorance he demonstrates his scruples in defining We have stressed that the narrator's authenticating authority in the type of
the limits of his knowledge and, consequently, the scope of his authenticating Ich-form represented by Adolphe must be constantly justified. It is justified,
authority. generally speaking, by the fact that the narrative text is based on the model of
Most of the motifs introduced by the narrator "Ich" that appear in "real" narrative execution of a personal narrator who may be known. The
Adolphe are motifs of direct experience: "Leaving Gottingen I went to the little village of D authority of this narrator is the authority of someone who experiences, of a
—" ("Je me rendís, en quittant Gottingue, dans la petite ville de D***". 18). When this
witness, a mediator of information acquired from other sources. Because of this
direct source of motives is not available, the sources used by the narrator are 8 they clear connection between literary narrative and "actual" narrative performance, we
specify meticulously. A basic problem that must be faced by the can call this type of Ich-fonn a motivated mode of Ich-form.
5 narrator «Ich» is the inaccessibility of the mental states of others There is no reason to assume that the motivated mode is the only type of
"it is ■ Ich-form available in literary narratives. Rather than go into a detailed
narrative agents. In this case Constant frequently uses the well-known ■ /
investigation of other possible types, I wish to briefly point out a type that appears
mechanism of "reading" the mental state in the observable physical behavior, in the facial
expression, tone of voice, etc., of the narrative agent: "I perceived in Ellenore's features a to lie at the opposite pole of the spectrum of possible types from Ich-form'. This is
an Ich-form that rejects the "real" narrative execution model and instead accepts
feeling of discontent and {s sadness" ("Je démlai dans les traits d'Ellénore une the anonymous Er-form narrative as its model. Consequently, all essential features
impression de of the motivated mode are discarded, and especially the limited scope of the
- mécontetement et de tristesse. 34). When the reason is not available narrator's knowledge and the identification of the sources of knowledge.
Due to the narrator's absence from the scene, reports from agent-witnesses may Necessarily, the narrator "Ich" of this type is not in
be used as a source. The events of the night when Ellénore falls ill after receiving
----J - -------------------- ------------ -—
the decisive letters (chap. X) are introduced into the reports of Ellénore's 103
Narrative worlds are always incomplete (see Heintz 1979, 90 ff.). This ■principle should
servants. All these mechanisms - direct experience, "reading," mediated reports
be one of the fundamental axioms of narrative semantics. But the narrative worlds of the Ich-fonn we discuss
from witnesses - make it possible to introduce motifs into the context of the are incomplete in a specific, "epistemic" sense, based on the limited knowledge of the "constructor" of the i;
narrator "Ich"'s discourse and thereby assign a relative authenticity value to those world.
motifs. Yo
In the type of Ich-form represented by Adolphe the narrator controls the '°4 Introducing hypotheses, conjectures, suppositions, that is, inauthentic motives, is a
introduction of motifs to such an extent that the possibility of developing other agents' belief privilege not enjoyed by the anonymous narrator of the Er-form. Evidently this part of his narrative execution
worlds (and especially satellite worlds) is greatly limited. The only source of inauthentic results from the fact that the narrator of the Ich-fonn is, personalized, that is, it combines the functions of
motifs are statements by narrative agents expressed in conversations with the narrator, since narrator and narrative agent.
interior monologues by agents other than the narrator are impossible in this narrative
structure. The narrative macrostructure of Adolphe is dominated by the world of i A
belief
relatively authentic to the narrator, an egocentric structure
which suppresses (partly by incorporation) the belief worlds of 2 others and
agents.

TO: HO
4/
( ( ( ( ( ( ( (( (gl
■
4
1. The elimination of literary norms and rules is not a destructive process, but a
position to justify his authentication authority; on the contrary, he appropriates the
conventional authentication authority that is associated with the anonymous narrator of constructive one. By eliminating existing rules, literature opens up new semantic
Er-fonn. By producing a text that follows the Q rules of Er-form narrative, the narrator possibilities and expands its capacity to produce meaning. The destruction of old norms
usurps the authentication convention inherent in this text. . produces a new meaning. In the case of authentication, the destruction of the
Two examples of unmotivated Ich-form come to mind. The first is the section authentication authority opens up new dimensions of meaning by making the very concept
"Amour de Swann" from the play Du cote de chez Swann. The narrator of Ich-form of fictional existence prociematic.
(Marcel) makes his presence perceptible through occasional statements, such as "my 2. Most theories of literary semantics, including theories of fictionality, find
grandfather," "And he did not have, as I had in Combray in my childhood" ("mon serious difficulties in explaining non-standard structures. Typically, literary theories
grandpére," "He was not like I was in Combray in my childhood," etc.) (see Genette explain norm-free structures as deviations from the norms or rules of the model that had
1972, 250). However, the introduction of motifs in this text is not entirely restricted to been constructed to explain the norm-based structures, but the fundamental weakness of
Marcel's possible knowledge. We are presented with all the details of Swann's actions, the concept of deviation has often been pointed out: some of the most representative and
motivations, feelings, etc. The authoritarian narrative discourse is integrated with the original literary works have to be explained as deviations, that is, only in a negative way.
Ich-form, and the principles of the first-person narration mode are redefined. Proust's Universal literary theories that cover both the structures
text is a victory of convention over imitation. The "ch" narrative is . completely . 143
conventionalized by separating itself, so to speak, from its source of elocution. CXLIII CXLIV
The existence of the unmotivated Ich-form is supported by my second example, Hrabal's
popular contemporary Czech short story called Trains Seen Up Close. In this text the
protagonist-narrator not only observes, but also narrates, his own death (84-85). From
the point of view of motivated Ich-fonn, and of course from the point of view of any
"real" narrative performance, such a text is absolutely impossible. It is, however,
possible as a literary text, since the literary-narrative act is not restricted to models of
speaking, writing and thinking. 106
WORLDS WITHOUT AUTHENTICATION

We have discussed a few examples from various narrative modes to demonstrate how the
authenticating authority of the fictional narrator is established and maintained through
speech act conventions, narrative mode rules, and textural devices. We have followed the
notion that authenticating authority is a necessary factor in the construction of narrative
worlds: it confers the property of fictional existence on semiotic objects, whether they are
motifs or series of motifs. Genre conventions and the specific rules of narrative modes,
which govern the operations of authentication authority, represent the fundamental
semantic norms of fictional narratives.
It is well known that in the field of literature there is no safe rule. Literary
evolution is a constant challenge to literary norms, a permanent process of modification,
creation and destruction of norms. It is not surprising that authentication standards and
rules have followed the same pattern: they have been modified and in some extreme cases.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- until
eliminated. The destruction of authentication authority is one of the most fascinating
developments in the evolution of fictional narrative. The description and explanation of
this process is a rather difficult problem in narrative theory, and I can offer only a
preliminary summary here.
This approach is based on two general assumptions:

CXLIII Transgressions of the strictures of motivated Ich-fonn are not restricted to "L'Amour de
Swann," but have been noted elsewhere in Proust's novel as well (see Genette 1972, 221 ff.). For this
reason Genette calls Proust's narrative mode poiimoiiol.
CXLIV One of the essential features of the literary narrative act that deviates from "real" speech acts is
its timelessness, highlighted by Genette: "It is an instantaneous act, without a temporal dimension" ("II
s'agit la d'vn acte instantané, sans dimension temporelle", Genette 1972, 234). 142 •
 ( ( ( C ( ( ( ((,(
Standardized and non-standardized are certainly formally impressive for their colloquial Russian, from the "omniscient" position to that of "limited knowledge".
simplicity and consistency; and yet, they could be unsatisfactory from an The last feature is especially relevant to our topic. The narrator of "The
empirical point of view, since they could not account for the complexity and Overcoat" can certainly be characterized as "omniscient" when he introduces, for
variety of literary structures. Empirically satisfactory literary theories do not example, motifs from the mental life of Akakij Akakijevich. This is only possible on
have to offer a single, universal model of literary structures: rather, they can be the basis of conventional authentication authority. But suddenly we are faced with a
designated as sets of models capable of accounting for fundamentally different twist when the narrator professes his ignorance of Akakikh's thoughts: "It is impossible
literary structures. If these differences reach the level of contradiction we to enter a man's soul and find out everything he is thinking" (p. 145). Such a claim
should be able to accept contradictory models in our system. I think that this contradicts the narrator's previous "practice" and raises fundamental doubts about his
theoretical liberalism coincides completely with our intuitive conception of authentication authority. Gogol's irony regarding the conventional world-building
literature as an open system, a system that constantly offers new (and often procedures of fictional narratives is especially palpable in the conclusion of "The
contradictory) possibilities of structuring. Nose." Commenting on the fantastic element of the story, the narrator explicitly states
We have already proposed two models of authentication in fictional his lack of understanding and suggests that various explanations are possible (p. 70). 107
narratives, the graduated and binary authentication functions. From a purely The final questions of the narrator, who constructed the events of the story, have a basic
formal point of view, it is not difficult to subsume the two models into a more meaning: Did these events happen, could they have happened? The same authority that
abstract model of the continuous authentication function with two values has affirmed fictional facts, fictional existence,
in .sus. extremes. However, once we move into the realm of narrative where Yo It raises doubts about these facts, about this existence.
authentication rules are removed we find ourselves beyond any two-valued Yo ' I am convinced that the narrator without authentication authority
function. I will argue that we need a new theoretical explanation in terms of a > It is a very important factor in many modern narratives, including
three-valued function, with the values “authentic,” “inauthentic,” and the novels of Kafka, Beckett and others. This intuitive idea requires, of course,
“unauthenticated.” confirmation through a thorough investigation of the semantics of the modern novel.
Before we go any further, let's outline the process of destroying
However, our theoretical approach to this new phenomenon can be formulated on the
authentication standards. All authentication procedures depend on the
basis of the limited evidence drawn from Gogol's work. If we were to interpret "The
authentication authority of the fictional narrator. Authentication is eliminated
Coat" and "The Nose" in terms of the authentication function of two values, we would
by denying the narrator the corresponding authority, which can be achieved
have to conclude that all their motifs are inauthentic • and, as a consequence, that these
through mechanisms that deserve careful study. I will now mention two of
texts have not constructed narrative worlds. However, this conclusion contradicts the
them: a) the narrator is inconsistent in his positions or assertions, and thus
fact that in these texts the basic distinction between the narrator and the narrative agents
destroys his "credibility"; b) the narrator adopts an ironic attitude regarding his
is maintained. Therefore I find it preferable to interpret the structure
authentication authority and thus turns the act of narrating into a non-binding
game. 107
It is interesting to note that in the handwritten version of "The Nose" the fantastic events are
Both mechanisms can be found in the popular narrative mode of rendered inauthentic by the narrator's final comments; what happened was only a dream of Kovalkhov.
Russian fiction, the so-called skaz. Skaz is a narrative in which all the norms This original version is a fantastic hysteria
and rules of the narrative act become the object of irony. In the classic : standard in the meaning Todorov gives to the term (Todorov 1970).
examples of Russian skaz, Gogol's stories "The Overcoat" (see Ejkhenbaum
' . 145
1919) and "The Nose," the narrative moves freely from Er-form to Ich-form,
from an elevated or bookish style to! 144
 ( (,Yo( ( (
semantics of these texts in terms of a three-valued authentication function. The basic idea is that narrative worlds as systems of fictional facts are
Within this theoretical framework, it is possible to affirm that the narrator constructed by speech acts of the authoritative source, the narrator in the broad
constructs a narrative world by introducing a series of narrative motifs, but does sense: the narrator's ability to make individuals, objects, events, etc. exist is
not authenticate it since his authority to do so is undermined. We are presented given by his authenticating authority. The narrator's authenticating authority is
with fictional worlds whose existence is ambiguous, problematic, undefined. the basic norm of the narrative genre, determined by artistic conventions and/or
These worlds are neither authentic nor inauthentic, but rather create an by the rules of narrative modes. Authentication procedures are a fundamental
indeterminate space between fictional existence and fictional non-existence. component of narrative structure.
We lack a satisfactory semantic metalanguage to describe the status of The fact that the existence of individuals, objects, events, etc. in the
unauthenticated narrative worlds: our thought and language are dominated by fictional world is determined by the ways in which their corresponding motives
traditional two-valued semantics.CXLV CXLVI Modern fiction, by constructing are expressed in the narrative text places the concept of fictional existence in the
worlds without authentication, points to the limitations of this semantics. He has domain of intensional semantics, as conceived by Frege. Fregc's intensional
used his power to construct possible worlds to question the universality and semantics accounts for those components of meaning that are determined by the
absolute validity of our basic dichotomies. The law of the excluded middle forms of expression rather than by the reference relation. Being determined by
prohibits everything between existence and non-existence. However, is it not the forms of expression, the structure of the narrative world is a purely
possible to construct semiotic worlds suspended between existence and non-
intentional object and, as such, can be freely manipulated by the text. 109
existence? Nothing could demonstrate more clearly the capacity of literature to
produce new meaning than such an experiment. Since existence in a narrative world is an intensional property it cannot
be explained by a theory based on the extensional concept of truth. The
CONCLUSION narrative speech act of world-building cannot be compared or identified with
speech acts such as stating the truth or falsehood, lying, imitating or pretending.
Literary theorists, with a few exceptions, have treated the problem of truth in All these speech acts presuppose the independent existence of a world to which
fiction without much fuss. On the other hand, the extensive attention that the the corresponding statements refer or fail to refer. To base literary semantics on
problem has received in philosophy and logical semantics has been directed any of these referential speech acts means to completely ignore the specific
predominantly to purely philosophical and logical problems, such as the character of the act of world-building.
m=a

problem of reference, the problem of the classification of sentences, the Although not designated as such, many intentional concepts have been
ontological problem of existence, the technical problems of "deviant" logic, etc. discussed in literary theory (poetic figures, metaphors, plot construction, forms
The main purpose of this study is to incorporate the problem of truth into the of characterization, narrative modes, etc.). However, a systematic intensional
framework of literary semantics, that is, into an empirical theory of the semantics and a systematic theory of intensional objects are only the initial
production of meaning in fictional texts. In this task I have come to the stages of its development. I am convinced that it will become increasingly
conclusion that in narrative semantics the concept of truth must be based on the evident that intensional semantics is the center of literary theory and, of course,
concept of authentication, a concept that explains fictional existence. My thesis the center of

CXLV The three-valued semantic interpretation presents serious difficulties well known to critics of "free" logic. Van Fraassen's (1966) attempt to escape the restrictions of! binarism can be seen as essential for
future discussions of three-valued systems (cf. (also Lambert 1969, 106).
CXLVI For more information on the concept of intensionality in narrative semantics see Dulel 1979.
(((((((((
any semiotic theory of meaning (cf. Eco 1976, 58 et seq.). 8
The universe of meaning and intentional objects is the richest universe
created by man. By mapping out this universe, intensional semantics will give NARRATIVE WORLDS
us knowledge of meanings that we have only been aware of intuitively, or
perhaps not even that.
Semantics is one of the most dynamic fields of current semiotic
studies. In the field of verbal signs, linguistic and literary semantics has been
enriched by the emerging field of textual semantics. Furthermore, the current
semantics of verbal signs has developed close links with logical semantics or
at least with the tendencies of logical semantics that conceive a logical system
as "an explanatory model in terms of which certain aspects of the functioning
of ordinary language can be understood" (Hintikka 1969, 5).
In the context of these theoretical developments, I would like to
address in this study a fundamental problem of narrative semantics. Narrative
semantics is the study of the narrative structures underlying the stories
expressed in narrative texts (also in other sign media such as film, television,
comics, etc.). I will focus on a problem of narrative semantics that can be
formulated as follows: How is a sequence of narrated events organized into a
coherent story? Accepting that the coherence of history must be explained by
global semantic (macrostructural) rules, I would like to propose a system of
such rules. There are two formal requirements that these rules must satisfy: a)
they should be derived from a logically homogeneous conceptual model; b)
they should generate all possible coherent story structures. In my opinion the
notion of narrative modalities satisfies these requirements.
Narrative modalities can be interpreted as global restrictions that are
imposed on the possible courses of narrated actions (the descriptions of the
action).110 Concretely, it can be said that a modal system defines a narrative
world in which only certain courses of narrated actions are admissible. Our
first task, therefore,

110
In the theory of real human actions, this role of (deontic) modalities was recognized
by Von Wright (1963. 1 968).

■ 149
 ( ( ( ('C( ( “
5 fl
It will be to specify the series of modal systems and the corresponding narrative worlds. The examples are in themselves banal: these story structures were
Later we will try to describe some basic story structures that can be generated in particular already explicitly described by V. Propp (1928). However, it is important for
narrative worlds. Our discussion will remain at an informal level, as I prefer to explain the our argument that the concepts of "infringement," "punishment," "task," or
ideas of narrative modalities rather than develop a formally satisfactory system.1 "reward" are meaningful (and can arise) only in a deontic world, where explicit
It is currently possible to define four modal systems with the help of modal logic
or implicit norms are valid. In a world without norms, these story structures
and, consequently, four narrative worlds:
could not be generated: there is a necessary connection between deontic
| 1. The alethic world, in which the narrated actions are subject to
modalities and the stories of infringement and proof.
the "classical" modalities of possibility, impossibility and necessity.
Let us now consider another narrative world, the axiological one. The
4 2. The deontic world, where the narrated actions are governed by the
assignment of axiological modalities creates a world of values and disvalues.
modalities of permission, prohibition and obligation (see Von Wright 1963, 1968).
As far as narrative agents are concerned, their presence produces desires and
3. The axiological world, with the narrated actions dominated by the modalities of
goodness, evil and indifference (see Rescher 1969, • Ivin 1970). repulsions. In a direct case, which is the most normal, the values are desirable,
while the disvalues are repugnant (undesirable). Well, if a narrative agent finds
ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF ARTICLES AND PUBLICATION DATA 3 himself in a state in which he lacks the desired value, he will initiate actions
LUBOMÍR DOLEZELA'S CONTRIBUTION TO CONTEMPORARY that pursue the change from the state of lack to that of possession. It is not
LITERARY STUDIES..............................................................................4 difficult to perceive that the narrative structure "lack of a value - acquisition -
possession" represents the popular story of the search. There are countless
((((((((‘...........................................................................................................8 narratives that express this basic history of the axiological world, from the
expedition of the Argonauts to erotic narratives.
ORAL LITERATURE AND WRITTEN LITERATURE.......................12 The axiological world is the one that best lends itself to demonstrating a
(((((((............................................................................................................17 property of the modalities that has a general meaning for narrative theory. The
modalities can be related to a supraindividual code, that is, validated by said
(((((((............................................................................................................20 code, or by a specific individual (personal values and standards). In the first
( c (......................................................................................................................20 case we speak of codexal modalities, and in the second, of relativized
modalities.
2................................................................................................................21 The existence of relativized modalities establishes the mutual modal
relations between the narrative agents: if their relativized modalities are
NOMOTHETIC AND IDEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE INPOETIC...21 identical, we can say that the agents are in a state of modal concord. If their
((( ( ( ( ( " " "................................................................................................31 relativized modalities are contrary or different, we will speak of modal discord
between these narrative agents. Modal concord will lead to stories of alliances
ALIENS AND VISITORS IN LITERARY METALANGUAGE..........32 (cooperation), while modal discord will produce stories of conflict.
((((((((...........................................................................................................45 . We must evaluate these concepts in relation to the structure of the
search. Modal discord dominates the relationships between the seeker and the
((((((‘((.........................................................................................................50 original possessor of the desired value. For the holder, the state of possession
hga...............................................................................................................52 of the value is good and his actions will tend to preserve said 151

((((((((((........................................................................................................61
1,1
There is a more formal introduction of narrative modalities in Doloel 1976a.

Y
o

Yo
i4
*
 ( C ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ,(................................................................................................67
THE LITERARY TEXT, ITS WORLD AND ITS STYLE....................68
(((((((((.........................................................................................................69
(-((((((...........................................................................................................77
' C(.(l( ( ( (...................................................................................................84
FICTIONAL REFERENCE: MIMESIS AND POSSIBLE WORLDS...84
( ( ( ( C ( ( ' ( ( ( (........................................................................................85
(((((.((((............................................................................................................87
( ( ( ( (' ( ( ( ( my..................................................................................................88
( ( ( ( ((, ( ( (.................................................................................................90
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( (................................................................................................92
TRUTH AND AUTHENTICITY IN NARRATIVE...............................92
((((((((.........................................................................................................100
( ( ( ( c C ( ( ( (...............................................................................................100
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( Yo..........................................................................................105
(((((Cl'...............................................................................................................108
( ( ( C ( ( ( ((,(................................................................................................111
NARRATIVE WORLDS.......................................................................114
( ( ( ('C( ( “.....................................................................................................115
((((((((Cla..........................................................................................................124
„x...............................................................................................................128
((((.((((((............................................................................................................132
A THEME OF MOTIVATION AND ACTION...................................135
INNOVATION AS WORLD TRANSFORMATION...........................143
( ((( ( .( ( c ( (.....................................................................................................146
(,( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( c ' Yo.................................................................................147
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF KAFKA.............................................153
(((((-((((("...................................................................................................157
( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (.(.............................................................................................162
( ( ( CC ( C ( ( (..............................................................................................166
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF DOSTOYEVSKY'S THE IDIOT......170
THE WORLDS OF ZAMJATIN...........................................................176
((((((((,(......................................................................................................179
c ( ( ( < ((( " " "..................................................................................................180
(((((-...................................................................................................................184
THE ROAD OF HISTORY AND THE DETOURS OF THE GOOD
SOLDIER...............................................................................................184
( ( ( ( ( c ( (,( ((..................................................................................................187
( ( ( ( ( C ( ( " 1 '.............................................................................................188
LITERATURE.......................................................................................191
1.................................................................................................................191
Yo......................................................................................................................191
( ((((((( ( (...................................................................................................195
( ( ( ( ( < ( ( ( ( ( YO..................................................................................197

Let us consider several examples that illustrate this power.

To begin, let us go to the deontic world, which is the one that offers the two most
instructive cases. In the deontic world, the narrated actions are subject to two types of rules:
obligation and prohibition. A prohibition is usually accompanied by a sanction, while an obligation is
accompanied by a reward. Imposing a prohibition entails the division of all future courses of the
narrated action: those prohibited and those permitted. Now, if a narrative agent executes an action
: prohibited is subject to a penalty. This therefore generates a
| well-known story structure: “prohibition – violation – punishment.” Yeah
{ obligations are imposed the situation will be similar, leading to the generation of the structure of the
story known as proof:
"obligation (assignment of a task) - completion of the task - ■ reward."
state; for the seeker, that state is bad and his role is to change it. The necessary 152alternatives. According to Hintikka, the alternatives to a given world M are
consequence of modal discord is antagonism between the agents, which is often resolved "those possible worlds that could have materialized instead of M" (Hintikka
by a fight, although it can also be resolved by a sacrifice (the gift can be a form of 1972, 399). It is true that not more than one can be observed directly: however,
sacrifice). It is easy to see that modal discord also underlies the relationship between two alternative possible worlds to the actual one can be described (constructed) by
agents seeking the same value, and the discord will be resolved in a similar way to the conditional or counterfactual statements (Hintikka 1972, 400). In other words,
previous case. On the other hand, the relationship between the seeker and his assistant is alternative possible worlds to the real one are logical constructs.
one of modal concord, since both aspire to achieve the same state, and this is axiologically This observation relates the logical concept of alternative worlds to our
good for both. concept of narrative worlds. Since its beginnings, narrative has been concerned
It is not difficult to find simple examples of story structures that arise from deontic with the construction of alternative narrative worlds to the world of our
and axiological worlds. In the epistemic world, the most normal story structure is also experience ("supernatural" worlds). The relationship between the natural and
accessible: the mystery story, the one with a secret. The modal basis of the mystery story is supernatural ("wonderful") worlds has frequently been addressed by narrative
the transformation from ignorance (or false belief) to knowledge. Has the structure of theory: for example, Todorov's book Introduction to Fantastic Literature made
mystery stories been explicitly described in those terms? '2 " a significant contribution to the structural study of this problem. It seems to me
I would like to emphasize again that the purpose of these examples is solely to that the modal theory of narrative can reveal some new aspects of the problem
show that well-known story structures can be given a modal interpretation. To prove that and can, in particular, incorporate this problem into a broader theoretical
modalities can represent the semantic basis of narrative theory, our model must be assessed framework.
and contrasted with a plurality of stories manifested in narrative texts. In order to indicate In my opinion, two alternative narrative worlds should be kept
the possible direction of such development, I shall now examine in more detail the class of separate: their presentation (construction) and their authentication. In terms of
stories which I have so far left aside: the stories of the alethic world. our model, the presentation of the supernatural world is carried out through a
Alethic stories present certain difficult theoretical problems. One of the reasons for redistribution of the alethic modalities: that which. is impossible in the natural
this difficulty is the very complexity of the alethic modalities (possibility, impossibility, world is possible in the supernatural world and vice versa. This redistribution of
necessity). Since Aristotle, philosophers and modal logicians have attempted to understand modalities can be described by a series of procedures:
these concepts and give a systematic interpretation of them. An influential trend in 1. New narrative agents are introduced, impossible in the natural
contemporary modal logic interprets the semantics of alethic modalities in terms of world: gods, spirits, monsters, etc. It goes without saying that the properties
possible worlds. assigned to these supernatural agents, as well as the actions they perform, are
impossible for agents in the natural world.
112
For example, by Klovskij (1926), who described the structure of mystery stories not only in 2. Agents in the natural world (i.e. "humans") are attributed with some
detective novels, but also in L'mle Dorrit. by Dickens. Todorov, who has also used the term epistemic properties or capacities for action that they cannot possess in the real world,
history, has analyzed The Quest for the Grail (Iji Quéte du Graal). some short stories by Henry James
(Todorov 1971) and Heart of Darkness (Heart of Darbiess) by Joseph Conrad (Todorov 1975).
such as, for example, the heroes of myths or fairy tales. This procedure
generates "split" individuals, who can act in both worlds.
3. To certain non-agents (objects) of the natural world! Those who do
not possess the capacity to act are assigned that capacity, and they become Y
agents of the supernatural world. For example, a statue becomes a narrative o

agent (Jakobson 1937; Todorov 1970, 84 ff., 92 ff.).

