Theatre concept in the semantic space of W.S.Maugham’s Theatre

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Contents

Introduction

1. The theoretical aspect of concept

1.1 Concept as the basic term of the cognitive linguistics

1.2 The notion of theatre

2.THEATRE concept in the semantic space of W.S.Maugham’s “Theatre”

2.1 Theatre as it is viewed by W.S.Maugham

2.2 Theatre as people for W.S.Maugham’s

2.3 The place of tropes in W.S.Maugham’s presentation of the THEATRE concept

Conclusions

Bibliography

Introduction

The cognitive linguistics is the foundation for the new accents in the comprehension of language. These accents give some opportunities for the study of the interaction between human mind and cognitive processes. The cognitive linguistics is the separate direction of the linguistics that is characterized by the language as the general cognitive mechanism and cognitive instrument located in the center of the science. The central problem of the cognitive linguistics is represented by the construction of the model of the language communication as the base for the exchange of knowledge [24; 32]

The cognitive linguistics is formed on the base of several origins. For instance, cognitive science or cognitology, cognitive psychology, linguistic semantics are the foundation for the cognitive linguistics. Besides, the cognitivism studies the human mind, thoughts and mental processes and states connected with them. The problematic area of the modern cognitive linguistic is rather wide. [24; 35]

We decided that it would be interesting to investigate the basic notion of cognitive linguistics on the basis of W.S. Maugham’s novel “Theatre“.

W.S. Maugham’s early reputation was based on his comedies of manners for the stage. Among the best remembered of his witty, cynical and frankly commercial plays are “The Circle” (1921), “Our Betters” (1923), and “The Constant Wife” (1926). W.S. Maugham usually wrote in a detached, ironic style, yet he often showed sympathy for his characters. His semiautobiographical novel “Of Human Bondage” (1915) established his position as a serious writer. “Cakes and Ale” (1930) is generally ranked next among Maugham’s novels. The author based his novel “The Moon and Sixpence” (1919) on the life of the painter Paul Gauguin. Maugham’s “Collected Short Stories” was published in four volumes in 1977 and 1978. [38]

He published several novels, including “The Hero” (1901), “Mrs Craddock” (1902), and “The Merry-Go-Round” (1904). He also continued to write plays and A Man of Honours was produced in 1903 by the Stage Society. Maugham moved to Paris and lived a bohemian life in the company of painters and writers, a period of his life he was to recall in “The Moon and Sixpence” (1919). The author’s later life was enlivened by the making of film versions of some of his excellent short stories “Quartet” (1948), “Trio” (1950), and “Encore” (1951), introduced by the author in person. He was made a Companion of Honour in 1954, and in 1962 he published “Looking Back”, a volume of memoirs which contained a vindictive and pointless attack on his deceased ex-wife, and which lost him many friends. “The Moon and Sixpence” (1919), an exploration of the creative genius, based on the life of Paul Gauguin, confirmed his reputation as a novelist, and headed the long list of works inspired by the author’s travels in the South Seas.[38]

All his best novels are written about artists: in “Of Human Bondage” the writer wrote about his own life, in “The Moon and Sixpence” (1919) he tells readers the story of the French Painter Paul Gaugin as it would be if the painter were an Englishman, Cakes and Ale (1930) is based on some facts from Th.Hardy’s life, the main character of “Theatre” (1938) is a London actress. Maugham’s position as a successful playwright was being consolidated at the same time.

Generally the cognitive linguistics is the modern branch of linguistics appeared in 1970s of the 20th century. The cognitive linguistics is characterized by the following periods of the scientific search: 1) cognitivism; 2) connectivism.

These periods play a great role for the regulation of the models of representation.

Cognition is the main term of the cognitive linguistics that embraces knowledge and thoughts in their linguistic realization. That is why cognition and cognitivism are connected with linguistics. The cognitive linguistics is usually characterized as the new scientific paradigm. The main purpose of the cognitive linguistics is to understand the processes of assimilation, categorization, classification and interpretation of the world. Besides the cognitive linguistics studies the process of the accumulation of knowledge and systems that provide different types of the activity concerning the information. [24; 74]

The aim of the study is to learn concept as it is introduced in “Theatre” by W.S.Maugham.

The additional tasks of the study include:

1) learning of the concept as the basic term of the cognitive linguistics;

2) generalization of the notion of theatre;

3) learning of the THEATRE in the semantic space of W.S.Maugham’s “Theatre”.

The object of the study is based on the THEATRE as it is introduced in “Theatre” by W.S.Maugham.

The subject of the study includes the text of the novel “Theatre” by W.S.Maugham.

The study of concept is rather topical because this concept is very wide-spread. In general the concept was studied by V.B. Kasevich (Language and Cognitive activity, M., 1989), V.A. Maslova (Introduction to Cognitive linguistics, M., 2007),. O.S. Kubryakova (Parts of speech from the cognitive point of view, M., 1997), etc. The modern approach to the study of the language is rather complex. It may be characterized as the interaction between the results of such sciences as linguistics, philosophy, psychology, culturology, etc.

The study is characterized by the following structure: introduction, two chapters, conclusions and list of literary sources.

Chapter I. The theoretical aspect of concept

First of all we will consider the theoretical aspect of concept.

Conceptualization is the process of the creation and construction of concept in the human recognition. It is also the process of thought concerning the new information that causes the creation of concept [13; 67].

The cognitive activity of the human is the skill to orient in the world. This activity also combines the need to distinguish objects. So concepts appear in order to provide this operation. The formation of concepts is based on the recognition of the world and formation of the images about it.