The redistribution of alethic modalities builds the world
.
( (Yo( ( ( ( ( ( ( .
153supernatural and, at the same time, describes its relationship with the natural world: the the dead witch is introduced by the narrator in the same way as his previous
former is a modal transformation of the latter. We must remember, however, that a series of descriptions: "But the coffin did not move.... There was nothing but the faint
intermediate worlds can be constructed between the natural and the supernatural, which in crackle of a distant candle, the delicate sound of a drop of wax falling to the
one way or another combine the modal properties of both worlds. Dreams and madness are floor.... She raised her head.... He stood up... he walked around the church with
the clearest examples of intermediate worlds: they share with the supernatural world some his "eyes closed, waving his arms back and forth, as if trying to catch someone."
distributions of modality, since in them many events that are impossible in the natural The authenticity of the supernatural is guaranteed by the authority of the
world become possible. At the same time, along with the natural world, dreams and reliable narrator.
madness possess the property of their real existence, since they effectively occur as human
It is interesting to note that in both of Gogol's works mentioned above
experiences. This combination of contradictory modal features turns intermediate worlds
there is another narrative mechanism that confers authenticity: the collective
into privileged mechanisms of alethic narrative, as we will see later. .
Alternative worldbuilding provides a basis for \ alethic stories. However, experience of the characters who observe. By having a whole group of
another property needs to be taken into account to explain the structure of these stories: characters take responsibility for the observation (and the descriptions of the
authenticity. In this study, the authentication of a narrative world is interpreted as the observation). Gogol transcends the subjectivity of the assignments of truth
assignment of truth value to the descriptions presented in the construction of said world. inherent to the individuality of the characters, from whom the descriptions
However, in narrative texts, the aforementioned assignment of truth value is not a emanate. In "A Terrible Revenge" the collective experience is presented
logical procedure, but a specifically literary one, based on general properties of the simultaneously: "The captain was about to begin a short prayer when suddenly
narrative structure, in which there are two sources of assignment of truth value: the the children playing on the ground screamed in terror, and the people drew
narrator and the characters. In the "classical" narrative structure, the truth values back, and everyone pointed, frightened, with their fingers at a Cossack who was
assigned by the narrator have objective validity, while those emanating from the among them... "It's him! "It's him!" the crowd shouted as they gathered. “The
characters are interpreted as subjective opinions. This difference reflects the authority sorcerer has returned!” the mothers cried, grabbing their children” (italics
with which the classical narrator invests himself: his word is "reliable," and his added). In “Viy” collective authentication is successfully achieved in a series of
assignments of truth value are not questioned. Whenever there is disagreement between descriptions made by various characters. This is the procedure of independent
the classical narrator and a character in the assignment of truth value, the narrator's witnesses confirming each other by agreeing on their assignments of truth
statement is the one taken as valid. value.
The reliability of the narrator is one of the basic conventions of classical I would like to emphasize that collective authentication is only a
narrative structure, which can be expressed by a simple law: In classical narrative, the support mechanism: for the generation of a mythological world, the assignment
descriptions made by the narrator are, precisely for this reason, authentic. The of truth value by the narrator is sufficient.
deauthentication of a narrative world can only be achieved by ignoring or eliminating
the classical narrator.
Next I will discuss the fundamental narrative structures that arise in a double
alethic world, that is, in a world that consists of a natural and a supernatural component,
through the application of different authentication procedures or 154 •
deauthentication. I will use examples from the work of N. Gogol, since his work provides
us with some basic solutions to the problem of narrative authenticity.
The basic convention of classical narrative structure that we have just formulated
has an obvious consequence for the theory of alternative alethic worlds: every world
presented by the narrator is therefore authentic. In the narratives in which a double world is
introduced, the two worlds, that is, both the natural world (N) and the supernatural world
(S), are authentic (a) Na/Sa. I will call this double world structure the mythological world. In
Gogol's work, the mythological world is manifested in short stories such as "Terrible
Revenge" and "Viy." Thus, for example, in this last work the supernatural resurrection of 155
 (((,(((((((,

AND! Mythological world is static, and its authenticity is not tested. In fact, any given to us as a personal (and therefore unreliable) experience of the painter
doubt about its authenticity would lead to its destruction. In the structure of classical Cartkov. However, Cartkov's state during the ghostly act is ambiguous: the
narrative, it can only be destroyed by the person who generated it, that is, by the narrator narrator informs us three times that Cartkov woke up. However, the fantastic
himself. This is the case when the supernatural component of the double world, event continues and, in view of the narrator's repeated comment, cannot be
originally authenticated by the narrator, is finally deauthenticated by providing a "natural explained as a dream of Cartkov. The fantasy world is made ambiguous by the
explanation." In fact, a narrative trick as simple as delaying information frequently ambiguity of the state itself (the dream) which could facilitate its
appears here: events that were initially presented as authentic end up being presented as deauthentication.
having occurred in a dream, or in a state of temporary insanity, or hallucination, etc. The In the printed version of The Nose, Gogol created an ambiguous world
intermediate world assumes its function of deauthentication. In general, we can describe through a more radical mechanism, the introduction of the so-called skaz
the narrative structure generated with this method as a transformation of! initially narrator. In skaz the very act of narration lacks reliability. The narrator
authentic supernatural world in a part of the natural world: Na/S, —> Na/Sa = Na. This relinquishes his role of assigning objective truth values and embarks on a free
structure of the alethic world can be called a fantastic world: the concept is equivalent to narrative game that does not oblige. Figuratively speaking, we can say that the
Todorov's "fantastic world", in whose 1970 study numerous examples of stories of skaz narrator does not take himself seriously: he is free to make contradictory
fantastic worlds can be found. In Gogol's work, this structure was used in the manuscript statements or to undermine his statements through irony. The basic law of
version of "The Nose"; the fantastic events surrounding the supernatural disappearance
authentication (descriptions presented by the narrator and therefore authentic) is
of Kovalkhov's nose are finally disproven when the narrator informs us that this was
not valid in skaz narrative. In other words, the skaz narrator is a possible
purely a dream of Kovalkhov's. In the printed versions Gogol omitted this explanation,
solution to the task of depriving the narrator of his authority. Thus, the Skaz
so he not only rejected a stereotypical deauthentication mechanism, but achieved an
narrator necessarily constructs ambiguous worlds, and it should be emphasized
important and significant semantic shift, which we will discuss shortly.
that ambiguity extends to both the natural and supernatural components of this
We have stated that the reliable classical narrator has no other possibility than to
structure.
make authentic statements. If you build a mythological world, both components are
authentic. If the supernatural world is deauthenticated, the deauthentication is also The ambiguous world has certain structural similarities with the mythological
authentic, that is, it necessarily leads to the destruction of the mythological world and the world. Both are double worlds, since they consist of a natural and a supernatural
generation of the fantastic world. The classical narrator is a slave to his own authority. component. Furthermore, both components are . 157
A radical change in this situation can only be achieved by an equally radical
undermining of the narrator's authority. Depriving the narrator of his authority means
losing the only reliable source of authentication: the attack on this source has important
repercussions for the structure of alethic stories, since it opens up the possibility of
constructing narrative worlds lacking authentication. Now everything is possible but none
of the possibilities, neither natural nor supernatural, is N 156
grants an authentic status. We will describe this world by the scheme: N>/S?, where the
symbol «?» is used to designate the lack of authentication. The alethic world of this
structure will be called the ambiguous world. The descriptions introduced into this world
are ambiguous in the sense that their truth value is uncertain.
In Gogol's work, the appearance of the ambiguous world can be found in the short
story "The Portrait": I remember the second version (published in The Contemporary,
1842), because in the first ("Arabesques", 1835) we still find ourselves before a basically
mythological world. A comparison of the two versions clearly reveals a fundamental
change: in the second version Gogol has suppressed a typical mechanism of the
mythological world, namely the collective "confirmation" of the supernatural, and at the
same time he has taken the first step towards eliminating the authority of the narrator. The
crucial scene of the introduction of the supernatural, the animation of the painting, is
'YOU
. *-YO
 C ( ( (( ( ( ( ( (m . Yo ((((((((((
. equivalent in their status of authenticity (N/Sa - N>S2). However, there is a fundamental
difference between both worlds in their particular status of authenticity: the mythological
9
world is authentic, while the ambiguous one lacks authentication. The mythological world
is a world of objective narrative truth values, the ambiguous world is a world without such A SEMANTICS FOR THE THEME: THE CASE OF THE DOUBLE
values. The mythological world gives an affirmative answer to the question of
authenticity, while the ambiguous world leaves the question of authenticity open. ' ■
The theme seems to have a problem that absolutely belongs to it,
which is that it cannot find its own place in the framework of literary disciplines. This
uncertainty is revealed very clearly by the existence of absolutely contradictory
opinions regarding the significance of the subject for the study of literature. In an
often-quoted statement (cf. Weisstein 1973, 134 ff.; Jost 1974, 40; Trousson 1980, 4)
Wellck is said to have dealt a “death blow” to literary thematics, disavowing them for
any practical purpose of literary criticism and history: “Stoff(¡eschichte [Wellek uses
the traditional German term] is the least literary of histories.” A topic in a Historical
tragedy, for example, would be of interest “to the history of political sentiment” and
“unintentionally illustrate changes in the history of taste,” but it does not present a
“critical problem” (Wellek and Warren 1956, 250, emphasis added). .
With his rejection of the subject matter, Wellek completely ignores the
work of the Prague School (to which he himself belongs due to his origins as a
researcher). Inspired by Tomasevsky, Mukarovky and Vodika not only
developed an impressive system of literary thematics (see Doloel 1982), but
also assigned it a central position in literary history and theory. Its centrality
derives from the observation that the literary structure is linked to its "extra-
literary" foundations in and through the subject matter. On the one hand,
thematic links literature to language: after all, "every thematic constituent is
introduced into the work by linguistic means" (Vodika 1942, 353; cf.
Mukarovky 1928, 11). On the other hand, the theme connects literature with
life, society and history:

The theme is precisely that level of literary structure that deals with
the powerful influence that the vital interests and historical problems
of a community exert on the evolution of

159
 ((((((((Cla Recently, Jost has announced an "internationalization" of the field (op. cit., 15) and
immanent in the literary structure (Vodicka 1948, 168) Weisstein (op. cit.„ 24 et seq.) has credited his resurrection to comparatists from
Belgium (Trousson), Germany (Frenzel) and America (Levin).CXLVII

. age.
How can we explain this fundamental contrast of opinions, coming from There is a third, more recent version of selective thematic criticism: thematic
researchers with a common cultural background? Are these in fact opinions formulated criticism (the term is Todorov's), practiced especially in France (by Bachelard and
on the same problem? The answer is yes and no. Both Wellek and Vodicka refer to literary Richard among others). Thematic criticism embraces theme in its broadest sense, to
subject matter, but what they have in mind are two entirely different modes of it, two include "verbal" themes. He is not interested in great historical migrations across
traditions that have ignored each other, developing without mutual contact or exchange. I cultures and rather seeks out themes characteristic of particular writers or individual
will characterize. briefly these two modes. literary works. Studying themes as recurrent and typical, but at the same time as very
variable features of literary texts, thematic criticism could be characterized as a kind of
1. SELECTIVE THEME literary stylistics.
There is no need to offer a critique of the selective theme, as it would be
I will use this label to designate those tendencies that share a conception of the redundant and would merely confirm Bremond's recent assessment. I think Bremond's
theme as a striking or prominent feature of the literary content, characteristic in some way. 113 critical analysis applies to all modes of selective thematic, although he only deals
The best-known representatives of selective thematics are two branches of historical thematics specifically with the folkloric branch. CXLVIII Focusing on the vagueness of his basic
(Stoffgeschichte), one in folklore studies and the other in comparative literature. Despite their concept, the "motif," Bremond points to three general epistemological deficiencies:
long tradition and the impressive results of their research, it is surprising that there have been so "(1) arbitrariness in the identification of textual occurrences elevated to the status of
few crossovers between these branches.114 However, it is soon apparent that their objectives and motif; (2) carelessness in the conceptualization and formulation of motifs extracted
foundations are practically identical: both study the maintenance, mutation and migration of from these textual occurrences; (3) anarchy in the categorization and classification of
perennial themes in different periods and cultures. The themes of popular literature that are motifs" (Bremond 1982, 129). I would only add that these and other deficiencies of the
displaced are the domain of folklore Stojjgeschichte, while their corresponding comparison selective theme have, in my opinion, a common denominator, which is the dependence
follows the transmission of themes in written literature. Stoffgeschichte has a theoretical aspect, on the outdated and sterile dichotomy of form and content. CXLIX The theme in selective
but its main achievement is catalogues and dictionaries of subjects (see especially Thompson thematic is an element of the content separated from its form. The concept of
1955-58; Thompson 1964; Frenzel 1963, 1976). Folklore Stoffgeschichte gained importance in structured content or thematic structure is foreign to selective subject matter.
the works of the so-called Finnish school (Christensen, Thompson), while a German monopoly
has often been claimed for the comparative branch. Further

In disparaging terms, Bremond calls this identification of the subject

"journalistic" (Bremond 1982, 138).

In both Weisstein (1973) and Jost (1974) Thompson's work is mentioned only in passing.

160
M.-kE

CXLVII It should be noted that for both authors "internationalism" does not extend beyond the
Elbe.
CXLVIII As regards thematic criticism, Bremond's objections should be added to Todorov's
earlier critical formulations (Todorov 1970, 102-06).
CXLIX This dichotomy permeates the thematologist's thinking down to the most precise details,
as can be seen in the following symptomatic differentiation: "as a literary category, situation is [unlike
"motive" or "action"] ... more closely tied to structure than to content and has relatively little
thematological weight" (Weisstein op. cit., 147).
■ 161
 the Fregean basis, the separation of extensional semantics into a first-order
representational thematic and a second-order interpretational thematic is required by
the need of modern narratology to account for thematic structures as well as their
narrative functions. At each level the model defines its units of analysis and the rules
for their combination and integration. Intensional narrative semantics is, as a rule,
identical to general textual semantics. In a very primitive version, its units can be
identified as morphemes, words, syntagms, sentences and ■ suprasentential structures,
For the structural theme, in contrast to the previous one, the
and its combinatorial rules will correspond to those of a textual grammar. The
representational theme will be the semantics of the motives with their necessary
structuring of content is axiomatic. The content in literature is structured, and cannot be studied
constituents (actions, states, agents, objects, etc.). The last level of our model, the
independently of its structuring. The structural theme may be as old as the' . Aristotle's poetics,
theme
but its present paradigm, within which we work, has been established in relatively recent times
by a truly international constellation of researchers, including Bédier, Barthes and Greimas in narrative semantics ( 163
France, Dibelius in Germany, Tomasevskij and Propp in Russia and Mukaovk and Vodicka in
Czechoslovakia.CL

There are two epistemological postulates that derive from the axiom of structured
content that are fundamental to the project of < structural thematic: a) themes must be identified
as integral constituents of the literary structure as a whole; b) themes must be formulated as
semantic invariants, and at the same time - they must ----------------------------------------.
determine the record of its hypothetical variability. Based on these epistemological principles,
the theme is established as a subdivision L of literary semantics. Since I am interested only in
narrative thematics, I will specify its place within a model of narrative semantics. .
SCHEME 12
interpretative theme: function
(Propp), acclame (Greimas), role
/ (Bremond), motivemna (Hundes)

extensional semantics; thematic

representational theme: motif
(Toma Sevskij, Mukaovsk).
proiretism (Barthes), domain (Pavel), frame of reference
(Hrushovski), fictional world (Dolezel) •

intensional semantics

The narratological model shown in diagram 1 is an attempt to synthesize the concepts

and conceptual levels characteristic of the contemporary narratological paradigm. It seems that
such a synthesis can be achieved on the basis of Fregean semantics, in which two dimensions of
meaning are distinguished: intension (Sinn) and extension (Bedeutung). Intention is the meaning
conveyed by the original words of a literary text, due to their texture; extension is the referential
invariant of equivalent intensions, expressed in a semantic representation (paraphrase) of the
texture. Two main features of the model deserve brief comment: ,
a) While the basic layers of the model, intensional and extensional semantics, reflect
162
#•

CL There is no clearer symptom of the huge gap between selective and structural thematic approaches than
the fact that the defenders of the former are not aware of the achievements of the latter. Even in the most recent
discussions of the theoretical problems of selective thematic (Weisstein 1973 and lost 1974) Propp's work is
unknown. Trousson ventured into the antechamber of the structural theme, but returned with the assurance that "ie
theme nc found sa dimension que duns i'histoirc, oü s'cnracine ses incarnations, et dans cette palingénésie que
constitue son tre mime" (Trousson 1980. 8).
 Selective thematic identifies themes by their permanence, by their capacity
((((((((<( for historical survival. In structural thematics, the theme can be conceived as a
grouping of recurring themes, and will be established in relationships with other
interpretational, is made up of the semantic terms of a specific interpretive system. In
similar themes or in contrast with them. Every topic is a member of a mini-system
narratology, the most popular system is the Proppian one (motivemes, functions, actants),
of related topics, a thematic field, and its structure is determined primarily by the
although any other version of the interpretive thematic (archetypal, Freudian) would be
oppositions existing in this field. • - -------------------
situated at this level of narrative semantics. j
My choice of the theme of the double is not accidental: this theme has been
b) The levels of the model are linked by transformational procedures. The levels
extremely popular in oral and written literature from antiquity to surrealism.
of extensional semantics are reached by transforming the texture into its semantic
Because of its permanence, the topic is well established in selective thematics (cf.
representations. In my opinion the most appropriate form of semantic representation is the
Thompson 1955-58, D.D.; Frenzel 1976, 94114; Aziza et al. 1978, 61 et seq.). I
proposition or prepositional function, that is, a semantic structure consisting of a predicate
will attempt to demonstrate the advantages of the structural approach, but a full
and one or more arguments (cf. Doloel 1976). Motives are propositions expressed by terms
comparison of the way the topic is treated in the two types of themes is beyond the
that express the appropriate extensional categories. The vocabulary of second-order
scope of this study. Although the importance of the theme in literature and in
representations is interpreted by the interpretive system, for example, by a list of actants
traditional thematics would justify in itself its choice for a structural
and functions in a motivemic interpretation. Each step in the transformational procedure
reconsideration, I have another, more special, reason for this decision. The theme
produces a reduction in variety: motifs are invariant to variable textures, and motifmes are
of the double is closely linked to a semantic theory that, in my opinion, provides a
invariant to variable motifs. One of the basic tasks ■ -
very stimulating framework for the study of fictionality: the semantics of possible
of the thematic, the assignment of invariants to variables (and vice versa), is formulated as
worlds. The theme of the double must have been invented by a Kripkean mind, for
a translation and paraphrastic procedure. At each level L of analysis, meaning is linked to
it expresses as it does the basic idea of the possible worlds model: when we think
its appropriate form of expression. ■ Studying meaning in a well-defined way, literary
or talk about an individual, we do not think or talk only about his or her actual
semantics in general and literary themes in particular satisfy their theoretical axiom: there
existence, but also about all the possible alternative life courses that he or she can
is no meaning without structure.
or could follow. Possible worlds semantics is a theory of reasoning and
The Fregean model of narrative semantics is presented here in its most limited
imagination that assigns an innumerable series of doubles to each individual.
outline, and we have no other aspiration than to suggest a solution to the problem of
thematics, that is, to find for it a suitable place within the framework of literary study. The
165
theme is the extensional semantics of literary texts, at its representational level it ideutifies,
defines and formulates themes, expressing them in terms of representations of 'motifs. At
the interpretive level, it proposes functions of themes in terms of interpretive systems.
I will not continue developing this model of narrative semantics. My aim in this
study is to demonstrate the method of structural thematics by studying a particular topic,
that of the double. This analysis will focus on identifying the topic and summarizing its
variability, which means that it will stick to the first-order theme. Possible second-order
interpretations of the topic will not be taken into consideration. This restriction does not 164
(((((((((( is imposed not only by time constraints, but because I feel that the first-level thematic
is the weakest point of narrative semantics, and we should concentrate on its elaboration.
Too often the "method" of literary interpretation is nothing more than an interpretive leap
from an unanalyzed texture to the terms of a borrowed interpretive system. The result is a
series of imaginative but purely arbitrary interpretations, which cannot be evaluated because
they lack a solid identification of first-order thematic structures.

3. THE DOUBLE AND HIS FAMILY

tf*
 ((((((((((
. There has been much talk in contemporary philosophy, logic, linguistics
and poetics about the conceptual foundations and explanatory power of possible
worlds semantics, but we cannot go into these debates here. However, I hope
that the relevant notions of this semantics will become clearer as I discuss the
issue of the double.
Literature is a semiotic system for the construction of possible worlds, 2. The Host Motto
normally called fictional worlds. A fictional world can be defined very simply as
a series of composable fictional individuals (agents, characters). In this
definition, "compossibility" means the capacity for coexistence and interaction:
Emma Bovary is compossible with Charles Bovary, but not compossible with
Ivan Karamazov.'CLI9 The trait of compossibility is crucial, but insufficient for
the semantic representation of the theme of the double: it must be complemented
by the concept of personal identity. Three related themes emerge from the
manipulations of compossibility and personal identity: 3. The theme of
double
a) the same individual, that is, an individual marked by the trait of
personal identity, exists in two or more alternate worlds. This theme, popular in
mythology under the name of reincarnation, will be called the Orlando theme.
b) The theme of Host is generated by the coexistence in the same world
of two individuals with different personal identities, but perfectly homomorphic
in their essential properties. In the selective field, this topic is also known under
the label "doppelganger" or "identical twins."CLII CLIII CLIV
c) The theme of the double arises when two alternative embodiments of
the same individual coexist in the same fictional world. This is the theme in the
strictest sense, the central, most conspicuous member of the double's thematic
field. The topics of the field are represented in diagram 2, but a more detailed
description of their structures is needed. ii
SCHEME 13 if
?
YO. The Orlando theme !

„x
TO

- 167
occurs in a kind of world, a hybrid world, in which such events are possible by the very nature
9 of its modal conditions (for a detailed study of Kafka's hybrid world see chapter 12).
CLII For Emma Bovary and Ivan Karamazov to be composable, a new fictional world
would have to be constructed (as in Woody Allen's experiments).
CLIII The Host theme has been studied by Perrot (1979) and Dimi® (1979). A related
medieval motto of two friends (Amicus-Amelius) has been analysed in Dimi 1975. Jauss (1979)
transfers the theme from Stoffgeschichte to Reícptionsgeschichte, making the continuity
between them evident.
Yo
166
CLIV In this sense (and not only in this) fictional semantics transcends the standard restrictions
CLI The transformation of a human individual into an unspecified Ungevefer (insect) of logical semantics. Although it has been recognized that the concept
 ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF ARTICLES AND PUBLICATION DATA 3
LUBOMÍR DOLEZELA'S CONTRIBUTION TO CONTEMPORARY LITERARY STUDIES 4
((((((((‘ 8
ORAL LITERATURE AND WRITTEN LITERATURE12
((((((( 17
((((((( 20
(c( 20
2 21
NOMOTHETIC AND IDEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE INPOETIC 21
((( ( ( ( ( " " " 31
ALIENS AND VISITORS IN LITERARY METALANGUAGE 32
(((((((( 45
((((((‘(( 50
hga 52
(((((((((( 61
( C ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ,( 67
THE LITERARY TEXT, ITS WORLD AND ITS STYLE 68
((((((((( 69
(-(((((( 77
' C(.(l( ( ( ( 84
FICTIONAL REFERENCE: MIMESIS AND POSSIBLE WORLDS. 84
((((C(('(((( 85
(((((.(((( 87
( ( ( ( (' ( ( ( ( my 88
( ( ( ( ((, ( ( ( 90
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( ( 92
TRUTH AND AUTHENTICITY IN NARRATIVE 92
(((((((( 100
((((cC(((( 100
( ( ( ( (( ( ( ( Yo 105
(((((Cl' 108
( ( ( C ( ( ( ((,( 111
NARRATIVE WORLDS 114
 ( ( ( ('C( ( “ 115
((((((((Cla 124
„x 128
((((.(((((( 132
A THEME OF MOTIVATION AND ACTION 135
INNOVATION AS WORLD TRANSFORMATION 143
( ((( ( .( ( c ( ( 146
(,( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( c ' Yo 147
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF KAFKA 153
(((((-(((((" 157
( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (.( 162
( ( ( CC ( C ( ( ( 166
THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF DOSTOYEVSKY'S THE IDIOT 170
THE WORLDS OF ZAMJATIN 176
((((((((,( 179
c ( ( ( < ((( " " " 180
(((((- 184
THE ROAD OF HISTORY AND THE DETOURS OF THE GOOD SOLDIER 184
( ( ( ( ( c ( (,( (( 187
(((((C(("1' 188
LITERATURE 191
1 191
Yo 191
( ((((((( ( ( 195
( ( ( ( ( < ( ( ( ( ( YO 197
The theme of Orlando requires a multiple fictional world for its semantic
representation. An individual (X) with a fixed personal identity exists in
•X different alternate worlds in alternate embodiments (X', X" ...): The set of
TO
properties that X possesses undergoes changes when X moves from one world to
B
_______W another. Any of these properties, even the most essential, can be altered. In the
1928 novel that gives its name to this theme, Virginia Woolf has the protagonist
W. W' ... fictional worlds exist as a man in one world, and as a woman in others. Fictional semantics is
X. X', A, B ... individuals radically non-secularist.1-1
4 ... personal identity relationship
 The construction of a multiple fictional universe in which the theme of ((((((((((
Orlando is located requires that borders be erected between worlds. Various
construction mechanisms can be used for this purpose. In Woolf's novel, the They share a number of properties such that they are to a certain extent
boundaries of worlds are marked by significant leaps in the narrated time, indistinguishable: X = Y. The issue does not require an absolute identity of properties
taking the protagonist from Elizabethan England to the present (1928). In the but mainly a perfect similarity of physical appearance and behavior, which makes
story "Paths of Destiny" by O. Henry (1903), the world's boundaries are
identification problematic. In Hoffmann's story "Der Doppeltganger" (1822) the
established by the deaths of protagonist David Mignot. The lives David lives
protagonists are not actually brothers, but were born on the same day into families
after each death must be considered lives in alternate worlds. It should be of
linked by a great friendship. As they grew up, "week by week and day by day the two
some interest to note that it is precisely the lack of world boundaries in Kafka's
boys developed such a resemblance, such a likeness, that it was impossible to tell
Metamorphosis (1912) that makes us recognize that this is not a manifestation
them apart." When young people find themselves in the same place, they necessarily
of Orlando's theme.122
create confusion about their personal identity. We should emphasize again that this
The second condition of Orlando's theme, the preservation of personal
confusion is solely epistemic, it exists in the minds of the inhabitants of the fictional
identity in the movement between world boundaries, can be expressed in an
world, and it creates the "mystery" of Amphitryon's plot. The revelation of the
explicit statement, as in Woolf's text: "Orlando had become a woman, there is
no denying that. But in all other respects, Orlando remained exactly as he had different personal identities (which in Hoffmann's text is made possible by a hidden
been. The sex change, although it had altered her future, did nothing to alter her bodily mark) ends the confusion and reveals the authentic structure of the fictional
identity. In the absence of explicit affirmation, the individual may be identified world.
in each successive transmutation by identifying "marks," one of the most The theme of the double requires a great manipulation of the semantic
powerful of which is the proper name, a rigid designator (Kripke 1972) that features of compossibility and personal identity. As defined, the topic is generated
labels the individual in all his or her various lives. Also, the three lives of the when there are additions, alternatives _______________________________________
hero of O. Henry share some common constituents. It is especially significant same individual in the same fictional world. In other words, an individual
that they all end with a shot from the same pistol, which belongs to the Marquis characterized by a personal identity appears in two alternative manifestations, usually
de Beaupertuy: once it is fired by the Marquis himself, once by his companion, as two fictional characters. Doubled individuals may coexist in the same place and
and once by David himself. time, as they do in Dostoyevsky's novel The Double (1846), or they may be mutually
In the Host theme we find in the same world two individuals (X and Y) exclusive, as in Stevenson's story "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
with different personal identities, but who (1886). Only in the first case can the incarnations of the double relate (verbally and
physically), while in the second they cannot meet. However, even in the second case
While the logical semantics of possibility must be broader than causal and natural possibility the doubles live in the same world because they share the same set of compossible
(Plantings 1977, 245), possible worlds logical semantics maintains a weak form of
essentialism. Thus, for example, Linsky argues that in no possible world could a person individuals and relate to the same set of co-agents.
become Viennese (Lansky 1977, 148); such alterations can easily affect a fictional individual. In selective thematics, the theme of the double has usually been treated as a
Yo
variant of the Host theme, under the common name of "doppelganger." Frenzel notes
that the doppelganger theme is based on the "physical similarity of two people," but
this does not prevent him from including within his scope "doppelganger formations"
that seem to correspond to "the souls or two egos of a single human being" (Frenzel
H 1976, 94 ff., emphasis added). We must admit the existence of a semantic similarity
E between the two topics, and both raise the question of personal identity, but the
semantics of possible worlds

ace
'• 168

nae
S
 a) Construction methods.

((((.(((((( $
The most significant modifying factor is the mode of construction, that is,
how the double is brought into fictional existence. There are three of these
construction modes: -
It also allows us to recognize a fundamental structural distinction. In # the case of the double
ai) TWO ORIGINALLY SEPARATE INDIVIDUALS MERGED TO
we are forced to accept a fictional world in which the same individual can exist in two
FORM THE DOUBLE. This is the procedure used in Poe's story "William Wilson"
discrete embodiments. In the theme of Host, the fictional world only seems to possess such
an unusual structure, because when the confusion of personal identities is resolved, we (1840). Two schoolmates, who already have some semantic features in common,
recognize a conventional world structure, in which a personal identity corresponds to a single become more and more similar through imitation, until they reach a state of perfect
individual. Because of their semantic similarity, however, the themes are linked by a similarity (doppelganger structure). This state is transcended, however, when the
transitional zone of ambiguous and uncertain manifestations. In this area there are individuals narrator's life path involves the second William at decisive moments. Finally, when
who appear to be doubles, or doppelgangers, or both. the narrator kills his alter ego he discovers an "absolute identity" and realizes that
In the subject of Orlando, the epistemic confusion of personal identity does not arise, he has killed himself. In contrast to the gradual fusion of two personal identities,
since the various incorporations of the protagonist exist in different worlds. However, once the double can enter the fictional world and join the individual suddenly, like an
again the theme is linked through a transitional zone to the theme of the double. This apparition. This mode of fusion is exemplified in Dostoyevsky's novel. In Wilde's
transitional zone contains individuals whose property set includes radical inconsistencies or The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), the link between the young hero and his
who live a life of radically discontinuous stages. These individuals then appear to be double portrait is established so suddenly: on this occasion the constructive mechanism is
or even multiple. In the end, Orlando's theme also creates confusion of personal identity, and the hero's desire, which magically acquires performative force.
this confusion is phenomenological rather than epistemic. a) THE DOUBLE IS GENERATED BY DIVISION INTO TWO OF A
SIMPLE ORIGINAL INDIVIDUAL. Gogol's story "The Nose" can be cited in this
4. VARIETIES OF DOUBLE context. The nose of an employee, separated from its owner, takes the form of an
official who closely resembles its "owner" (Pomorska 1980, 33). In Hans Christian
Having identified a theme or thematic field, we must now account for the fact that in Andersen's fairy tale a shadow divorces its human owner, turns into a man, and
different cultures and historical periods, as well as in individual textual manifestations, a ends up reversing their roles. It should be noted that the operation of splitting
single theme appears in many forms. The second basic problem of the subject must now be affects an "inalienable possession," a constituent or "part" of an individual which
addressed, the correlation of invariants and variables. Structural thematics do not perceive under normal circumstances would not have an independent existence. ■
thematic variability as the result of random changes, but rather explain its systemic nature by a) THE DOUBLE IS GENERATED BY A PROCESS OF
revealing the structural factors that shape the theme in different ways. A theme changes when METAMORPHOSIS. A well-known example of this variant is Stevenson's double.
it is integrated into changing literary structures. The existing historical and cultural variants Metamorphosis is a rather general plot scheme, not specific to the generation of
are updated cases of their possible variety. splitting. It is common in mythological stories, dominates the theme of Orlando
Our comments will be limited to the topic of the double in the strict sense, and its and reappears in Kafka's modern myth. Metamorphosis links the theme of the
variability within the narrative structure. Even this specific task cannot be carried out double to more general narratological patterns.
systematically and comprehensively at this time. Every aspect and every regularity of the 171
narrative structure can become a modifying factor of the theme. The result is an extremely
rich typology of the subject. Just a few of these guys, . Hopefully the essentials will be
outlined here.
170

Li»
-----
 (((((((( authentication procedure,123 which here operates with full power, generating a
variety of doubles, from the completely authenticated to the totally ambiguous. A
clear case of a fully authenticated double is revealed to us in Stevenson's text: the
b) Paradigmatic variants. fictional existence of the metamorphosing identity is affirmed by conventional
means of authentication, that is, the confession of the protagonist, confirmed by a
We have already noted that the Double theme, unlike the Host theme, statement from an independent witness. In the handwritten version of “The Nose,”
does not require that the additions be similar. In fact, paradigmatic relationships the double is deauthenticated by a final narrative statement that relegates the story
between doubles can vary from perfect similarity to absolute contrast. In the to the space of dreams. In this way the story is a typical example of the fantasy
paradigmatic typology, Dostoyevsky's double represents the variant based on genre, as defined by Todorov (1970). In the printed version, however, Gogol
absolute similarity and irreplaceability. Stevenson's doubles are manifestations of deleted the final statement, leaving open the question of the fictional existence of
the opposite variant, being totally different in their physical appearance and moral the double. Thus, Gogol was a pioneer of the ambiguous variant of the theme,
attitudes. An even more radical contrast is achieved when one of the developed in its entirety by Dostoyevsky's The Double. Double _. Dostoyevsky
incorporations is a non-human fictional entity, as is the case with Wilde's portrait constantly skirts the edges of fictional existence, seeming both authentic and
or the willow in a Slavic folk fairy tale. purely hallucinatory.24 This ambiguity becomes more radical in Fourré's Téte-de-
Similarity is only one possibility for a paradigmatic relationship between Négre (1960). Although almost all characters (including the author) appear in a
doubles, one that generates variety within the theme. The interaction relationship,
double form, there is no way to judge the authenticity of doubles, and indeed
although equally important, seems quite static. As a general rule, doubles act as
Fourré's entire fictional world lacks authenticity, as the very mechanism of
antagonists, as if they wanted to demonstrate that there is no place for two
authentication is undermined in the text. The fictional world is like a house of
incorporations of the same individual in a single world. When projected into the
cards erected and destroyed at the whim of its playful builder.
plot, the antagonism generates a tragic story. That is why the story of the double
The various types of double we have been able to isolate attest to the
often ends in a murder, which is, at the same time, a suicide.
flexibility of the theme, and it seems safe to say that this flexibility is a decisive
c) Syntagmatic variants. factor in its longevity. A topic is alive as long as it is capable of being modified.
The life of a literary structure depends, therefore,
An opposite pair of syntagmatic relations between the doubles,
simultaneity and exclusivity, produce the two basic varieties of the theme. 123 A reading on authentication is offered in Chapter 7 of this volume.
Simultaneous doubles share the same space and time and are therefore able to 124
In this ambiguous variant, the theme of the double leaves the space of the fantastic and
relate physically or verbally, and Dostoyevsky's double is an example. In contrast,
enters the domain of psychological fiction. It is interesting to note that as a purely
exclusive doubles, such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, cannot coexist: the syntax of psychopathological symptom, the theme returns in Dostoyevsky's later works, especially in
the stem is formed by changes from one embedding to the next. In this last case Adolescence (1875) and The Brothers Karamazov (1879-1880) (ci. Fischer 1929, 197;
we can observe a correlation between two modifying factors: the doubles Chizhevsky 1962, ¡17 et seq.).
generated by a metamorphosis process are forced to be exclusive doubles. This, I
think, may indicate the peripheral nature of metamorphosis in the typology of the
double. The true essence of the theme can only be carried by the simultaneous
doubles. Only the face-to-face confrontation between two incorporations of the
same individual can exploit all its semantic, emotive and aesthetic potential.
172. •

((((((((((

d) Varieties of authenticity.

One of the most flexible structural factors of the narrative genre is the
of course, its ability to produce new aesthetic effects. Structural themes, by
studying the dialectic of invariants and variables, of stability and modification,
of tradition and innovation, are fully integrated into poetics and aesthetics. 10
With this final and decisive step, structural thematics seals their divorce from
selective thematics that has always treated themes as aesthetically irrelevant. 125 A THEME OF MOTIVATION AND ACTION
Themes and their variability are central to the precarious balancing act that
every artist must execute in order to create a work of art.
1. THE IDEA OF A GENERAL THEME

At such an advanced stage of our efforts, we might raise the

possibility of a general theme, a universal theory that would encompass both
reality and fiction. The vision of the subject as a bridge between reality and
fiction is not new, as it was already pointed out in general terms by the Prague
school researcher Felix Vodicka:

Thematic is precisely the stratum of literary structure in which the

contents of the practical interests and temporal problems of the
community most powerfully influence the immanent evolution of the
literary structure (1948, 168).

In the more specific field of narrative themes, Bremond clearly

perceived the same connection:

The most general forms of human behavior correspond to the

elementary narrative types... As a technique of literary analysis, the
semiology of the story will obtain its possibility and fruitfulness from
its roots in an anthropology ("Aux types narratifs élémentaires
correspondent... les formes les plus générales dn comportement
humain... .Technique de l'analyse littéraire, la sémiologie du récit tire
sa possibilité et sa fecondité de son enracinement dans une
anthropologie». 1966, 76)
125
This position is explicitly defended by Trousson: «The aesthetic comparison of
different treatments of the theme makes authors stop being simple agents of transmission: It is encouraging to see that efforts have also been made in this
attention is directed to their personal contribution and thus a precise analysis of the work
direction from the other side, that of the anthropology of human action. The
itself is imposed, to try to clarify the creative process" ("La comparaison esthétique des
divers traitements du thme fait que les auteurs cessent d'etre de simple agents de best sketch of a non-literary theme, Gerald Holton's thematic analysis of
transmission: l'attention se porte sur leur appon personnel et s'impose ainsi I analyze étroite scientific activity (Holton 1973, 1978), draws on art criticism, musicology,
de l'oeuvre clle-meme pour tenter d'éclairer le processus créateur», rousson, op. cit,, 4). and folklorism. Holton thinks that thematic analysis reveals "a link between
scientific activity and the
174

175
humanistic studies.» Scientific themes, like those of the folklorist, are not made The work of Murray and Holton is typical of general thematic
explicit in the texts: they are categories of "an underlying recurrence and thematic epistemology, both in its weaknesses and in its foresight. The negative side is the
structure" (Holton 1978, 9). Despite their "hidden" character, the power of themes vain search for a precise definition as well as for a logically well-founded
for the development of scientific thought is very great: "A scientist's imagination taxonomy: The concept remains imprecise and the taxonomy remains elusive,
can be guided by his fidelity, perhaps implicit, to one or more themes" (Holton especially due to the lack of definition of the logical form of the topics. Holton
1978, viii). Holton arranges his themes by binarizing, as ethnographers and makes this weakness evident by speaking of three distinct "uses" of the term - the
mythographers do, "antithetical pairs," such as evolution-involution, constancy- thematic concept, the methodological theme, and the thematic proposition (or
simplicity, holism-reductionism, hierarchy-unity, efficacy of mathematics- hypothesis) - without raising the problematic consequences of this logical
efficiency of mechanical models, and so on. He argues (imitating Propp, I dare hodgepodge.
say) that the themes of science are limited in number, and suggests that "the total The positive thing is that the general theme supports three important
of units, pairs, and some triplets will not amount to 100" (1978, 10). • theoretical principles: 1. Thematic analysis is part of a structural (holistic)
. epistemic strategy. The operation of this principle can be clearly seen in the
If we go back a few decades to the research project of Henry A. Murray research of Murray, whose thematic psychology starts from a "molar" vision of
and his team at Harvard, we find the concept of "theme" applied to a broader the acting man: it is a macrostructural theory of personality. 1"8 2. Themes are
field, such as that of human actions in general. Murray finds the concept useful in universal, invariant features of human performance that underlie variable
establishing a dynamic theory of human personality, a theory of human particular occurrences. Human performance in all its variety is subject to the
performance. For him, human action is framed by need - "a hypothetical force ... constraints of thematic patterns. 3. Themes are generated at various levels of the
within the organism" - and pressure, which is "a tendency or "power" of the action structure, and depend on the object of the thematization.
environment" that obstructs or facilitates satisfaction (1938, 42). ' Murray's . This last aspect seems important to me for further theoretical development,
number of topics is also limited. The structure of personality is dominated by a since it invites us to concentrate on the activity of thematization. Thematization is
"theme-unit," "an underlying reaction system" that is the key to the nature of the a necessary and initial stage of representation. A world or area becomes
individual. The theme-unit is formed in early childhood and "is repeated in many thematized in the process of being represented. Thematization consists of
forms during later life" (1938, 604-5). 127 Since an individual is a set of “the choosing in the world (scope) a constituent or group of constituents that will serve
most recurrent themes,” he or she “will show a tendency to react similarly in as a dominant feature or starting point for a particular representation. On the
similar situations… This is how sameness (consistency) is produced at the same subject, all the constituents of the world (of the scope) are arranged in a network
time as change (variability).» The biography of a human being is a historical route of levels and relationships. In other words, the theme operates as a macro-
of themes» (1938,43-4). instruction, as a global mandate according to which the representation organizes
the world (scope). Our initial objective is supported by the fact that this
conception of thematization can be applied to both fictional discourse and
126 . , ,
Vemon characterizes Murray's mottos as "patterns of pressure, necessity, and action" reference. However, a fundamental difference must be highlighted in a realist
(1969, 101). ontology: the topics
"Holton holds a similar view regarding the phylogeny of scientific topics: "A scientist's
thematic imagination is formed during the period prior to his or her professionalization. "Some of the
most persistent themes are observable even in childhood" (1978, 23).

176
128 Murray explicitly formulates his holistic strategy: "By looking at many parts one
finally arrives at a conception of! everything, and then, by grasping the latter, one can
reinterpret and understand the previous ones" (1938, 605).

177
 referential themes are macro-instructions for the description of the world (for
the formulation of cognitive models), while fictional themes function as macro-
instructions for the creation of the world (for the creation of fictional images).
The most important advantage of choosing the general thematic criterion for distinguishing and classifying varieties of action.
The difficulties with intention disappear if we recognize that it is a
perspective is the recognition that each world (area) can be thematized in many
necessary but not sufficient determinant of human action. Action in context, in its
different ways, depending on the purpose of its representation? 77 Thus, for
example, for the representation of human action, psychology will choose link with the person-agent and its social embeddedness, is conditioned by other
different themes than philosophy, sociology, or political science. Fictional more powerful and obvious mental factors, designated by the general term
representation generates the richest and most varied set of themes, because it "motivation." Motivational factors determine “the choice, intensity, and
aspires to realize all possible thematizations of all possible worlds. persistence of activities” (Birch and Veroff 1966, 10). As more or less stable
The complexity of the thematization procedure and the breadth of its constituents of personality structures, motivational factors generate ways of acting
scope explains the theoretical difficulties of the general theme. The immensity (or characteristic of individuals or personality types. At a more general level, they
one might say impossibility) of this task has led the subject matter along more constitute the regularities and specificities of the modes of action.^0 For all these
empirical paths: the themes are simply identified with recurring representations. reasons, the concept of motivation is crucial in a theory of action in general, and
In other words, historical resistance has become the defining feature of! concept, of a subject of action in particular.
rather than operational force. Is it possible to conceive a way to escape from the I have emphasized that the role of motivation is manifested when the
empiricism and historicism of the subject? I think so, but at this stage we should action is considered in its connection with the acting person. Not surprisingly, we
follow Horton and try to develop a general theme for more restricted or specific must turn to psychology rather than philosophy if we want to learn about
areas. I will try to show how a general thematic of human action could be motivation. I propose that we begin our brief foray into motivational psychology
produced. The selection of this field is the result of my interest in narrative by familiarizing ourselves with a neobehaviorist taxonomy of motivation.
themes. This study, therefore, seeks to integrate the theme of fictional narrative Summarizing many years of observations and experimental work, Birch and
into a general theme of acting. . Veroff (1966) list

2. BASIC ASPECTS OF A THEORY OF MOTIVATION 130 This formulation fits with contemporary motivational psychology, which, in contrast
to the “traditional episodic view of behavior,” “emphasizes the continuity of behavior and its
underlying motivational structure” (Atkinson and Birch 1978, 361).
In contemporary philosophy of action, as well as in post-behaviorist
psychology (for a review, see Brand 1984, 6-23), the idea that human action is ' 179
linked to, or caused by, mental factors has triumphed. The "immediate" mental
event is
129
I agree with Prince (1985) that the concept of thematization should be the true focus of
the theme. However, our approaches differ in that Prince conceives of thematization as an
interpretive procedure that pragmatically depends on the thematizer ("thématisateur"), while
for me thematization is a semantic procedure regulated by functional pragmatics.

178 That is to say, the one who initiates or activates the action is called intention.
Intention is a necessary condition, a trait that defines action. The presence of
intention distinguishes actions from other events (particularly those motivated by
natural forces). Because of its necessary nature, the intention is often taken for
granted and therefore goes unnoticed. This circumstance explains a curious
discrepancy: while in philosophical theories of action the concept of intention
attracts all the attention, it is almost always suppressed in representations of
action. Generally speaking, intention (in terms of desire or wanting) is only
mentioned in cases where the action fails or is aborted. Empirical theories of
action find the concept of intention of little use for another reason: being
invariable (undifferentiated, without degrees or levels), intention cannot serve as a

"'F ""
seven motivational systems: 1) the sensory system stimulates bodily responses aggressive and non-aggressive" (1979, 11). Of particular use to us is Averill's
that seek to release pressure or tension in the organism; 2) the curiosity system comment that legal systems recognize the motivational force of emotions by
causes the organism to react to new stimuli; 3) the affiliative system motivates admitting the existence of crimes of passion (1979, 35). Another motivational
a person's contact with others; 4) the aggressive system provokes reactions to psychologist goes so far as to point out that "the emotional system is the primary
frustration caused by others; 5) the achievement system stimulates goal- motivational system during the life span of human beings" (Izard 1979, 167).
oriented achievement; 6) the power system provides a person with the ability to In Greek philosophy, cognitive factors were already appreciated as
withstand the influence of others; 7) the independence system motivates people decisive for human action. In Aristotle's theory of action they were formalized in
to act on their own. the syllogism of "practical reasoning." Contemporary cognitive psychology and
Birch and Veroff argue that these motivational systems together "account for artificial intelligence research have re-thematized these factors by positing that
most of man's significant recurrent behaviors" (1966, 41). Today his taxonomy cognitive operations guide human actions at all levels – goal setting, selection of
seems to mean the end of theories of human action that restricted motivation to alternatives, verification, evaluation of outcomes, etc. Artificial intelligence
impulses (instincts). Contemporary developments in motivational psychology research has been especially influential in highlighting the global designs –
are noteworthy for two reasons. First, it has been recognized that human drives “plans” or “scripts” – that are followed in more complex actions and activities
acquire specific traits through social conditioning. As Vemon notes, "even (see Brand 1984, 204–21). Let me emphasize that the cognitive factors of action
simple homeostatically motivated behavior may become complicated, include not only universally shared notions, but also, and primarily, personal
diversified, and modified in human beings through its interaction with tastes opinions and beliefs, group ideologies, communal conventions, etc.
and habits of eating and foraging which are acquired and maintained largely by Contemporary motivational psychology should provide a new taxonomy
social pressure" (1969, 39).13 Even more important is the second moment of of motivational factors, but I am not aware of any systematization comparable to
recent developments: the patterns of human mental life have become more and that of Birch and Veroff. It therefore seems reasonable to me to restrict our
more complex, and the set of motivational systems has expanded accordingly. subject matter to the minimum set of determinants that we have specified: drive -
It is especially significant for our purpose that the recently legitimized (or emotion ■ cognition. The thematic function of these determinants is to determine
better, recovered) mental domains and motivational factors include emotive and the degree of control over his or her actions exercised by the agent (or that the
. cognitive abilities of human beings. . agent is capable of exercising). Impulses force agents to act against their will, and
Behaviorism treated emotions as accessory to drives, whereas contemporary actions affect them as "passions," that is, as inflicted forces that, by overwhelming
motivational psychology thematizes them as autonomous motivational and the agents, make them escape direct control. 2 Only cognition gives them control
mental forces. Thus, for example, Averill "unpacks" the aggression system to over their actions to the point that they are able to set a goal and deliberately
separate it from a motivating emotion - anger, and argues convincingly that weigh the range of alternative actions that would lead to its achievement.
"aggression can take many forms, and anger is only one of them. Conversely, 132
The conception of emotions as passions, which historically reaches Descartes, has been
anger can be expressed in a variety of ways, both lucidly explained by Danto: "For whatever reason, the will is (which means somas) powerless to
constitute our feelings: we are in its hands (slaves of passion), and although we can dissolve them
or induce them through causes, and thus achieve a certain degree of indirect control over them,
"31 In this change Vemon does not hesitate to accept the "homeostatic motivation" in the set of human
we are, basically, powerless to have them or not have them" (1973, 151).
motivational factors (see 1969. 36-40).
181

180

e-_ "a
 Motivational factors are only differentiated in theoretical discourse, 3.1 . By reflecting the pressure of the dominant factor, the performance is
because in human action they operate jointly, grouped together. Erotic activity thematized in a rational, instinctive and passionate way.
provides us with a striking example of the above-mentioned clusters: all the
established factors - drive, emotion, cognition - are mobilized in its pursuit, but The same physical action will be thematized (interpreted) in different
the clusters are organized hierarchically, with a dominant factor of the action, ways depending on its motivational context. Thus, for example, the murder
which determines its mode. The second thematic function of motivation is thus committed by Raskolnikov (in Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment) is a rational
manifested: the way a specific agent acts on a specific occasion depends on the (ideologically motivated) action, the murder committed by Rogozhin (in
dominant factor of his motivational grouping. We therefore conclude that acting Dostoyevsky's The Idiot) is an act of passion (crime of passion), and the murder
can be themed on the basis of motivational factors. The final part of this study
will indicate the kind of action themes that can be developed within this
framework. In the spirit of Vodicka and Bremond, we will move freely from the
thematization of motivation in the real world to the themes of fictional
performance.

3. MOTIVATIONAL TOPICS OF PERFORMANCE

The traditional subject matter of fictional acting was derived from the
physical moment of the action: narrative themes were configurations of physical
actions. Thus, for example, the basis of Propp's popular themes is a series of
functions as generalized physical acts (journey, abduction, search, fight,
transfiguration, construction of a palace, etc.). Barthes's improvised list of
descriptions of actions (proairetismes) and sequences of actions (1970, 259-63) is
dominated by physical actions (going out, touching, entering) and speech acts
(narrating, asking, declaration of love). Some mental states (joy, sadness, fear)
and intentions (wanting to leave) are also appreciated. This mixture reflects the
dualism typical of traditional narratology: the action is in the physical realm, the
character is a series of mental properties (traits, dispositions). In other words, the
narrative structure is divided between the physical story and the psychological
character.
A thematization of acting on the basis of motivation transcends this
dualism, since it seeks a radical psychologization of the story and at the same time
turns the character into an acting entity, a mind in action. This direction is already
pointed out in Bremond's "logique du récit" (1973). According to Bremond, a
person is forced to act (or refrain from acting) by three kinds of binary "motives":
hedonic (desired/averse), pragmatic (favorable/unfavorable calculation), and
ethical (consciousness of obligation/prohibition). But as far as control and mode
of action are concerned, Bremond's agent remains the Aristotelian agent par
excellence. He or she is a voluntary agent when "having conceived the project of
modifying the existing state of things, he or she passes into action to bring about
that change" ("ayant congu le projet de modifier l'etat des choses existant, [il]
passe á l'acte pour réaliser ce changement"), whereas he or she becomes an
involuntary agent only through ignorance or error (176, 235).
Our set of motivational systems allows us to produce a richer narrative
theme. Let me briefly review some of the possible procedures for thematizing the
domain of fictional acting:
 of the Arab by Mersault (in Camus's The Stranger) is an instinctive act. CLV In each dominant motivation: by perverse ideology in Crime and Punishment, by
case the thematic character of the key action (the murder) is determined by its desperate passion in The Idiot, by subconscious impulses in The Stranger.^
182 183
batk
ak.k
esac CENTRAL LIBRARY a. KHAN.