The study of concept is the main task of the cognitive linguistics. Every attempt to realize the nature of concept causes the realization of the fact of presence of closely-related concepts and terms. Concept is the intellectual category that may not be recognized visually. This fact causes the presence of the wide area for the interpretation of concept. Every language mark represents concept in the language, but it does not represent concept in a whole. With the assistance of its meaning the language mark represents several conceptual features that are relevant for the transmission of the information. If we need to express concept in a whole it is necessary to apply different linguistic means and the whole nominative field of concept. So both concept and its compounds may be verbalized and non-verbalized. It is difficult to define concepts that are non-verbalized.

The native speaker is the origin of widening of some conceptual systems. Concepts are the essence of the mental reality. Every concept combines knowledge about the world and unreal imaginations. The system of concepts creates the world picture that reflects the human comprehension of the reality and its peculiar conceptual picture. The human understands the world on the base of the mentioned conceptual picture.

The word is the main mean of the access to the conceptual knowledge. Due to the mentioned access we have an ability to add other conceptual features to the intellectual activity even in case if these features are not named by this word. The linguistic nomination is the key mean for the use of concept in the intellectual activity. The word brings concept into our recognition, makes it active and causes the process of thought.

Words can be classed according to different principles: morphological (parts of speech), semantic (synonyms, antonyms, thematic), stylistic and other types of classification. In each of these classifications lexical or/and grammatical meanings assume different manifestations. In a morphological classification words are grouped according to their grammatical meanings; in a semantic classification, according to their logical (referential) meanings, in a stylistic classification, according to their stylistic meaning.

Lexical meanings are closely related to concepts. They are sometimes identified with concepts. But concept is a purely logical category, whereas meaning is a linguistic one. In linguistics it is necessary to view meaning as the representation of a concept through one of its properties. Concept, as is known, is versatile; it is characterized by a number of properties. Meaning takes one of these properties and makes it represent the concept as a whole. Therefore meaning in reference to concept becomes, as it were, a kind of metonymy. This statement is significant inasmuch as it will further explain the stylistic function of certain meanings. The same concept can be represented in a number of linguistic manifestations (meanings) but, paradoxal though it may sound, each manifestation causes a slight (and sometimes considerable) modifica­tion of the concept, in other words, discloses latent or unknown properties of the concept [7; 13].

A word can be defined as a unit of language functioning within the sentence or within a part of it which by its sound or graphical form expresses a concrete or abstract notion or a grammatical notion through one of its meanings and which is capable of enriching its semantic structure by acquiring new meanings and losing old ones.

It is not easy to explain the semantic structure of a word. Only lexicographers know how difficult it is. This difficulty is mainly caused by the very nature of the word. It may in some circumstances reveal such overtones of meaning as are not elements of the code [7; 25].

The following analogy will not come amiss. There are in nature sounds that we do not hear, there is light that we do not see, and heat that we do not feel. Special apparatus is necessary to detect these phenomena. Almost the same can be said about almost every language sign: sound, morpheme, word, sentence, stylistic device. These signs can bring to life subtleties of meaning which are passed unnoticed by the untrained mind and which can be detected only through the employment of a special method, called supralinear analysis. This method requires some faith in intuition.

There is a difference in the treatment of the potentialities of language signs in grammar, phonetics and lexicology, on the one hand, and in stylistics, on the other. In stylistics we take it for granted that a word has an almost unlimited potentiality of acquiring new meanings, whereas in lexicology this potentiality is restricted to semantic and grammatical acceptability. In stylistics the intuitive, and therefore to a very great extent subjective, perception of meaning in words is raised to the level of topicality. The issue touched upon here is the well-known contradis­tinction between the scientific (abstract), intellectually precise percep­tion of world phenomena and the sensory, intuitive, vague and uncertain impressions of an artistic perception of these same phenomena.

The lexical meaning of the word which may be described as the component of meaning proper to the word as a linguistic unit; i.e. recurrent in all the forms of this word. The difference between the lexical and the grammatical components of meaning is not to be sought in the difference of the concepts underly­ing the two types of meaning, but rather in the way they arc conveyed. The concept of plurality, e.g., may be expressed by the lexical meaning of the world plurality; it may also be expressed in the forms of various words irrespective of their lexical meaning, e.g. boys, girls, joys, etc. The concept of relation may be expressed by the lexical meaning of the word.

Besides concept are the idea that combines the abstract, concrete-associative and emotional-estimate features and history of the conception. Concept is the personal interpretation of the objective meaning and conception as the minimum of the meaning. Concept is also the abstract scientific conception expressed by its forms of the meaning. These forms are: image, conception and symbol.

The most wide-spread definition of concept is following: concept is the discrete mental creation that is the basic unit of the intellectual code of the human. This code is characterized by the internal structure. It is a result of the cognitive activity of the human and society and brings the complex and encyclopedic information about the subject and phenomenon and the social attitude to this phenomenon.

Concepts may be classified according to the type of knowledge and reflection of reality because these types are the foundation of the method of the assignment and description of concept.

The most wide-spread features of concept are following:

1) concept is the minimum unit of the human experience in the ideal imagination that is verbalized with the assistance of the word;

2) concept is characterized by the field structure;

3) concept is the main unit of processing, keeping and transmission of knowledge;

4) concept has the mobile borders and concrete functions;

5) concept is social, its associative field causes its pragmatics;

6) concept is the main cell of culture [11; 45].

So concepts represent the world in the human recognition creating the conceptual system. Besides, the marks of the human language codify the content of this system in the world. Concepts appear in the human recognition as a result of the activity, interpretation of the world