CLV According to Mersault's thematization, murder has no motivation: it is interpreted as a natural event.
154
The motivational thematization of action is in fact analogous and complementary to functional thematization (of Propp). The difference lies in the nature of the "interpretant"; motivational thematization relates
the action to its mental conditions, while Proppian thematization links it to a higher-order (story) structure. As a function, the action of killing could be "damage caused by villain", or for example, "victory over villain",
or "help from a helper".
( (( ( ( ( ( C( (((((((C.(
3.2 Actions are thematic when they arise from a conflict of motivations.
This procedure is probably the most popular generator of narrative themes, 3.2.2 . INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT ISSUES ORIGINATE IN
yielding dramatic thematic structures in which agents act or interact in the dynamics of INTERACTION, WHERE THE MOTIVATIONS OF AN AGENT ARE
tension, instability, sudden turns and insurmountable torments. 135 I will indicate below NECESSARILY RELATED TO THE MOTIVATIONS OF HIS/HER CO-AGENTS.
how this vast thematic field could be organized: When agents are in conflict, the interaction can, paradoxically, reinforce the personal
3.2.1 INTERNAL CONFLICT ISSUES ARE LOCATED IN THE MIND OF motivations of each individual. Dostoevsky's "scandal," the "hateful scenes" in which the
THE PERSON WHO ACTS. These can be subdivided into intra- and inter-systemic most private and intimate matters are aired in public, is a fascinating example of this
conflicts. Intrasystemic conflicts arise when the constituents of a single motivational structure. Yo
system, a positive and a negative factor of the same type, compete for control of theme. Mutually reinforcing their passions, the antagonists gradually lose control over
performance. Within the drive system, the tension between the drives of affiliation and their action and the scandal leads to a furious climax of shouting, insults and physical
independence generates a typical maturation theme (often depicted in the blows. A sudden decline occurs when one of the characters avoids the deterministic chain
bildungsroman). An all too well-known theme within the achievement drive is the of conflict reinforcement. That is what happens in The Idiot (chapter I, 8) when the
incompatibility of a woman's achievements, that is, the well-being of her family and her innocent bystander Prince Myskin avoids responding to an out-of-place physical attack.
professional career (Birch and Veroff 1966, 64). The topic of the---------------------- His reaction is totally incongruent with the motivational energy of the scandal, and leads
Jealousy arises from the tension between possessive love and the fear of loss or to his downfall (for more details see the later chapter on this work). '
1
abandonment. Issues of intersystemic internal conflict occur when different
motivational systems compete for control over a person's performance. The basis of this ------------------------ ----- . ----- — L-
thematic field is formed by a conflict between instinctive and rational modes of action - 3.3 The story of Madame de Renal proceeds within the theme of internal
a conflict that drains the energy of Prince Myskin, the hero of The Idiot. No less popular motivational conflict until she is forced to realize that she loves a man "qui n'estpoint son
is the clash between passion and ideology - the theme of Madame de Renal's behaviour mari."
in The Red and the Black, from the moment she realises that Julien is one of the "lower-
class, overgrown young men" ("ces jeunes gens des basses classes, trop bien élévés") At this point we approach the subject of adultery. F.1 Madame de Renal's theme
who would make Robespierre's return possible (chapter 17). is very popular, but it is only one example within a broad thematic field, generated in the
opposition between personal motivation and suprapersonal modal constraints. People are
135
Incidentally, narrative theory shares this procedure of thematization with psychoanalysis. endowed with more or less limited capacities for action, they are trapped by
Psychoanalytic themes - such as representation, transference and sublimation - arise from the conflicts of predetermined roles, faced with social prescriptions and prohibitions, surrounded by
motivation. The parallel between the narrative and psychoanalytic thematization of mental life is not at values and lack of them, manipulated by powerful ideologies. Individuals confront the
all surprising. Interpretations of Freudian theory as literary (poietic) or fictional representation abound
today (see, for example, Mahony 1982, Brooks 1984, Bloom 1985, Geha 1988). Some of these modally circumscribed world in very different ways. The themes of misfits, outsiders,
interpretations are hampered by their radically idealist epistemology, which does not allow for the rebels, etc. arise from the conflict between personal motivation and social constraints,
distinction between truth and falsehood, reality and fiction, dream and awakening. while the themes of acquiescence, regret, punishment, etc. arise from the submission of
personal motivation to suprapersonal powers. ;
184
The thematization of the relationship between individual experience and its
supraindividual environment goes beyond the real subject of this study, which is the
motivational theme of action. It obviously requires the introduction of conditions,
conventions and social norms (relating to 1
185

5
 ((((((( ( 1Á
codes). We will not enter into this thematic field here, but I would like to conclude with a
few words in defense of my own motivation in presenting this work in progress. The action
theme derived from motivational factors is full of theoretical dangers. We must enter the 11
human mind, a terrain that even its best explorers recognize as a construction of tentative
representations, working hypotheses, and provisional conceptualizations. On the other INNOVATION AS WORLD TRANSFORMATION
hand, progress in action and narrative thematics requires the recognition that human action
is inextricably linked to it. For this reason, it is worth a try. .
Innovation, whether in organisms, literature, or anything else, is
change, an alteration of the stability of the system, and is therefore a historical
problem. For the purposes of this study, let us define innovation as a change
that is beneficial to the functioning of the system, as a change that enhances its
potential, its effectiveness, its positive impact on other systems, etc.
There are two obvious problems with this definition. The first is a
problem of general aesthetics or philosophy of art, the theme of the perennial
struggle between "the ancients and the moderns": Is innovation desirable, or
even a necessary condition, for the existence of literature? Pre-Romantic and
Romantic aesthetes, Russian formalists, Prague structuralists and avant-garde
artists of various denominations have given a positive answer to this question. I
think they were right, but their claim must be reformulated in a non-dogmatic
way, and stripped of its polemical rhetoric. The contemporary Slavic studies
researcher can join this dispute by pointing out the fate of literature under the
restrictions of a normative aesthetic, reinforced by ideologues, critics, censors,
or secret police: the end of innovation meant the death of literature as an art.
The second problem with my definition is no less problematic: Who
decides, and on what basis, what is beneficial for systems as complex and
heterogeneous as literature and the arts? This question, however, does not have
a philosophical character, and therefore, does not have a universal or a priori
answer. The search for answers is the task of empirical literary history, and
requires an examination of the specific conditions of change, especially the
reconstruction of the initial (pre-innovation) state of literature in its stylistic,
"vertical" and generic stratification, the assessment of the strength of tradition
and the role of creative personalities, the recognition of evolutionary tendencies
and foreign influences, etc. One could begin this historical study with a
comparison of representative works of the "old" and "new" stages, a
comparison that could reveal the stylistic transformations in the
187
 heart of innovation. I will take this first step in the second part of this study.
In my opinion, the history of innovation must satisfy two requirements. First,
one should focus on poiesis, on the creative activity of poets, writers, authors who give
existence to innovative artistic works. In other words, innovation is primarily a matter
of production history. I do not wish to deny that the history of reception also has its
innovations: new interpretations and appropriations of the work of art by critics,
readers, performers, directors, etc. But whatever meaning we assign to reception (and
this role is more prominent in drama than in other genres) we cannot forget that it is an
act performed on a work that had to be produced before by a creator. When dealing
with the problem of the. innovation we are forced to remember that the relationship
between the creator and the receiver/interpreter is asymmetrical. In the current state of
literary theory it is especially significant to reaffirm the role of the artist, of the
"maker" without whose works there would be no role for the reader, the interpreter, the
spectator. ______________________
Second, and more importantly, we should look for 'a history based on theory.
Specifically, we must have a theory of drama to understand the history of drama. In
other words, the historical problem of innovation demands a brief introduction to the
basic problems of contemporary dramatic art theory.
Given my background, it will not be surprising that I am advancing from a
semiotic theory of drama and theatre. It has been generally accepted (see especially
Schmid 1975, Matejka 1976, 280-82, Slawinska 1977, Elam 1980, 5-19, Procházka
1988) that the foundations of this theory were formulated by semiotic researchers of
the Prague school during the 1930s and 1940s. Elam has generously acknowledged
this fact:

1. DRAMA, SEMIOTIC SYSTEMS AND FICTIONAL WORLDS

The year 1931 is an important date in the history of theatre studies.

Until then, dramatic poetics - the descriptive science of drama and
theatrical representation - had made little substantial progress since its
Aristotelian origins... That

189
( ((( ( .( ( c ( (
This year saw the publication of two studies in Czechoslovakia that
radically changed the perspective of scientific studies of theatre and
drama: Otakar Zich's Aesthetics of Dramatic Art, and Jan Mukarovky's
"An Attempt at a Structural Analysis of the Phenomenon of the Actor"
(1980, 5). .

Zich and Mukarovky were soon joined by other members of the school,
both Czech and Russian (notably Jifí Veltrusky, Pctr Bogatyrev, Jifí Honzl,
Roman Jakobson, Karel Brusak) in formulating the basic problems of a semiotics
of the dramatic arts:
- What kind of system (or systems) is dramatic art?
- What is the relationship between dramatic text and performance
(staging)?
- What is the difference between objects (things) in reality and those on
stage?
- What is the status of dramatic action and the actor?
---------:------= How is dramatic art structured?
Fifty years have passed since the flourishing of the Prague School, and the
advances in the theory of dramatic art have been substantial. However, it is no
exaggeration to say that contemporary theorists are still grappling with problems
that were already formulated in Prague five decades ago.
 (,( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( c '
SCHEME 14
; non-verbal sign systems'
real world objects
iI

semiotization
integration

Yo
In the avant-garde, we must recognize that the performers can allow themselves a lot of
YV
dramatic instruction ► construction • dramatic fictional freedom. However, the literary theorist has the right, or even should, treat the dramatic text
text theatrical world as a set of authorial instructions for performance. If a director undertakes a substantial
representation rewriting of the text, he is creating a new variation of the dramatic work (just as a
playwright produces a new version of an old drama in intertextual transformation). |
—,------------------------construction — -----• fictional world 1.2. The category of the fictional world enjoys a final, prominent position in our
_ literary scheme. The dramatic text and the staging ultimately seek to construct a fictional world.
\ The concept of the fictional world (based on the idea of possible worlds) was developed
in literary theory in the 1970s (van Dijk 1974/75, Pavel 1975/76, Eco 1979, Doloel
1979), and was applied to drama by Elam (1980, 98117). The duality of dramatic art
(highlighted in section 1.1) implies that two ontologically distinct kinds of fictional
world appear in its domain. The dramatic text constructs an imagined world which, like
In order to try to present the semiotic theory in a brief and lucid way, I
the fictional world of the novel or short story, exists as a complex image (Vorstellung) in
have decided to summarize it (diagram 1). The scheme as a whole allows for
the mind of its author and is reconstructed as such. -
some discussion, but let me point out three aspects of particular importance to
in the reader's mind. In contrast, the fictional world of theatre is a material world,
the subject of my study:
available to sensory perception and experienced like the real world. This is precisely the
1.1. The scheme accepts the essential duality of dramatic art: the
magic of theatre: it is an island of fictionality made of the same material as reality. Every
dramatic text is a homogeneous system of verbal signs, while theatre is a
time the spectator enters the auditorium and accepts the conventions of the theatre, he or
syncretism of different systems of signs - verbal and non-verbal, natural and
she enters a fictional world, which appears to be the same as the real world he or she has
artificial, material and symbolic. Consequently, there are two "legitimate"
just left behind. |
readings of the dramatic text: literary (drama as literature) and representative
Elam places the action-dramatic worlds close to the real world, and distances
(drama as theatre).136 The path from text to representation is complex and not
himself from theorists who emphasize their autonomy (1980, 104-06). Certainly, the
set out. After the theatre experience
materiality of the fictional dramatic world is a strong impediment to radical deviations
134
In Prague, the status of drama as a literary genre was vigorously defended by
from the laws of the real world. ■ However, many individual works and even entire
Veltrusky; "Some theorists have ... excluded drama from literature and claim that it is the genres (such as the dramatic fable, popular in Czech drama under the name " dramatická
mere verbal ingredient of theatre. This conception is at odds with many facts. Drama báchorka") testify that the fantastic, that is, the physically impossible, is as alive and well
sometimes dissolves into lyrical or narrative literature and finally emerges from them, as in in the domain of drama as in that of narrative.
the Middle Ages. There are many works that have not been written for theatrical performance,
However, there are more powerful reasons for declaring the distinctive character
but only to be read. Even more important is the fact that all works, and not just the "closed"
ones, are read by the public like novels or poems. of fictional worlds in general and dramatic worlds in particular. Elsewhere (see
especially Doloel 1989) I pointed out three of their specific features: (a) they are
incomplete, whereas the real world is complete; (b) they are confined to their own laws
or "orders," which are not
191

)
 < ( ( < ( (L ( < •
are necessarily those of nature; (c) their existence is derived from texts, while The process of semiotization has to be understood correctly, to avoid certain quite
the real world exists independently of any kind of representation, textual or common theoretical confusions, which is why I have Yo
otherwise. All the constituents of the fictional world, its people (characters), its prepared another diagram (diagram 2) that demonstrates the operation in more detail. The
events, its space and time, vary according to these parameters. notes to Act I of Djadja Vanja {Uncle Vanya} give the following instruction: "on one of
1.3. For the purposes of this study, I would highlight the last feature of them [the chairs] lies a guitar"; the instrument is later played by Telegin. To construct
fictional worlds, specifically their dependence on the text that constructs them. Telegin's fictional guitar, it would be normal to use a real guitar, but this real instrument
Since dramatic art is a syncretic medium (a multitude of texts), all its has certain properties that are irrelevant to its semiotic role: it belongs to someone, it has a
constituents - the verbal text, the props, the actors, the lighting, etc. - participate shape, brand, color, etc. YO )
in the construction. However, the role of the dramatic text is central: firstly, it concrete. As part of the fictional world of Djadja Vanja, the guitar 1
directly constructs the fictional world, especially through the dialogues and real will only be relevant as long as it represents the guitar that Telegin plays. Since the
monologues of the characters; secondly, it constructs the world indirectly, fictional guitar is a semiotic construct, it can be represented by other real objects, for
regulating the participation of non-verbal constituents. In this last function, the example, by a guitar. .
dramatic text is, to generalize a comment by Procházka, a game of props, a board or simply by the gestures of the actor (as if he were playing one). 138
"instructions, prohibitions or even omissions" directed at the receivers
(1988,21). SCHEME 15
The drama has a special discourse of explicit instructions =las. author's
notes, which primarily regulate the introduction of the natural and cultural real world objects sign: non-verbal1 ii
space as well as many features of the fictional people, such as physical
appearance, dress, movement, gestural expression, voice, etc. When a note
offers an instruction, an object from the real world, be it an actor or a table,
becomes a sign that participates in the construction of the fictional world. 137
real guitar —
Thus, our theory again confirms Veltrusk's idea that "everything on the stage is
a sign" (1940, 84). But we should add that the semiotic role of notes affects not — gestures ' prop guitar i represent»—► fictional guitar-«— mean -
only the fictional theatrical world, but the literary world as well. Notes promote * — tones ¡
the reader's reconstruction of the fictional world to the same degree as wooden board
representation: the only thing is that they are processed differently, that is, they
are treated as the narrator's discourse in the narrative genre, reading does not
semiotize material objects, but the mental images of these objects. The primacy of the text in the construction of the dramatic world
reinforces the legitimacy of my literary study of drama, but changes its
perspective: it will study how the text shapes, directly or indirectly, the
dramatic fictional world and how its stylistic and dramatic changes lead to the
creation of new fictional worlds. I will demonstrate this

138
The capacity of theatrical elements to be substituted (transformed) in the
137
Notes have their own verbal characteristics, usually different from those of! dialogue, construction of the fictional world has been richly exploited by directors, especially in
but its quantity, verbal form, and degree of obligatory nature are part of the overall dramatic avant-garde theatre. Its first theoretical formulation is even due to an avant-garde director,
style and are therefore subject to change and innovation. Jifí Honzl (1940, see also Elam 1980, 12-161.

192

)
 ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ! Yo
YO . ideas. Certainly Marysa is a drama of passions, but the passions in the | 1 realistic drama
approach with a brief comparison of two representative works of the Czech
are openly expressed in verbal confrontations and |
dramatic repertoire, Mary su. by Alois and Vilém Mrstík, and Léto [The violent physical acts (a fight, an attempted murder, a murder).141 |. Srámek replaces the
Summer], by Fráña rámek. open conflict of passions with the delicate story of erotic awakening. All emotions in Léto
are stifled, often expressed indirectly, in symbolic acts (a dangerous expedition in search
2. MARYSA AND LETO of water lilies), in innuendos, in quotations from poetry.142
These differences in the thematic structure of the worlds Yo
Only two decades separate the premieres of Marisa (1894) and Léto (1915), but Marysa and Léto’s fictional roles are evident. The most important change is |
the two dramatic texts carry out and show a radical transformation that took It occurs on a less obvious level, in the different ways in which the world |
place in Czech literature and culture at the turn of the century, the transition fictional is made up of the dramatic text. Marysa's text constructs a defined,
from realism (naturalism) to modernism (specifically impressionism). Our concrete world, in which each fictional object, person or event is precisely
comparison is facilitated by the fact that the two works share the story of an
drawn and delineated. The
erotic triangle, involving an aging husband, an attractive wife and a young
The definition and concretion of the realistic fictional world can be clearly
lover. 'However, the spatial and social setting of the story is completely
perceived in its material constituents: the stage is flooded with
different: a village in South Moravia with its traditional way of life in Marysa,
specimens of nature and cultural artifacts, with sounds of work and village
and the idle world of sophisticated Prague literati in Léto. Archaic morality and
songs. The notes regulate the introduction of these fictional entities with
rigid power relations within the family are the cause of Marysa's tragedy: 140 the
meticulous enumerations (both in physical appearance and in their mental
rebellion of her emotions ("heart") is unsuccessful. Faced with the dilemma of
dispositions) and by frequent instructions on gestures and voice. Lyrics and
breaking the socially imposed bonds of marriage, or staying with her husband,
notes to popular songs are provided in an appendix.
she chooses the latter. In contrast, in Léto there is almost no trace of
constraining social conventions: even religion (represented by the village The interaction and emotional relationships between the characters are constructed
priest) has lost its ascetic rigidity and becomes a celebration of the forces of with dialogues modeled after everyday, colloquial conversations, colored by the local
life. dialect. The characters' emotions are basic - anger, anguish, desire, hatred - and are
The changes in the regional and social scene are accompanied by a expressed explicitly, directly. Only rarely do we find an allusive gesture (Marysa kissing
notable shift in the handling of the story, an innovation of modernism her grandmother's hand at the end of Act II) or word (from Marysa to Francek: "tomorrow,
frequently commented on: from open action to inner experience, from physical tomorrow you will accompany me" at the end of Act IV). ¡
conflicts to the dynamics of emotions, temperaments, The dialogue is primarily antagonistic: its most frequent speech acts are
challenges, threats, insults, orders, prohibitions,

In Léto the triangle is twofold: a second suitor, a pubescent boy, enters the fray,
dominating the show and changing the history of the play (see below).

I speak of archaic morality because the work already shows it. state of crisis. Both the
vox populi (in Act III) and the voice of the official guardian (the priest's opinion reported by
Marysa in Act IV) question its legitimacy. Although archaic, social conventions are integral
parts of the fictional world and as such determine the attitudes and actions of the characters, as
FX already pointed out. Salda (see Procházka 1988. 139).

194
((((((((((
Calls in vain. These acts are clearly marked by semantic and intonation the series of mechanisms that create the impressionist world of blurred forms.
inversions. A conversation between Marya and her aunt will serve as an Léto's dialogue is radically different from Marysa's, both in tone and register.
example, although it is not the most hostile of dialogues: The register is literary Czech, but the dialogue violates conventional syntax and
semantics through frequent ellipses, hesitations, inversions and contradictions:
MARYSA Why do you insist with me, why do you want
my suffering? Because?
STROUHALKA (irritated) Because you have a stone head. You JAN My dear aunt, I have seen something beautiful.
are a woman, but you talk like a girl. PEROUTOVA Now?
But, for God's sake, you should think about it JAN Suddenly it passed before my eyes... a
MARYSA yourself. It seems to me (with tears in my eyes) image, a dream... Cleopatra perhaps... perhaps
that they are hunting me outside the house. I Skmiramis... Your prisoner, queen. ... I saw... no,
cry, I beg, I lament, and it's like I'm talking to the oaks. I don't know how to say it, maybe... maybe I
could represent it... sometimes I represent what I
Marysa's dramatic text builds the crucial incidents of the story on stage: don't know how to say... Can I? (Act U)
the dispute over the bride's dowry, the departure of the recruits, CLVI the conflict
between Marysa and her parents and her final submission, the fight between The fragmentary character of the text is highlighted by an artificial
Francek (the lover) and Vávra (the husband), when Vávra shoots Francek, or voice and histrionic code prescribed by detailed notes. Jan's speech is preceded
when Marya puts poison in her husband's coffee. Even the dying Vávra is by this note:
brought back onto the stage. The Mrstíks do not hesitate to place pathetic
events before the eyes of the viewer and the mind of the reader. He lowers his head and covers his face with his hands, while Frau
In contrast to the concreteness and material density of the world of Peroutová looks at him with eager compassion, smiling mysteriously;
realist drama, the fictional world of impressionist drama is indefinite and then he suddenly drops his hands and, shaking his head, raises it: he is
poorly provided. The notes suggest rather than prescribe the scene, introducing very excited, he is panting.
its material objects as if in passing, in what constitutes an essentially narrative
discourse:

The room in a village where two fugitives from Prague have just made
perfectly this style of notes: they can now be indistinguishable from the narrative of his
their nest is actually the nest of a sparrow. There is very little furniture,
impressionistic prose.
those on vacation are usually modest in this respect, even the disorder
is justified by the situation... (Act I)CLVII
197
In this scenario, the story of two personal crises (the end of the Perout
marriage and Jan's erotic awakening) is presented in fragments. Its crucial
episodes - Jan's adventure at the pond, Chvojka's elopement with Mrs.
Perotouvá, Jan's intimate experience with Stáza - take place off-stage: they are
constructed either by a mention in the dialogue, an indicative note, or by the
oldest procedure of off-stage construction, dramatic narration. The pauses, the
voices off-stage, the silent gestures and movements, the empty stage, complete

CLVI In this scene we have an illustrative example of the material density of Marysa's
fictional world. The notes build "two wagonloads of recruits. The horses are decorated with
bows" (Act I).
CLVII In a later drama. M_stc nad _ekou [The moon over the river] (1922). Ramek took 196
 12

THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF KAFKA

The speech of individual characters is not distinguished by easily
identifiable dialectal forms, but by a typical tone: Mrs. Peroutová is a master of
irony and sarcasm, Mr. Perout adopts a colloquial, jovial tone, Jan's speech is Modern literary texts provoke many different and even contradictory
an example of contemporary poetic language (impressionism), while the priest interpretations, and this fact has normally been explained by their semantic
resorts to the archaic (and therefore sentimental) poetics of the old poetic indeterminacy or polyvalence. However, in Kafka's case the chaos of
school (of Vrchlicky). interpretations comes less from the semantic indeterminacy of his texts than
Together, the dialogue and notes construct the characters' mental lives from the theoretical weakness of his interpreters. CLVIII Despite widespread
as vague, fragmented, fragile, and constantly changing. The emotional interest in Kafka, his work has remained on the periphery of modern literary
relationships between fictional characters are ambiguous and uncertain, they theory.
are alluded to rather than explicitly stated. When Chvojka suddenly makes a The aim of this study is to demonstrate the usefulness of modern
definite and unambiguous statement (telling Peroutová: "I love you"), it creates semantics of fiction for the interpretation of Kafka's work, as well as the
surprise and confusion. A word with a clear message violates the rules of possibilities of further development of the theory, stimulated by its
impressionistic world-building. confrontation with complex and multivalent texts. In contrast to ad hoc
I can do no more here than offer a brief presentation of two radically approaches, fictional semantics conceives literary texts as semiotic systems for
different, but historically related, dramatic styles. The example certainly constructing (generating into existence) fictional worlds, parallel to the real
suggests that the history of drama is closely linked to the stylistic evolution of world but autonomous from it. For this reason, modern fictional semantics must
literature. However, I have not presented it to reinforce the argument for drama be established as a constructional semantics, that is, as a theory that explains
as a literary genre. Rather, I intended to specify my initial idea that innovation the semantic properties of literary texts, which have the power to
is a process of production history. Now we can say that in dramatic art, as in
other arts that require language for world building, the text is the transmitter of
information. New worlds are created by new words.

CLVIII I fully share Steinmetz's opinion: "The high degree of lack of transparency and
contradiction that characterizes Kafka research is due above all to the fact that in this case
there is a lack of essential reflection on the conditions and processes of reception and
interpretation of literary texts.... [ Kafka research] has illustrated, like no other example,
both in its entirety and in almost all of its individual contributions, the failure of a
hermeneutics without reflection" ("The extreme high degree of inconsistency and wide
198 spreadness, which showed the Kafka research, was previously unknown to everyone." Da in
diesem Falle das Versaumnis einer grundsatzlichen Reflection über die Bedingungen und
Prozesse von Rezeption und Interpretation literarischer Texte unterbiieben ist ... [Die Kafka-
Forschung] hat wie kaum ein andenes Beispiel ais Ganzes wie in so gut wie all ihren
ad£EGd. E: ; -*3#:-

Einzelbeitragcn das Scheitern einer weitgehend unreflektierten Hermeneutik veranschaulicht.

Steinmetz 1977, 20). Only a few isolated aspects of Kafka's work, such as his narrative modes
(cf. Cohn 1968) or its peculiar form of argumentation (cf. Steinmetz), have been studied199
with
attention to general theoretical frameworks.
 is an integral part of the natural world. Everything that happens or can happen in the natural
building actional worlds (cf. Doloel 1980).
domain, both natural events and human actions, is governed by its modalities. In contrast, the
A fictional world is characterized by a series of constituents, by a
modes of nature do not impose themselves on the supernatural domain. Everything seems to be
specific structure and by its own semantic potentials. "Fictional world" is a
possible in the supernatural world, since its events are caused by forces that surpass the laws of
macrostructural concept and as such provides a general framework for
nature or are related to them. As a rule, these forces are individualized and personified in
semantically interpreting particular constituents or aspects of the literary text.
supernatural agents: gods, spirits, demons, etc.
In other words, the interpretation of the text begins by proposing a hypothesis
b) The association of the natural and supernatural domains is dominated by two basic
about the global characteristics of its fictional world. Within this global
relationships: the relationship of power (control) and the relationship of accessibility. The fact
hypothesis, interpretations of particular constituents of the meaning of the text
that in all mythologies the natural domain is governed by the supernatural domain is a matter
find accommodation. I do not mean to suggest that a hypothesis about the
of common knowledge. For all events in the natural world, influences or interventions from
macrostructure of the fictional world will make possible the formulation of
the supernatural domain can be traced. 147 In an extreme case, these interventions cause
definitive, exclusively "correct" interpretations. However, I believe that this
supernatural events to occur in the natural domain. These violations of the laws of nature and
hypothesis will provide a basic criterion, in terms of which particular
the modalities of the natural world are perceived by its human inhabitants as miracles, fantastic
interpretations can be evaluated. It is especially clear that the macrostructural
events or at least inexplicable or mysterious phenomena. It should be noted that the power
hypothesis will reveal the low reliability, or sheer absurdity, of some
relationship is strictly asymmetrical: the inhabitants of the natural world do not possess the
interpretations of isolated textual constituents.
ability to intervene directly in the events of the supernatural world. Similarly, the second basic
relationship between the two domains, accessibility, is also asymmetric. While agents of the
supernatural world have free access to the natural world, even if they have to assume specific
adaptations or disguises, the supernatural is inaccessible to the inhabitants of the natural
YO. THE MYTHOLOGICAL
WORLD domain. Special permits are required and strict conditions are imposed on the few human
visitors allowed to cross the closely guarded border. Being physically inaccessible, the
To understand the structure and semantic potential of Kafka's fictional world,
supernatural domain is beyond human cognition: it appears as a profound mystery, like a
we must put it in relation to the world of classical mythology. The
transcendental black hole. The minds of the inhabitants of the natural world are drawn to this
mythological world is a dual (binary) structure, consisting of a natural and a
mystery, but they have to rely on self-named informants.
supernatural domain.146 There are two properties of the mythological world
that are of great importance for the study of Kafka's semantics:
a) The contrast between the natural and supernatural domains is
!1
established between alethic modalities. The modal constraints operating in the
natural domain are given by the laws of the natural world: these laws
determine what is possible, impossible and necessary in the natural world.
Modalities are imposed on all inhabitants of the natural world, including
humans. In this way, the human world

Typically, the natural domain is surrounded by two domains of the supernatural:

the upper domain (heaven) and the lower domain (hell) (cf. Kirk 1970, 224-). This particular
aspect of the structure of the mythological world is. however, relevant to our discussion. "The interventions of supernatural agents in the human world are normally governed by more or less
strict rules (cf. Banes 1974, 123). However, there is no guarantee that arrogant or capricious interventions will
not occur.

200 201

m*sge"'

Yo
Fait
■ 1 ( ( ( ( ( ((( (
—-d • ■independently
' - themselvesverifiable.
and whose descriptions of the supernatural world are not
SCHEME 16
i II. KAFKA'S MODERN MYTH 44
40 1. THE MYTHOLOGICAL WORLD:
The modal oppositions and asymmetrical relationships, characteristic of the a
world of classical myth, provide us with the basis for understanding the structure
of Kafka's fictional universe. His fictional world can be defined as a specific supernatural
transformation of the mythological world. There are two kinds of
transformations, which give rise to the two varieties of Kafka's fictional world
that can be formulated: a) The first transformation consists of eliminating
(dissolving) the border between the natural and supernatural domains, and natural
neutralizing their modal opposition. Through this operation the binary
mythological world is transformed into a ■ hybrid world, b) In the second 2. THE MODERN MYTH OF KAFKA
transformation, the separation between the two domains is maintained, and with it
a) the hybrid world
the asymmetric relationship between said domains. However, the modal
opposition is heightened, and both worlds are subject to the constraints of natural
modalities. As a result of this transformation, the modal opposition of the
mythological world is replaced by a semantic opposition between the visible and
invisible world. The central part of Kafka's fiction is located in these two varieties
of fictional world (see diagram 1).

b) the visible/invisible world

invisible

visible

we

Below I will describe these macro semantic structures in more detail,

and investigate their most representative manifestations in Kafka's production.
A) The hybrid world. This world is a semantic structure in which
It neutralizes the opposition between the natural and the supernatural, so that

- 9*=
both natural and supernatural phenomena are integral parts of the same world.
In fact, the semantics of the hybrid world must abandon the "natural" /
"supernatural" terminology applied to the mythological world. All phenomena treated as a normal and expected visitor, as an inhabitant of the narrator's own
world. In a later conversation with a neighbor the narrator, although he
in the hybrid world happen “naturally” and normally. If we have to specify
phenomena of the hybrid world that overcome the constraints of natural maintains that he does not believe in ghosts, expresses a rational fear that the
boy was a natural phenomenon. In any case, there is no rational explanation
modalities, we will refer to them as rare phenomena. Since there is no
possible ("Real fear is the fear of what has caused the appearance", "The real
supernatural domain in the hybrid world, we cannot refer to it as the source of
the strange phenomena. In fact, this explanation would contradict the very fear is the fear of what has caused the appearance" p. 22). The narrator searches
for a cause, an explanation outside his own world. This is the only aspect of the
principles of Kafka's semantics: if Kafka's hybrid world were explained as
supernatural, it would be reduced to a mythological structure, and would be strange phenomenon that has not yet been completely domesticated in the
hybrid world, that has not yet been completely accepted as a normal occurrence
deprived of its particular semantic originality and aesthetic effectiveness. We
by its human inhabitants. However, when the narrator returns to his room, the
have to accept this basic modal rule of the hybrid world: it fully generates and
H semantic rules of the hybrid world are confirmed again: the child has
motivates both strange and non-strange phenomena. :
disappeared, the narrator is not surprised, and he calmly goes to bed.
We have a model of Kafka's hybrid world in a short text. .titled “A Crossing”
In one of Kafka's best-known works, the story The Metamorphosis
(“Eine Kreuzung” 1917).CLIX CLX CLXI CLXII The single animal in this story, “half
(Die Verwandlmg, 1912), the modalities of the hybrid world generate the
cat, half sheep” (“halb Katzchen, halb Lamm”), displays all the significant
strange transformation of a human being into a parasite or vermin
aspects of modal neutralization and hybridization: a) some of its features are
("Ungeziefer"). Should it be noted that Gregor Samsa's new form as an animal
typical of a cat (the head and claws, “Kopf und Krallen”) and others of a sheep
is never specified in any definite way?CLXV Further
(the size and shape, “Gre und Gestalt”), b) It possesses properties that both
animals share (the eyes, the fur, the movements, “die Augen,” “das Fellhaar,”
“Die Bewegungen”), or that they at least share to varying degrees (the
restlessness, “die Unruhe”). c) It lacks some of the features of its original
constituents (it cannot meow and is afraid of rats, «meowing can't and rats
don't meow»); finally, in addition to the features that are derived from (or that
it has inherited) its «parents», the hybrid acquires exclusive properties, its
specific structural totality: it is alien to cats and sheep and seems closer to
higher, human beings («Did this cat with a sheep's soul have human ambition
too?», «Hatte diese Katze mit Lammesseele auch Menschenehrgeiz?»). To
sum up, Kafka's strange hybrid has the ability to behave like a cat,
like a sheep, like no one, and like something (or someone) completely
different. Similarly, Kafka's hybrid world can produce phenomena that would
be (in the underlying structure) called natural and supernatural, as well as
phenomena of a new and ambiguous character. While a metalanguage based
on binary logic lacks the vocabulary to name these phenomena, Kafka's hybrid
world is a semantic resource to produce them en masse, and with great
variety.CLXIII CLXIV
As far as I know, the first manifestation of the hybrid world is the last
text of Kafka's first printed collection, Meditation {Betrachtimg), entitled
"Unhappiness" ("Unglücklichsein" (1910). A strange event - a child entering a
room through a wall - breaks into the narrator-protagonist's lonely world. The
child is compared to a "little ghost" ("kleines Gespenst"), but is accepted and
204
205

-"go-"
CLXI The much-debated question of whether the re-morphed Samsa is a worm or an
insect
CLXII(and tic what kind) is completely alien to Kafka's semantics. Demonstrate the fallacy
CLIX140 The role of children in "A Cross" clearly indicates the character of the world CLXIII The dates of Kafka's writings are from Binden 1975. References >
CLXKafka hybrid: only children take on this world without surprise, even with delight and CLXIVPages are from the Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag editions of Samtliche Erzahlungen,
curiosity and, at first, are able to think of meaningful questions about their origins, name, Der
future and end. CLXVProzefl and Das Schlofi.
 (((((-((((("
Well, Gregor has changed from a "pure" human being to a mixed, hybrid form, hybrid and its human inhabitants accept it as an everyday experience. Lured into the
combining animal and human traits: he is an animal in physical appearance, but hybrid world by "a false alarm in the night bell" ("Fehllauten der Nachtglocke"), the
his mental life, which slowly degenerates, remains human. Again, the strange doctor, riding in truly hybrid equipment, "with a land vehicle, non-land horses" ("mil
occurrence of this story is not completely tamed: Gregor's family and other irdischem Wagen, unirdischen Pierden", p. 128), has no means of escaping its modes.
human inhabitants of the hybrid world react with horror and disgust. Although Once the structural rules of the world are established
there is no attempt to explain the phenomenon as an intervention from the • hybrid its semantic potential can be used to generate a wide variety !
supernatural domain (which, as we have said, does not exist in Kafka's of stories. In «The Sorrows of a Family Man» («Die Sorge des Hausvaters», 1917), a
universe),151 observers react emotionally as if they had witnessed a supernatural hybrid thing or being, being - creature - wood («Wesen» - «Gebilde» - «Holz») cohabits
intervention. The emotional reaction corresponds to the rational Angst (fear) of with the people of an already existing house.
the protagonist of "Unhappiness." In both stories, human agents are not yet ■ sometimes enters into simple conversations. In "The Hunter Gracchus" ("Der Jger
fully adapted to the modalities and semantic potentials of the hybrid world in Gracchus" (1917), the modalities of the hybrid world make it possible for a dead man to
which they live. For this reason, METAMORPHOSIS is the work in Kafka's corpus coexist with the living. More precisely, and in accordance with the semantics of the
in which he comes closest to the traditions of the fantasy genre. 152 hybrid world, Gracchus is both alive (“Since then I have been dead,” “Seitdem hin ich
The rational and emotional reactions of the human inhabitants of the tot,” p. 287) and in a certain sense alive (“I am also alive to a certain extent,”
hybrid world, observed in "Unhappiness" and The Metamorphosis, are residues “gewissermaBen lebe ich- auch”). In "Blumfeld, an Old Bachelor" ("Blumfeld, ein
of the old binary modal conditions of traditional myth. In other stories of the álterer Junggeselle" (1915), the hybrid world generates a grotesque object, two sensitive
hybrid world these residues disappear. What happens is accepted by the balls jumping and dancing around Blumfeld. I would suggest including “The Trial”
inhabitants as not surprising, domestic, "natural." This attitude is evident in "A (“Das Urteil”, 1912) in the group of stories about the hybrid world. It is true that no
Country Doctor" ("Ein Landarzt", 1917). The "miracle" of discovering a pair of strange events occur in this story, but the father's unexpected curse and Georg's self-
horses and a stable boy in an unused pigsty is greeted with joy by the doctor destructive reaction are so hyperbolic and surprising that they produce an eerie effect.
and his maid. The maid's comment indicates that she fully understands the Finally, "A Report to the Academy" ("Ein Bericht für eine Akademie", 1917) is, with
semantic potential of the hybrid world: "You never know what you have in certainty, a history of the hybrid world. This is a mirror image, an inversion of The
store in your own house" ("Man wei nicht, was für Dinge man im eigenen Metamorphosis: an animal acquires substantive properties of humans, while retaining
Hause vorrtig hat", p. 124). The strange occurs in the midst of the human some traits of simian nature ("Affennatur"). In this story the naturalization of the hybrid
world, in reserve and waiting to be discovered or ■ intervened. Now the strange world is perfect: the hybridization process lacks any indications of the miraculous. It is
is an integral constituent of the world just an extreme and unlikely case of a purely natural process of persistent and rapid
training (learning). 13 CLXVI
basic to Kafka's interpreters, their attempts to naturalize Kafka's artificial world in terms that
refer to the everyday world of human experience (cf. Steinmetz 33 et seq.).

151
In fact, no explanation is suggested: Gregory's mother speaks of him as "my
unfortunate son" ("mein unglücklicher Sohn" p. 78).

152 Todorov has shown the relationship between The Metamorphosis and the fantastic
genre, highlighting at the same time that Kafka transcends this traditional structure: «this one
who was an exception in the first world, became the rule here» (Todorov 1970. 183).

206

CLXVI An interesting remnant of the hybrid world structure can be found in Kafka's last
work, "Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse People" ("Josefine, die Sangerin Oder das Vclk der
Mause" (1924). The narrator of the story is a hybrid who belongs to the nation of mice, but at
the same time displays superior observation and interpretation skills, similar to those of
humans. Here, the semantic structure is transformed into a
207
 (((((((“.
Kafka's discovery of the hybrid world, and his experimentation with literary, fictional, but expresses them in sociological, psychological,
it, is a major event in the history of modern fiction. The novelty, fragility and biographical, psychoanalytical, philosophical, religious, etc. modes of
precariousness of the structure posed countless difficulties for Kafka. One of discourse. With this form of interpretation, Kafka's work, as I pointed out
them was to find a fin! suitable for a hybrid world story. Let us remember that before, is deprived of its literary specificity and its novel semantic power.
neither the mythological solution (i.e. the explanation of the strange event by Although I think that a priori extra-literary interpretations of Kafka's
means of a reference to the supernatural domain) nor the end of the fantastic work are irrelevant or even illegitimate, I would like to emphasize that his texts
genre (i.e. a natural explanation of the apparently supernatural) are available possess significant clues or indices that enable different interpretations. Kafka's
in the hybrid world. Both traditional endings require a world in which the text performs a double function: first, it constructs a fictional world; second, it
opposition and differentiation between the natural and the supernatural is
offers its interpretation (or interpretations) in terms of various motivations.154
maintained. I am convinced that the structural difficulty of finding a
Through a series of specific devices, through its composition, its style, and its
satisfactory outcome to the sequence of events in the hybrid world is the
intertextual links, Kafka's text motivates its hybrid world, that is, it associates it
fundamental reason why many of these stories remained incomplete or, rather,
with analogous structures both external and internal to literature. Kafka's texts
were abandoned. Only in The Metamorphosis did Kafka find the specific and
have, so to speak, foreseen their possible interpretations. The interpreters have
appropriate ending for a story of the hybrid world. I am not referring to the
done nothing more than monopolize one of the interpretations given, inherent
death and elimination of "the vermin" ("Ungeziefer"), but rather to the final
to the text, or, in other words, extend their scope to cover the entire corpus.
suggestion that the strange event could return, that it could affect any of the
The best starting point for our study of the hybrid world's motivations
humans inhabiting the hybrid world. There is no regularity and therefore no
explanation for the strange phenomena. There is no protection against a inherent in the text is "A Country Doctor" ("Ein Landarzt"), The structure of the hybrid
possible recurrence. The hybrid world evolves in irregular repetitions of world is connected to that of the dream world by three important sets of devices: a) The
strange accidental events. Kafka's narratives are mere fragmentary episodes in relationship between agents, actions and settings is incongruous, and these are
the meaningless, repetitive, cyclical history of the hybrid world. displaced: the horses and the groom are discovered in an unused pigsty, in "the doorway
The description of the structure and semantic potentials of the hybrid which they had completely occupied" ("dem Türloch, das sie restlos ausfüllten", p. 124);
world is a valuable result of our analysis of Kafka's work in terms of fictional the horses poke their heads into the windows of the sick boy's house (p. 126); the doctor
semantics, although it will hardly satisfy a traditional Kafka expert. When he suddenly discovers a terrible wound on the boy's body, full of maggots; the doctor
offers interpretations of Kafka's works he does not formulate their meaning in undresses in front of the village elders and in the company of the school choir (p. 127)
terms of categories. and then flees naked into the freezing night, b) Contradictory motives and evaluations
coexist in the text: the journey to the child's house lasts no more than a moment ("as if
my patient's farm had opened up right in front of my courtyard gate", "ais óffne
narrative mode, that is, in a discourse structure, so the story can be read as a conventional
animal tale. Similarly, in a previously written story ("The Bridge," "Die Brücke," 1916), the
hybridization of an inanimate object is achieved by giving it the capacity of a narrative
speech act. Furthermore, in an experiment that would be repeated independently in other
first-person narratives of the 20th century. Kafka has violated the natural rules of this
narrative mode by having the narrator report on his own destruction. In this "text after
death," Kafka has contributed to a radical conventionalization of the first-person narrative
mode (cf. Dolozcl 1973, 108, note 22).

154
In this study I use the term "motivation" in a sense originating in the work of
Tomaevskij (1928, 145): "Motivation is a series of instruments justifying the introduction of
specific motives or blocks of motives." In this study the concept is generalized to include
systems of instruments that "justify" fictional world structures. In Chapter 10 the term
motivation is used in its psychological sense.
The boy is driven home by a long journey («I'll never get home»; « ... c) An erotic
background is present in the relationship between the old doctor and the young
maid, manifested by the violent intervention of the strange young man.
The dream world that motivates the fictional world of "A Country Doctor" seems Kafka constructs his hybrid protagonist, both dead and alive, thus placing the
to be the clearest model of the hybrid world: in dreams the modal restrictions of mythological world of legends above the restrictions of binary modalities. In "A
the natural world are suppressed, and the natural is freely combined with the Report to the Academy" the intertextual links with popular stories of humanized
supernatural. However, if the dream world were the only model for Kafka's monkeys, dogs, etc. (cf. Binder, ed. 1979, II, 333) reinforce the scientific motivation
hybrid world, his stories would not differ radically from the traditions of the of the hybrid world. Despite a certain skepticism expressed in criticism of Kafka, the
fantasy genre. It should be noted that Kafka's hybrid world is an abstract semantic world of The Metamorphosis seems to me clearly motivated by its generic
structure that can be "explained" by means of various motivations inherent to the intertextuality, that is, by its link with the mythological theme of transfiguration.
text. Thus, in direct contrast to the dreamlike motivation of "A Country Doctor" Kafka's transfer of the story from the mythological world to the hybrid one and its
we have the strictly scientific and rational motivation of "A Report to the subsequent restructuring is a good example of Kafka's radical transformation of the
Academy." This "antimetamorphosis," impossible in ontogeny, is quite possible literary tradition.
in phylogeny. Kafka's ape is a hybrid according to the scientific model of The most significant text for understanding the motivation of Kafka's hybrid
biological evolution, radically accelerated through intensive learning. The style of world is "The Troubles of a Family Man." While “A Crossing” provides the model
the story, the style of the scientific report, is in complete harmony with the for the structure and properties of the hybrid world, the Odradek of “The Troubles of
Darwinian motivation of its hybrid world. a Family Man” CLXVII
In The Trial and "Blumfeld, an Old Bachelor" the hybrid world is motivated by
the connection with psychopathological states. The Freudian motivation for The Trial
(indicated by Kafka himself, cf. Binder 1975, 126) has been very popular (for a
summary see Binder, ed. 1979 II, 295-98). As an inherent motivation of the text,
it is expressed primarily by the structure of the story: The unexpected twists,
concentrated in the father's sudden hostility and the son's "literal" execution of the
sentence, indicate a change from the natural world to the hybrid one. The figure
of the father takes on the character of the demonic and the suicide of the son is
equivalent to the fatalistic and purely deterministic actions of mythological
stories. The determinism of Georg's behavior after the trial is clearly expressed in
the texture of the story. His actions are described as being under the control of an
unknown, higher force, rather than the result of his own desires and intentions:
"Ceorg felt
called from the room ... driven into the water ... dropped" ("Georg fühlte sich aus
dem Zimmer gejagl ... über die Fahrbahn zum Wasser trieb es ihn ... (er) lie sich
hinfallen", p . 32). This radical weakening of the agent's control over his own
actions is a clear indicator of the presence of a hybrid world located in a
pathological human mind.
So far we have identified non-literary and non-fictional sources as
motivations for Kafka's hybrid world. However, some of Kafka's texts refer to
literature and literary tradition as the motivating source of his hybrid world. In a
group of these stories the motivation is intertextual, that is, the hybrid world CLXVII Neumann ten Binder ed. 1979, II, 337) mentions "the legends of the wild hunter, of the
develops as a continuation and transformation of the semantic structures that have eternal Jew, of the flying Dutchman, even the news of ETA Hoffman on the recent fate of the dog
existed in literature for a long time. Most of these intertextual links have already Berganza ... and the figure of Christ is enough» («the Wisdom of the Wilder Jger, the Ewes, the
Flying Hollanders, to ETA» Hoffmans Nachrichten von den neuesten Schicksalen des Hundes
been identified in Kafka studies: "The Hunter Gracchus" returns to the ancient Berganza... und zur Christus-Figur»):
legends of human immortality, life after death, mortals
who could not die, etc.' 55 Against this literary tradition, 211
 ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (.(
It demonstrates the procedures of its genesis, of its construction. - The
Imagination must operate with real objects, or at least with constituents described
motivation inherent to the text offered in this last work is the primitive
as real objects. Artificial objects are produced by original or unusual combinations
motivation of the hybrid world, "explaining" it as a purely fictional construct
of these real constituents. In their new totality, however, fictional objects
produced by the powers of human imagination. The text reveals the processes of
transcend the original properties of their real constituents. The hybrid expression
constructing fictionality at two levels: (a) at the language level, and (b) at the
"Odradek", consisting of real morphemes combined in a fictional way, is a model
object level. (a) All constituents of the expression "Odradek" are morphemes
of creativity of poetic language that discovers new areas of meaning. The hybrid
existing in a real natural language (Czech): od-, -rad-, -ek. However, in their
thing-being Odradek, made of bits of wood and thread but endowed with the
unusual combination they produce a purely artificial, fictional verbal structure. It
property of speech and laughter (a strange laugh produced without lungs) is a
is tempting to speculate about the possible meanings of this fictional neologism,
model of the higher-order totality of fictional objects. By constructing "Odradek"
but all such speculations must be guided by the consideration that the new,
and Odradek, Kafka has shown that the very essence of imagination is the process
artificial form produces a previously non-existent, new, artificial meaning. Both
of hybridization: human imagination has to use real constituents, but in its
the form and the meaning of "Odradek" are products of the faculties
synthesizing power it produces fictional objects with new structures, new
■ creators of meaning of language, poetic. An interpretation of a fictional neologism
properties and a new mode of existence.
in terms of "natural" words can only be approximate.156 (b) At the level of objects
B) The visible/invisible world. We have described the hybrid world as a
the principles of fictional construction are analogous. With meticulous attention
transformation of the structure of the mythological world, created by the elimination
to detail, Kafka lists the constituents that combine into the new fictional artifact:
of the boundary between the natural and supernatural domains, and by their
“a flat, pointed spinning spool, pieces of thread … of the most varied kinds and
subsequent mixing or neutralization. Concurrently with the construction and
colors, a small wooden crossbar, and another” (“cine flache sternartige
exploration of the hybrid world, Kafka has developed, as already indicated, a second
Zwirnspule,” “Zwirnstücke von verschiedener Art und Farbe,” “kleines
variant of his fictional macrostructure that can also be explained as a transformation
Querstabchen, noch eines,” p. 139). However, since these constituents are
of the mythological universe. In this second transformation both domains of the
combined into a structure with new properties of wholeness, their "original"
underlying dual structure become natural domains (i.e. domains in which natural
identification is only approximate,1 it is a conjecture (expressed, for example, in
modalities govern), while the boundaries and asymmetric relations between the two
the conditional mood). The constituents of fictional objects must be named by
domains are maintained. Strange events are not possible because the world is now
expressions of natural language, but their referents are uncertain or, rather,
uniformly natural; it goes without saying that supernatural phenomena cannot be
merely evoke the real referents of these expressions.
generated because there is no supernatural dominion in this universe.
"The Troubles of a Family Man" occupies a central position in Kafka's
The second variant of Kafka's fictional world is a universe of two natural
corpus of fiction. In a minimal text Kafka has shown the processes of human
domains, but strictly separated, alien and in an asymmetrical relationship. In
imagination. When constructing fictional objects,
Kafka's specific treatment, the division of the fictional world is produced by
constructing it from positions or points of observation that are situated exclusively
156 In a recent study Arie Gaifman (in manuscript) has followed this postulate to some
extent, proposing a number of possible meanings for Odrüdek. The artificial expression is
in one domain, while the other is not directly observable. The result is that the
treated as a word of poetic language, being interpreted as intrinsically polysemic. Gaifman's observable domain is constructed as a visible world, while the
interpretations are more compelling than the rest for one more reason: she is able to connect the
individual meanings of the fictional word with the possible meanings of the text as a whole. .

212

213
* ( ( ( ( ( ( (( ( world, the visible world is not a mystery to the rulers who reside in the invisible world. A
section of The Great Wall of China, published separately (1919) under the title A Message
Beyond the observable is a hidden, invisible world. from the Emperor (Die Kaiserliche Botschaft), reinforces the alienation of the ruling center by
Before proceeding with a more detailed description of this fictional locating it at an infinite distance from the people. Even the best messenger can never traverse
macrostructure, let me illustrate the difference between the two variants of Kafka's world. this distance. The dying emperor's message will never reach the recipient and will remain a
The doctor's discovery of the horses in the pigsty (in "A Country Doctor") and Joseph K. mystery forever.
The floggers in a bank room (in The Trial) are equally strange, displaced and unexpected In the story "An Old Manuscript" ("Ein altes Blatt", i 917). the
phenomena. However, while the world of “A Country Doctor” generates its event through relationship of loss is focused on in the divided world. An alien army, probably
its own hybrid modalities, the strange fact of The Trial is the result of an intervention by a barbarian, penetrates, or rather, creeps into the natives' territory, establishing a
natural and human, but at the same time alien, institution: the Court. The second variant silent and permanent threat. There is no war, no battle, the invaders are not
of Kafka's fictional world completes the elimination of the supernatural. The modal challenged. The world of the natives (with the exception of the isolated palace of
conditions of the hybrid world still allow strange phenomena (i.e., events that appear the emperor) succumbs to the invaders "as if much care had been taken in
supernatural) to occur; in the visible/invisible world structure, however, events that appear defending the land of our fathers" ("ais ware viel vernachliissigt worden in der
supernatural have their origin in a hidden, separate, but completely natural domain. The Vertcidigung unseres Vaterlandes", p. 129). Another aspect of the power
inhabitants of the visible world are faced with interventions of the same force, arrogance,
relationship should be noted, analogous to the infinite distance
and unpredictability as were the human inhabitants of the mythological world. However,
there is no supernatural explanation or justification for these events in modern myth; 215
strange forces are but mysterious ingredients of human nature or social organization. 138
Our example has already shown that the unfinished novel The Trial (Der Prozefi,
1914) is a fundamental manifestation of the visible/invisible structure. Not surprisingly, it
is linked to The Castle (Das Schlofi, 1922), whose macrosemantics reveal the same basic
division. Our discussion of the second variant of Kafka's fictional world will be based
primarily on these two novels. However, we should not overlook other short texts in which
specific aspects of the structure can be observed. CLXVIII
((((((((((

In the story "The Great Wall of China" ("Beim Bau der Chinesiscben
Mauer", 1917) the centre where decisions about the grandiose construction are made ("The
High Command", "die Führerschaft") is depicted as a hidden, unknown world: "In the office of
the high command - where it was, and who sat there, no one I asked could tell me..." ("In der
Stube der Führerschaft - wo sie und wer don saf. wei und wute niemand, den ich fragte...» p.
292). The Emperor of China himself, residing somewhere deep within his palaces, is a
completely unknown entity to the inhabitants of his own land: “Just so, so desperately and so
hopefully do our people look to the Emperor. They do not know which emperor reigns, and
there are even doubts about the name of the dynasty» («Genau so, hoffnungslos und
hoffnungsvoll, sichl unser Volk den Kaiser. Es wciBt nicht, welcher Kaiser regiert, und selbst
über den Ñamen der Dynastie bestehen Zweifel» p. 296). However, the text clearly states that
the lack of knowledge is unilateral: “They know us. They ". They know about us, they know
our simple occupations, they can see us all together around our humble abodes..." ("[Die
Führerschaft] kennt uns. Sie... wei von uns, kennt unser kleines Gewerbe, sieht uns alie
zusammensitren in der niedrigen Hütte...», p. 294). The relation of epistemic accessibility is
clearly asymmetrical: while the invisible world is unknown to the inhabitants of the visible

CLXVIII In this study I am concerned with the semantic properties of the structure of the visible and invisible world, rather than with its specific mode of construction, an aspect treated in detail in Dolozel 1983.

1
The demonization of the alien dominion of the invisible world, quite common in the criticism of Kafka's work, is nothing more than a reduction of Kafka's innovative semantic macrostructure to the traditional
structure of classical mythology.

214
 (((( ( ( ( ( ( ( "the people", "die Adelsgruppe" - "das Volk"). Secondly, the law is secret, a
privileged possession of the nobility. Logically, a fundamental question must be
between rulers and subjects in the story discussed above: contact between natives and
addressed: Is there a secret law, administered and interpreted by a small ruling
invaders is not possible, since they lack a common language: "Nomads cannot be spoken
class, or is it just a deception? «There is a tradition that the laws exist and were
to, they do not know our language, in fact they hardly have one of their own" ("Sprechen
given as a secret to the nobility, but this is not so, and it cannot be anything more
kann man mit den Nomaden nicht. Unsere Sprache kennen sie nicht, ja sie haben kaum
than an ancient tradition to which its very antiquity confers authority, because the
eine eigene”, p. 130).
character of these laws requires that their very existence also be kept secret» («Es
"The Refusal" ("Die Abweisung", 1920) is another story from Kafka's "Chinese
ist eine Tradition, de la character des Gesetze] exehen et de la Adele ais
cycle." With the central administration infinitely distant, the local administrator
Geheimnis anvertraut are, but it is more than as high and through its other glaring
(mandarin) exercises absolute power, even though no one has seen his credentials. In this
tradition it is not itself, because the character of this Gesetze would also include
story the world of power is represented by a complex hierarchy of bureaucracy
its shared benefits», p. 314). Although this sophism seems to provide an
("Beamtenschaft"). Similarly to the story "An Old Manuscript," the soldiers in whom the
argument for the existence of laws, there is a minority opinion ("a small group",
alienated power relies are of foreign origin: "The soldiers speak a dialect that is
"eine kleine Partei") that denies this existence. However, to deny the existence of
completely incomprehensible to us" ("Die Soldaten sprechen cinen uns ganz
law means to affirm the need for the nobility as the sole representative of legality.
unverstandlichen Dialekt," p. 312). A striking novelty of this story is the mention of a
The "small group" is caught in this vicious circle and is therefore unable to gain
group of young people dissatisfied with the system. However, they are "very young boys,
popular support for its cause.
completely incapable of foreseeing the consequences of even the slightest idea, let alone a
Let us now move on to a more detailed exploration of the semantics
revolutionary idea" ("even though they are young, the uneducated are the victims of which
of the visible/invisible world structure, focusing on its two main
the first revolutionary gesture was not a sign of women's power", p. 313).
manifestations, the novels The Trial and The Castle. I have already
When I was talking about the hybrid world I pointed out that Kafka's texts provide
mentioned that the semantic opposition between the two domains is produced
him with several motivations inherent to the text. In the case of the visible/invisible world
by a manipulation of the point of observation and narration. The text gives
structure, the motivation inherent in the text seems to be surprisingly uniform: one and
many clues that imply the existence of an invisible domain, but
only one, that is, the sociopolitical or historical motivation. All the short stories discussed
are stylized as historiographical accounts with substantial, but discreet and unprejudiced
commentary. The narrator of "The Great Wall of China" presents himself as an
"incorruptible observer" ("unbestechlicher Betrachter", p. 292), very well-versed in 159 As part of Der Prvzefi, the parable has been read as a miniature of the novel, specifically
"comparative history of nations" ("vergleichende Vólkergeschichte", p. 294). In this as a model of its semantic indeterminacy.
presentation and analysis, China's political system appears as a world of remote and
217
invisible rulers who govern the endless expanses of the empire without any contact with
its inhabitants. A similar mode of reporting in "objectivity" can be seen in "The Negative,"
while "An Old Manuscript" reads like a fragment of an ancient chronicle.
It is not surprising that the concept of law is central to the sociopolitical
motivation of Kafka's fictional world. The popularity of 216
( ( ( ( ( ((((((

Kafka's parable "Before the Law" ("Vor demGesetz", 1914)139 has

overshadowed the importance of another reflection on law and its nature, the text
"The Problem of Our Laws" ("Zur Frage der Gesetze", 1920). This reflection is of
the utmost importance for our problem, since it reveals precisely the nature of
law in a world divided by strictly asymmetrical relations. From this reflection
emerge two fundamental properties of the laws that govern a divided world: first,
the law is an instrument of a small group of rulers to control the masses; the text
4$ defines the opposing social groups in terms of the feudal system ("the nobility" -

)
 never offers explicit descriptions based on direct observation. CLXIX In The Trial the syntactic
structure of Joseph K. - "You are under arrest, because... well, a process has been instituted
against you. you" ("Sie sind ja verhaftet... "The transaction is never a mere matter" (p. 8) -
( ( ( CC ( C ( ( (
presupposes the existence of a responsible authority and simultaneously conceals its identity. confronts a low-ranking examining magistrate. Those who decide their destiny can
From the very beginning of his story Joseph K. receives orders and instructions from an never access it. His last question clearly expresses his total failure: "Where was the
invisible domain. Later, this authority is given a name ("the court", "das Gericht"), but it will judge I had never seen? "Where was the High Court, which I had never entered?"
remain hidden and unknown until the very end of the text. In The Castle, the seat of the ("Who was the Richter, who hadn't been there? Wo war das hohe Gericht, bis zu dem
invisible world is given a name at the beginning (Count Westwest's castle) and its existence is er nie gekommen war?”, p. 165). The progress of the hero of The Castle is no less
confirmed again and again. At the same time, its invisible character is affirmed: "The castle discouraging. He sees the castle from a distance but is physically unable to reach it. He
hill was hidden, veiled in mist and darkness, and there was not a ray of light to indicate that slips into the knights' courtyard, sees Klamm through a hole in the wall (or rather, tells
the castle was there" ("Vom Schloßberg war nichts zu sehen, Nebel und FinstcmiB umgaben him that the person being watched is Kiamm) and then waits for him in the courtyard
ihn, auch nicht der schwachste Lichtschein deutete das groBe Schloß", p. 7). In the most in vain. These episodes of superficial penetration do not prove the existence of "weak
express description (p. 12) The castle is "clearly defined in the shining air" ("deutlich points" at the border between the visible and invisible domains: they are introduced to
umrissen in der klaren Luf"), but is seen "from a distance" ("von der Feme") from K's prove that there are attempts to access them.CLXXI .
observation point. Only general external features are specified. By fixing the point of There is another, even more significant consideration in judging the success of
observation and narration and consistently manipulating the texture of his novels, Kafka searchers: The invisible world is infinite in depth, and therefore can never be fully
constructs an invisible domain in the midst of the natural world. This domain is as explored by human agents in their finite time. In The Trial the infinite hierarchies of
mysterious, inaccessible and powerful as the supernatural domain of the mythological world. the Tribunal are explicitly manifested by Huid and Titorelli. According to Huid, “the
Let us explore in more detail the asymmetry of accessibility and power relations that ranks and hierarchies of the court are endless” (“die Rankordnung und Steigerung des
dominate the structure of Kafka's divided universe. Gerichtes ist unendlich”, p. 88); Titorelli, who claims to have access to lower-ranking
1. The accessibility relationship. The invisible world is physically inaccessible to the judges, stresses that he would never even think of reaching “the high Court ...
inhabitants of the visible world. As such, it represents a challenge for Kafka's heroes, who inaccessible to you, to me, to all of us” (“das oberste, für Sie, für mich und für uns alie
begin a frustrating struggle for penetration. However, even as they seem to be getting closer ganz unerreichbare Gericht”, p. 116). Similar reports are offered about the depths of
to their goal, the heroes repeatedly discover that the center of the invisible world is still far the Castle offices and the bureaucratic hierarchies protected by rows of barriers (p.
away. Joseph K. enters the atticCLXX offices and 149).
Physical inaccessibility prevents the inhabitants of the visible world from
160 It could be argued that the attic offices of the courthouse (in The Trial) and the courtyard of the knights observing the invisible world and, consequently, prevents their knowledge. Epistemic
(in The Castle) are described on the basis of direct observation. However, a closer inspection of the inaccessibility is a necessary consequence of physical inaccessibility. Attempts at
macrosemantic structure reveals that these offices are enclaves of the invisible world in the visible, necessary to physical penetration are equivalent to an epistemic search, a search for knowledge.
carry out business.
Denied direct access to the mystery, the searchers seek help from a host of informants.
15 In this scene the physical contrast between the visible and invisible world becomes very 218 However, this help is more than

=67

CLXIXexplicit: Joseph K. sick in the attic office, while the girl and the employee
CLXXof the court fall ill outside (55-7).
CLXXI Taking into account what was pointed out in note 16, these successes are very doubtful.

■ 219
Problem: The descriptions they offer of the invisible world are neither authentic nor reliable. imposed by the Tribunal, Joseph K. challenges with rational arguments the irrational
Let us illustrate this fact with the example of Olga, the main informant of The Castle. Olga foundations of these rules. Neither warnings nor threats stop him: he rushes to trial, convinced
does not inform K. about what she herself has observed, but rather transmits the accounts of of his innocence. In The Castle the rebellion of
her brother Barnabas (what she claims are Barnabas's accounts). Information about the K. It is purely emotional and short-lived: he is so fascinated by the
invisible world takes the form of hearsay, rumors, traditional tales. The heroes themselves Castle only exceptionally thinks about his relationship with his power in terms of conflict (p.
have no opportunity to verify these stories independently. Behind the veil of unreliable and 51). The real rebel in The Castle is Amalia, and therefore her episode is an essential
even contradictory reports, the world of the court and that of the Castle remain a provocative component of the novel's overall meaning.CLXXIII
mystery. The asymmetry of power in Kafka's novels is ultimately based on the fact that the
The physical and epistemic inaccessibility of Kafka's invisible world does not have to invisible domain operates as an institutionalized organization, while the inhabitants of the
be proven by the failure of those who go in search of it. The invisible world is necessarily visible domain appear as isolated individuals. Since the moment of his arrest, Joseph K.
inaccessible, due to the semantic conditions of its construction. Any penetration or cognition becomes a "marked" individual, suddenly separated from his closest associates and family. His
from the visible world would destroy its very essence, that is, its invisibility, turning it into a trial was accompanied by a process of de-socialization: he increasingly abandoned his duties
visible domain. The failure of the heroes' quest is determined a priori, since the quest aims to and ambitions at the Bank. However, he does not find a community with
achieve the impossible: to penetrate a world that is necessarily inaccessible. Kafka's tragedy of
the seekers is the tragedy of those who refuse to accept the category of necessity
(impossibility). There is no advice, threat or failure that can dissuade or stop these tragic
heroes dominated by the eternal obsession of the human mind and body: to see the invisible, to
achieve the impossible, to capture the illusory.
2. The power relationship. The asymmetry of power in Kafka's fictional world is quite
evident. In The Trial the invisible Court exercises its control with the whim of absolute power.
Suddenly, without explanation or apparent cause, the invisible world intervenes to radically
change the life story of those select individuals against whom "a process has been instituted."
But since this selection is random, the authority of the Court extends over virtually all
individuals in the visible world. In The Castle, the submission of the people to the Castle has
all the features of a fief, including the ius primae noctis (cf. Beiken, pp. 333 et seq.).
Regarding the hero of the novel, the authority exercises its arbitrary power by repeatedly and
without explanation reversing its decisions and instructions. The most meticulous bureaucracy
ultimately operates completely at random.
The interventions of the invisible world in the visible world are carried out by a small
group of agents or emissaries. As instruments of the invisible world, these agents are in charge
of specific missions or tasks. The 220 ■ The arrest and death of the
hero of The Trial are the most typical actions carried out by these special agents. However,
emissaries presumably receive their instructions from the invisible domain and therefore their
credentials cannot be verified. Their authority rests solely on the fact that the inhabitants of the
visible world accept and take for granted the legitimacy of the invisible powers. CLXXII
However, the asymmetry of power is fertile ground for revolt. Joseph K., although he
accepts the legitimacy of the invisible Court, rebels against its irrational and haphazard
procedures. His rebellion is purely rhetorical, but he persists in his defiance until the very end,
until his last question. His active resilience is especially noticeable when compared to the
behavior of defenders like Block. While Block does not question the rules of the game

CLXXII Although credentials are usually unverifiable, those of the two gentlemen who come to kill Joseph are especially suspicious. For a discussion of this aspect of the semantics of The Process see Chapter 5 of this
volume.
CLXXIII1M Amalia's refusal to accept the Castillo's invitation has been interpreted in every possible way, and so it seems futile to discuss it again. Let me just point out that Heller has used the Amalia episode as an
important argument to reject Brod's religious allegorization of the Castle (Heller 1974. 132).
 the accused, and not only because it is different, but, mainly, because there is no The Court's mode of operation is in every respect in radical contrast to the Bank: it is
community of victims.163. The K. The Castle enters the village as an outsider and his efforts to irrational, hopelessly confusing and completely unpredictable. These properties of the
become an accepted member of the community (thwarted to the end) are usually understood as Tribunal make it "appear, superficially, like an institution of complete corruption" (see
the main goal of his quest. Glicksohn 1972, 379). In fact, critics who express this opinion make the same erroneous
In contrast to the individualized heroes, the individuality of the representatives of the assessment that Joseph K. himself made: fi
invisible world is suppressed. The invisible world is home to an anonymous “apparatus,” judging the Court with the same criteria as the Bank, they fail Yo
discarding “everything individual” and making “each member just a member and nothing understand their specific modus operandi. The Court is nothing more or anything other than
more” (Walser 1961, 68). The lack of individuality of the judges, officers and emissaries of the other mode of institutionalized social praxis, the opposite.
The Trial is manifested in that they are named by precise functional descriptions and lack Two constituents of this mode - irrationality and confusion - are easily understood in
proper names. The names of the officers in The Castle are either symbolic, like Klamm (cf. the twentieth century, but the meaning of the Court's mode of action is shown more clearly in
Gaifman 1981, 403 et seq.) or minimally differentiated, like Sortini - Sordini. In any case, the its third aspect, its randomness and unpredictability. It has often been argued that the Court is
power of the invisible world over the individuals of the visible world is the power of a faceless the supreme embodiment of the Law. As such, it should treat all individuals under its
social institution, a "bloated bureaucratic machinery" (Goldstücker 1965, 72). jurisdiction with strict equality and regularity. Indeed, as already mentioned, the Law of the
We should not forget, however, that there are also social institutions in the visible Court is capricious, unpredictable and haphazard in its application to individuals in the visible
world. In fact, the character and modus operandi of the institutions of the invisible world are world.CLXXIV CLXXV
best perceived by contrast with the social institutions operating in the visible world. To Predictability and regularity of application is a property required of human law. In
describe this semantic contrast we will focus on The Trial, where the Bank emerges as a clear
contrast, the law of nature, although strictly deterministic in the scope of its validity, is
alternative to the Court. In The Castle it seems that the power of the invisible world is so great
haphazard in its application to human individuals. All men are mortal, but the death of a
that it imposes its modus operandi on the most significant social institution of the visible
particular individual is a purely random event. In this respect, Kafka's Court operates
world, the administration of the town. K's visit. The superintendent ("Vorsteher") gives us
analogously to nature.CLXXVI When the Court, in contrast to the Bank, offers itself as an
sufficient evidence for this statement.
alternative mode of action for human institutions, the meaning and laws of social activity are
In The Trial the contrast between the Bank and the Court represents two essentially
questioned: Does social activity belong to the domain of human laws or to the laws of nature?
different modes of social activity. The Bank represents a mode of social praxis that is
As an artist, Franz Kafka does not have to answer this question. He proposes it in the literary
rationally organized, highly efficient and completely predictable; it is a mode of institutional
form of a complex fictional world that did not exist before writing his work. Through your
activity that, according to an accepted belief, has made modern man the master of his world.
world

222
223
•'T
J'!

CLXXIV In this respect, Block's words, based on long experience, are revealing: "Combined action against the Court is impossible ... so there is no real community" ("Gemcinsam lt sien gegen das Gericht nichts
durchsetzen ... Es gibt also kcine Gemeinsamkeib”, p. 128).
CLXXV According to Titorelli, the Court's methods are "incalculable" ("unberechenbar", p. 116). Huid expresses a traditional belief, according to which "the final verdict often comes from a random word from some
random person, at some random moment" ("The Endureil in many unseen falls comes from a beliebigem world, to a beliebiger time", p. 143).
CLXXVI It should not come as a surprise that the story of The Trial has been interpreted allegorically as the biological process of disease (Fürst 1956, 36-52; for a critique see Beicken, 86). In fact, the biological process
is taken as a model for social activity.
original fictional, has forever weakened the credibility of our banal and
stereotypical interpretations of the real world.
13

THE FICTIONAL WORLD OF DOSTOYEVSKY'S THE IDIOT

The structural theme of the Prague School, the most notable and yet
least attended to part of its model of literary structure (see Doloel 1990, 155-6)
was derived from the elementary narrative unit of motif (taken from
Tomasevskij 1928: 136-137) through the blocks of motifs (action, character,
setting, etc.) to the highest level of fictional world. Jan Mukafovky initiated
the development of the themes of the Prague School in his monograph on Máj
(1928, 151-202) and the culmination is the most important work of Felix
Vodicka (1948). In the classical stage of the poetics of the Prague School, the
concept of a fictional world remained a sketch, but it has proven to be very
stimulating. Mojmír Grygar, reflecting on the relationship between literary
works and reality, used this concept to affirm the autonomy of literature:

The artist's right to get rid of the reality of the external world in the
creation of his own fictional world is the conditio sine qua non of
creative activity (Grygar 1982, 360)

In this way Grygar aligned himself with contemporary developments

in fictional semantics, in which "fictional world" has become the key concept
(see Eco 1979, Pavel 1986, Doloel 1989, Ryan 1991 and many others).
The fictional world is the highest category, the most global and
inclusive of the structural theme. Every literary work generates its own micro-
universe with its specific order, laws and restrictions. All actional entities -
people (their properties, relations and actions), events and objects of nature,
etc. - are subject to the global order of the fictional world. My brief analysis of
The Idiot is an attempt to capture the special atmosphere of F. M.
Dostoyevsky.

225

224
 The Idiot (1874) is possibly the least understood of Dostoyevsky's major triangle scheme remains:
works. Interpreters have had difficulty with its unorthodox structure, so different
This quartet interprets the tragedy of E! idiot.
from the well-arranged patterns of the other novels. CLXXVII CLXXVIII Many critics,
inspired by a certain casual statement by Dostoyevsky (that he wanted to write a
novel about a "completely beautiful" or "completely good" man),* go no further 10
The portrait is a sign in the strict sense because Myskin deciphers in Nastas'ja
than this cliché about the archetypal hero.169 Exploration of the fictional world Filippovna's face her character and all her contradictions (see van der Eng 1957, 856).
of The Idiot will take us further than these isolated observations.

1. THE MEETING

The first step in building the fictional world of a novel is to assemble a

group of people who will shape the story of the novel. Dostoyevsky uses some
typical resources of the novel genre to introduce the fictional agents of The
Idiot. The first of these resources is the journey; Myskin, on his return to Russia
from Switzerland, meets Rogozin and Lebedev on the train from Warsaw to
Petersburg (I, I). They part ways upon arrival, but their contact remains
permanent: Rogozin joins Myskin in the small group of protagonists, and
Lebedev is part of the larger group of supporting characters. Other fictional
characters who will play an important role are introduced on the same occasion,
but in absentia: the Epancin family and Nastas'ja Filippovna are topics of
conversation, while some future minor agents are mentioned (Pavliev, Konev,
Lichaev). In the next stage of the formation of the group, the visit of the prince
to the Epancin family (I, 2-7), the resource that operates is that of focus. All
members of the Epancin household enter into conversation with Myskin and the
youngest daughter Aglaja becomes special. At the end of the visit Aglaja selects
the prince as his confidant. Furthermore, in a passing statement an indirect
connection is established between Aglaja and Nastas'ja Filippovna when
MySkin innocently compares Aglaja's beautiful face to that of her future rival.
At this point, all the protagonists have appeared in person in the
fictional world, with the exception of Nastas'ja Filippovna. For this exceptional
heroine, Dostoyevsky reserves an equally exceptional means of gradual
introduction. In a first step, which we have already mentioned, she is the topic of
conversation, she is a verbal sign. On the second step she is presented through
her portrait, becoming a pictorial sign.CLXXIX Only on the third step does Nastas'ja
Filippovna appear in person, a) unexpectedly visiting Ivolgin's room and
mistaking MySkin for a servant (I, 8).
As the story develops, the protagonists form a double "triangle of
desire," with the hero, Myskin, as the central knot (see Miller 1981, 219-20):
Ganja is demoted to the level of a supporting character, but the double 227

“forced, hysterical, hyperbolic, disgusting and boring” (Jones 1983, x). This absurd claim is
reason enough for Jones to exclude the novel from his own boring book.
CLXXVIII109 Dostoyevsky's intention becomes doubtful when we read in his notes
about his many (often contradictory) conceptions of the hero in successive drafts (see Wasiolek
1967, 12-6).
CLXXVII As recently as 1983 a British critic claimed that The Idiot is “a failure,” being CLXXIX226
, ((((((((((
2. FRAGILE LINKS ‘ ’
Yo lada. The rational antecedents of action (practical reasoning, deliberation,
’ Yo selection of alternatives, etc.) are minimized. The crucial acts of the heroes and
The protagonists' positions in the group are maintained throughout the story heroines of The Idiot indicate unreflective steps from desire or despair to
(Holthusen 1969, 9), but their relationships, dominated by the ambiguous love/hate relationship, physical or verbal act. At one point, the text, which continually shifts from
are unstable, and subject to sudden changes (see Dalton 1979, 96-99). Dostoyevsky elaborates in narrative to metanarrative, explains the contrast between rational deliberation
detail the changes in the Mykin-Rogoin relationship. In a moment of closeness the two (rivals) and thoughtless impulse. The prince
exchange their crosses and become "brothers" (II, 4). Since the text is scrupulous about time, we
know that this scene happened at half past two in the afternoon. At about seven o'clock the prince I was eager to meditate and decide on a certain step. But this "step"
was not one of those that one meditates upon, but precisely one of
returns to his hotel and confronts Rogozin, who tries to kill him. In a short period of four and a
those that one does not meditate upon, but one of those that one
half hours, brotherhood turns into murderous hostility. However, the Mykin-Rogoin relationship
resolves: he was suddenly overcome by a strong desire to leave
returns to brotherhood at the end of the novel, when they are together at a kind of vigil for the
everything here and return to the place from which he had come, to
murdered Nastas'ja (TV, 11). They are forcibly separated and sent to different exiles.
some distant and solitary place (II, 11)171
Nastas'ja Filippovna's back and forth between Rogozin and Myskin, her flight
from one to the other and her subsequent return is the most notable manifestation of --- -
The emotions, passions and drives that motivate impulsive action are
emotional instability. An equally clear example is that of hesitation. of Myskin between
volatile, appearing, disappearing and mutating arbitrarily depending on the
Nastas'ja Filippovna and Aglaja. Aglaja's emotional swings are perhaps the most
moment. At one point, Mrs. Epaninleinita is so taken by Myskin that she is
capricious. For a while she makes contradictory comments regarding his attitude towards
forbidden to enter the house again. Moments later, carried away by a contrary
Mykin, but eventually she unequivocally declares her love for him. Only a few minutes
impulse, "she suddenly rushed upon the prince, seized him by the shoulder and
later she leaves him forever, with a terrible look of suffering and hatred, unable to accept
dragged him after her," that is, toward home (II, 12). This is a minor incident,
"even a brief moment"
but it indicates what kind of acting decides the fate of the novel's
■ of doubt» (IV, 8). Similar contradictions and changes mark the relationship between Nastas'ja
protagonists.1,2 Even when compulsive acting is animated by the best of
Filippovna and Aglaja: in her letters to Aglaja Nastas'ja expresses friendship and
intentions, it usually proves destructive or self-destructive (acratic).
affection (III, 10), but in their decisive face-to-face confrontation the two women offer
nothing but words of hatred and contempt (IV, 8). '"

3. CONQUERED BY PASSION

The radical changes in personal relationships reveal the intense emotionalism of 171
The impersonal form of the verb of desire, available in Russian ("emú zachotelos"),
Dostoyevsky's protagonists. The bonds between passionate people are unstable, because very explicitly marks spontaneity and lack of control. It should be noted that after failing to
they are under constant threat from their impulsive, spontaneous, unpredictable, act on the spontaneous desire, and after deliberating for "less than ten minutes," the prince
uncontrollable actions. does not take the "step."
172
A model of impulsive behavior is that of drunks who lose control through self-
, 228 3 induced incapacitation. Dostoyevsky's fictional world is full of drunks and scenes of

Yo , drunkenness. In The Idiot, being drunk contributes to the motivation for one of the crucial
episodes, Rogoin's proposal to Nastas'ja Filippovna (I, 16). For a secondary character,
General Ivolgin, drunkenness is a permanent state: symptomatically, in the general's
character alcoholism is combined with compulsive lying.
 chaos is intensified by random interventions of the forces of nature. CLXXX The most
dramatic of these are Mykin's epileptic attacks, which appear suddenly, for no apparent
or known reason. Any intentions the prince may have had are interrupted and he begins
Weakening their control over their destiny through their impulsive and to utter involuntary cries and twist in spasmodic convulsions. More importantly,
irrational actions, Dostoyevsky's agents create a chaotic fictional world. This Myskin's very existence as an active person is temporary, framed by the pre-history and
post-history of idiocy, a state where his mind and capacity to act are destroyed by
nature.
Madness, the ultimate manifestation of the pathological impact of nature on
people, permeates the world of The Idiot. Myskin's "literal" dementia, the initial and
final state of his story, is the origin of the figure of madness, assigned to many people
and incidents in the novel. Thus, Myskin, although temporarily lucid, is repeatedly
called an "idiot." The actions of Nastasja Filippovna, as well as those of Rogozin, are
often explained as "madness" (for example in the passage quoted at the end of Book I).
Both literally and figuratively, Dostoyevsky's fictional world oscillates precariously
between madness and lucidity.

4. THE “HORRIBLE SCENES”

The tendencies of impulsive, acratic, and "insane" activity converge to create

the most notable episodes of interaction in The Idiot, the scandals.^4 It is interesting to
explore this interactional structure in detail, using one of the most complex and
remarkable tests (I, 810). Mykin has just taken up residence at the Ivolgin residence
and barely knows the family members. However, he is an involuntary witness to a
dispute in which a very delicate matter of

(((( , ( ( ( ( (

family, the possible marriage of Ganja Ivolgin with Nastas'ja Filippovna. The
family, and especially Ganja's sister, are vehemently opposed to the candidate. The
verbal exchange becomes more passionate and hostile, until Ganja "gives in" to
irritation,

without any restraint and almost with increasing pleasure, not caring where
it led him (I 8}

At this critical moment, and in a very unusual manner (see section 1),
Nastasja Filippovna enters the room. His impertinent comments and offensive
laughter further increase the tension between the participants in the scene. The
to "It was Bakhtin who pointed out the prominence of scandal in the fictional world of verbal conflict is about to turn into a physical assault, against the most innocent
Dosmycvsky. He considers that "scenes of scandal" are typical of satire S menipca
person, the spectator prince. At the last moment, Ganja "regained possession of
(1929/1972, 198). of which Dostoyevsky's stories are a modern one
$ demonstration. himself" and refrained from physical violence. A brief respite is provided by
General Ivolgin, who offers a sample of his impulsive lying. Meanwhile, two more
people appear, Kolja and Ferdyscenko, increasing the number of spectators. The
next, and most violent, moment of scandal begins to emerge when another visitor
appears, neither invited nor expected, Rogozin. With this entourage the group of
spectators becomes a "choir". When Rogozin notices the presence of Nastas'ja
Filippovua, "he turned so pale that his lips turned blue" (I, 10). Hidden passions are
ready to explode and bring the scandal to a climax.
The tension begins to rise when Rogozin asks a purely private question in

CLXXX This random chaos is the source of! extraordinary dynamism of Dostoyevsky's fictional
world, a frequently cemented feature of his poetics (see Grossman 1925, 178; Bakhtin 1929/1972, 267;
van der Eng 1957, 61 and others).
front of a large audience: Will Nastasja Filippovna marry Galja Ivolgin or
not? Unexpectedly, Nastas'ja's answer is negative, making it possible for
Rogozin to continue the scene in a highly original way, such as "bidding"
for Nastas'ja Filippovna. As the amount of money offered increases, the
scene becomes "extremely embarrassing." Rogozin, "in ecstasy," is called
"mad" and "drunk" (I, 10). All participants in the interaction have already
lost control and insults, shouts and cries are exchanged. When Varja calls
Nastas'ja Filippovna a "shameless woman," the scandal reaches the level of
physical violence, which had previously been avoided. Ganja “in fury threw
herself upon Varja and violently seized his hand”; Varja, “next to her,
suddenly spat in her brother’s face” (1, 10). Only then does Myskin
intervene.

’ 231
('(((‘.(((( (((((‘‘"“"
Protecting Varja, receives c! Ganja retaliatory strike. The prince's response to his
physical attack is astonishing: he The most crucial event of the novel, the murder of Nastas'ja
. Filippovna for Rogozin, is also his deepest mystery. 175 Mykin never asks, and Rogozin never
He covered his face with his hands, went to a corner of the room, stood with tells, why he committed the crime.
his face to the wall, and said in a wavering voice: "Oh, how ashamed you
Only Rogozin's "skillful and talkative" lawyer comes to a conclusion: he
must be of what you have done!" (I, 10)
clearly and logically proved that the crime was a consequence of fever ■
These words and the abstention from physical revenge are inconsistent with cerebral, which had begun long before the crime was committed
the structure of the scandal and cause its collapse. In a "friendly" ending, Nastasja crime, as a consequence of the great affliction of the accused (IV, 12)
Filippovna kisses Mrs. Ivolgin's hand and leaves the apartment. This rational explanation, although obviously accepted by the jury, does not, in
All the ingredients, stages and patterns of scandal as a particular type of fact, explain anything. It simply passes off a dark passion as a pathological force of
interaction are present in this example. It begins in a very discreet way, like the nature.
private meeting of a small group (family) that meets to discuss a delicate and The results of the impulsive acting in The Idiot are disastrous. Looking at the
controversial matter. But the private event becomes a public spectacle when a crowd final state of our quartet, we might envy the protagonists of the Greek tragedy: Nastasja Filippovna
of intruders joins the original group. The scandal obviously follows the model of a murdered, Myskin in the darkness of terminal idiocy, Rogozin in a Siberian "house of death",
theatrical performance, in which spectators are allowed to attend to the intimate Aglaja married to an impostor and swindler. In the flctional world the link between impulsive
exchanges of fictional people on stage. The infrastructure of scandal is a sequence of action and disaster is obligatory. The tragedy of his heroes is the tragedy of those who lose control
antagonistic semiotic acts, especially verbal and gestural, that become more heated over their actions and, consequently, over their destiny.
and hostile. As participants lose control over their passions and succumb to
impulsive, irrational and acratic acts, and new and unexpected agents intervene, the
conflict escalates and reaches its climax of fury in physical violence. As a
condensation of uncontrolled passions, violent words and senseless acts,
Dostoyevsky's scandal supremely exhibits the irrationality of fictional people.

5. THE CRIME OF PASSION

Scandal is an effective means of exposing the hidden and suppressed

thoughts, passions and relationships of fictional people. When a person loses control
over his action, his “soul” is revealed (Bakhtin 1929/1963, 175). Paradoxically, at
this depth, the intention and motivation of human action becomes obscure and
incomprehensible. Since there are no reasons for compulsive acting, it cannot be
explained by reference to reasons.

232 , 1
: According to van der Eng's general observation, Dostoyevsky "avoids making any effort to
rationalize the mystery and reduce it to its simple elements" (1957, 81).

233
(((((

14

THE WORLDS OF ZAMJATIN

Despite its commitment to avant-garde ideals, Russian post-

revolutionary fiction was quite traditional in its choice of its main subject
matter - contemporary Russian history. Certainly, this theme acquired a
special drama in an era in which history consisted of revolution and the
cruelest of wars, the fratricidal struggle of a civil war. However, early Soviet
fiction was not historiography, with its eminently modernist poetics
transforming history into myth.CLXXXI The modern myth created by Andreij
Belij in Peterburg continued to be the model for post-revolutionary fiction and
was adopted in a variety of styles, from Pilnyak to Babel to Platonov.
My study of a particular myth of the revolution, that of Zamjatin, is
based on theoretical assumptions and concepts specific to the semantics of
possible worlds for literary fiction. I will not develop this theoretical
framework in the present study. It is only necessary to know that each literary
work constructs a single possible fictional world. Narrative action worlds are
complex macrostructures consisting of several subworlds or domains. Myths
are generated in dual worlds, constituted by contrasting domains such as
natural/supernatural, nature/culture, living/dead, material/spiritual,
real/illusory, etc. Theories of classical mythology pointed out the underlying
duality of its fictional world structure (Lévi-Strauss 1967, Chapter 1; Kirk
1970, 224). ■ •
Zamjatin mythology emerges from temporal, spatial and existential
conformations of worlds.CLXXXII The resulting myths, which

r
t

CLXXXI•75 The mythologization of the revolution through literature has been noted
by Maguire: "No event in recent times has passed into myth so quickly" (1968, 91).
CLXXXII IN his essay “O sintetizme” (“On Synthetism”) (1922), Zamjatin perceived in
contemporary fiction “strange multitudes of worlds” (“strannnye mnozhestva mirov”). He
explained this feature as a synthesis of the everyday world ("bytovoy") of realism and ' 235
 (((.((((((

represent the center of Zamjatin's fictional universe and can be called

historical, cosmological, and existential. The first two, created respectively in
(((((((((<(
the stories Peshchera (The Cave) (1920) and Rasskaz o samom glavnom (A hidden, but made a mysterious object by a parenthetical aside: Martin Martinych
Story about the Most Important Thing) (1924) mythologize the revolution «pushed it back, so that Masha would not see it» («toroplivo sunul yego obratno -
directly, while the third, designed in My (We) (1920) does so indirectly1'8. My chtoby ne videla Masha». 211). The "flakonchik", which obviously contains poison,
study, which focuses on these texts, aims to reveal certain structural and becomes the instrument of the story's ending. .
textual features shared by the three versions of the modern Zamjatin myth. ■ In a superficial interpretation, Masha is killed by a
The Cave is a typical case of early Soviet literature, being a story of relic of the past because it could not survive the difficulties of the present. However,
victims rather than victors, of human suffering rather than revolutionary this interpretation is at odds with the overall fictional world structure of The Cave.
triumph. It is a short text, but it offers us a model of the construction of the The past age of culture is a Chekhovian poetic world: coming from that age, the
Zamjatin myth. His fictional world consists of two contrasting domains, the bottle is not an instrument of death, but a means of liberation. In the cruel post-
world of the cultural past, in the background, and the world, brought to the cultural world there is no place for weak poetic souls. Masha is released, but Martyn
a2aa

foreground, of the postcultural present. Zamjatin's protagonists, Martin Martinych must remain in the dark world, where "there was no moon" ("luny ne
Martinych and his wife Masha, straddle both worlds, vegetating in the present bylo"). 215).
and living off memories of the past. The age of culture was a time of comfort The dual fictional world of The Cave, created by the opposition present/past,
(«uyut»): «Remember, Mart, my blue room, and the piano with its case, and is complemented by a third semantic stratum, motifs from the pre-cultural, prehistoric "cave
the wooden horse on the piano, and the ashtray, and I was playing, and you age." The reasons for these do not coagulate in a
were coming up behind» («Mart, a pomnish: moya sinen'kaya komnata, i fictional world that generates history, but rather remain in a state of free and mobile semantic
pianino v chechle, i na pianino - derevyannyy konck - pepel'nitsa, i ya igrala, a atoms. These appear at some key moments in the text, and become recurrent, being assigned to
ty podoshel szadi». 211). The past lives on not only in the characters' different fictional entities - objects, adventures, characters, episodes. Because of their
memories, but also in a few preserved physical objects. The desk contains a functioning, I propose to call these free motives semantic isotopes. This technique has a myth-
whole collection: “papers, letters, a thermometer, a small blue flask… and, building power: when paired with isotopes, the entities of the fictional world acquire a
finally, … a small black lacquered box: there, at the bottom, was something transcendent meaning. They are elevated from the status of fictional facts to that of
real… tea” (“bumagi, pis'ma, termometr, kakoy-to siniy flakonchik… i mythological themes. The cave gives us the opportunity to demonstrate this myth-building
nakonets… chemuyu lakirovannuyu korobochku: tam, na dne, byl yehche technique typical of Zamjatin. .
nastoyashchiy… chay”. 210-11). In this enumeration the little bottle is The main free motifs of the cave age appear at the very beginning of the text.
discreetly The first one is given to us already in the title ("cave", "peshchera"), the others accumulate in
the first lines, which act as a prologue: "glaciers", "mammoth (with a grey trunk)",
the fantastic worlds of symbolism. The "mixture of planes in space and time" ("smesheniye "wastelands", "rocks", "white powder of snow", "stone axe", "bonfire", "hiding places of hairy
planov v prostranstve i vremeni") is the fictional anticipation of a reality where "next to an animals", "cavemen" ("ledniki", "(serochobotyy) mamont", "pustyni", "skaly", "bclaya
office selling tickets to Mars there is a sausage shop" ("tyadom s kontoroy, gde snezhnaya pil'", "kamenny topor", "koster", "kosmatyye zverinnyye shkury", "peshchernye .
prodayutsyabilcty na Mars - magazin, gde prodayutsya kolbasy") (415,417, 416). (lyudi»). The semantic weight of these motifs is confirmed by their recurrence.
178
in the conclusion (epilogue). In the text itself, additional motifs of this family are
Zamjatin's works are cited by Soeinemija (Eds. TV Gromova and MO Cudakova,
generated: "voracious god of the cave", "face of
Moscow, Kniga. 1988). -
237

236
clay», «skin belt» («zhadny peshcherny bog», «glinyanoye lilso», «kozhany recurrent - the isotope-motif technique and its role in the construction of the Zamjatin
poyas»), etc. At the same time, free motives begin to operate as semantic myth. The dual world structure, typical of myth in general, is complemented in the
isotopes, assigned to actional entities by a metaphorical or metonymic link: the Zamjatin myth by two semantic strata: fictional facts and themes (the mythological
voracious cave god = iron stove; clay face = the face of Martin Martinych; interpretation of these facts). In The Cave, the duality of the fictional world between nature
stony yellow teeth = Obertyshev; the female Obertyshev = Obertyshev's wife. and culture is covered by the themes of "the cave" and "poetic domesticity." Thanks to this
Thanks to isotopic motifs, the present acquires the transcendent meaning of a interpretation, the present becomes a world of post-culture, a second coming of the cave
new "cave age." This mythologization is completed by two kinds of inversion, age. The global macrostructure of the )
metaphorical first ("rocks that looked like houses", "skaly chem-to pochozhiye history can be represented as follows:
na doma") and temporal later ("among the rocks where Petersburg had once
been", "mezhdu skal, gde veka nazad vyl Peterburg". 138).
It should be noted that the elements of a constituted fictional world can W(-l) (age of the cave) x W(0) (age of the culture) x (W(+l) (new age of the cave)
also become free motifs and enter into isotopic circulation. In The Cave the
world of culture is the source of such motifs: "a mahogany desk, books, small
ceramic-like pastries, Skryabin opus 74, an iron" ("krasnogo dereva pis'menny
stol", "knigi", "goncharnogo vida lelpeshki", "Skryabin opus 74", "utyug"). The status of the present world becomes paradoxical: it succeeds the past world in
The free motives of the precultural and cultural ages collide throughout the physical time, but precedes it in historical time. In the scheme of cyclical history, the
text, and most explicitly at the moment of Martin Martinych's "transgression": worlds of post-culture and pre-culture mortally embed the world of culture.
"Two Martin Martinychs came to blows: the old one, with Skriabin, who The story of The Cave has served to demonstrate Zamjatin's myth-building
knew: you must not, and the new one, the caveman, who knew: you must" technique. The same technique is used in A Story About What Matters Most. Here, a three-
("skvatilis' dva Martina Martinycha: tot, davniy, so Skryabinym, kakoy znal: world structure is announced from the very beginning: "one world - another world - yet
nel'zya - i novy, peshchernyy, kakoy znal: nuzhno". 210). another world") ("mir - yeshche mir - i yeshche mir". 222). One of the worlds, the non-
In Behind the Scenes (Zakulisy), a series of notes on his own writing, human world of nature, is the source of free motives, primarily those of Ropalocera. The
Zamjatin noted that he rarely used "random individual images" ("otdel'nye two contrasting fictional domains, the human world of Earth and that of the aliens from the
sluchaynye"), and characterized these recurring images as leitmotifs because dead star, are parallel. In this constellation, the revolution on Earth is mythologized
they accompany (with possible modifications) a fictional entity, especially a through a projection into a cosmic dimension.
fictional character, throughout the entire text (469-470). Later critics added ■ The terrestrial and extraterrestrial worlds are spatially distant, but the displaced
other features to Zamjatin's leitmotif. Sklovsky called it a "passing image" star is moving rapidly toward an inevitable collision with Earth. The two worlds are
("prokhodyashchiy obraz") and observed that "having an independent life, it distinct in their fictional facts. The history of the Star is only traced through allusions and
begins to develop according to the regularities of its own series" ("U negado vague descriptions; the extraterrestrial characters are anonymous types. The narrative focus
obraz imeyet samostayatel'nnyu zhizn' i nachinayet razvivat'sya po zakonam is on the world of Earth. His hysteria is coherent, despite its fragmentary character. Their
svoyego ryada"). 1927, 53-4). Oulanoff (1966, 116-19) noted its metonymic characters are individualized through proper names and personal stories that can be
character and Drozda (1979. 48) traced its origins to the modernist prose of reconstructed. This quantitative asymmetry indicates that Zamjatin's main focus is on the
Belij and Remizov {see also Shane 1968, 151-4). Our description in terms of facts of the Earth, while
motifs and worlds has the advantage of revealing a second, complementary 239
function of the image 238
( . ( ( ( ( ( (( ((

zmog—.
 ((((((((,( ((((( • \ \
The tragedy of the Star is a means of transforming terrestrial history into cosmic life.179 The Ropalocera must die in a chrysalis («umeret1 v kukolku) to emerge as a new
myth. To reinforce this functional asymmetry, the two worlds are constructed living form. The semantic isotope is assigned to two female characters: Talya in the
with a chronological shift: in the Star, the fratricidal struggle takes place in terrestrial world, the
Prehistory, its History being nothing more than ruins and the last moments of a Mother in her corresponding extraterrestrial. Regarding the Mother, the reason ¡
1
few survivors. On Earth, fratricide is the History of narrative. Only the last death of the Ropalócera works as a figurative isotope: «The lips of the
of the Star occurs in the Story, simultaneous with a death on Earth: the young Mother are coiled in a tight ring, like the Ropalocera dying in a chrysalis» («U Materi -
man kills the blind boy, his brother, his brother, while Dorda prepares to kill guby svity v tugoye kol'tso - kak }
Kukoverov, his sworn brother and former comrade in arms. . umirayushchiy v kukolku Raphalocera». 238). The connection between Talya and the
'The parallelism of both worlds is established not only by the story of Ropalocera is more intimate, since in this example the motif becomes an element of the
fratricide, but also by its opposite - the story of love. The young man and woman fictional world: «The silky yellow Ropalocera falls on Talya's knees, on the warm hollow of
from the Star make love moments before its final destruction, Talya and her dress, warmed by the sun, warmed by her body» («vniz letit zheltoshelkovvy
Rhapalocera pryamo na Taliny koleny v tepluyu lozhbinu yeye propitannogo solntsem i
Kukoverov become lovers on the last night of Kukoverov's (and presumably
telom plat'ya». 224). This bond and its transcendent meaning is reinforced by Talya's
Earth's) existence. If we note that Talya plays a double role, that of a young
memory of raising butterflies from chrysalises as a child: "One, coming out in winter, at
woman and (future) mother, we appreciate a perfect correspondence between the
Christmas, the windows Yo
terrestrial and extraterrestrial protagonists:..... ................. ...........................
frost, and I was flying, flying" ("Odna vyvelas' u ñas zimoy, na r I Rozhdestvo, okna - vo
.... l'du, read it, Jétala ...». 224). |,
The female body impregnated by the symbolism of the motifs :,
Land________________Star_________ of the Ropalócera becomes a free second-degree motif, transporting the isotope of the
death-life cycle to a cosmic dimension: the
_- Mother Earth in destruction by the penetrating Star conceives "new Earth" and ■
Talya —----------------Young woman
Dorda------------------- young man
new life. The assignment of the female body isotope to the Earth is N
It is already carried out in the prologue, which, as we have seen in The Cave, is the
Kukoverov------------- blind boy

Yo
There is no doubt that the duality of parallel worlds is the main main source of free motives. This accumulation of free motifs is repeated with some
mechanism of construction of Zamjatin's cosmic myth. However, as was the variation in the epilogue (222-3, 248). A closer comparison reveals that the initial set of free
case in Lo cueva, an interpretation of this world structure is provided through motifs does not match the resulting one. Zamjatin's text is a generator that produces new
the free motif technique. The family of Ropalocera motifs is crucial in this 'free' motifs while annihilating others. Suppressed is the "I" ("already") motive that is
sense, disseminating semantic isotopes that symbolize the eternal cycle of assigned to the terrestrial and extraterrestrial beings of the old world. 180 This “already”
death and life. It is precisely in this order that the transcendent theme of A perishes in the catastrophe. On the other hand, the text generates
Story must be understood: death is a necessary condition for 1
This inversion is Zamkhatin's personal myth of the revolution, expressed in his famous
essay "On Literature, Revolution, Entropy and Other Things" ("O literature, revolyutsii, entropii i
prochem"): "Crimson, fierce, deadly is the law of the revolution; but this death is for the
conception of a new life, a new star" ("Bagrov, ognen, smerrelen zakon revolyutsii: no eta
smert' - dlya zachatiya novoy zhizni, zvezdy", 446).
be 4s

130 I am not referring to the normal appearance of the pronoun "ya", but to its nominative
transformation! through which "the author... identifies with his characters and their sensations"
240 241
 c ( ( ( < ((( " " "
at least two new free motifs: the cross and female surrender. The cross motif
originates as a metaphor for the window frame: “the window frame is carved like Free isotopic motifs - appear independent of each other; however, a deeper reflection
a dark ridge” (“temnym krestom vyrezan pereplet ramy”. 240), and is reinforced reveals their complementarity. Laconicism creates empty spaces in the fictional world.
Zamjatin impoverishes the fictional facts to highlight the themes. The text obscures the
by a literal appearance: "with a pencil he draws a cross on the paper"
fictional in order to prepare it for mythologization. At the level of facts. fictional the world
("karandashom chertit na bumage krest"). The cross is, of course, the Christian is a chaos of fragmentary and disconnected episodes. Only a thematic interpretation gives
emblem of suffering and death. The second free motive (or rather family of meaning to chaos, creating from it a basic cosmic myth, the myth of death and life, of
motives), feminine surrender, is represented by the expression "all of her" ("vsyu destruction and genesis.
sebya"). The expression makes its first, "false," appearance (when Talya briefly The semantic and thematic character of the mythology of Nosotros differs
contemplates offering herself to Dorda in exchange for Kukoverov's life, 241), to from that of the narratives discussed above, but its similarity in terms of the structure
be validated in the second appearance, when she gives herself to Kukoverov: of the fictional world is remarkable. We are science fiction, the construction of a
"Talya, turning and trembling ... all over herself" ("Talya, kruzhas' i drozha ... possible future world. Science fiction usually carries a strong political, social, and
vsyu sebya." 247). At this point the motif is explicitly contrasted with death: in cultural message. The message of traditional utopia is optimistic, that of its 20th
Talya Kukoverov's embrace he understands that "there is no death" ("smerti net"). century equivalent, anti-utopia, is pessimistic. Zamjatin's novel aspect has received
248). We have observed the isotopy of the female body motif: Ropalocera - Talya considerable critical attention—see especially Brown 1976). It has also been noted
- Earth. This bond is reinforced by the isotope of feminine surrender shared by that, unlike technological dystopias (such as those in HG Wells or Karel Capek),
Talya and Earth. In his final appearance, in the epilogue, the isotope transforms Zamjatin's are of the social variety: perverse social organization, more than advanced
the destruction of the Earth into a conception of new life. technology, leads to the dehumanization of man, that is, to the destruction of humanity
The text of A Story gives us an opportunity to contemplate how the as we know it. Capek's robots are artificial creatures that transform them into men;
method of semantic isotopes is linked to another typical technique of Zamjatin - Zamjatin's figures are human beings transformed into robots.
his laconic style?81 Laconicism operates especially through ellipsis: Zamjatin's
Zamkhatin's novel has often been treated as a clear-sighted satire of Stalinism.
sentence is often a fragment with the deletion of a basic constituent (usually the
However, the historical context of the novel, its origin, refutes this interpretation. It is
predicate). It is noteworthy that the laconicism is shared by the texts of the
known that Zamkhatin designed his utopia before the revolution and before he could
narrator and the characters: "Silence, Kukoverov on his knees, his head in Talya's
foresee its Stalinist turn. The political order of the Single State is, certainly, a political
hands" ("Tishina. Kukoverov na kolenyach, yego golova u Talyi v rukakh». 247).
dictatorship. But the Benefactor only reinforces the social and existential basis of the
(Kukoverov:) «You are eighteen years old, Talya, and I ... it may be ridiculous
One State - conformism. Conformism, the submission of individuals to social
that I ... after all, I have only known you for a week» («Vam, Talya, vosemnadsat'
conventions, is not local but
let, a mne ... Eto, moshet byt', smeshno, chto. ha... ved' ya vas znayu vsego
(Shane i968, 174).
nedelyu. A vprochem 223). At first glance, the two techniques of meaning
production - the laconic style and the 191 For Zamjatin, laconicism, which reflects
the rapid tempo of modern life, epitomizes the
dynamism of contemporary literature: "One has to
say in one second as much as one used to say in a
sixty-second minute" ("V sekundu nuzhno skazat'
stol'ko, skol'ko tan'she v
shestidesyatisekundundnuyu minutu". 255).

242
 universal. In his English-language stories, Gosudarstva - u menya - • ■ ■ ■
Oslrovityane (The Islanders) and Lovets
----------------------------------------------------------------
chelovekov (The Fisher of Men), as well as
in his Spanish drama Ogni svyatogo ----------------------------------------------------------------
Dominika (The Bonfires of Saint Domingo), —
Zamjatin constructed a world of "philistine ----------------------------------------------------------------
automation" and "conformism" (Shane
1968, 134; see also Edwards 1982, 36-45).
—...
This world reaches perfection in Us, where ----------------------------------------------------------------
the Testament of obligatory salvation 701
(Zavet prinuditel'nogo spaseniya) of the Paradoxically, the newspaper thus recovers
vicar Dcwly (or Duly) became a law. . its original function, that of a
■
We complement Zamjatin's pre- 183
In this respect, the world of Nosotrof is
revolutionary design with a post- analogous to that of Kafka's The Castle: the castle
revolutionary world structure: a contrast bureaucracy has a bridgehead (the so-called
between two worlds, the "old" ("the wild Knights' Court) in the village (see Chapter 10 of
state of freedom") and the "new" this volume).
("mathematically untainted happiness"). Of
course, the old world is co-present, but it
remains outside the "green wall", and its
only relic within the Single State is the "Old
House" museum. 'The opposition between
the new world inside the wall and the old
one outside gives narrative dynamism to
Zamjatin's novel; its rhetorical impetus is
provided by the postulation of the distant
planet to which the "Integral" rocket is to be
launched as the old world. The protagonist's
diary becomes a dialogue with the recipient
who lives in the unenlightened conditions
of the past. Addressed to this potential
reader, the diary is conceived as a poem
to fantastic avant-garde rome. 72). with a dual purpose: informative (to
eat as you please
describe the social order and the history of
the Single State) and rhetorical (to try to
convince extraterrestrial beings to adopt its
lofty principles. The daily newspaper
accepted the persuasive function for its text
by a "social order" given in the state press:
"Before weapons we will test the word"
244
("Prezhde oruzhiya - my ispytyvayem
slovo"). 9). However, in the process of this
compilation the public message turns into a
private testimony of the diary writer's
«adventure»: «I note with regret that
instead of a well-composed and austere
mathematical poem in honour of the Single
State I find myself writing a fantastic
adventure novel» («Ya s priskobiem vizhu,
chto vmesto stroynoy i strogoy
matematicheskoy poemy v chest' Yediuogo
 private, even secret, testimony. As such, it "small group", such as couples, friends,
becomes a constituent of the fictional family. The large group, society, will have
world, a fictional object. which ultimately complete control over human existence if
brings disaster to its author and those close the small groups are eliminated. This
to him. means, primarily, the destruction of
Totalitarianism is the obvious "natural" intimate relationships between
feature of the social organization of the mother and child and between man and
Single State. We should note, however, that woman. Children are not born to natural
Zamjatin gives more semantic and thematic mothers, but are artificially incubated in
weight to two other features of the state clinics; conceiving a child is a crime
dystopian world: the divorce of man from punishable by death. The Single State
nature, and the destruction of privacy. cannot eliminate sexual activity; this would
Separation from nature is have adverse effects on industrial
achieved with an old isolation procedure (a productivity, which is why this activity is
wall). The green wall separates the strictly regulated by the Tables
artificial, man-made civilization from the ("Skrizhal"): the two hours of the day
world of wild nature outside. The reserved for sexual or other pleasure are the
importance of the wall is repeatedly only hours of privacy. These are, however,
emphasized in the text: «Man ceased to be a as the author of the poem points out, a flaw
savage man only when we built the Green in the overall design of the
Wall, when by means of this wall we
isolated our perfect world, like a machine,
from the hateful, irrational world of trees,
birds, animals» («Chelovek perestal byt'
dikim chelovekom tol'ko togda, kogda my
postroili Zelenuyu Stenu, kogda my etoy
stenoy izolirovali svoy mashinnyy,
sovershennyy mir - ot nerazumnogo,
bezobraznogo mira derevyed, ptits,
zhivotnykh». 66). But the semantic
potential of the wall motif is only fully
realized when applied to man himself:
isolation from nature means the elimination
of everything natural in man. Natural man
is "wild" because he is under the dominion
of his instincts, feelings and passions. Only
when these ties with nature are destroyed in
the personality of man does he become a
loyal citizen of the One State.
'A reversal of the wall motif -
removing the 'wall' of privacy surrounding
each individual - is a means of its
destruction. Intimate contacts between men
take place in the private sphere of the

245
 regulated collective happiness. He Through this tunnel the old world enters
believes that "one day we will find a the generation of the history of Us. Of
place in the general formula even for course, the conflict between
those hours" ("kogda-nibud' i dlya etikh totalitarianism and the "dissidents" is not
chasov my naydem mesto v obshchey the result of external intervention; it is
fonnule." 16). motivated by an internal need of some of
Deprived of the "wild nature" the "numbers": to restore the structure of
aspects of his personality, man becomes a human personality. In this respect, O's
purely rational being. Zamjatin's dystopia seems development is symptomatic: O is a loyal
to be, and has been for many interpreters, a citizen of the One State, but she rebels
critique of modern rationalism. But this against this order because she cannot
interpretation is, I think, superficial. suppress her natural desire to have a
Certainly the journal is full of praise for the child. The narrator-protagonist's rebellion
rational and mathematically precise order of has the same existential motivation. This
the new society. On closer inspection, member of the ruling classes accepts
however, One-State rationalism is a without question the "rationalist"
caricature of the critical, enlightened principles of the organization 246
rationalism of philosophers and scientists: it
is a formalist rationalism of political .
demagogy. Demagogy operates with strictly social. From the beginning, however,
logical procedures, but its argumentation is there is a small loophole in his system:
a mere rhetorical trick, which serves to the irrational number Ó-l. An irrational
number generated in a strictly rational
reaffirm dogma. An example: during the
system of mathematics possesses a
annual election of the Benefactor (called strange fascination for D-503. It becomes
"the Day of Unanimity") several thousand a free motif that means, in its isotopic
"numbers" dared to raise their hands to vote dispersion, unexplained disorder within a
against him. The event is interpreted in perfectly ordered universe. D-503 could,
state media as . continues: "It is clear to however, live with this puzzle because it
everyone that taking their votes into has a rational origin and, perhaps, a
consideration would be as absurd as rational explanation. His life is shaken
accepting that the coughs of sick people only when an extra-rational force, the
who happen to be present in a concert hall passion for I, overwhelms him.
are part of a magnificent heroic symphony" The passion has a taste of
("Vsyakomu yasno, chto prinjat' v raschet transgression, because it is a passion for the
strange: I am different from the masses of
ikh golosa bylo by lak nelepo, kak prinjat'
the One State both in my physical
za chast' velikolepnoy, geroicheskoy
appearance and in my behavior. It conveys
simfonii - kashel' sluchayno
the atmosphere of the old world on the
prisutstvuyushchikh v kontsertnom zale
other side of the wall, to which it is
bol'nykh». 110). Zamjatin's revelation of connected by its origin. In social conditions
the nature of demagogy is, in my opinion, where the natural erotic relationship
the most far-reaching political feature of the between men and women is suppressed, the
novel. mathematician's passion becomes
The world behind the wall, which subversive; it reveals to him that he has a
at first appears to be an uninhabited soul ("dusha"), something he had wished to
desert, is in fact the home of the Mefi, be annihilated.
remnants of the people defeated by the We must note that the passion for
One State in the Two Hundred Years' I does not change the narrator's 'political
War. In addition, the outside world is ideals'. Rather, it creates an internal
connected to its enclave within the wall, division, a disease, as he calls it. From now
the old house, by a secret tunnel. on, the hero is divided between personal
passion! and public duty, a typical conflict
of classical tragedy. It is this internal
conflict that makes him a hesitant and
unreliable participant in the rebellion.
Under pressure, he undergoes the operation
that cures him of the disease, making him
completely insensitive. Then he watches I's
torture without any emotion.
There is no doubt that Nosotros is
an ideological novel, as are many utopias
and dystopias. Its universal appeal is
explained by the fact that Zamjatin
introduced into the genre the central
ideological conflict of the 20th century - the
conflict in man between "nature" and
"culture". The message of the novel is
simple, but it cannot be ignored: our
humanity is guaranteed only if we remain
part of the world of trees, flowers, birds,
tigers. Man's "wild" traits are neither
archaic nor dispensable; they are necessary
constituents of a complete personality
structure. The denaturalized man is a
dehumanized man.
 (((((-
15

THE ROAD OF HISTORY AND THE DETOURS OF THE

GOOD SOLDIER

Interpretations of Jaroslav Hasek's play The Good Soldier Svejk, as well as their aesthetic,
political, historical, etc. evaluations, critically depend on the answer to one fundamental question: Who
is Svejkl? Since Svejk has virtually no psychology, that is, since his mental properties are neither
described by the narrator nor reflected in the agent himself, his character must be derived from, or
reconstructed from, his verbal and non-verbal acts. As is often the case with "indirect" characterization,
individual reconstructions lead to many different, often contradictory, characterizations of Svejk. With
regard to Hasek's hero, however, this general indeterminacy is reinforced by the aberrant and
unpredictable nature of Svejk's performance. Shifting easily from stupid to wise (and everything in
between), Svejk constantly confounds and challenges readers and critics.
This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of Svejk's character in particular and
Hasek's novel in general, suggesting that Svejk's mode of behavior should be interpreted within the
macrostructural framework of the fictional world in which he has to exist and act. This fictional world is
divided into two separate and exclusive domains, defined by the contrary deontic modalities of
obligation and prohibition.184 The modality of obligation governs the domain of history, that is, that of
social and collective action: in Haek's fictional world, social action is completely controlled by the
essential institution of obligation ("discipline"), of the military machine. The prohibition modality

249 -
governs the domain of individual, independent and voluntary action. The agents of the deontic world, in CLXXXIII CLXXXIV

CLXXXIII For a general presentation of the modalities that define the worlds
CLXXXIVfictional. see chapter 10 of this volume.
where every action is either obligatory or prohibited, they have no choice but to everything is either obligatory or prohibited. ■
follow two possible modes of action: either they comply with the obligations
and discard the possibility of acting freely, or they act within the domain of the
250
prohibition and become transgressors (outlaws). Let us add that the agent who
fulfills the obligations can do so voluntarily and with a greater or lesser degree
of enthusiasm, or he can involuntarily accept his subordination to the imposed
obligations, that is, against his desire and intentions. In fact, we can observe that
My description of the unique character of Svejk's performance derives
Hasek's fictional world is filled with three standard types of agents ("roles"): the
from the conception of him as homo ludens, developed by Arie-Gaifman. Indeed,
enthusiastic executors of duty (Lieutenant Dub), the loyal subordinates
Svejk behaves as a homo ludens both in his imitation of the typical roles of his
(Sergeant Major Vanék) and the free outlaws (minor figures of deserters and
co-agents and in his own aimless play. The concept of homo ludens provides us
lunatics).
with a clue to understanding Vejk as a fictional agent: it offers an explanation of
In this world of standardized roles, Vejk represents a unique and special the instability and variety of his character, which has perplexed many critics
agent, due to two specific features of his mode of action: 1. vejk is able to fulfill (including Parrot 1982).CLXXXV Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, this
all the standard roles of his fictional world. He alternates as an enthusiastic doer
aspect explains the lasting aesthetic effect of Hasek's novel. In a work of
of duty, a loyal subordinate, and a free outlaw. It should be noted, however, that
stereotypical poetics, Svejk's playful transformations provide the only source of
none of these roles are performed seriously by Vejk: rather, he pretends to do
pleasure, amusement and admiration.CLXXXVI
them by skillfully imitating the expected actions and, especially, the verbal and
Svejk's playful strategy uses many verbal and non-verbal forms of
non-verbal signs that the roles require. Vejk's imitative arts give the character a
acting.CLXXXVII In this study I would like to explore Svejk's highest form of
versatility of action that no other agent in the novel possesses. Typically, the
playful performance, his detours or deviations from the obligatory or imposed
individual in Hasek's fictional world persists (often ad nauseam) in his
course of social action. I want to emphasize that Svejk's detours are a form of
stereotypical role. In contrast, Svejk changes roles with ease and pleasure. Svejk
physical, non-verbal action, but at the same time, many verbal acts are
is a complex character, but his complexity is not psychological: it is, given the
functionally embedded in a non-verbal framework. .
variety of his imitations, the number of his masks. 2. Svejk invents and
Svejk's detours are a concrete example of the general cyclical scheme
maintains an original role, that of spontaneous, aimless and self-sufficient play.
that dominates Haek's life, as well as his literary production and his poetics (cf.
This strategy aims to create a playful space where one would be freed from the
Doloel 1981). The plot's detour (or "noose") scheme gives Hasek the
control of obligatory history, but at the same time one would not be forced to
opportunity to temporarily free Svejk from the obligations of collective activity,
enter the domain of forbidden freedom. Svejk's strategy is precarious,
without dragging him irrevocably into the forbidden domain. Of course, Svejk is
dangerous, but extremely exciting. Obviously, in the deontic conditions of
suspected of being a transgressor and is therefore prevented from continuing on
Haek's fictional world, Svejk's playful space is necessarily circumscribed in
his deviant course. In the end, however, the pleas of innocence are accepted, and
time and extension. However, even this transitory existence undermines the
he quietly and impassively returns to the path of history. Svejk's detours are not
rigidity and absurd binarism of a world in which nothing is permitted, but
an escape from history, but rather playful and adventurous escapades.

CLXXXV Hausenblas has acknowledged that "Svejk is given the flexibility and invulnerability of comic characters" (Hausenblas 1961, 162), but he did not identify his specificity as a comic character.
CLXXXVI Imagine how boring (and forgotten) Hasek's novel would be if its hero were a stereotypical character like Baloun or Bicgler.
CLXXXVII Jankovic (1966) describes Svejk's narratives ('anecdotes') as a game, a particular form of verbal acting.

251
 From the beginning of the novel Vejk is led into plot circles. Before
( ( ( ( ( c ( (,( ((
becoming Katz's orderly, he had already gone through two cyclical episodes, the The semantic structure of Vejk's detours consists of a series of invariant
pre-military "vicious circle" and the military circle (Doloel op. cit„ 27). In these actions (movements) in which, surprisingly, Svejk and the representatives of the
episodes, Vejk behaves as a homo ludens, but he is not given the opportunity to obligatory story cooperate in a curious way. In this general design, the rodeo
create his own playful space exclusively for his aimless play. This opportunity consists of two phases: In phase A Svejk leaves the domain of the obligatory story
is granted to him in the detours he takes on the journey from Prague to the and enters alone into his privileged playful space. In phase B, Svejk is forcibly
removed from the play space and returned to the domain of compulsory history.
Russian front (narrated in volumes 11, III, and IV of the novel). These detours
For a more detailed description, the semantic structure of the rodeo is made up of
are, in addition to being very memorable, very clearly defined, since they
the following movements:
involve a detour from the fixed course of the train. While Svejk's lieutenant, and
Phase A. Movement 7: A representative of the military machine orders
later the entire unit, remain on the train, Svejk repeatedly leaves the train and Svejk to deviate from the obligatory collective route. Thanks to this order, Svejk's
wanders around. departure is not a violation, but an act of duty. Svejk leaves the obligatory history
Some of Svejk's escapades take place during the journey from Prague to based on an explicit order from one of his representatives, and uses a specific
Galicia. Of less relevance is the Isataresa rodeo (where Svejk is sent by Lukas obligation to free himself from universal obligations. It should be noted that in
to buy a chicken), and also the Kiralyhida adventure (again experienced during addition to acting as "senders" of Svejk, these representatives of the domain of
a delicate mission for Luka). On one occasion Svejk fails in his attempt to get obligation can become passive helpers by preventing preventive action. -
around it: when he suggests to Baloun to leave the train at a stop in Budapest to Move 2: Svejk's play begins as an impulsive, improvised response to an
buy LukaS some Debrecen sausages. Here, I think, Haek missed an excellent unforeseen opportunity. There is no preconceived design, no particular motive or
opportunity to narrate Svejk's adventures in the Hungarian capital, but at least purpose, and it proceeds through pure improvisation. With his game, Svejk, as
he gave us the most explicit expression of Svejk's attitude to the obligatory mentioned above, dramatically alters the deontic structure of the world in which he
story: there is no way to avoid the obligatory story because, as Svejk comments, is forced to live: between the domain of obligatory history and that of forbidden
"every train going to the front will think twice before taking half its passengers freedom, he creates an intermediate playful space, a kind of no-man's land that only
to the destination station" ("ponvad kadej vlak, kerej jede na frontu, si to moc he is able to occupy. We must emphasize that Svejk's privilege is a reward for
dobre rozmyslí, aby pivez na konecnou stanici jenom pul esalonu"). 511 ).188 having the ability to create and maintain a playful space in a completely hostile
environment. One of these arts, the skill of inventive improvisation, has already
Svejk's most significant escapades are the great escapes from the
been identified. However, this active skill must be complemented by a defensive
anabasis of Bujédovice and the "noose" as a prisoner of war. I will focus on
skill, the ability to avoid entering the domain of forbidden freedom. Although
these two major episodes to determine the semantic structure of the rodeo. It Svejk is suspected of being a transgressor, he consistently and relentlessly rejects
will be noted that these two episodes reveal an underlying structural homology, this role. If Svejk were to enter this realm of forbidden freedom, he would
although they differ in the order and meaning of their semantic constituents. By immediately lose his freedom to play and become a hunted transgressor, totally
being situated at the beginning and end of Svejk's path, these detours give the bound. Svejk's game is an activity that frees the agent from the bonds of obligatory
novel an unintentional structural framework. history, but does not lead to the state of deontic damnation.
Phase B. Movement 3 The playful space is a transitory domain, temporarily
restricted between the permanent domains of history.
■ 253

188 Page numbers correspond to those of the English translation by Cecil Parrot (Heinemann and
Penguin. 1973).

252
( ( (((( ( ( ( (
mandatory and freedom prohibited. It comes to an abrupt end when Vejk is arrested
(((((C(("1'
and treated as a transgressor. From this moment on, the difficult return to mastery of
The Anabasis of Budijovice. The most famous of Svejk's escapes has a
compulsory history begins. The return is difficult because at the end of the game vejk
rather complex structure. It consists of a "preamble" (the events on the train and at
is in a deontically worse state than the initial state. Now deemed guilty and to be
punished, Vejk uses a range of stratagems, both verbal and non-verbal, in the fight for the Tibor railway station), and a main episode (the Svejk loop between Tábor and
survival. Two seem to be his favorite stratagems: First, Vejk never lies, never hides Budéjovice. The preamble begins in a rather unremarkable way when Svejk plays
anything, never acts cowardly or servile, even if his sincerity leads him into more with the emergency brake and continues his absurd conversation with the
serious trouble. Secondly, he continues to play, but at this stage his play becomes part Hungarian soldiers in the railway bar. The first game introduces Svejk to a series of
of a complex and intentional strategy for survival. CLXXXVIII CLXXXIX Overall, Vejk is no events that take him away from the train, while his wordplay delays his return to the
less inventive in this struggle for survival than he was in his aimless play in the free realm of obligation. It should be noted that Svejk's detour is aided by Luká's
play space. passivity, who does nothing to prevent Svejk from leaving the train because he is
Movement 4: The final act of Svejk's detour, his return to the path of history, is "overcome by apathy" and feeling relief (227 ff.). Vejk's delaying tactics cause him
vested in the authorities of the domain of obligation. Svejk is released because he problems, but this is precisely what he is aiming for: his problem turns into an
meets a representative of the deontic authority who is strict in the performance of duty. advantage when he receives the necessary dispatch order from an anonymous
The final act of Svejk's escape is therefore symmetrical to the departure: both events officer on duty: "he should go" ("at jde pky"). 239). Now Svejk steps into his
are ultimately made possible by the decisions of agents of obligatory history. Svejk playful space and puts on a wonderful performance. The essence of his game is the.
cannot change the deontic conditions of his world: he simply does his best to make random changes of course (direction). With the idea that "all roads lead to eské
them work in his favor. Budéjovice" ("vsechny cesty vedou do Ceskych Budéjovic". 241), Svejk first turns
The four movements described are the invariants of the semantic structure of “straight to the west” (239), then “to the east” (243), later a little “to the north” and
Svejk's roundabouts. Let us now proceed to the investigation of the differences “again to the south” and finally “to the north” again (251). The text presents Svejk's
between the anabasis of Budejovice and the round-up of prisoners of war. In the first directorial choices as purely accidental acts, lacking intentionality, and beyond the
of these episodes, the aimless play movement is clearly focused and spread out over agent's control: "the devil knows how it happened" ("ertví, jak se to staio"). 243), or
time, while in the second roundup the time period is very short and concentrates on "by an unfortunate chance" ("netastnou náhodou". 251). These descriptions of
Svejk's struggle for survival. There are other, less significant differences that will actions make explicit the improvisational nature of! Svejk's game, his random
emerge from a more detailed description of the two rodeos. wandering, his object or purpose.
The arrest of Svejk in Putim by Flanderka, the enthusiastic commander of
the local gendarmerie, marks the end of the playful space and the beginning of the
second phase of his roundup. Svejk's efforts now focus on his forgiveness and his
return to the realm of obligatory history. It is noteworthy that Svejk has created a
much more difficult situation than the one he was trying to avoid: he is suspected of
being a Russian spy: In the face of serious danger, Svejk's strategy is very flexible,
although maintaining the basic movements of phase A. There is one fundamental
feature of Svejk's verbal defence that has not been sufficiently highlighted: he
intuitively adjusts his style of speech to the character of his interlocutor. In these
255

CLXXXVIII «Svejk employs various techniques to confuse authorities: one of his favorites is to resort to an anecdote in any situation that seems problematic» (Parrott 1982, 121; cf. Jankovic 1966, 180).
CLXXXIX It is probably this “use” of the game that has led to the accusation that Svejk is “sneaking off”.

254
 changes, Svcjk's adaptability and ability to improvise are fully evident. When
questioned by Flanders, he is consistently laconic, simply answering questions and not
embarking on any anecdotes. Later, he explains this strategy to the gendarme
commander in Písek: "I saw that it was useless to talk to [Flanderka]" ("Poncvadz jsem
videl, ze je to mamy s ním mluvit." 238). In contrast, when Vejk describes his anabasis because he finds himself in the most dangerous situation of his entire military career:
to the commander at Písek, he speaks to him with “enormous enthusiasm” and he is accused of being a traitor who has voluntarily put on a Russian uniform. Of
“passionately,” to which the captain “listened with joy” (282). In its second course, Svejk vehemently denies the accusation of treason, but he does not deny the
presentation, Svejk's rodeo is portrayed as a sustained and arduous effort to fulfill his other part. Faced with a series of tough opponents, from a member of the military
military duty, a version that will impress the duty-conscious captain. secret police to General Fink, Svejk has to put all his skills, verbal and non-verbal, to
work to win this fight. He puts on a brilliant display, but his salvation requires several
Adjusting his verbal defense to the character of his adversary is one of the
collaborators from the enemy military machine. First, a legalistic captain persuades
fundamental stratagems of Svejk's fight for survival. The other, also coming from
Major Wolf that Svejk should not be executed on the spot, but rather sent to an
phase A, is his continued refusal to enter the domain of prohibited freedom, that is, to
extraordinary military authority. In the face of this authority Svejk is saved by the
"legalize" his status as a transgressor. Twice during his arrest Svejk is offered a
auditor-major, who convinces General Fink to send a telegraphic inquiry to Svejk's
splendid opportunity to escape, but he does not use it. On the contrary, at the end of unit.191 Finally, and for the third time, Svejk is released by Colonel Gerbig, despite
his anabasis we see him dragging his drunken escort to the police station in Písek. the efforts of his worst enemy, Lieutenant Dub, to have him punished. When Svejk
The final movement of the Svejk roundup takes place in Písek. By meeting a returns to his battalion everything is forgotten, even the fact that a warrant has been
representative of obligation, for whom the fulfillment of duty is the supreme value, issued for his arrest.
Svejk achieves his goal: he returns to his lieutenant, that is, to the domain of obligatory The prisoner of war's detour is semantically significant, because it indicates
history, and resumes his role as a good soldier until the opportunity arises to escape an important shift in the plot structure of Haek's novel. The short duration of Svejk's
again. play space, the extreme danger that his brief game causes him, and the need to call
The prisoner of war rodeo. In this rodeo, ávejk's playful freedom is of very upon a large number of collaborators for his rescue, all these circumstances indicate
short duration. Svejk, accompanied by Vanek, is sent out of the domain of collective that the conditions of Svejk's performance change radically: As one advances towards
activity on Luká's orders. It begins its movement by playing with the itinerary of the the front, it becomes more difficult to interpret the game of homo ludens. It can be
trip (as in the episode in Budejovice). At this stage of the game he is freed from anticipated that on the front line Svejk's freedom to play will be severely restricted,
and his play space will become infinitesimal. Svejk would be forced to choose
Vank, who does not accept Svejk's opinion that "even a map can be wrong" ("map
between obligatory history and forbidden freedom, as he did, shamefully, in Kijev's
se taky me mejlit"). 665). Vank lets Svejk go without protest, thus becoming a propaganda text. Fortunately for Svejk, and for us readers, Svejk was abandoned by
passive collaborator. Moving forward alone. Svejk enters his privileged play space. his creator at the moment when he successfully returned from his most dangerous
Without any practical plan or purpose, he puts on a Russian uniform that he finds by escapade, and when the noise of artillery announces the end of the game.
chance near a pond. Svejk does not spend too long in uniform, but long enough to ***
be arrested by the military police. At this point the second, and very long, phase of
Svejk's rodeo begins. 171 When Svejk's identity is confirmed, the bloodthirsty general finds a reason to reproach the
In this particular example, Svejk's return journey is particularly difficult elder: "This is your doing" (714).

256 257
• 34
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277
SERIES:
LITERARY SEMIOTICS

DIRECTOR: ■
.
JOSE MA. POZUELO AND VANCOS

VOLUME 1:
On texts and worlds. Essays on Hispanic Philology and
Semiotics.
Aldo Ruffinatto.

VOLUME 2:
Philological semiotics. Text and cultural models.
Cesare Segre.

VOLUME 3:
Narrative fiction. Its logic and ontology.
Felix Martinez Bonati

VOLUME 4:
The rhetorical sense. Essays on literary semantics.
Jean-Marie Klinkenberg

VOLUME 5
From rhetoric to the theory of literature. 18th and 19th
centuries. Rosa Maria Aradra Sanchez.

VOLUME 6:
Studies in poetics and theory of fiction.
Lubomir Dolezel.
141
It is illustrative that a later reworking by one of the brothers (Alois),
in which the husband's death is due to an accident, was not accepted by the
audience, and the play continued to be performed in its original version (see
Procházka 1988. 105-06). '
.
142 The quotation is a mechanism of strong subjectivization of the dramatic
world: the hero's verses are Srámek's own.

195
152
This claim means (as, for example, in Bondarenko 1967, 296) in fact
adopting the position of orthodox Marxists who declared the novel to be "a
slander of the Soviet system," and used its partial publication in an exile
magazine as a pretext for silencing him in 1929 (for a summary of these

accusations, see Barabanov 1988, 528-30). .